A Case for Global Music Education
by Derek Beckvold
It is an age-old idea to take musical ideas from other cultures and incorporate them into your own music, from Beethoven adding Turkish cymbals and kettle drums into his orchestral writing, or Ravel ' s use of a Spanish dance in his famous " Bolero ", to John Coltrane or the Beatles ' use of Indian classical concepts in their music, Steve Reich ' s influences ranging from Indonesia to West Africa, or take the many modern " fusion " bands that exist currently. There are countless more examples of this musical borrowing or appropriation, and while these composers just listed are all framed through a Western lens, which can at times border on looking to other music as a form of exoticism or an Edward Said-like Orientalism, most certainly the reverse exists today in a widespread way.
I lived for two years with the late composer and educator Gunther Schuller, who coined the term " Third Stream " in American musical discourse back in the late 1950 ' s. The idea was, at the time, to find a space where Western classical and jazz music could co-exist within a single piece of music, fully themselves and fully integrated. Gunther used to say that there is much room to use concepts from others ' music, as long as it is done with careful thought, deep respect, and extensive study of the tradition. But in the many conversations we had together on this subject, it became clear that he was not just talking about the integration of these two musics, classical and jazz, but the integration of all musics. This is a beautiful idea, which has social and political implications far exceeding the bounds of music-making, but it ' s also a dangerous one, as these musics and their superficial elements could easily be haphazardly used in compositions and improvisations without their proper understanding, thus diluting the beauty, respect and integrity of the original music.
The only way to achieve this goal is through education. Education of each other ' s music, to be delved into deeply, both spiritually and methodically. But, equally important, is the teaching of this music in the manner in which it is meant to be learned and transmitted through the traditional process in which a given music thrives. This is no easy task, but it is crucial. This is why I believe musicians and music educators around the world should look carefully at the delivery system they use, and whether it aligns with the content they are delivering. Only then will we be able to create artists who are deeply knowledgeable about another music and internalize it fully to the point where it is firmly a part of their own vocabulary.
For example, I spent the last year living in New Delhi as a Fulbright- Nehru Scholar, trying to find ways in my own thinking and teaching to align the content of Indian music and Western music, as well as the methods by which these musics are traditionally taught, ie: in a gurushishya parampara setting or in a Western classroom with staff notation. While I am predominantly a saxophonist, I have studied tabla for the past ten years, and had the privileged to learn from Guru
Shailendra Mishra Ji this year in India. He has an insightful way of organizing his lessons, especially in a group learning environment. He is a very effective teacher, giving his time and knowledge to share with me large musical concepts, repertoire, history, social context, traditional performance practices, and ideas of respect, discipline, love, beauty and life. I am fortunate to be able not only to learn this special instrument, but as an educator, to be able to be a student in a different, but equally engaging and effective, learning system.
We can represent the relationship of what we learn to how we learn in a simple( and perhaps much too reductive) matrix:
Indian Music
Western Music
Indian Pedagogical Practice
Western Pedagogical Practice
Within each of these four variables( and there are many more if we broaden our views of what labels like " Indian " and " Western " mean), we can look at effective ways to teach music. Borrowing from one teaching methodology from one place to deliver information about a subject from another place. This ability to borrow an education system I think can only come after one has gone through that process as a student, after which point one can tap into many sources and inspirations from which to teach.
There is not a perfect combination of these variables, but rather it is constantly shifting and prioritizing, based primarily on the needs of the student. There ' s no secret recipe or magic bullet, but I do believe how we learn music is not considered nearly enough, compared against what the actual music is that we are learning. My hope is that we, as musicians and curious explorers of the world around us, can continue to gain a deeper global perspective on the music of now, and the music of our humanity ' s collective past, to not only express ourselves individually as artists, but to be best equipped to teach this music to the next generation. We need to use and adapt music from around the world, while at the same time preserving its integrity and traditional livelihood. We need to be more empathetic and respectful when borrowing others music, but still feel it is malleable to make something new and personal. And we need to insure that, as educators, we are doing our part to take the best practice methods of each culture ' s unique approach to create a " Third Stream " platform for global music education
The Score Magazine
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