Week 6

1. Title of piece: Hand Clapping
2. Performer(s): Students from Kenyan Connect School
3. Culture of Origin: Kenya
4. Instrumentation: Voice and Body Percussion

The video that I chose for this week is a a series of clapping games from Kenya that are performed by students from the Kenyan Connect School.  There are five different hand clapping games shown in the video clip.  The selected games show the importance of play as well as the role of socialization and working together.   Play is said to be a cultural "cause and effect" in the simplest form, culture and play each contribute to the other (Campbell & Lew, 2005).  Based on this video, I believe that this captures what Campbell and Lew were discussing in the reading this week.  The video clip shows the connection between culture and play in the Kenyan community.  In order to be successful and meet their common goal, these children must work together to preform the hand clapping games.  They are also working on developing their musical skills.  All of the hand clapping games include chants.  They are also using body percussion to accompany the chants and are having to use a high level of coordination to follow the rules of each hand clapping game. 

I enjoyed watching all of the hand clapping games in this video, however I found the third clip interesting because it took your traditional hand clap and turned it into a game.  In the third clip, one of the circle games involves turn taking and an elimination aspect.  The children stand in a circle and pass the clap around the circle.  At the end, two children are then trying to hit the other child's hand.  They have three tries to do it, if they do not succeed they are out.  If they do, the other child is out. 

Campbell, P. S., & Lew, J. C. (2005) Children's natural and necessary musical play: Global contexts, local application. Music Educators Journal, 91(5), 57-62.

Week 5

Title of Piece: Variations on a Korean Folk Song 

Performer(s): Auckland Symphony Orchestra

Culture of Origin: Korea

Instrumentation: Winds, Brass, Strings and Percussion

One of my favorite instrumental pieces is "Variations on a Korean Folk Song."  Based on the simple pentatonic melody of "Ahrirang" and bringing in multiple variations of the melody throughout the piece, I believe that this piece highlights many of the points that Campbell discussed in this week's reading.    Campbell (2004) discusses the importance and significant of recreation in the reading and that it is not the only worthy goal.  I think that this is a very valid point that is made in the text and is important when thinking about and teaching world music to our students. Taking the original melody of "Ahrirang" and then creating multiple variations taps into the text about using music as a starting point for creative endeavors and exploration.  John Barnes Chance took the original pentatonic melody of the simple Korean folk song and then wrote five variations on that theme.   Campbell (2004) provided examples which included creating a song in the structure of another (i.e. call-and-response), extending musical selections, or adapting different musical elements.  Developing a piece with a theme and variation takes a good amount of creativity and focus.  I believe that re-creating is important in the realm of world music and plays a vital role in the use of this genre of music in schools today.  

Campbell, P. A. (2004).  Teaching music globally: Experiencing music, expressing culture.  New York, New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.  

Week 4

Title of the Piece: Baba Yetu
Performer: Iowa All State Music Festival Choir
Culture of Origin: Swahili 
Instrumentation: Voice, (Body) Percussion, Piano 

Baba Yetu, performed by the Iowa All State Music Festival Choir, is loosely translated to the Swahili version of the Lord's Prayer.  While also written for the computer game, Civilization IV, this song captures many of the points from the Koops (2010) reading this week.  Koops (2010) discusses the the models of authenticity, which include: authenticity as continuum; historical and personal authenticity;  authenticity as reproduction, reality, and relevance; and beyond authenticity.  Often times, teachers will modify or change an arrangement to make them fit into the context of the lesson/unit/performance.  Doing this drastically alters the context of the piece and also takes away from the overall learning and experience of the piece for the students.  Koops (2010) outlines four different models of authenticity, each having their own plusses and minuses when teaching students music from other areas of the world and striving to be as authentic as possible while doing so.   

When teaching music from another culture, it is imperative to address the cultural and social contexts of the music.  Teaching music without having any emphasis and attention placed on the cultural aspect can create many issues, including creating an unauthentic experience for our students.  In order to create a fully authentic and culturally rich musical experience for our students, we need to ensure that as teachers we recognize the historical, cultural and social significance and importance of the music (Koops, 2010).  Exposing students to different music is an important part of our job; it is also part of our job to provide them with a solid understanding and appreciation of the importance of culture through music.  I believe that as music teachers, we play a vital role in our students' musical experiences and exposure.  We help open their minds and provide new opportunities and knowledge for our students.

