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The College of Education at Wayne State University describes its view of public schools in a purpose statement. �We believe that the central purpose of schools is to help children develop their own capacity for success in life, becoming effective citizens for democracy -- individuals who have skills, attitudes, and knowledge to be productive community members, leaders, parents, and workers� (Purpose). Over the years, however, society�s view of the purpose of schools for children has changed drastically. This change has been manifested throughout the curriculum, but especially in the selection of literature for study and performance by high school bands. These changes have created an important dilemma within the music education profession, one that must be confronted by every successful band teacher.
When bands were first started in American middle and high schools in the 1900s, the schools were designed to provide a sense of American culture for their students. Immigration was a large part of society, and people thought that the schools should work to find unity among all the immigrant cultures. This meant that schools focused on American culture almost exclusively and ignored the rich traditions of other countries. In bands, this was the age of the patriotic Sousa March, and students did not play music from other countries at all (Colwell 60).
As the Civil Rights movement gained national attention in the 1960�s, however, public policy began to change. Americans saw that the �melting pot� was not in their best interest, and began to search for an understanding of marginal cultures. The search for understanding was carried into the schools, and the result was a drastic change in curriculum (Colwell 60). Elizabeth May, a specialist in children�s music, described the phenomenon in her speech at the International Seminar on Teacher Education in Music. �In the twentieth century we are looking for more precise, though perhaps not more beautiful means of introducing children to other cultures than their own in a world in which we must increase mutual understanding� (May 258). The result was a new field called Ethnomusicology, which focused on the study of music from other cultures (Learning 238). Ethnomusicology became the newest fad in band classes, and a host of new works were written for school bands. This new category of literature, however, required a decision on behalf of the teacher. Teachers had to decide whether or not to perform this new literature, and to what extent it should be a part of their curriculum.
The multiculturalism movement in music has been, in general, a positive addition to the band curriculum. Certain circumstances exist, however, in which the decision to program a multicultural work is actually harmful to that culture. In order to make the movement successful, the teacher and students must be conscious of the biases and limitations inherent within the performance, and they must strive to analyze the music in terms of its similarities and differences from that of our own American culture.
The primary benefit of multiculturalism in music is that it exposes students to a wide variety of cultures that they may not otherwise study. As students become aware of the myriad different cultures that exist, they begin to develop the understanding of others that they will need to survive in today�s global society. Through guided study of music, students can begin to recognize similarities between aspects of another culture and that of their own, an important step towards combating prejudice. All music is made of the same basic elements and is influenced by the cultural and historical period in which it was written, and similarities like these will help children to understand the music of other cultures. Furthermore, students will have something with which to compare the music of their own culture, and they will begin to see all music in a different light. Students can not analyze what makes their music unique if they have not studied enough music from other cultures to understand what differences there are. An understanding of the differences will allow them to better analyze the strengths and weaknesses of a culture�s music (Learning 242). As May states, �There is no substitute for performance of a music in learning to understand it� (258). The greatest understanding will come with performance of a wide variety of music. It is clear that the study of music of other cultures by students leads to benefits in their understanding and performance of all music.
There are three main challenges that exist in the study of multicultural music which must be overcome in order for the experience to be beneficial for students. The first is a lack of good quality multicultural music and of the knowledge required to teach the music effectively. Another challenge is the attitude of the teacher and the school district towards multiculturalism. Finally, inherent stereotypes in Western culture must be minimized. Only with careful attention to these challenges will the effort to teach multicultural music be successful.
Although the availability of multicultural works for bands is much greater than it was even just a few years ago, it can still be a challenge to find selections of a high quality for performance. In many instances, composers wrote multicultural works because they were not good enough to write works in the western tradition that would be performed, and they were looking for a way to break into music composition. Works should not be chosen just because they are multicultural; they must also be quality compositions. Students who are exposed only to poor quality multicultural music will assume that the music of other cultures is inherently worse than that of their own, but this could not be further from the truth. Teachers must be trained to choose appropriate music in order to make the experience successful. Furthermore, they must learn how to interpret the music correctly and to understand the style in order to teach it to their students. Fortunately, colleges are beginning to add multicultural music classes to their teacher training curriculums (Hoffer 41).
Another challenge to teaching multicultural music successfully is the attitudes of both the teacher and the school district. Multiculturalism must be a schoolwide policy, not just a token exercise undertaken by the band teacher. Research has shown that students respond best to multiculturalism in music when they understand the culture from which the music comes, and in fact, most children want to learn about the culture whose music they are performing (May 264). In addition to the presentation of multicultural information throughout the school, the students need to be influenced by a positive attitude from their teachers. Studies show that students� opinions are influenced by the opinions of people they know and respect, including families, teachers, and peers. For this reason, it is important to teach not only the music itself but also a love for multiculturalism which can be extended both to the students and to the community (Hoffer 41).
Even with the right music and a positive attitude towards it, multiculturalism still faces challenges. Perhaps the biggest challenge to a truly complete understanding of multicultural music is the bias which is inherent in our own culture. Every piece of music we hear and study will be analyzed primarily in terms of how it is similar to, or different from, the music with which we are familiar, and yet even the act of analyzing music shows bias towards our own culture. We study music with a desire to find universality among it so that we can identify and understand the differences. This desire for universality, however, often undermines our ability to create a truly authentic performance. Some people would argue that if the performance is not authentic, then it is a moot point to study the music in the first place as students get an incorrect idea about what the music of that culture really sounds like. It is important to remember, however, that although no performance of multicultural music can be completely authentic, it is very rare that a performance of a piece of music reproduces exactly the sounds the composer intended when the piece was written. This is part of the art of live music. Furthermore, in many cases the study of a piece of music is the only exposure students get to that particular culture. If the students and teacher approach the experience understanding that the performance might not be completely authentic and try to learn as much as they can about the new culture in spite of that fact, the benefits of the experience will certainly outweigh any lack of authenticity in the performance. Furthermore, by finding common ground within the music of different cultures, students will develop a much wider base from which to understand any music they play (Learning 243).
Multiculturalism in band literature is a relatively new movement with great potential for helping our students become better musicians. Through the study of music from other cultures, students come to appreciate the diversity that exists in our society. The study of a wide variety of music helps students to understand all cultures better. By working to actively combat challenges such as a lack of music of good quality, bad attitudes towards multiculturalism, and inherent cultural stereotypes, teachers can provide positive experiences in multiculturalism for their students.
WORKS CITED
Colwell, Richard J., and Lizabeth B. Wing. An Orientation to Music Education: Structural Knowledge for Teaching Music. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004.
Hoffer, Charles R. Teaching Music in the Secondary Schools. 5th ed. Australia: Wadsworth, 2001.
Learning to Teach Music in the Secondary School: A companion to school experience. Ed. Chris Philpott. New York City: Routledge Falmer, 2001.
May, Elizabeth. "Teaching a Music Teacher to Use the Music of Other Cultures Than His Own." International Seminar on Teacher Education in Music. N.p.: n.p., 1966.
The Purpose of Schools. Wayne State University College of Education. 8 Apr. 2005 <http://http://www.coe.wayne.edu:16080/wholeschooling/WS/WSPrncples/
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