Arab students’ perceptions of university music education in the United Arab Emirates: A discussion of music education and cultural relevance

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 524-535
Author(s):  
Emily Good-Perkins
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Cultural Relevance ◽  
Music Teaching ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Musical Identity ◽  
Personal Connection ◽  
Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy ◽  
Musical Traditions

The purpose of this study was to explore with five Arab young adults their perceptions of Western and Arabic musical cultures as well as their perceptions of the Western classical vocal teaching they experienced at an American-modeled university in the United Arab Emirates. Of interest were issues of cultural relevance and the role of music and music education in Arab society. Data collection methods for this study included individual, semi-structured interviews with each participant and three focus group discussions. This paper will explore the following four themes from the interviews: Theme 1: Western classical university music teaching was incongruent with Arabic classical music teaching. Theme 2: Despite the incongruencies, participants found the university music experience to be transformative. Theme 3: Participants have a strong personal connection to Arabic music. Theme 4: Lack of music education has cultural ramifications; however, it is a complex issue. Using Paris’ conception of culturally sustaining pedagogy as a theoretical lens through which to view participants’ perceptions of music and music education in the United Arab Emirates as well as the juxtaposition of heritage and emergent musical traditions within a globalized traditional society, issues of cultural relevance, personal transformation, and musical identity will be further discussed.

The Application of a Critical Sociology to Music Education

1984 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 247-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Vulliamy ◽  
John Shepherd
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Music Teaching ◽  
Critical Sociology ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
Sociology Of Music ◽  
Musical Notation ◽  
Musical Traditions

The aim of this article is to explore some important issues which music educators have raised concerning our work on the use of popular music in teaching and concerning the sociology of music thesis that underpins this work. Following a brief résumé of our perspective, we shall address four criticisms that have been made fairly generally by a number of reviewers of Whose Music? (Shepherd et al. 1977), and of the Cambridge University Press books (Vulliamy & Lee, 1976, 1982a) and the Routledge Popular Music Series (Vulliamy & Lee, 1982b). These criticisms are, first, that we hold an over-socially determined view of music; secondly that we have overstressed the qualitative differences between various musical traditions, especially in their differing relationships to analytic musical notation; third, that the culturally relative view of music which we espouse is both suspect theoretically and potentially anti-educational in practice; and, finally, that many of our suggestions for a reform of music teaching are impractical. Our hope is that we can dispel some ambiguities in our earlier work concerning these important but complex issues and thus leave music educators in a better position to appraise the relevance of our thesis.

scholarly journals Towards New Forms of Pianistic Improvisation Across Musical Boundaries

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Mark Donlon
Keyword(s):  
Classical Music ◽  
Main Element ◽  
Creative Work ◽  
Musical Identity ◽  
Creative Processes ◽  
Musical Practice ◽  
Piano Trio ◽  
Free Improvisation ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Musical Traditions

<p>This thesis is practice-based. The main element in which the research outcomes are manifested is the portfolio of creative work. There are three CD albums of original music: Southern Shift, Between Moons, and Tales from the Diaspora. There are also three video recordings including a performance of my piece Saraband (for piano trio), along with my performance of two classical piano pieces by Rachmaninoff: Elegie op 3 no. 1 and Etudetableau op. 33 no. 5. There is a written exegesis which serves to inform the reader how the creative work may be understood or apprehended, as well as placing it in relevant context The creative work centres on contemporary piano improvisation and how diverse musical strands can be drawn together in a coherent improvised musical idiom. Models for contemporary improvised music, that constitute key external sources for my musical practice, include the work of pianists Keith Jarrett, Cecil Taylor, Matt Bourne, John Taylor, Misha Mengelberg, Gabriela Montero and Gwilym Simcock. How these pianists’ work relates to my music will be discussed in the exegetical text.  Several approaches and techniques, to free improvisation and jazz, will be explored through the creative practice and discussed in the exegesis. The ideas of scholars Nicholas Cook and Ed Sarath play a significant part in the concepts behind the music in this portfolio and in my thinking about improvisation in a wider sense. Cook suggests that improvisation represents a wider and more nuanced set of musical functionalities than is commonly understood by the one term ‘improvisation’. This is a key factor in this research.  Extemporaneous Composition is the most salient concept at work in the creative work. The aim is to explore how an improvisation can have elements of a controlled and structured musical argument, as a composed piece would. This connects to the issue of how improvisation and composition are closely linked as creative processes. The issue of how improvisation and the interpretive performance of composed music are linked will be an important topic, as will the relationship between aurality and textuality in creative musicianship. The two research questions are:   • When diverse and divergent aspects of musical practice, from traditions such as Western classical music, jazz and other African-based music are integrated into an improvised musical practice to give voice to a personal, creative musical identity, what can the nature of that music be? What perspectives will emerge about how creative performers operate?   • Textuality and aurality function differently in these musical traditions. Can improvisation, in its wider sense, be re-evaluated to account for the employment of these through a more complex and nuanced set of creative functionalities than is typically understood by the single term improvisation?</p>

scholarly journals Reasons to teach music: establishing a place in the contemporary curriculum