Koops, L. H. (2010). 'Can't we just change the words?': The role of authenticity in culturally informed music education.  Music Educators Journal, 97(1), 23-28.  

Week 3

Title of Piece: A Rumenisher Doyne
Performers: Klezmer Conservatory Band
Culture of Origin: Israeli/Jewish
Instrumentation: Winds, Percussion, Strings, Clarinet solo


The structure of this piece is divided into four sections.  The first section showcases the improvisational solo on the clarinet.  The clarinet soloist uses various techniques within his/her playing, including using the use sliding pitch in the opening.  The use of semi-tone intervals are also a key characteristic of klezmer music.  The second section, is a moderate tempo dance like theme.  Listening to this theme, I thought of the Carmen selection from the Wade text because it reminded me of the habanera rhythm from Latin America.  Oddly enough, they are noted to be similar, but stem from different origins.   The third section is the return of the opening melody.  The fourth section is another dance section, but is different material from the second theme.  This ending theme is one of the most familiar styles of klezmer music.  Within the fourth section, the phrases are eight beats long and there are two different themes.  Each theme is presented once and then the cymbal crashes signify the return of the A theme, followed again by the B theme.  The ending of this piece is standard to a klezmer dance, with the clarinet playing the scale and the band playing unison notes to end.

When discussing music, the context is very important, especially the cultural context.  It has been noted that much of the Israeli music comes from traditional Jewish and non-Jewish traditions that were then infused together to create a distinct musical culture in Israel.  The specific cultural context for klezmer music is for dancing, primary found at weddings and other social events and gathering within the Jewish community.  I was also drawn to this particular selection because of the discussion around improvisation in world music.  Wade (2013) states "there are two misconceptions about improvisation that we in ethnomusicology have to counter regularly" (pg. 133).  Wade explains that the first misconception is that of "free" improvisation, where the music is thought to be 'composed' or 'created' during the performance is not based upon anything else.  The second is that improvisation is not composition and that the process of creating music during performance is vastly different from the process of creating music before a performance.  While I think that these concerns around the idea of improvisation are valid, I think that there is a signification contribution that improvisation contributes to the field of music.  Listening to this piece several times over the course of the week, I think that the first misconception is very much false.  While the opening clarinet music may have been derived on the spot, it fits in with what the other members of the klezmer ensemble is playing and challenges the soloist to play pitches both inside and outside the designated mode.  

Wade, B. (2013). Thinking musically: Experiencing music, expressing culture.  New York, New York. Oxford University Press.

Week 2

Title of Piece: The Butterfly Lovers
Performer: Bei Bei
Culture of Origin: Chinese
Instrumentation: Guzheng (Chinese Zither)

This piece is written by Bei Bei, a well known guzheng performer, in both China and the United States.  She currently resides in Los Angeles, California.  The Butterfly Lovers is based off of the Chinese folktale that shares the same name.  The story of The Butterfly Lovers is similar to the well known Shakespeare work, Romeo and Juliet.  This song depicts the Chinese folk legend about a tragic love story of a pair of lovers,  Liang Shan-bo and Zhu Ying-tai. They could not be together while they were alive as various life events kept them apart. Therefore, similar to Romeo and Juliet, Liang Shan-bo and Zhu Ying-tai chose death. Both of them turned into butterflies, finally ran from the rules and expectations of society and were free to love and be with each other for eternity. 

Reflecting back on this week's reading and looking at the instrument classifications that Wade (2013) talks about, she states the "Chinese classified their instruments according to the natural material that produced each instrument's sound" (pg. 35).  China and India were the two oldest countries to classify their instruments through this mean and their instruments were thought to be significant items to their culture.  According to figure 2.1, the zither is a summer instrument and reflects the silk type of instrument in terms of the eight sounds.  Thinking about the symbolism that The Butterfly Lovers holds and the idea that it symbolizes two lovers, choosing death over life to be together for eternity, I personally think that the choice of instrument is appropriate, knowing how the eight sounds are organized.  The seasonal classification of summer for the zither and the beliefs of the Chinese culture for the eight sounds of natural materials help make the connections with the cultural importance and significance of this piece.

