Title: Coldplay - "Peponi" (Paradise) African Style (ft. guest artist, Alex Boye)
Performers: Pianist Jon Schmidt: Cellist: Steven Sharp Nelson: Videographer: Paul Anderson, Music Producer: Al Van der Beek, and Guest Vocalist: Alex Boye
Culture of Origin: Southeast Africa including Swahili spoken areas such Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
This is a great piece to begin to introduce students to world music as it provides a recognizable melody and accessible song as a base. Blending it in with traditional Swahili, both language and instruments creates a platform for students to understand and respect other cultures, ethnicities and origins of music. I feel as though to achieve the greatest level of engagement in and appreciation for world musics, we must provide our students with an access point that has some resonance within themselves. They must be able to relate to the music presented in some context in order to find a level of interest which in turn will motivate them and captivate their enthusiasm. On a personal level, I also chose this piece because The Piano Guys are one of my favorite groups. Additionally, my students always love to hear the remakes of various songs, both pop and classical especially at the elementary level. It is also a way for them to see and hear how they are not simply "constricted" in the music we perform as an ensemble, and how there is more to music than just simply playing the violin or cello for example.
You presented a very interesting point about making world music accessible to young students and how they need to have some type of connection to it in order to get the most out of it. This is something I had not thought of on my own yet and it makes sense! So much of teaching focuses on building on what students already know. Why would we not apply this to world music, too? This serves as a wonderful example of two cultures blending together to create one unified work of art. This song introduces them to a new culture, instruments, and language that can then be built on to fully submerse the students into the Swahili culture and musics from that culture.
ReplyDeleteI am curious in what ways you find ethnomusicology informs world music pedagogy?
Hi Megan,
DeleteStudying other cultures types of musical origin and traditions will help give students exposure to what they could be learning. Exposing students to more people, cultures, types of music, even if it’s for listening purposes or performances will help students find a more meaningful experience to engage and learn about cultures outside of their own. That is one of the greatest aspects ethnomusicology can help music pedagogy. What do you think?
I think it is a great idea to introduce students to a "new" culture by having something familiar to connect it to. Once an initial connection is made, it will be easier to go further in to that culture. This way, the initial depart from their norm will not be a step by step process so that it does not seem totally different from the students. I also like that this video defines the foreign elements at the beginning. This arrangement does a great job highlighting the different instruments - I think it would allow students to hear the difference between instruments that they are familiar with, and be able to better hear the instruments they are not as familiar with.
ReplyDelete