Bards refer to professionals who document the achievements of great heroes and prominent people then later spread the tales. Bards were very common in the medieval period. They moved from village to village telling their stories in exchange for food, shelter and sometimes money. Bards are not only storytellers; they also compose songs and poems to aid in making the tale livelier and more memorable. Bards still exist to date but are now referred to as songwriters, composers or lyricists. Songsters are a very integral part of any community or nation, and here are some characteristics that the best ones have.
Excellent Mastery of Music
Music is a form of art that has remained unparalleled since the beginning of time. Songs can relay emotions in ways that words cannot. For a bard, music is essential to story-telling. Some bards composed music that they used as ‘background’ music as they told their stories. For others, the music was to let certain emotions sink in. In any case, good bards must be able to come up with different songs for different parts of the story. Mastering how to play musical instruments to use on the song makes the songs even sweeter.
A Great Poet
One cannot become a great bard if they lack the talent to write poems. Composing grand rhyme schemes while telling a story through verse is no piece of cake. Also, adding a little excitement to poetry like using puns or other designs that catch the eye of readers requires a lot of skill. People are not usually interested in reading things that do not keep them hooked. Therefore, all great bards had the skills to write amazing poems. Furthermore, song composition also relies a lot on a bard’s poetry skills.
A True Linguist
Bards were known for travelling all over the world. To tell their stories in the places they went through, they needed to learn foreign languages. With a communication barrier, the bards would not get their work done. The more the languages a bard has mastered, the further their compositions would go. If the professionals only insisted on speaking their language, they would not be able to mingle with people from other villages. The same case applies to modern bards. If a story or poem is translated into various languages, it is likely to reach more people.
Acknowledge Culture and History
Acknowledging and appreciating the culture of other people is very important. Offending people from different communities would ruin the reputation of the bards. If this happened, they would not be welcomed so warmly in the next village they went to. To maintain peace, bards learned and mastered the culture and history of their different audiences. After this, the professionals tweaked their stories to suit the audience.
