Go: Asian music >

About Us

In college, our art history professor used to tell us:

It's not enough to say "I don't know much about art, but I know what I like". You have to study it in context, to see where the artist was coming from, what his lifestyle was, and what the tenor of the times was. After the proper research, you can begin to fully appreciate a work of art.

We gradually came to accept her explanation, as it applies to visual arts. A Van Gogh painting might be nice, but it takes on added meaning when you learn the story behind it.

With music, however, we believe that although a similar concept can be applied, it is in fact quite possible to enjoy it with no historical, geographic, or cultural reference points. Moreso than visual arts, music reaches across every boundary. One of the first things young children respond to is music, and it doesn't matter who made it or what the circumstances were. A new song on the radio can make you prick up your ears, wanting to hear more of it, even if you have no idea who it is or when it was recorded.

However, when exploring music from other cultures, it is interesting and often helpful to do a little research to get the story behind the sounds. Detailed ethnomusicology may be taking it too far - chasing scholarship for its own sake at the expense of enjoyment of the music - but a few facts are fun to know.

So, the point of fournotes.com is to do two simple things:

	1. Learn! Read our all-original articles about musicians, instruments and genres from China, Japan, Bhutan and beyond.
	2. Listen! Safe, legal and cheap downloads are increasingly the best way to hear new music. Tons of great world music is available on the internet. There are even more great CD's available. Experience amazing new worlds of music in minutes.

As such, articles are available to read, and links are provided on each page for those who want to download music to their computer or buy CDs.

After all, why study music if you aren't going to actually hear it?

Enjoy the information. We hope you learn something and fall in love with some new kind of music.

Have fun!