IPWMT - Day 1 (25 May 10)

The CMS Summer Institute on the Pedagogies of World Music Theories is great!

Brenda Romero, in her introduction, urges us to think about what is worthwhile or important--what is CORE--for a world music theory curriculum.

I like Paul Humphreys' approach to teaching music fundamentals through world music--cuts across traditions (Bulgarian rhythms, Zen Kaihan, Japanese Jo-ha-kyū, Mridangam Jātī rhythms, Indonesian Kecak, all in one breath, cool!--and very hands-on. Must follow up on this.

Victoria Levine's Comparative Theory Curriculum provided a tantalizing glimpse into how experts have, for almost half a century now, toyed with such ideas as "multiple theory", "metatheory", "ethnotheory" (M. Perlman?), "world music theory", and "comparative theory" (V. Levine's preferred one). Certainly resonant with my own thoughts when I was deciding on the name and url for this blog--"music" or "musics".

Can't wait for the inaugural issue of the new online journal: Analytical Approaches To World Music (forthcoming in Oct 2010)