As a far as monotonous music goes, I've had folks come up and say to me that all bluegrass sounds alike after listening a while, not something I ever noticed though.

I read somewhere that the first Europeans to visit Africa couldn't appreciate the multicomplexity of the African rhythms and so thought it was just one big cacaphony. And olde English, Irish, and Scottish folksongs do rely on a mostly unvarying tune from verse to verse - letting the changing words tell the tale, convey the emotion, whatever. Pretty much like contemporary country music does. Which according to what I've read and heard first-hand from other musicians, is why country music as well as Brit folksongs is considered boring by many blacks - who are used to more of a mosaic of music and more repetition of words to tell the tale, convey the emotion, etc. as in blues and rhythm & blues.

I really enjoy thinking about your alls articulate discussions on this thread. A lotta time I don't express my views exactly like I think 'em - but looking over what I just writ, it may be that black Rap musicians are experimenting with "white" music - more words and less tunes.

Tunney