A "Place" for Every Voice: The Role of Culture in the Development of Singing Expertise

Russell, Joan

doi:10.2307/3333146

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…Deena's belief that all of her students have musical potential and her expectation that all of them will develop some form of musical ability are similar to the findings of ethnomusicological studies of cultures in which there is no concept of innate, selective talent and it is believed that all can develop musical skills (Blacking, 1971(Blacking, , 1973Feld, 1984;Koops, 2010;Mapana, 2011;Marshall, 1982;Merriam, 1967;Messenger, 1958;Russell, 1997;Turino, 1989). Specifically, Deena seems to hold for her students an "expectation to be musical" like that found by Koops (2010) among people in The Gambia, believing that all students can and will develop some form of musical competence, similar to Blacking's (1971) idea of "average musical ability" (p. 22).…”

Section: Ability Beliefs As Self-fulfilling Prophecy?mentioning

confidence: 64%

“…While many among Western cultures conceive of musical ability as an innate and selective talent, much literature in the field of ethnomusicology suggests that this belief is not universal (Merriam, 1964). Ethnomusicologists have studied numerous cultures in which the concept of innate, selective musical talent is noticeably absent (Blacking, 1971(Blacking, , 1973Feld, 1984;Koops, 2010;Mapana, 2011;Marshall, 1982;Merriam, 1967;Messenger, 1958;Russell, 1997;Turino, 1989). Instead, these cultures hold a belief in universal human musicality-that all human beings are musical and can develop musical ability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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“Everybody has something”: One teacher’s beliefs about musical ability and their connection to teaching practice and classroom culture

Shouldice

2018

Research Studies in Music Education

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The purpose of this case study was to explore one elementary music teacher’s beliefs about the nature of musical ability and the ways in which these beliefs relate to actions and lived experiences in the classroom. Data included extensive classroom observations documented through fieldnotes and video footage, semi-structured interviews, teacher journal entries, teaching artifacts, and researcher memos. Three themes emerged from the data: (a) enabling success for all; (b) power of the learning environment; and (c) encouraging lifelong engagement with music. The findings of this study suggest that music educators’ beliefs about students’ musical abilities relate to their actions in the music classroom, their interactions with students, and their beliefs about the purpose of music education. Music educators should reflect on their beliefs, the ways in which they relate to teaching practice, and the impact they may have on students’ musical achievement and musical identity development. Additionally, music teacher educators should consider the role they might play in helping pre-service as well as in-service music teachers examine and possibly reshape their beliefs about music teaching and learning.

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Section: Ability Beliefs As Self-fulfilling Prophecy?mentioning

confidence: 64%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Everybody has something”: One teacher’s beliefs about musical ability and their connection to teaching practice and classroom culture

Shouldice

2018

Research Studies in Music Education

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“…Although in practice we experience through performance and listening the musical stories of other cultures, they are nevertheless culture specific, and we do not always understand the underlying purpose and value of the musics we experience. Ethnographic studies of children's songs and singing games, and studies of ritual chants and other musical practices, have demonstrated (Addo, 2001;Blacking, 1995;Campbell, 1996Campbell, , 2002Dzansi, 2002;Mans, 2000;Russell, 1997Russell, , 2001Russell, , 2002 their reciprocal relationship with the culture and values of their communities. Children internalize the values and traditions of their cultures when they engage in singing and singing games.…”

Section: Myths Songs and Musical Games: Tell Our Storiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…9. I have noted elsewhere (Russell, 1997(Russell, , 2001(Russell, , 2002 that Fijian children know a range of musical styles and genres, from Methodist hymns and Anglo-American folk songs (translated into Fijian) to knowledge of traditional Fijian meke, each genre having its place in the appropriate social context.…”

Section: For Example Through Mala's Eyes: Life In An Inuit Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

What's to Be Done With the Fox? Inuit Teachers Inventing Musical Games for Inuit Classrooms