2000 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Pitts
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Questionnaire Survey ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Music Teaching ◽  
Musical Identity ◽  
British Music ◽  
School Music ◽  
History Of

Studies in the history of music education reveal much about the place and purpose of music in the changing curriculum. In this article, the ideas of some significant British music educators of the twentieth century are considered, in an evaluation of the apparent goals of music teaching that have been articulated over the decades. The connections between rationale and practice are discussed, with published ideas placed alongside the views of contemporary teachers in a small-scale questionnaire survey. The conclusion is proposed that school music, as a small part of the child's musical identity, must be modest in its intentions but ambitious in its provision.

scholarly journals Towards New Forms of Pianistic Improvisation Across Musical Boundaries

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Mark Donlon
Keyword(s):  
Classical Music ◽  
Main Element ◽  
Creative Work ◽  
Musical Identity ◽  
Creative Processes ◽  
Musical Practice ◽  
Piano Trio ◽  
Free Improvisation ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Musical Traditions

<p>This thesis is practice-based. The main element in which the research outcomes are manifested is the portfolio of creative work. There are three CD albums of original music: Southern Shift, Between Moons, and Tales from the Diaspora. There are also three video recordings including a performance of my piece Saraband (for piano trio), along with my performance of two classical piano pieces by Rachmaninoff: Elegie op 3 no. 1 and Etudetableau op. 33 no. 5. There is a written exegesis which serves to inform the reader how the creative work may be understood or apprehended, as well as placing it in relevant context The creative work centres on contemporary piano improvisation and how diverse musical strands can be drawn together in a coherent improvised musical idiom. Models for contemporary improvised music, that constitute key external sources for my musical practice, include the work of pianists Keith Jarrett, Cecil Taylor, Matt Bourne, John Taylor, Misha Mengelberg, Gabriela Montero and Gwilym Simcock. How these pianists’ work relates to my music will be discussed in the exegetical text.  Several approaches and techniques, to free improvisation and jazz, will be explored through the creative practice and discussed in the exegesis. The ideas of scholars Nicholas Cook and Ed Sarath play a significant part in the concepts behind the music in this portfolio and in my thinking about improvisation in a wider sense. Cook suggests that improvisation represents a wider and more nuanced set of musical functionalities than is commonly understood by the one term ‘improvisation’. This is a key factor in this research.  Extemporaneous Composition is the most salient concept at work in the creative work. The aim is to explore how an improvisation can have elements of a controlled and structured musical argument, as a composed piece would. This connects to the issue of how improvisation and composition are closely linked as creative processes. The issue of how improvisation and the interpretive performance of composed music are linked will be an important topic, as will the relationship between aurality and textuality in creative musicianship. The two research questions are:   • When diverse and divergent aspects of musical practice, from traditions such as Western classical music, jazz and other African-based music are integrated into an improvised musical practice to give voice to a personal, creative musical identity, what can the nature of that music be? What perspectives will emerge about how creative performers operate?   • Textuality and aurality function differently in these musical traditions. Can improvisation, in its wider sense, be re-evaluated to account for the employment of these through a more complex and nuanced set of creative functionalities than is typically understood by the single term improvisation?</p>

scholarly journals Proposal of the Simple Three-Phase Musicians Career Model (Preparation/Education, Active Playing and Fading/Extention) Reflecting Subjective Aspects of Professional Musician´S Life

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 5509-5515
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Career Stages ◽  
Music Teaching ◽  
Professional Musicians ◽  
Time Limits ◽  
Professional Musician ◽  
Three Phase ◽  
Career Model ◽  
Model Preparation

Careers of professional musicians are unique and their development cannot be fully generalized, as shown by interviews with instrument players and singers of classical music and musical in Slovakia. Their careers do not include all standard career stages; only three of them were identified in all respondents: preparation (tied with music education), active playing (associated with growth, peaks, crises, decrease) and career fading/extinction. The time limits of these stages cannot be set, as they considerably differ. Majority of musicians claim to overcome a professional crisis. A common feature of all respondents' careers is music teaching job at a certain point in their own careers

scholarly journals In Terms of Music Teachers, the Evaluation of Music Types in the Curriculum for Music in Secondary Education in Turkey

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Gülnihal Gül
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Folk Music ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Music Teaching ◽  
School Music ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Education In Turkey ◽  
Teaching Programs

