Conclusion
arrangements as straying too far from Chinese classical roots , this approach of playing Chinese music may be necessary in order to make it more accessible to students and audiences alike ( Lizeray and Lum , 2018 ). Gildon also emphasised that he believes in grounding his approach around the individual goals and ambitions of his students , and prioritises their musical interests when designing teaching material or deciding on performance repertoire , which may not be possible if he had been following a prescribed curriculum
RETELLING THE NARRATIVE
' The first raga I teach is Mohanam . “ Mohana ” is actually another name for Krishna himself . I tell them “ You know how Krishna exists in every part of the world ? … so this raga Mohanam is really special . … It ’ s the pentatonic major … and it exists in every part of the world .”. In pop music , Mohanam applies everywhere … Then they get the connection , the connection between the flute and Mohana and that philosophy now . … So now when they listen to a Chinese composition , they think “ I think that ’ s Mohanam raga , but they ’ re doing something different …” … I think teaching similarities is important when teaching music .'
- Raghavendran Rajasekaran , private Indian classical flute teacher , 4 / 12 / 21
Ragha pairs a foundational raga ³ of Carnatic music with a philosophy that could be applied to music of many cultures and traditions , allowing them to better relate to music from different contexts . Retelling the narrative , as he has , is often employed in MME ( de Villiers , 2021 ). It is an approach that finds commonalities and not differences in musical traditions , and Ragha uses it to narrow the gap between Carnatic music and musical traditions more familiar to his students . He finds that the bridging of cultural differences is a key step towards nurturing a student ’ s interest in a musical tradition that is unfamiliar to them .
Ragha also explained that this approach of building on commonalities between traditions is informed by his own experience of learning jazz as an Indian classical musician . During his interview , he recounted how he gradually learned to play the flute according to Western harmonic convention , such as major and minor scales , by likening the process to playing within the melodic frameworks of ragas . This enabled him to not only bridge the differences jazz and Indian classical music in his playing , but allowed him to design a pedagogical approach that he can employ in his teaching .
Conclusion
Previous research on MME has been more focused on the role played by state school teachers . However , by focusing on the role of private music teachers , the study highlights how autonomy may be beneficial in designing pedagogical approaches to deal with the disinterest shown by students towards learning unfamiliar musical traditions , and how this is a challenge faced both by classroom and private music teachers . In the interviews , the nine private MME educators attributed this challenge to the possible domination of Western cultural products , such as popular or Western classical music , which students seem to prefer and to be more acquainted with . In some instances , this has led to a rejection of music that reflects the many other cultures of the country . This domination of Western products may exist even in a culturally diverse country such as Singapore , despite its geographical location in Southeast Asia and not the West , and its residents comprising primarily those of Chinese , Malay , Indian and Eurasian descent .
While cultural hegemony is not the sole reason for why MME educators observe disinterest from their students , it is still a factor that many of them take into consideration when crafting their own pedagogical approach and when designing teaching content or materials . The teachers have generally found more success in appealing to the interests of their students , as well as helping them understand the similarities between musical traditions . Students are also more likely to be interested in learning about music from a different culture if they are able to navigate it in a way that they can relate to and in a way that they can understand .
The tailored pedagogical approach adopted by the collaborators also highlights the benefits of teachers having flexibility and control over what they teach , as opposed to adhering to a prescribed curriculum . After identifying particular challenges they face when teaching , the collaborators were enabled by
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