The Relationship Between Hmong Music And Culture

Hmong music is an interesting subject when looking at the effects it has on culture, language, and attitudes of Hmong youths today. Being a music major, it is always pleasing to study music of another culture. Hmong music is substantially different to the music that is used in Western society. It has different sounds, origins, and uses. Looking at Paul Hillmer’s A People’s History of the Hmong along with two other articles, Kinh Tien Vu’s Hmong Youth Arts Culture: Music Teaching and Learning in Community Settings and Nicholas Frederick Poss’, Hmong Music and Language Cognition: An Interdisciplinary Investigation, the relationship between the music of the Hmong and the language can be explored. One article also looks at the way younger generations

of Hmong in the Midwest react to this music.
Looking at Paul Hillmer’s writings, a thorough introduction to Hmong music is given. This area of the book discusses the cultural uses of music. One aspect that was highly focused on was the use of music in courtship. In out westernized culture, there is nothing uncommon with talking to an individual and expressing feeling toward them by only stating their feelings. In Hmong culture, this would be an embarrassment! Instead the boys and men of the area would use the traditional pipe flute due to the tones and sounds this instrument can make. These tones follow the pattern of the language, making a song be heard as spoken words. Songs like these can invoke love and passion, showing the boy or man playing them are serious about their bride.
In Western culture, there are many nursery rhymes that cannot be said without humming the song or tune that goes along. These tunes are not complicated, but they are there. Take Jack and Jill for instance. There is a certain rhythm and tune that goes along with those specific words. Hmong music is a million times more sophisticated. Some Hmong can hear the songs played on certain instruments as words and discover their meanings before ever even hearing that sound before.