(slobin) musical transmission means learning and teaching music. music continues because people teach it to each other. kids learn music when they grow up. [low-pitched humming] all of us have learned songs simply because they were there in the atmosphere. we may have learned them from family members, which is extremely common. [violin plays] where is this? i can't even see it. (slobin) we may have learned them from teachers, which happens in organized school systems. we may have learned them from records, radios, recordings which is, of course, probably the most common way we hear things these days. but we are constantly hearing and learning music from the minute we're born. (brown) some societies organize it very formally. for example, in indian classical music, you spend years apprentice to a guru. you move into the guru's house, and you have lessons every day for several hours, and you do things a thousand times. [drumming and chanting] in some other cultures, it's less formally organized. in africa, you might learn music as a kid. you grow up