REFLECTIONS
Annotated Bibliography #1 (September 23, 2018)
Shelemay, K. K. (2017). Sound: The materials of music. In K.K. Shelemay (Au.). Soundscapes: Exploring Music in a Changing World. Ch.1. Pp. 26-76. New York: W. W. Norton & Company Inc. ISBN- -10: 0393918289 ISBN-13: 978-0393918281
For the first genre, I decided to find two recordings of duduk music. The recordings that I found were of Lévon Minassian’s “Yeraz (Rêverie)” from his album The Doudouk - Beyond Borders ([Armenian Heritage], 2015). I also found a performance from the Andranik Mesropian & Band, titled Armenian Duduk ([MGER], 2018). I chose the duduk as because I think that it is interesting, being an ancient double reed instrument. As a woodwind player, the extent of my knowledge when it comes to double reed instruments are oboes, english horns and bassoons, so I wanted to see the roots of these instruments. From these two recordings, I noticed that while this instrument dates back to the B.C. years (Comfort, S. A, n.d.), there are a lot of composers that write modernized music for the duduk. The Armenian Duduk piece particularly seemed to have Spanish elements, showing how composers experiment with this instrument today. My first impression of this instrument was that it would sound like a higher pitched oboe, but after listening to these pieces, I realized that while you can hear the reed slightly, it mainly sounds like a pan flute. Also, it was interesting to see how the players in the performances vibrate their embouchures drastically to achieve a vibrato sound ([MGER], 2018). In terms of the instrument’s history, I learned that duduk music usually contained two duduks, with one playing a drone and another playing a melody in a biphonic form for social functions and events (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, Duduk and its music, n.d.).
For the second genre, I chose Mongolian traditional folk long songs. I chose this because I knew very little about traditional Mongolian culture and music to begin with, and I thought this would help me learn about it. For this project, I decided to listen to a recording of a song titled Qinghai Lake ([Elias Profeta], 2016). When listening to this, I noticed that the voice within these songs typically utilize a lot of vibrato in the long held tones (Shelemay, 2017). My first impression was that these songs would sound very traditional, but while browsing on YouTube for different long songs, I heard the songs in a different context. I learned that like in duduk music, these songs typically contain drones in the accompanying instrumental music while there is a prominent melody. Also, like duduk music today, it is evident that Mongolian long songs are being modernized, since there are occasional popular music characteristics such as drums keeping quadruple meter. Through research, I found out that these songs originated from as far back as 2000 years ago, and were traditionally used for social events such as weddings and festivals (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, Urtiin Duu, traditional folk long song, n.d.). However, as modernization occurs, the traditional nomadic lifestyles of the Mongolians has been slowly dissipating, along with the relevance of these traditional songs.
TA Laura Benjamins’ Response Questions:
-
Do you think it is appropriate to use an instrument from a different culture to play modern music without retaining the style of music the instrument was originally built for?
-
How, would you say, can we continue to keep a community’s musical tradition alive with particular instruments?
-
Is it okay to learn the traditional music of a community if we are not from there?
My Response Answers:
-
I personally think that it is appropriate to use an instrument from a different culture to play modern music without retaining the style of music it was built for, because I feel that this is the way that music evolves and new genres form. For instance, at some point the voice would have had to stray away from Gregorian Chant. If it never did this, we would never have rap, country, pop music, etc. The world would be filled with Gregorian Chant and at some point music would lose its sense of spontaneity. This concept applies to almost all instruments such as guitars from classical to rock music, double basses from orchestral to jazz music, and more.
-
However, in order to keep musical tradition alive with a certain instrument, I think anyone who plays said instrument should explore all the historical repertoire that encompasses it in order to realize its overall evolution. This way, there is an even balance of seeing where the instrument came from, and also seeing the potential that the instrument has in the future.
-
The only time I think it is not okay to learn the traditional music of a community if we are not from there is when it is offensive to the people of that tradition. For instance, I am not going to attempt to sing Native American ritual songs because they would usually take offense to this, due to my lack of education surrounding their rituals. I think that a good way of knowing if it is okay to do this is if you are taught about the background information surrounding the instrument/music by someone who is of that culture. By them teaching you, it signifies that they are willing to invite you into that part of their culture, and that they will also show you the correct way to honor their heritage without offending people of that culture.
