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Music Itself Music in the Classroom MUSIC ITSELF Music, a form of expression and communication, has been in existence throughout the centuries. It is used for a wide variety of purposes conveying fact, motivating and stimulating the body and soul, expression of feelings and meaning. It existed even before language or art. Various modalities are used to produce music, the most basic of which is the human voice itself; in addition, a wide variety of different configurations such as an ensemble, solo singing, choir, band, and orchestra. Music is music whether it is represented by a Nigerian juju band, a Cambodian string orchestra, a Russian polyphonic choral ensemble, African American Blue-grass band, Andean pipe ensemble, Puerto Rican salsa band and can even include Bach! (Campbell, 1992) In its most technical sense music is notes and sometimes words arranged in a certain style or fashion. Musical constituents include elements of expression, resonance, rhythm, and tune. (Campbell, 1992) It consists of written notes and/or oral form. Most importantly, for humans music is essential to satisfy our need of connection with others. It bypasses mere words and touches our deepest innermost feelings in a way nothing else can. It is a communicator and a relayer of what lies deep within us.
Page (1995) puts it so well: "In many cultures, music is neither entertainment nor art ((it) is a living presence people cannot do without. Music is alive with a power that shapes and changes us." In a multicultural classroom where people are so diverse in not only culture and ethnic background but gender, disabilities, and sexual preferences, it is particularly important to have a means of providing a connection and understanding that will foster more harmony and happiness while functioning as an educational tool and assistant. It can reflect cultural characteristics and identity and help hearers internalize them in order to process and bring deeper understanding. At one time study of music in a classroom was called Music Appreciation and was mainly restricted to music of Western Culture. (Campbell, 1992). This was centered around what was known as a single-cultural approach which began to change with the advancement of the Civil Rights Movement. (Page, 1995) At that time, African-Americans began a push for their music to be studied. This went on to Hispanic and then Asian areas until now many areas of the world are represented. Music is so different in all cultures and reflects their beliefs. Some of the types of music include: drum bands, mariachi, gospel choirs, African polyrhythm, Bulgarian dances, Columbian marimba music, Chinese drum-and-gong, Middle Eastern drum and tambourines, and African-American work songs. (Campbell, 1992). Others are chants of unification, motivation and healing; representation of the forces of nature such as in Chinese music with its five-noted pentatonic scale (the earth, air, water, fire, and metal distances} and their harmony; and the drums and circle dances of the American Indians, symbolizing the complete harmony in roundness. (Page, 1995) Another facet of classrooms of yore was that they were based on a kind of hierarchical structure. Certain groups were placed higher and thought to be above others--which inevitably results in sexism and racism. There has been a shift to interconnectedness one with another and the positivity of enjoying a variety of relationships and experiences. This has slowly but surely eroded the thinking where one group was favored and others looked down on or ignored. (Page, 1995) Music is one of the great equalizers in accomplishing this goal.
Music and the arts have now been widely recognized as one of the most potent approaches to a multicultural curriculum, according to Schmidt. It gives direct experience at a deep feeling level connection and direct link with emotions that no other medium provides. (Schmidt, 1994).
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