Russell

2006

Curriculum Inquiry

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This paper explores the issue of culturally responsive music curriculum content in the context of a music course that I taught on three occasions for Nunavut Arctic College's Teacher Education Program (NTEP). The 19 Inuit students who attended the course were working toward achieving certification for teaching in Nunavut schools. One of the assignments asked the student teachers to invent and peer teach a musical activity that adapted some of the concepts, materials, and skills I brought to the course to something traditional to Inuit culture. Three questions emerged from this assignment: What themes would their musical activities address? What values and traditions would be embedded in these themes? How would these themes relate to the themes expressed in the wider culture-in Inuit-produced carvings, printmaking, weaving, legends, and poetry? A thematic analysis of the student-designed activities revealed a connection to the "land" in ways that we do not see in Eurocentric music curricula, and the chosen themes were consistent with those that are present in other Inuit cultural products. One student's assignment is presented as an example of a musical activity that positions the Inuit relationship with the land at the core of the activity, while drawing on ideas from both Inuit and qallunaat (non-Inuit) traditions. I conclude that Inuit-created musical activities that are derived from Inuit experience have a role to play in decolonizing the curriculum for Inuit students.

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“…I found this chapter by Mills and McPherson stimulating for a number of reasons: the issue of what constitutes musical literacy resonates with my own experience as (a) a member of a family of musicians who played instruments and sang professionally, but had no formal training; (b) as a researcher in Fiji (Russell 1997(Russell , 2001(Russell , 2002(Russell , 2003 which I describe as a "singing culture" because of the widespread ability to harmonize ad lib; and (c) a professor of music education working largely with "generalist" student teachers. Too many of these students believe that the descriptor 'musical' is applicable only to those who read music.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Review: McPherson, G.E. (Ed.) The Child as Musician: A Handbook

Russell¹

2007

Empirical Musicology Review

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(paperback) £34.95. -A review and dialogue with 30 authorsHow we develop musically, and the role of education in this development is a topic of interest to every music educator. Our pedagogies and curricular choices are guided by our beliefs, our observations, our experience, and our values according to how we understand what it means to be musical, and to develop, musically. We are also guided by research, whose claims for truth are expected to be based on evidence rather than belief. Therefore, it is our responsibility to familiarize ourselves with the available body of scholarly knowledge, and to examine it critically so that our discourse and classroom applications are based on twin pillars of experience and research. The Child as Musician: A Handbook of Musical Development, offers a distillation of knowledge of musical development from a wide range of perspectives including cognitive, psychological, physiological, philosophical, historical, social and cultural. Thirty authors report on studies of the musical development of children. The twenty-four chapters are grouped loosely into five sections: Development, Engagement, Differences, Skills, and Contexts. For the most part, the scholarship is situated in mainstream UK, North American, Western European, and Australian musical experience. Two chapters are devoted to ethnographic studies. Issues addressed here are of interest to researchers, scholars, teacher educators and music education professionals. Readers will note that the book's editor, Gary McPherson, is listed as co-author in five of the 24 chapters.In the first section, labeled Development, five authors report on prenatal development, infants as musical connoisseurs, the musical brain, methodological issues in cognitive musical development, and musicality. The first three chapters review research on the development of the musical brain. Richard Parncutt points out possible dangers of research on the unborn child and the potential for harm once the child is born. Sandra Trehub addresses a methodological issue that dogs researchers in the field of infant musical perception, namely how to obtain valid information that is useful. Don Hodges reviews current knowledge about the development of the 'musical' brain from before birth through the teenage years. His claims that formal music training develops different brains, and enables the detection of pitch variation in music and language warrant closer examination: it would carry more weight if the socio-cultural complexities of the development of musical perception received greater acknowledgement. The concept of the student as recipient of training implies a unidirectionality that can't be rationally supported. Readers may well ask how these perceptual abilities develop among the multitude of accomplished musicians in our midst and around the world who have had no formal training. How may their superior expertise in pitch and rhythmic detection, differentiation, manipulation and re-creation be explained? Readers might also want to ask about the role of in...

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A "Place" for Every Voice: The Role of Culture in the Development of Singing Expertise

Cited by 10 publications

References 0 publications

“Everybody has something”: One teacher’s beliefs about musical ability and their connection to teaching practice and classroom culture

“Everybody has something”: One teacher’s beliefs about musical ability and their connection to teaching practice and classroom culture

What's to Be Done With the Fox? Inuit Teachers Inventing Musical Games for Inuit Classrooms

Review: McPherson, G.E. (Ed.) The Child as Musician: A Handbook

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