I drum, I sing, I dance: An ethnographic study of a West African drum and dance ensemble

Abstract

The purpose of this ethnographic study was to investigate the Montclair State University’s West African drum and dance ensemble. Analyses of the data revealed three themes related to individual participants and the “lived reality” of the group as a whole, and to the social-cultural teaching–learning processes involved: spirituality, community-as-oneness, and communal joy. My motivation for undertaking this inquiry arose from the fact that, beginning in the 1960s, music education scholars in the United States have been concerned about the widespread marginalization of non-Western musics in American music teacher education programs. This situation is still a major concern because American undergraduate and graduate music teacher preparation remains overwhelmingly dominated by Western classical styles. This situation runs contrary to the massive social, cultural, situational, and musical diversity of American students’ lives. As one small effort to advance musical diversity in my own university music school context, I developed the proposal for and initiated the Montclair State University’s West African drum and dance ensemble.

“I did not know what to expect”: Music as a means to achieving work-life balance

“…As a pilot study, the workshops were offered as a break from work, and participants felt renewed, refreshed, relaxed, invigorated, and inspired to return to their workstations (Carlson et al, 2009; Tariq et al, 2012). Many participants mentioned they came to the workshops “not knowing what to expect”, yet all participants found engaging with African music “energizing” and “relaxing” (Bartolome, 2018; Silverman, 2018). It was also “informative” and “fun”.…”

“…Over the years, he has conducted several field trips to Ghana and continues to research, teach, and perform traditional music from West Africa. Chris focused on teaching West African rhythms at the workshops using traditional drums (Silverman, 2018).…”

“…After I taught the songs which included some movement and instruments, participants experienced something new with Chris in a drum circle. He taught them how to play West African rhythms called “ Kpangolo ” (Silverman, 2018). These rhythms were not related to the songs I taught.…”

The experience of musical jamming: Testing the fit of a model of hermeneutic phenomenology of spirituality in music education

“…We define a musical jam as an informal activity where musicians play improvised songs and chord progressions for fun. Informal music-making has been studied much in music education (Burnard, 2012; Green, 2002, 2008; Higgins, 2012), and jamming has been described as having a therapeutic effect on the musicians involved (Aigen, 2008; Ansdell & DeNora, 2016; John, 2015; Silverman, 2018). Research suggests that it can foster an augmented sense of community among experienced musicians (Higgins, 2012).…”