Musics: Diversity, Difference, and Synergies

• Preface
• Jazz
• Makamlar
• Ragas
• Solfege
• Appendix I
• Acknowledgements

Musics: Diversity, Difference, and Synergies is a radical re-imagining of how music can be studied.  Non-Western, vernacular, and Western art music are valued equally and studied at the same level of depth.  Of equal importance is the emphasis placed on hands-on doing.  Scales common to Jazz and Western art music are learned by playing them on the piano.  Rhythmic skills are embodied on the darbuka, a Middle Eastern goblet drum, through the study of Turkish rhythmic cycles called usuller.  Pitch recognition is developed by singing paltas (pitch patterns) for Indian ragas and melodic studies for Turkish makamlar using fixed-do solmization systems.  Training in moveable-do solfege for Western art music begins with conducting as a foundation.  This is followed by the addition of takadimi syllables for rhythm, solfege syllables aligned with scale degrees, and, finally, pitch.  

Exploring improvisational practices from diverse cultures and genres is also prioritized.  The study of Turkish usuller begins with basic forms that are then embellished through a series of ornamented variations that serve as models for developing improvisational skills.  The preparatory exercises for ragas and tetrachord and pentachord studies for makamlar provide the foundation for improvisational techniques explored in these genres.  Improvising over harmonic progressions common in Jazz is the first practical application of playing major scales on the piano.  This first step is followed by the development of more focused improvisational approaches that parallel the growth of knowledge and skill sets.

Another important principle in Musics is applying the pedagogical approaches used by practitioners of the musics in the cultures in which they are situated.  Pedagogies are often intertwined with the epistemological and methodological frames that define the role and function of music within a culture.  Developing an understanding of why and how music is practiced speaks toward an integrative model of engaging with the musics of diverse cultures.  This approach differs from the Western construct of music theory, musicology/ethnomusicology, and performance as separate disciplines and, instead, places the interconnectedness and interplay of various facets of music as a foundational precept.

The materials and methodologies in Musics are designed to function synergistically.  For example, a pedagogical focus on pitch recognition is shared by many cultures and genres.  Viewed from this perspective, pitch recognition is not culture-specific and the skills developed in one genre can be applied to others.  However, the term pitch recognition is not inherently stable as the ways in which it is conceptualized and applied are grounded in and complicated by the diversity of cultural mores and practices.  In this sense, the study of pitch recognition becomes reflexive, generating a multifaceted aggregate of knowledge and skills through which the understanding of each tradition differentiates, informs, and enriches the understanding of other traditions.