Cause and Effect Essay | Keroncong music is not in demand among young people by Yudi Bahtiar

Keroncong music is a genre of music from Indonesia altought its history comes from the West. Keroncong cames from Portuguese sailors and slaves where they came to the archipelago in the 16^th century. Their arrival apparently helped bring cultural arts from their home country, that is their penchant for playing  fado musical instruments. But the journey of this music has been recreated in every way by Indonesian artist that it is no longer the original culture and found a new context in Indonesian culture.

The origin of the word “keroncong” itself is coincidental because there is so many opinion about this kind of music. Someone said that “keroncong” is a translation of the sound of an Ukulele that played in arpegio, and mades a sound: crong, crong. The name “Keroncong” may be derived from the jingling sound of the kerincing rebana, as heard in the rhythmic background of the music created by the interlocking of instruments playing on or off beat.

Keroncong also has a different type of music in each region. Keroncong Tugu is a keroncong community of Portuguese descendants from Ambon who lived in Tugu village, North Jakarta. Then, this music developed to the southern in Kemayoran and Gambir by Betawi people who blended with Tanjidor music in 1880-1920. In 1920-1960, the center of keroncong music development moved to Solo region and the music become slower accordance with the character of the Javanese people.

            Keroncong has an uniqueness in many ways. Start from the way we played the instrument and has a different uniqueness between the band instruments that grew in the teenager era. The vocals also had their own style that is different from popular music vocals. Keroncong consists of a flute, a violin, a melody guitar, a cello in pizzicato syle, string bass in pizzicato style, and a female or male singer. Pizzicato is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument.

            If we looked carefully, the uniqueness inside “keroncong” music, will seem very much. But overall, characteristical from “keroncong” music can be subdivided in several aspect, which are seen in: form, harmony, rhythm, type of musical instrument, etc.

            It is undeniable to follow the development of music in Indonesia. That in fact, “keroncong” is one of the music that is popular among the elderly and otherwise, teenagers don’t like it. Why the elderly prefer liked that kind of music? And why teenagers assumed that they don’t like “keroncong”?. This time I will discuss the cause and effect of the teenagers why they don’t like “keroncong” music.

1. Keroncong is outmoded.

In the era of globalization, people, especially teenager, spend more time enjoying their favorite girl groups and boy groups, which many of them seems to spend their time to search the information about their favorite idol. The ease of browsing makes them feel at home in the comfort zone. Meanwhile, the fate of traditional music isn’t well exposed. The media is less appreciative of keroncong music itself, his had led to the loss of keroncong fame compared to the other types of music that are more familiar nowadays. The dim of keroncong music because it began to dominate popular music culture in the world, such as Pop and Rock. The appearance of the Beatles is one factor in the rapid spread of popular music throughout the world, including Indonesia.

2. There is no space to expression.

Since the beginning of its development until now, keroncong music has inevitably entered a time when keroncong was less on demand and began to lose fans. At least the "space" available as a place of creation and expression increasingly isolates the keroncong music from the splendor and excitement of the artistic atmosphere in this country. Keroncong music in the regions has become a underrated art with very few fans and even fewer actors.

3. There is no promising future from Keroncong.

This is due to keroncong music being positioned as a marginal art. People will think twice about deciding to dive into the world of keroncong music. From here, sooner or later keroncong music will decline as the turn from generation to generation.

In fact, keroncong music is a part of national culture which can become one of the identities of the Indonesian people. When nations preserve their local cultural values, including in terms of art. Then, where will the direction of Indonesia's seniors be in the hands of the younger generation? If we look at European countries, there are still many young people who play classical music such as the work of Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and they are proud to represent the art and culture through concrete preservation efforts. Or the younger generation in Indonesia, on the contrary, knows better about Eine Kleine Nachtmusik Mozart against the Bengang Solo song by Gesang.

And how to conserve keroncong music in order to not lost in the times?

1. Giving "attention" to the development of this music.

2. Providing "space" for the actors to be able to create and express.

3. Promotion needs to be carried out.

4. Approaching young people subjects by inviting them to play their music / songs with the keroncong rhythm.

5. Working on keroncong songs adapted to their desires (type of song, tempo, and more dynamic cultivation).

6. Provide coaching and encouragement to the existing music groups to be more passionate and have an optimistic view of the development of the music.

7. Wheedle and facilitating the growth of new groups mainly from young people.

In an effort to preserve the art of keroncong music which is believed to be the original music of Indonesia, there must be a young touch combined to attract millennial generation. Empowering the younger generation to start loving keroncong music really needs to be done as by:

1. Introduce keroncong music since elementary school age.

2. Training teenagers to master the techniques in keroncong music.

3. Provide opportunities for young people to work through keroncong music.

All government are expected to take part in developing keroncong music, so that later keroncong music will always exist and will not be lost by time. Keroncong music can also be used to attract great mass interest as long as the younger generation takes part in preserving keroncong music. The nation's next generation will inevitably face a complex world so that the progress of a nation will greatly depend on the quality of the young generation. A nation that has managed to maintain its culture so that it can be maintained throughout time will always be an example.