The Concept of Multicultural Music
Since early civilization, music has been found to be an identity of humankind. Music has functioned as a significant component of religious and social celebrations, rituals, and ceremonies. In “A Philosophy of Music Education ” (1989), Reimer mentioned that music is considered to be the most powerful way to explore and experience the specificity of how life and culture are felt by various groups that share communal identities. If music is closely related to culture, then what is culture? “Culture is generated by the interplay between a group’s beliefs about its physical and social circumstances, and the forms of knowledge it develops and preserves to meet its needs” (Elliot, p. 185, 1995). Elliot concluded that culture is not what people have, rather, it is what people create.
Due to growing social awareness, the world is shrinking, making the different continents less isolated from each other. Some people have said that since music is not verbal like language, it transcends national, cultural, and social boundaries in its ability to communicate. If so, is music an international language?
Musically speaking, when a folk or traditional piece of music from a culture other than our own stimulates our senses as we are listening to it, our perceptions will interpret the piece by using our social/cultural backgrounds. Between the processes of sensation and perception exists the interpretation state, also known as the filter process. An illustration of the processes of sensation, filtering and perception, as defined by Broadbent (1988) is drawn below:
According to Gestalt principles, the mind selects and organizes discrete stimuli into figures and groupings which appear to obey certain general laws. Sensation and perception are integral processes within Gestalt theory. Sensation refers to the detection of sensory stimulation, whereas perception is the interpretation of what is sensed (Shaffer, 1993). The environment influences perceptual development in many ways. Specifically, our social and cultural environments influence our auditory perceptions, our interpretations of artwork, and our judgments about the physical characteristics of objects.
If music were an international language, then we would all share the same filter process, perceive the piece of music in the same way, and experience the same emotional reaction. Do we? The answer is no. The way we perceive and filter is not necessarily an inborn, natural process. It has to be nurtured within an open-minded, anti-biased atmosphere. In other words, music education is not something that operates autonomously in a culture; rather, it functions powerfully within various cultures.
Original Article:
Loong, C. (2008). Weaving world musics into early childhood curriculum. Triad, 75 (5), 74-76, 78, 80-82.