References
[Armenian Heritage]. (2015, May 25). 3. Yeraz (Rêverie) [Video File]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i1rJJhxpto
Comfort, S. A. (n.d.). Duduk FAQ. Retrieved September 21, 2018, from
http://www.duduk.com/duduk-faq/
[Elias Profeta]. (2016, Nov 2018). Inner Mongolia Song 青海湖 Qinghai Lake [Video File].
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci1iNT9UdXk
[MGER]. (2018, Jan 26). Armenian Duduk (Official Video) - Andranik Mesropian & Band
[Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1PIylFjrpo
Shelemay, K. K. (2017). Sound: The materials of music. In K.K. Shelemay (Au.). Soundscapes:
Exploring Music in a Changing World. Ch.1. Pp. 26-76. New York: W. W. Norton & Company Inc. ISBN- -10: 0393918289 ISBN-13: 978-0393918281
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Intangible Cultural Heritage.
(n.d.). Duduk and its music. Retrieved from
https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/duduk-and-its-music-00092
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Intangible Cultural Heritage.
(n.d.). Urtiin Duu, traditional folk long song. Retrieved from
https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/urtiin-duu-traditional-folk-long-song-00115
Annotated Bibliography #2 (September 30, 2018)
Veblen, K. K. (2018). Adult music learning in formal, nonformal and informal contexts. In G. McPherson & G. Welsh (Eds.). Special Needs, Community Music, and Adult Learning: An Oxford Handbook of Music Education, Vol 4. Pp. 243-256. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN-10: 019067444X/ ISBN-13: 978-0190674441.
In this article, the concept of the barbershop quartet interested me. Personally, I had always thought that learning how to sing this style of music required a vast amount of knowledge about harmony. However, I learned that barbershop quartets used to form their melodies and harmonies by experimenting with pitches that they thought worked in the context of the piece. It was interesting to figure out that they formed these songs in an informal way, yet their music would still be widely enjoyed by the public.
One assumption that I had about adults learning music is that most adults would start to learn music because they would enjoy it personally. However, this article shed light on the fact that most adults practice and remain engaged in music mostly when it involves a social context, such as family and church music. While I thought that adults would continue music based on their individual desires, it also makes sense how the social aspect would keep them tied to music in some way, since this adds another enjoyment factor.
It surprised me that I had never thought of learning music in the context of formal, informal and nonformal education. Now that I look back, I realize that all of these have been prominent in my life leading up to now. I would always experience formal education by taking music classes in high schools, informal education by researching how to play certain instruments, and nonformal music since I was a little kid by listening and liking the music that my family showed me. It made it clear to me that people can gain different types of knowledge about the same subject through different education methods.
I was frustrated about the concept about “no-one teaching” someone music. In this day and age, I think that it is fair to say that there is an extremely small amount of people who experience no external form of learning music, since those people would have to be isolated from music in their surrounding society. I think that today, even “self-taught learning” is still taught by another person. For example, if someone learns guitar by researching guitar tablatures online, the person who wrote the tablature is playing a role in teaching the guitar player music.
I would like to ask the author about what this ideology about different music education methods means for us as future adult learners and teachers. For instance, how would I be able to teach a school music class in the most efficient way, but also, how would I have to change my methods when playing in a band with my colleagues so that we all continue to learn? It is common thought that certain students learn in different ways; how can we apply these ideologies about music education so that all students from different learning backgrounds can succeed?
TA Laura Benjamins' Response Questions:
To clarify your frustration of the idea of “no-one teaching music”, am I correct in understanding that you are saying there is no such thing as learning music completely alone, where any form of “self-taught” or possibly informal/nonformal learning is still taught by someone else? This idea could possibly be expanded to the concept of immersion in music. How often is one’s immersion in musical settings the actual learning/teaching of music? Or can you actually separate musical immersion from learning and teaching music? I also want to focus on one of your final questions that states: “How would I be able to teach a school music class in the most efficient way”? What do you mean by efficient here, and who determines that? It is one of those terms that we need to think about what, exactly, it means, and how that may lead to individual beliefs and understandings.
My Response Answers:
While I know that there are some people who self-teach themselves music, I do believe people always say they are self-taught musicians when they use external resources to teach themselves. Because these external resources are created by other musicians, these musicians are essentially teaching the people who consume their products. These consumers may claim they are self-taught, but I do not believe they are. However, I believe it is possible to separate people's musical immersion from learning music, but they would have to actually learn how to play the music by themselves without the help of external resources. In terms of what I mean by efficient, I meant ways that I can teach that would help students to acquire the knowledge of the content. However, I do see how this term can be up to individual interpretation and cause ambiguity in music pedagogy.