I do find it helpful to be able to classify and organize instruments from different countries into pre-existing, known groups.  Having an instrument classification system makes it possible for everyone, regardless of where they are in the globe, to get a clearer picture of unknown/unfamiliar instruments.  With a classification system, it is possible to compare and connect them with familiar instruments.  In terms of Western music classification, a listener would consider the zither to be a chordophone.  The western instrument classification system is derived from the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of instruments  (Wade, 2013).  A chordophone is a musical instrument that makes sound by way of a vibrating string or strings stretched between two points.  When considering the idea of instrument classification, it is best to look at how other cultures develop their own classification systems for instrument types when listening and evaluating music from a different culture.  Knowing that a zither is a string instrument, and the closest western instrument in comparison would most likely be the harp, it is possible to make connections within our own culture and experiences.  By being able to make connections within our culture and instrumentation knowledge, we can help deepen our understanding of others culture's music and instruments.

Wade, B. (2013). Thinking musically: Experiencing music, expressing culture. New York, New York: Oxford University Press

Week 1

The video above is of the Horlick Lady Rebels from Racine, WI singing "Doraji".  The Horlick Lady Rebels are a group of freshman and first year singers, who spend the year focusing on development of fundamental music and vocal skills, singing a variety of different genres and styles of music from throughout the world and participate in multiple performances throughout the academic year (Horlick Vocal Music).   "Doraji" is a pentatonic Korean folksong, which depicts about a white flower that grows in the mountains of Korea.   This particular arrangement is written for three-part treble voice.

I chose this song this week after reading the article by Bond (2014).  After reading about culturally responsive teaching in the classroom, I wanted to find a performance that captured the ideas that Bond discussed about working with students in the vocal setting.  Although I have limited experience with teaching choir, I found many of the things that she discussed could either be applicable to the instrumental setting or slightly modified/altered to fit the setting.  The importance of programming a wide variety of music genres and styles is stressed in this article.  Bond (2014) states, "due to students' varied musical histories, there is bound to be a range of musical awareness and preferences in each ensemble.  By including a wide variety of musics in selected choral repertoire, one can validate the preferences of many while expanding the soundscape of all (pg. 12).  I personally believe that this is very important from both a vocal and instrumental standpoint.  As music educators, we should be exposing our students to as many different musical experiences as possible in the time that we have to teach them.  Students will always listen to their preferred type of music, however will they always explore outside the box and look for new genres and styles?  Yes, some may because they are naturally inquisitive and curious, however, many others will not and they will only stick with the music that they know.  Bond (2014) specifically makes note of "when world music is programmed independently of musics from the Western European art music tradition, it relays a message that this music only belongs on special programs (pg. 12).  I believe that is a valid concern and that it brings up a good point regarding programming.  Directors should be aware of the choices they are making and messages that are being sent in regards to their programming choices.  If directors only select world music pieces for concert themes of "multiculturalism" or "music around the world," are we sending a positive message to students and families regarding the importance of world music?  Personally, I don't believe that we are.  If we only showcase these pieces at specific times or events, we are not giving this music the importance that it deserves and we are not providing our students with a diverse, quality music education.

In terms of looking at this from the perspective of how the study of ethnomusicology informs world pedagogy, I believe that there is a clear connection.  While the definition of ethnomusicology and ethnomusicologists may not be completely black and white, I do think that they play a significant role in the research and discovery of non-Western music and pedagogy.  Nettl (2005) defines ethnomusicology as "the study of non-Western and folk music" and ethnomusicologists as those who "carry out research about non-Western, folk, popular and vernacular music, taking into account both the music itself, as sound, and how it interactions with other things that people do" (pg. 7).  The research that ethnomusicologists complete is critical to the development of music pedagogy throughout the country.  Studying world music provides opportunities to look at different cultures, religions and societal norms.  By doing this, we are expanding our personal musical knowledge and understanding and as educators, we are able to bring this back into our teaching.

References

Bond, V. (2004).  Culturally responsive teaching in the choral classroom. Choral Journal, 55(2), 9-15.

Horlick Vocal Music. Retrived October 21, 2017, from http://www.horlickchoirs.org/lady.htm

Nettl, B. (2005). The harmless druge: Defining ethnomusicology. The Musics of the World, 3-15.