Teaching World Music

2021 ◽  
pp. 154-176
Author(s):  
Patricia Shehan Campbell

For teaching musicians and music educators who work in elementary, secondary, and tertiary teacher education programs, questions of cultural diversity and social justice have triggered the development of teaching models, methods, and movements. One such program is the week-long intensive course in World Music Pedagogy by the University of Washington in partnership with Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, a Smithsonian Institution nonprofit record label that documents music from across the world. The course features an examination of audio, video, print, electronic, and human resources, with the aim of learning as well as developing an understanding of ways to teach music of the world’s cultures. Attention is given to learning cultural heritage through songs, movement and dance experiences, instrumental music, and contextualized cultural components. Musical experiences are tailored for use at various levels, including in classes for children, youth, and adults in university and community settings. Going on ten years of development, the course has succeeded in offering pathways to teaching world music at all levels. It has also been a labor of love for those in education and ethnomusicology who have fashioned it, and who have lived the challenges of connecting ethnomusicological principles to classroom practice. This essay tells the story of a “two steps forward and one step back” in shaping music education practices that center on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the design, delivery, and full facilitation of lessons in music of the world’s cultures.

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 18-23
Author(s):  
Jennifer M. Mellizo

Over the past several decades, music education scholars have put forth a variety of convincing rationales for world music education. Yet the gap between theory and practice in this area persists. In theoretical ways, practicing music educators acknowledge the value of world music learning experiences, but many remain reluctant to fully embrace and embody this approach in practice. Through this article, one practicing general music educator shares her personal experience of writing, implementing, and subsequently observing another music educator use a new world music curriculum resource, inspired by the music traditions of the Fon people in southern Benin. As our understanding of world music pedagogy continues to evolve, more practicing music educators should share their unique perspectives and experiences. These “snapshots” from the field can help other (perhaps more hesitant) music educators envision what this pedagogical approach might look like in their own classrooms.


2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian A. Silvey ◽  
Mark Montemayor ◽  
Christopher M. Baumgartner

The purpose of this study was to investigate undergraduate instrumental music education majors’ score study practices as they related to the effectiveness of their simulated conducting. Participants ( N = 30) were video recorded in two sessions in which they completed a 20-min score study session and a simulated conducting performance. In the first score study session, all 30 conductors studied Mini-Suite for Band, Movement 1. In Session 2, participants studied Portrait of a Clown but this time either with a model recording ( n = 15) or without one ( n = 15). We computed the overall duration of participants’ score study behaviors for both pieces. Additional data included graduate students’ evaluations of participants’ post–score study conducting performances and an inventory of participants’ score study markings. We found a significant difference in the proportion of time spent in score studying activities between the model and no-model condition conductors, with more time spent in gesturing when studying along with a model. Evaluations of participants’ conducting revealed no differences between those conductors who used a model and those who did not while studying Portrait of a Clown. Our analysis of conductors’ score markings revealed a small number of notable differences between stronger/weaker conductors and between model/no-model conditions. Implications for undergraduate conductor preparation programs are discussed.


Author(s):  
Elizabeth A Clendinning

The book seeks to answer these questions: Why are there more than 150 gamelans (Indonesian percussion ensembles) in North America, and why are more than half of them associated with American colleges and universities? How and why did gamelan ensembles spark the ethnomusicological imagination? What impact have these ensembles had on college music programs, their local communities, and transnational Indonesian performing arts scenes? How does a lifetime of teaching foreign college students shape the lives of non-American music teachers? First providing an overview of gamelan and its incorporation in education in North America, this book uses the story of the career and community of one performer-teacher, I Made Lasmawan of Bali and Colorado, as a case study to examine the formation and sustenance academic world music ensembles. It examines the way students develop musical and cultural competence by learning gamelan in traditional ethnomusicology ensemble courses and analyzes the merits of including gamelan ensembles in studies in percussion, composition, and music education. More broadly, the book argues that beyond the classroom, the presence of these ensembles shapes transnational arts education and touristic performing arts scenes in Bali. Finally, it advocates for world music ensemble courses as a powerful means for teaching musical and cultural diversity and sparking transnational exchanges, both in and outside the classroom.


2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bojin Nedialkov ◽  
Nadia Nedialkova

This article discusses some of the most important prerequisites for building and organizing the didactic structure of music education at the university level in the midst of a pandemic. The emphasis is on the methodology in designing online learning. The principles of carrying out the preliminary preparation for the transition to the new synchronous1 and asynchronous2 training are described. The basic rules for building and organizing online lectures in the conditions of distance learning are systematized. Models for asynchronous lectures according to already established principles are presented. An analysis of the difficulties and dangers of constant home office work has been performed. The authors of this article share their pedagogical experience regarding the specifics of conducting individual and group music disciplines in the context of distance learning, giving basic recommendations on the structuring of the learning process, which can be used not only in a pandemic situation, but also in the future for more flexible, modern and effective education related to constantly improving technologies.


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