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Music as Whose Culture?

Five Challenges for the Ensemble Teacher

Michael O’Brien, Madison

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School music curricula are already far more broad, ambitious and demanding than they were when most of us went through them. In order to comply with the National Standards, a school band, orchestra or choir teacher needs to fulfill far more roles than merely that of en- semble director. In order to meet all of the National Standards, you likely find yourself in a variety of roles that, in a university setting, would be parceled out to any number of different professors: theory and analysis (#5), ear training (#6), composition and orchestration (#4), maybe jazz studies (#3), musicology and ethnomusicology (#9) – all of this without even mentioning musical performance! I recognize the incredible demands that the conscientious school music teacher faces

in the classroom, having struggled to play all of those roles myself. And as an orches- tra-teacher-turned-ethnomusicologist, I applaud all teachers who are making the effort to work beyond their own training and comfort zones to expand their capac- ity as teacher and musicians, and to offer students an ever-wider array of musical experiences.

With those caveats, however, let me confess that I have seen many so-called “world music” or “multicultural music” performances founded on the rocks of good intentions. I have no doubt been guilty of a few of these myself. Given how little training in non-Western music, or cultural analysis of music at all, is a part of most teacher training programs, such

missteps are understandable and maybe even inevitable. But rather than detail a list of transgressions past, only to give further credence to those who are looking for an excuse not to bother trying, I would like to provide you with a list of challenges to confront in your next curriculum planning session, lesson plan, concert program, or department meeting.

1. Think beyond the large ensemble.

One of the difficulties we face in adapting music of other cultures to our classroom ensembles is that these ensembles are themselves products of a specific historical context, and serve specific cultural needs. Our most common school ensembles are the result of European, authoritarian cul- tural contexts: the church (choir), court life (orchestra) and the military (band). Given the wide variety of ways that music springs out of, and in turn creates, social meaning, is it any surprise that these ensembles do not lend themselves particularly well to (just to name a few) punk rock, bluegrass, flamenco, or Cuban controversia song duels? Many styles of music depend on spontaneity, or on musicians participat- ing as equals rather than looking to one “leader.” It takes creativity and a great deal of bravery for a teacher to relinquish enough authority in the classroom in order to foster this kind of music making. Are there ways you can divide your class into smaller groups, have students take turns making aesthetic decisions, teach each other, or in other ways replicate social dynamics that are appropriate to the musi- cal style you are learning?

2. Program your concerts to fit your curricular goals, not vice versa.

Concerts put the quality of music teach- ers’ teaching publicly, nakedly on display in a way that has few parallels in other disciplines. Given the central importance

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