Cultural Identity

The Sound Of Life

Honestly I don’t know what my culture is. I've asked my parents what my culture is and they say it's all around you and that made absolutely no sense to me. But then I started thinking: What is the one thing that connects me and my family? It was when my Music Teacher and I sat down and I told her my middle name was Lennon. At that point it was like little lightbulbs were going off above my head. Music. “Music is like your family, some of it you love, some of it you hate, some of it you just scratch your head at and go huh?” -Unknown

Music has been in and influenced my life since I was born. Every time I think of family gatherings, I think of music. Hispanic: having parties, playing music, lively dancing, good food and a loving family. The house always roared with salsa music from my mom's side of the family. The music from my mom's side is fast and upbeat. Palo De Mayo is a form of dance music that is fast and loud that she brought directly from Nicaragua. My family always plays it when they are having parties. When I hear it, it brings me back to when my cousins and I would run around playing tag or hide and seek, while the adults danced and told old funny stories.

Another aspect of my culture is my dad’s influence on me with music. He was the one who encouraged me to play guitar. Since him and my grandpa both played. I picked up guitar so effortlessly It was like playing guitar was already in my blood. I never go a day without playing guitar for a few minutes or hours. I even learned to play piano and ukulele. Ever since I was little there was always music playing in the house whether it was him playing his guitar or playing a record. We have a room in the house called “The 70’s room” where there's shelves of records a record player, shag carpets, vibrant colors and ugly furniture.The Beatles are a huge influence in my house. There's at least 30 different pictures of The Beatles and many quotes from them hung around my house. My dad grew up