Music Education - African Music
Music Education
The following are examples of music projects / programs in schools and tertiary education institutions outside Africa which aim to research, develop and promote the teaching and learning of African musical arts and culture.
This research and development project examined the effectiveness of introducing Australian generalist primary teacher education students to musical concepts through the unfamiliar genre of African music, in particular action songs, dance and instrumental improvisation. The Orff, Kodaly and Dalcroze methodologies were taught through a repertoire of African music to foster a closer relationship between theory and practice and to teach rhythm through cross cultural engagement. Through analysis of questionnaire and interview data, the research demonstrated that students were not only highly motivated to engage with this new musical genre, but also gained an increased understanding of African culture.
The findings from this project were that student response to this curriculum innovation, in particular its effect on their confidence as music non specialists and their skills in learning staff and sol-fa notation, hand signs, and vocal, kinaesthetic and instrumental performance, were highly positive. It is argued that African music was perceived by students not so much as a 'novelty' experience, but as a source of genuine motivation, interest and enjoyment. Its potential for extending student understanding of rhythm as well as taking a significant step towards internationalizing the curriculum for a cohort of predominantly white, pre-service teachers will also be explored.