Annotated Bibliography #3 (October 28, 2018)
Burwell, K., Carey, G., & Bennett, D. (2017). Isolation in studio music teaching: The secret garden. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education,1474022217736581.
The most interesting idea that was brought up in this article to me was the metaphor of looking at isolated studio teaching as a type of apprenticeship. While I am familiar with apprenticeships in other academic areas, I had never personally seen music as a subject that employs this pedagogical technique. However, when looking at the comparison analytically, I realize there are a large amount of similarities; a student imitating a teacher to acquire skills, practicing these skills, executing them in performance, etc.
An assumption that I originally had about one-on-one studio teaching was that its purpose was to prepare the student for their performances. However, this article specifically addresses this notion, stating that this should not be the primary focus of neither the teacher nor the student. Instead, the focus should be on integrating and connecting the student’s performing with the musicianship techniques that they are learning in their other classes. This way, they become more well-rounded musicians in all aspects. Now that I have thought about this idea, I understand how these connections can be extremely beneficial to undergraduate students.
I was surprised to read about the idea of studio teachers being isolated as well. Personally, when thinking about isolation within a music studio, I only think about the isolation of the students during one-on-one lessons. However, I found it surprising that the article also pertains to the isolation of the studio teachers and how it has implications on the student’s learning, since it may cause the teacher to maintain their bias and viewpoints on pedagogy and performance.
I was slightly frustrated when reading about the comparison of studio teaching to the “secret garden” idea. This idea describes a young girl who finds herself in an isolated garden and feels magical whenever she is in it. She gains knowledge in the garden by adhering to the autonomous approach of the garden. I do not see how this relates to studio teaching because that pedagogical approach is not entirely autonomous. The idea of studio teaching is always based on learning from a more-experienced teacher.
I appreciate how the author has analyzed the subject of isolation within studio teaching deeply to the point where they have multiple findings. Some findings that I have never thought about were outlined in this paper, such as the isolation of studio teachers and the cultural stereotypes of studio teaching. If I were to ask the author a question, I would ask them to analyze the group-setting pedagogical approach to music. This way, there could be a comparison of the two techniques, and we could understand the implications of both.
TA Laura Benjamins' Response Questions:
Why do you think you came with this assumption where the purpose of private music lessons is to prepare the student for performances? Do you think most people who have been classically trained come with this assumption? And why do we tend to emphasize this so much in our culture? I wonder if this is more strictly related to Western classical music or if these assumptions remain within private studio lessons for any genre of music. Could you also further explore what you were surprised about in this article, as well as your frustrations? How could the isolation of studio music teachers, for example, specifically have implications for students’ learning in terms of the teachers’ bias and viewpoints? Could this be healthy in some situations?
My Response Answers:
I think that most people end up taking private music lessons with the intention of performing music. For instance, I personally took private lessons because I wanted to prepare myself for auditions, and some of my other musical friends took private lessons so that they could compete in local contests. I also think that students should be able to experiment with different teachers and their biases. For instance, my first private teacher suggested that I use synthetic reeds, while my current studio teacher recommends trying cane reeds as well. It is interesting to see how expanding the amount of teachers you have can give you more learning opportunities and more diversity.
Annotated Bibliography #4 (November 11, 2018)
Something that interested me in this article was the idea of looking at music as a second language. This article brings up a lot of implications for pedagogical approaches for music, such as learning music as if it was a language. This would entail firstly being practically involved in music before being introduced to the theoretical, analytical and historical aspects of music. I find it interesting how most music education systems put emphasis on the latter aspects of music in comparison to performance, yet language acquisition shows that the opposite way is more efficient for learning.
Some challenged assumptions that I had surrounded the idea of popular music. My idea of popular music included music such as electronic dance music, hip hop and rap, rock and roll, singer-songwriter music, and the multiple sub-genres that fall under those categories. However, the article brought up other genres such as djent, reggaeton, banda, and shoegaze, which are all genres that I would not consider under the branch of popular music. It was interesting to see how the organizing genres is a subjective process.
A surprising aspect of this paper was the idea that music teachers rarely talk about music performance anxiety due to their lack of prerequisite skills. Another idea that surprised me was that sometimes music performance anxiety was caused by the teachers themselves. From my personal experience in middle school and high school music classes, the teachers addressed performance anxiety with the support of credible resources. In fact, if students had performance anxiety, it was because of the fact that the performances would be graded or in front of the class, and the teachers would try to reduce their anxiety..
