By Kiley Sherlock
In the weeks since J-Term, I have spent a great deal of time reflecting on what music means to me. For those who are unfamiliar with Elon lingo, “J-Term” is the name for our winter term in which students take one course throughout January. I was enrolled in “Woodstock, Hippies, and Other Enduring Legacies: The Music of the 1960s and 1970s.” Throughout the class, we dove into the work of numerous artists spanning a variety of genres, as well as the cultural context surrounding the music. Along with gaining more knowledge on the music of this time than I had ever anticipated, I left my J-Term course with a question: what does music mean to me? To find an answer, I started by asking my friends what music means to them. Some consider music to be an escape from reality, an opportunity to step back and reflect on their emotions. For others, music is an outlet for expression, allowing them to make their voice heard. However, there was one common theme in each of their answers: the ability to build relationships with others through music. Whether they played an instrument or simply loved to listen, each one of them could recall creating connections with others through a shared love of music. I found this to be particularly interesting, and to better understand it, I contacted the professor whose class set me on this path.
Professor Jim Roberts joined the Elon faculty in 2007. His extensive career in music grew from a love for percussion, and he cites this passion as always being a part of him, recounting stories of himself as a toddler, “beating on pots and pans- anything I could find.” Professor Roberts and I met via Zoom to discuss in more detail some themes from the J-Term course. A key topic that we discussed was the association of memory with a song, particularly the ability to hear a song and instantly go back to a specific moment. For Professor Roberts, Halloween is inextricably connected to The Who’s “Quadrophenia”. For me, the association of a song with a particular time in your life strengthens the connections you build with others through music as it adds another level of emotion to the experience. As the conversation continued, I became increasingly interested in the relationship between music and culture. For reference, culture in this context can be defined as “the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group,” provided by Oxford Languages. We discussed how music is bound to culture, specifically in the context of the music of the 1960s and the 1970s as it related to the social movements of the time, a key topic of interest in the Woodstock J-Term course. Professor Roberts expressed his opinion that, for many artists, the cultural context of the day evoked a feeling of freedom as artists began to realize that their voice meant something, a sentiment shared by those who embraced their songs. This freedom extended as artists embraced creativity, discovering new ways to think for themselves as they transformed music, breaking boundaries to bring forth the next best thing.
Music has been rooted in culture since its very development, acting in many ways as a community experience. Without a cultural perspective, music would lose a vital aspect of itself. I think that the cultural aspects of music are exactly why we use music to connect with others, learning about ourselves as we embrace a new perspective. Humans are incredibly creative, finding new ways to connect as we follow the journey of self-expression. To me, that’s exactly what music is about. Music is expressive, providing an outlet to escape from reality. Music is an invitation to feel deeply, learning about yourself from a perspective you may not have found elsewhere. Above all, music is a connector, uniting us with those who came before and establishing a legacy for future generations to enjoy. I don’t know where my life would be without music, and by understanding how music has shaped my life, my love for it has only grown.
To learn more about Professor Roberts, click here!
If you’re interested in learning more about the epic music of the 1960s and 1970s, enroll in the class! “Woodstock, Hippies, and Other Enduring Legacies: The Music of the 1960s and 1970s.”
If you’re interested in building community through music, consider the Elon World Percussion Ensemble directed by Professor Roberts. It is available to all Elon students, even if you are not a musician!