Young girl playing a zither-like instrument
Culture & tradition,  Monochrome Madness,  Photographic techniques,  Themed galleries

Gallery: a universal language in black and white

November 27, 2024 / 46 Comments

Music is the universal language of mankind

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Language differences may make it challenging to communicate with the people we meet when travelling, even if we have made the effort to learn a few words. But music transcends spoken languages, and the enjoyment of music becomes a shared experience irrespective of our different native tongues and cultures. It’s the most universal of languages, speaking to all of us no matter from where we come.

Travel has shown me, for instance, that despite living under a very different regime to our own, and on the other side of the world, the people of North Korea love music as much as anyone. And why would they not? A national holiday is an excuse for them to take a break from busy, regimented working lives and enjoy a picnic in the park with family and friends. And no picnic there is complete without music and dancing. Learning traditional dances and to play traditional instruments is part of their school curriculum from a very young age, as the young girl in my feature photo, taken at a performance at a Chongjin kindergarten, demonstrates. She was just five years old then, and amazingly talented! You can hear her play in a video near the foot of this post: https://www.toonsarah-travels.blog/spending-time-with-the-children-of-chongjin/

Around the world in music

On the streets of cities across the globe people pause to listen to musicians performing. A good one will always attract an audience. And wherever we travel we can take pleasure in learning about, and listening to, the traditional instruments that may be different from those we know at home. The oud in Arab countries; the guqin (a type of zither) in China; the koto in Japan; the marimba in Central America and Mexico; and of course the bagpipes of Scotland and Northumberland (and even, to my surprise, in Tallinn!) We have enjoyed all of these and more.

For Margaret’s chosen Monochrome Madness theme of music, here is a selection of images taken in various countries, capturing the pleasures of a musical performance. All were shot originally in colour and edited with Nik Silver Efex Pro. Some you may have seen before but most of those in their original colour version.

Do check out Leanne’s Monochrome Madness page to learn more about this fun challenge. Maybe you’d like to host a theme from time to time? If so, just contact Leanne via her page.

Young boy playing a drum

Taken at the same performance at a Chongjin kindergarten, North Korea, as my feature photo

Man playing a traditional stringed instrument

A musical performance at Khimsar Fort hotel in Rajasthan

Man playing a small stringed instrument

At a demonstration of traditional instruments at the Registan in Samarkand, Uzbekistan; this is a qashqar rubob, the Uzbek national musical instrument

Three men playing brass instruments at a cafe table

In a hotel in Havana, Cuba

Three men playing guitar with three other seated men watching

Another Cuban hotel, this one in Cienfuegos

Man playing a banjo with Rastafarian man dancing

At Bob Marley’s birthplace in Nine Mile, Jamaica; the man playing the banjo claims to have given Marley his first guitar!

Man playing an accordion

On the streets of Trondheim, Norway

Man on a wind instrument and two women playing bagpipes

Performance in the Town Hall Square at the Old Town Days festival, Tallinn, Estonia

Man sitting on stone steps with a stringed instrument

On the streets of Tallinn, Estonia, playing a Swedish nyckelharpa

In Tirana, Albania

Man playing a large tambourine
Man playing electric guitar

On the streets of Belleville, Paris

Brass band performance in the main piazza in Arpino, Italy

Brass instrument reflecting musicians
Musicians seated on the ground at night

Musicians in the Djemaa el Fnaa, Marrakesh

Performance on a đàn bầu (single chord zither) at the Temple of Literature in Hanoi, Vietnam

Woman with a traditional bowed instrument
Man in a turban with a bow

Musician on a break at the Amber Fort near Jaipur , Rajasthan

46 Comments

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