whenever i hear a piece of arabic music, all i think of are deserts, guys in turbines, camels, (stereotype1), (stereotype2), (stereotypen).. and i think, there have got to be arabic songs that are happy, or sad, or inspiring, or commemorative, or any sort of emotion. i just have no idea because i haven't listened to enough of it.

this leads me to wonder, if we wanted a wider range of moods or emotions covered in music, why don't we just start using different scales or unused chord progressions (all of which would sound to the average american, like utter crap) and, when we raise our kids, and find them anxious, for instance, we play them whatever new piece of music we've decided to go with being anxious. i don't think i've heard much music for when i'm anxious or anticipating something. maybe there are a few. anyway, that's how i think music works. as kids, we listen to certain music only during certain times. we watch movies and notice the kinds of music that are played in love, death, sad, happy, or action scenes--or rather, we associate the music with the emotion. the only reason i have no idea what arabic, hebrew, or asian music is about is because i associated the music with stereotypical mages, instead of with emotions, because, when is arabic music ever played in america if the Padres win a baseball game? never in my house.

i'm sure it's not too late to begin adjusting yourself to foreign music. furthermore, maybe you can do your future kids a favor by playing them music other then western, if anything, to prevent them of thinking of men in funny hats or eggrolls and rice when they hear chinese music, because any associations with foreign cultures that aren't factually learned become stereotypes :D