World Music Cultures as a Pathway to Composition and Improvisation

Katie Noonan, a school music teacher in New York, is featured by Montemayor et al. (2018) for her journey into creativity through world music. She traveled to Ghana one summer and studied Ewe dance and drumming, and upon returning she arranged two Ewe songs she had learned for her fifth grade concert band. She taught the songs by rote to the students, reflecting Ghanaian music pedagogy. She also involved her students in making creative decisions about the arrangement. Noonan explains:

Originally, I wrote the arrangement. But after the band played it, some things didn’t seem to work, so I asked for feedback from the students. Originally, we weren’t going to sing the songs in the arrangement, but then someone suggested, “Why don’t we sing it and then play it after?” and everyone said, “Yes! Absolutely, let’s do that!” I also think I originally wrote an accompaniment part for the low brass, and they said, “We want the melody! We don’t want to play this part.” So, we decided to have everyone play the melody in unison, which was fine, because that is the way they sing it Ghana anyway.” (Montemayor et al., 2018, p. 133)

While not every teacher can travel to Ghana, the availability of world music resources including YouTube videos, books, and online materials like the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and lesson plans is phenomenal. Recognizing that composition and improvisation are a central part of diverse styles of music from around the world is an important step toward opening pathways to creativity in music education classes. Webster (2016) notes that “music of other cultures, particularly in India, Iran, China, and West

Africa, were shown to rely heavily on improvisation within established boundaries” (p. 28). Around the world, in many cultures composition and improvisation are valued as core activities in music. Montemayor et al. (2018) explain that “many cultures embrace the belief that anyone is capable of creating original music of exceptional quality” (p. 109). Campbell (2004) makes it clear that culture-bearers have regularly endorsed creating and re-creating world music. She explains that:

When music is treated respectfully, with ample time given to its study, it is often a source of pride for people from a culture to hear their traditions—or new expressions reminiscent of their traditions—performed by those who have given their time and energy to it. (p. 193)

Relationships are at the heart of teaching, and approaching literature this way connects both cultural heritage and the creative process in a way that exposes the class community to the possibilities of deep and meaningful learning through a student- centered approach. Students come from diverse backgrounds and cultures and studying music from cultures that are represented by the class itself is an incredible way to connect with students and their families. Teachers should examine, sing, and play songs from diverse cultures and, as a part of teaching those songs, may open the door for students to create within the cultures of the given literature.

It can be daunting for a teacher to face the myriad cultures that are unfamiliar, but this shouldn’t be a cause for alarm. Instead, one can start with just a single culture that is somewhat familiar or particularly interesting and develop a lesson plan or two around that culture. A place to start could be a song like “Kye Kye Kule,” a game song from Ghana that can be adapted to any age and used in instrumental classes. After learning to sing the original song by rote, students and teachers can start to improvise other melodic ideas and use vocables or play on any instrument to develop or extend the original game song in new ways. For those interested in pursuing this pathway at a deeper level, each volume in the World Music Pedagogy Series from Routledge contains a chapter devoted to improvisation and composition in the context of world music. The Smithsonian Folkways Learn website³ also offers lesson plans on music from around the world.

Another interesting aspect of studying music from non-Western cultures is that many of them do not use notation. When introducing composition to students, teachers should remember that notation does not need to be a core aspect of the lesson. In fact, leaders in the field of teaching composition, like Wiggins (2001), suggest that when young composers are required to notate a score, they are likely to be less creative, so if a teacher really wants to emphasize creativity, it is better to not require traditional notation. Focusing on composing without the worry of writing it down can be freeing and result in more creativity and authenticity. This could be accomplished by simply performing an idea enough times to remember how it goes, or by audio recording an idea, but it could also involve written words and graphic symbols to help remember the piece.