In this article, something that really frustrated me was the idea of “embracing approximation”. The author was trying to make the point that it is okay for a student to approximate a piece of music, and that it is okay to call them “amateurs” because it means that they love what they do. However, the word “approximation” gives the teachers and the students the idea that they are working towards an incredibly specific goal. Thus, this word can create the notion that they are always going to be short of “perfect”. However, I think that the author should emphasize the fact that students have the opportunity to experiment when making music, and that they should not be working towards perfection in music since this does not exist.
I would like to ask the author questions regarding some of the special cases of students with certain preferences, since every student pursuing music has different tastes. For instance, since the Little Kids Rock organization specifically focuses on popular music, how could some of the methods such as improvisation and composition be transferred to traditional music pedagogy for the students who would prefer to learn about that? Also, for students who would still prefer to learn different instruments than the usual popular music instruments, how can they still take part in Little Kids Rock initiatives if they still would like to play the violin or clarinet for example?
TA Laura Benjamins' Response Questions:
Thanks for your thoughtful reflection. I especially enjoyed your thoughtful questions at the end where you presented the concept of transferring some of the skills emphasized by Little Kids Rock to classical music programs. In terms of improvisation and composition, are you referring to the presence of those skills in classical music programs? Because classical music programs definitely have some composition elements, for example, but I assume you are referring to some of those “informal” practices transferred to a classical music context. I appreciate your comments on the concept of approximation. I have not thought of it in that way but I do understand how some may interpret approximation as pointing towards a very specific goal. I think of it in reference to one of Lucy Green’s principles of informal music learning, where learners start with “whole”, “real-world” pieces of music rather than working up to the whole step by step. But thank you very much for sharing different ways in interpreting this!
My Response Answers:
When referring to composition and improvisation in classical music, I mean teaching these fundamentals from a formal context. From my experience in school, my teachers often discouraged composition, and would allow improvisation only in certain situations, so there was no opportunity for me to get acquainted with these aspects of music. Thanks for your comments, Ms. Benjamins!
Powell, B. & Berstein, S. (2017). Popular Music and Modern Band Principles. Routledge Research Companion to Popular Music Education (2017).
Workshop Reflection
(November 18, 2018)
Something that really interested me during the Sunday workshop was the way in which Dr. Powell taught the class. I really liked how he employed his idea of not teaching the students the theory behind his playing until they encountered it in their repertoire. I think that this approach definitely can benefit the students because it would reinforce music theory concepts in a practical sense. Since they would be able to associate these concepts with the fun applications they experienced, their learning would be more memorable.
However, this type of teaching also slightly frustrated me. While I may be in the minority, I was a student that particularly enjoyed learning about theory, even if it did not synchronize up with the repertoire that I was learning in class. I was always curious and preferred to have an earlier approach to how music worked. Dr. Powell’s approach to teaching music may appeal to most younger students by putting an emphasis on playing music, but his approach may not engage students who do not prefer the performance aspect.
I originally had an assumption that creating an environment in a school with modern instruments would result in many students feeling left out. I had this perception that because these instruments are widely popular today, so there would be a wide spectrum of student experience levels. While this concept may be true to some extent, Dr. Powell brought up another perspective that could a be a possibility in this type of classroom structure. He brought up the idea that the students at a lower experience level would be able to join groups with the more experienced students. This would inspire them and help them learn how to play their instruments and become more experienced.
Something that surprised me is how fast we were able to become involved in performance in Dr. Powell’s methods. Within minutes, everyone was able to play music even though more than half of the people in the class had little to no guitar experience. However, I wonder how this process would translate to younger students. From my experience, schools do not favour younger students taking any strings courses because they believe younger students would be more careless with the instruments. I would be interested to see how using this format of teaching would be impactful on younger students, and if they would either be engaged or overly excited to the point where they do not engage with the lesson.
If I could ask Dr. Powell a question, I would ask him about how this method could create a divide within the class. By introducing new instruments to the school music program, what would happen if half of the students within a young class would want to do popular music, and the other half would want to do classical performance? On a deeper level, what if the some of the kids in popular music would want to mainly perform, but others wanted to learn more theory? At what point do we stop tailoring to student’s desires? If every students ends up playing the music and the instruments that they want to play, it could be hard to keep track since they would all be taking slightly different courses, so how could this problem be avoided?