Along with the establishment of the Republic, a song repertoire consisting of transferred songs was previously endeavoured to be formed by taking school music samples of foreign countries and writing Turkish words below them. Afterwards, with the same percept, an imitation songs repertoire was attempted to be formed by our composers. Since the 1950s, the idea that school music should be on the axis of folk music and that music education should be carried out through school music samples composed from the close environment of the child has begun to take place. Together with the various developments since the 1970s, the tendency towards soft music has strengthened in society and also interest in Turkish classical music has increased. Moreover, since the 1970s, soft and classical music samples have begun to be used in music education, which was built on folk music in 1968. Thus, high school music teaching programs which went into effect in 1986 were prepared accordingly. Today, the sense that bringing to the classroom appropriate samples of vital music types in society, getting the student to learn at least one example of each music type and introducing these types is dominating. In this study, music types in middle school music teaching programs in Turkey were endeavoured to be evaluated in terms of music teachers. The subject was researched with the case study method which is one of the qualitative research methods. The oriented exemplification method was used in the study and 5 music teachers working in a middle school participated in the study group. The data was analysed by forming the necessary coding and themes. According to the obtained findings, results and suggestions were given place.

Mahler Is a DJ: Reconducting Classical Music Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 220
Author(s):  
Koopal ◽  
Vlieghe ◽  
de Baets
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Classical Music

Class, Control, and Classical Music

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Bull
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Cultural Production ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Middle Classes ◽  
Class Culture ◽  
White Middle Class ◽  
Music Ensembles ◽  
The Aesthetic

Through an ethnographic study of young people playing and singing in classical music ensembles in the south of England, this book analyses why classical music in England is predominantly practiced by white middle-class people. It describes four ‘articulations’ or associations between the middle classes and classical music. Firstly, its repertoire requires formal modes of social organization that can be contrasted with the anti-pretentious, informal, dialogic modes of participation found in many forms of working-class culture. Secondly, its modes of embodiment reproduce classed values such as female respectability. Thirdly, an imaginative dimension of bourgeois selfhood can be read from classical music’s practices. Finally, its aesthetic of detail, precision, and ‘getting it right’ requires a long-term investment that is more possible, and makes more sense, for middle- and upper-class families. Through these arguments, the book reframes existing debates on gender and classical music participation in light of the classed gender identities that the study revealed. Overall, the book suggests that inequalities in cultural production can be understood through examining the practices that are used to create a particular aesthetic. It argues that the ideology of the ‘autonomy’ of classical music from social concerns needs to be examined in historical context as part of the classed legacy of classical music’s past. It describes how the aesthetic of classical music is a mechanism through which the middle classes carry out boundary-drawing around their protected spaces, and within these spaces, young people’s participation in classical music education cultivates a socially valued form of self-hood.

Feminist Cyber-Artivism, Musicing, and Music Teaching and Learning

2020 ◽  
pp. 291-312
Author(s):  
Marissa Silverman
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Philosophical Investigation ◽  
Music Teaching ◽  
Music Making ◽  
The Voice

This chapter asks an important, yet seemingly illusive, question: In what ways does the internet provide (or not) activist—or, for present purposes “artivist”—opportunities and engagements for musicing, music sharing, and music teaching and learning? According to Asante (2008), an “artivist (artist + activist) uses her artistic talents to fight and struggle against injustice and oppression—by any medium necessary. The artivist merges commitment to freedom and justice with the pen, the lens, the brush, the voice, the body, and the imagination. The artivist knows that to make an observation is to have an obligation” (p. 6). Given this view, can (and should) social media be a means to achieve artivism through online musicing and music sharing, and, therefore, music teaching and learning? Taking a feminist perspective, this chapter interrogates the nature of cyber musical artivism as a potential means to a necessary end: positive transformation. In what ways can social media be a conduit (or hindrance) for cyber musical artivism? What might musicing and music sharing gain (or lose) from engaging with online artivist practices? In addition to a philosophical investigation, this chapter will examine select case studies of online artivist music making and music sharing communities with the above concerns in mind, specifically as they relate to music education.

scholarly journals Linking musical metaphors and emotions evoked by the sound of classical music

2021 ◽  
pp. 030573562199123
Author(s):  
Simon Schaerlaeken ◽  
Donald Glowinski ◽  
Didier Grandjean
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Empirical Method ◽  
Mixed Effects Models ◽  
Musical Meaning ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects ◽  
Generalized Linear Mixed Effects ◽  
Perceptual Characteristics ◽  
Valence And Arousal ◽  
Western Classical Music

Musical meaning is often described in terms of emotions and metaphors. While many theories encapsulate one or the other, very little empirical data is available to test a possible link between the two. In this article, we examined the metaphorical and emotional contents of Western classical music using the answers of 162 participants. We calculated generalized linear mixed-effects models, correlations, and multidimensional scaling to connect emotions and metaphors. It resulted in each metaphor being associated with different specific emotions, subjective levels of entrainment, and acoustic and perceptual characteristics. How these constructs relate to one another could be based on the embodied knowledge and the perception of movement in space. For instance, metaphors that rely on movement are related to emotions associated with movement. In addition, measures in this study could also be represented by underlying dimensions such as valence and arousal. Musical writing and music education could benefit greatly from these results. Finally, we suggest that music researchers consider musical metaphors in their work as we provide an empirical method for it.

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