“A Bridge to Java”Four Decades Teaching Gamelan in America

Bi-musicality and dialogical musicality: Influences of Javanese gamelan participation on Western instrumental learning

“…Observation might then become a performative tool in other contexts, allowing musicians ‘to be more attentive to the other players’ gestures or signals’ [UG]. This could enable more cohesive ensemble performance with greater group rapport: ‘playing without notation, by memory or by improvisation, allows the musician to be creative, interactive, and sensitive to the concurrent events’ (Susilo, 2004, p. 62). It is possible that students are able to approach memorisation of Western music more positively after using it in gamelan playing; they are able to appreciate its value in learning and performance.…”

“…In discussing his experiences of teaching gamelan in Western contexts, Susilo stated that ‘just as important as learning to do it is learning to think the way the Javanese musicians think’ (Susilo, 2004, p. 57). Javanese masters tend to teach by imitation, using little verbal feedback (Brinner, 1995).…”

“…Therefore, one consequence of gamelan participation may be that players become aware of egoistic tendencies, which could be exacerbated in Western contexts by a focus on the individual and on the measurement of one individual against another. Susilo felt that the ‘higher goal’ of learning music is to be ‘a better member of the society’ (Susilo, 2004, p. 65). The multi-ability nature of gamelan participation may encourage players to disengage from views of judgement or comparison and to re-engage with affirmation of others and of the ensemble as a whole.…”

The role of negative emotions in learning music: qualitative understanding of Australian undergraduate students’ listening experience of unfamiliar music

“…In many higher education institutions, world music has also become a field of general education in its own right (Nettl, 2010). World music is typically taught in higher education institutions by ethnomusicologists, many of whom have expressed a variety of concerns, including those involving pedagogies (Krüger, 2011; Marcus & Solís, 2004), the importance of performance knowledge (Solís, 2004), the positionality of teachers (Trimillos, 2004), cultural appropriation and authenticity (Harnish, Solís, & Witzleben, 2004; Schippers, 2010), coverage of cultures (Nettl, 2005) and textbook structure (Nettl, 2010). Although a number of ethnomusicologists’ reflections and narratives of teaching world music in higher education contexts exist, they are mostly concerned with “teacher” perspectives.…”