Title of piece: No name
Performers: Highlands Elementary World Drumming Ensemble
Origin: Africa
Orchestration: Tubano hand drums
In the reading for Creating World Music, I have found this piece performed by these elementary school students. This took place during an art festival. This group consists of approximately 23 students who are led by their music teacher Emmanuel Fergile. These students are playing modernized authentic african drums. Also, they are playing rhythms and styles that would be found in African music. I enjoyed how through their playing, you can sense that they have been educated and understand the concepts of the drumming patterns. There are unison parts that are being played and then followed by clapping. During the clapping, students are taking short solos, which are being "improvised". Improvisation is also talked about in the reading for creating music. The energy that is passed along is phenomenal. Towards the end, hand signals are used just as we do today for dynamic crescendos and decrescendos. Finally, one last trigger rhythm is played and a unison hit to end the piece. It was fun and enjoyable to watch these students have fun with playing different "World Music".
After watching this video, I began to think about this performance as an educational tool. The rhythm was very basic and provided a short window for every single student to play an improvised rhythm. The music was set up so that even if the improviser ended up out of time, the claps played performed by the other students keep the beat and the piece would never fall apart. As an instrumental teacher, I can take this format and apply it to my jazz ensembles where everyone can play a short improvised measure with a unison rhythm in between. The fosters musical creativity, confidence, and musical communication between the students. This music is both educational and social and really shows off their love for the music.
ReplyDeleteHow do you think modernization affects authenticity? Your reflection on Campbell’s strategies could have been more in depth. You mention improvisation. Would you use any additional creating music strategies if you taught such a group?
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