Title
of piece: Various Excerpts
Performers:
Students of ParaguayCulture of Origin: Paraguay
Instrumentation: Violin, Cello, Bass, Saxophone, Flute, and other instruments that can be constructed through recycled materials.
When speaking about educating students on multicultural music, the conversation often involved around bringing “world culture” into the “Western classroom.” What this video shows is the other side of the coin, that is to say bringing western music into the world classroom. In the Campbell reading of chapter 6, there is a lot of discussion on truly re-creating (performing) cultural music. The discussion that arises is the idea of being precise in these recreations. When we perform multicultural music on Western instruments, there’s some degree of “tampering” with the original sounds. In the Western classroom, we strive to create authentic multicultural experiences by providing access to traditional instruments. In the video example, the students of Paraguay, the students do not have access to traditional Western instruments and the educators have found a solution to providing a “authentically Western musical experience,” by having their students create their own instruments out of recycled materials found in and around the community.
“A completely authentic rendering of a piece may not be possible, but when elementary and secondary school students possess music as their own, whether it be recreation, or a new piece, that music becomes genuine to them as listeners and performers. These experiences can touch both cultural insiders and students in ways that are deeply fulfilling.” (Campbell 2004, p. 193) Watching this video, being of a Western background, I was truly moved by the quality of sound produced on these instruments seemingly made of waste. While the instruments are technically not authentic to Western culture, the sound produced is remarkable enough that it does pay tribute to the music’s origins. I believe that bringing these sorts of projects into a Western classroom, can bring a much greater understanding and fulfilment in my students of the world “unknown” to them. This type of activity can help produce a classroom discussion on the making of instruments though materials found around the house or in nature as well as help students experience what it is like for children of another culture to create music making opportunities. This provides an authentic way to learn and relate to another culture, while making music meaningful and realistic when a district may not have the budgetary allowance to purchase culturally diverse instruments.
Reference:
Campbell, P. S. (2004). Teaching
music globally: experiencing music, expressing culture. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Hi Matthew,
ReplyDeleteI love this video and have seen it before, but have never thought about it in respect to world music. I have used this as a teaching tool when I taught general music and did a unit on making instruments out of cans, boxes, rubber bands, etc. I thought it was interesting that you chose to focus on creating in terms of instruments, and not so much the music itself. This is another perspective that is valuable in discussing music as a human experience. I think it is fascinating that they are able to be so successful in recreating the timbres of the Western instruments using alternative materials. I agree that this concept is useful and can be a realistic way to acquire instruments without a budget. I think the implications and questions we can use are also important. The questions "Why do we make music? How do we make music? What kind of sounds do we want to hear?" apply to all musics around the world. If we really think about it, the instruments that are familiar to our students (drums, guitars, pianos) are really quite bizarre. The construction and ways of making sound took someone's creativity and desire for sound for these instruments to come to fruition. This same process exists in all cultures although the instruments are different and use different materials. These are great concepts to talk about with students in considering music on a global perspective. Thanks for your post!