IPWMT - Day 5

Wow! The last day is still opening up new dimensions to look at world music theories pedagogies! Pedagogies (plural) indeed!

John Hadja proposed using the psycho-physical notion of 'roughness' (as opposed to the western art-music idea of consonance/dissonance) to look at music across different traditions comparatively.

Brenda continues to problematize common western musical terms such as "cyclic(al)" and "developmental".

The afternoon Khatak workshop was by far the most challenging (and I thought learning to play in a Balinese gamelan the oral-tradition way was challenging enough). The integration of melodic/rhythmic syllable recitation coordinated with hand gestures and dance steps proved most challenging for me as a musician--my ability to maneuvre my four limbs as an organist wasn't sufficient. But, hey, what a great way to teach kids in this very bodily manner: imagine the fun learning rhythms and rhythmic concepts this way! (Maths teachers should be interested too!)

This wraps up a week-long series of very interesting perspectives on how to approach WMTP--from a compositional standpoint; with the aim of initiating students into academic research processes; through the lens of the American General Musicianship movement; recognizing the psycho-physical dimension; and incorporating bodily movements.