Author: Music Educators Journal

Publication Year: 1982

Media Type: Journal

Summary:

Abstract:

In October 1972 Music Educators Journal published an issue on world music cultures, which became a classic. Well received by the MENC membership, individual copies continued to sell over the succeeding decade. Two years ago, an outline for a second issue on music cultures of the world was developed within the Music Education Standing Committee of the Society for Ethnomusicology. The outline, which closely followed that of the original issue, was submitted to the editorial board of MEJ, accepted in concept, and included in the publication plans for 1982-83.

Realization that several conditions had reshaped the American cultural milieu, in addition to school settings, required changes in the content plan for the publication. Clearly, music educators had acknowledged the impact of world music cultures. This acknowledgment has grown out of the realization that the is culturally pluralistic. Therefore, world music cultures are no longer exotic or distant. In addition, several music educators expressed the desire that the issue focus primarily on the concerns of multicultural music education rather than provide information on specific music cultures.

A multicultural imperative emerged in music education in the during the past decade, and this is the focus around which original plans for this issue have been realigned. Each article addresses an aspect of the essential teaching of many musics in the .

Beginning with Beth Lomax Hawes's discussion of cultural diversity in the (p. 26) the first six articles describe the context within which this multicultural imperative is taking shape. Authors Robert Garfias, William M. Anderson, Jack P. B. Dobbs, and George N. Heller echo Hawes's sentiments that American culture must go beyond the melting pot into an era of the mosaic.

The articles that follow, beginning with Sue Gamble's presentation of the fundamentals in the teaching of musics that belong to real people who are living now (p. 39) illustrate a range of practices and strategies for multicultural music education. These include the organization of courses, aesthetic considerations, experiences that support learning, cultural understanding and the development of listening and performance skills.

The next section, beginning on page 52, offers tools for the classroom. Articles show how to gather teaching materials in the local community and abroad, give an example of comprehensive research, include a thorough bibliography and discography on one subject, and list additional resources on teaching world musics. Also included are a historic vignette of the MENC Multi-Cultural Awareness Committee and its work, as well as a preview of the 1984 meeting in this country of the international Society for Music Education. (p. 5)

CONTENTS
Articles: The multicultural imperative.
Our cultural mosaic by Bess Lomax Hawes.
The American ethnic palette: statistics tell us who we are. Music in the : Community of cultures by Robert Garfias.
The teacher as translator of culture by William M. Anderson.
Music as a multicultural education by Jack P. B. Dodds.
Retrospective of multicultural music education in the by George N. Heller.
America provides refuge for an imperiled art.
Educational tactics.
A multicultural curriculum by Sue Gamble.
Teaching introductory ethnomusicology classes by Hiromi Lorraine Sakata.
The sound of a bell: aesthetics and world music by Ricardo D. Trimillos.
African music through the eyes of a child by Lvenia A. George.
Cooking lessons for rhythmic skills: jazz piano by Jerry Gray.
Tools for teaching world musics.
Collecting materials in your community by Emma S. Brooks-Babam.
Collecting materials abroad by Lynne Jessup.
Gospel music: review of the literature by Mellonee Burnim.
Musics of Hawaii and Samoa: exemplar of annotated resources by Barbara B. Smith.
Selected resources.
Racial and ethnic directions in American music.
Multi-cultural awareness committee, new directions, by Ella J. Washington.
America hosts Music for a small planet international meeting.
Eastman conference on music's future.
Bibliography and music recording sources.
Indexes of MEJ volume 69.

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Cultural Diversity, Arts Education