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early childhood education

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Rick Townsend, WMEA State Chair, Early Childhood Education

One Great Question

My four-year-old music class was pro- gressing nicely last week when one of the children asked an innocent and somewhat remark- able question. We

were enjoying a storybook song, The Crabfish, wonderfully illustrated by Vin- cent Nguyen and adapted for music class settings by John Feierabend. Each line of the story is separated by a brief interlude, during which the teacher turns the page and the children sing two mixolydian phrases to the text “Mash-a-row-dow-

dow-dow did-dle all the day.”

This child, becoming impatient by the repeated interruptions to the story line, spoke up. “Why do we have to keep sing- ing that?” she asked somewhere between the eighth and 10th

dow-dow.”

“Mash-a-row-dow-

Why, indeed? In my best Where do babies come from-styled response, I replied, “That’s just how the song is written.” She was satisfied – actually, placated – by my feeble response, and a dozen four-year- olds stayed on task.

Reflecting later, I realized that it was a remarkable question because the answer requires that we differentiate between what is merely useful and what is aes- thetically worthy – between meanings

Practical Pointers

that cling to definitions and meanings that lead us to important worlds beyond definitions. Knowing the answer can help us understand better why we do what we do – the mark of a good question.

Another Great Question

Why teach music from other cultures?

Our general music songs and chants serve simultaneously as our content, our context and our tools. Eventually, a piece’s pres- ence in our classes becomes comfortable for us as teachers. With limited class time to accomplish all that we wish, new repertoire can be a real challenge – espe- cially when it is in an unfamiliar style or language. We know that the ninth National Standard and Wisconsin Model Academic Standard “I” suggest teaching music from other cultures, but we rationalize that we can’t do everything and it is usually the unfamiliar challenges that are left out (at least in my classes).

So why press it?

Early Efforts – Mixed Results

We have records of cross-cultural musical influences from the beginning of written history, such as the iconic slave musi- cians shown performing in royal Egyptian festivals. Dravidian Indians in 1,000 BC shared instrument names with those in King David’s Israelite palace, although separated by nearly 3,000 miles.

It is sad to realize how often in the past foreign musicians were slaves or, more recently, treated like members of a

“When music helps children to understand their own hearts, they become better equipped to assimilate the richer truths about others.”

carnival sideshow. Shipped across the world, and taken on tour by entrepre- neurs, turn-of-the-20th

-century Indonesian gamelan ensembles became a spectacle.

Here at home, early attempts at cultural sharing also led to less-than-perfect mu- sical outcomes. For example, we know about the Fisk Jubilee Singers who, in the 1870s, touring the north, were required to Schubertize the authentic music of American slaves in order to please white audiences.

Still, the interest generated by Indonesian gamelan ensembles survived to influence a large number of 20th

century composers,

and the Fisk Jubilee Singers became a celebrated ensemble whose original tour departure date is, to this day, marked by a yearly campus festival. The group actu- ally saved its young college from financial extinction, and even sent a donation to victims of the great Chicago fire. And whatever our opinion of their musical decisions, their effect as early healing

– Rick Townsend

Studies show that incoming college freshmen in our music departments often lack knowledge of the folk music of their own culture. New songs can be good, but when selecting a balanced content for general music classes, remember that our own folk traditions are a valuable part of the mix.

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