The semester is finishing up; this coincides with MU236’s (Honors Intro to Music History) and the World Music Projects. This is a component to the curriculum I was challenged to build upon arriving at JSU’S to keep Accreditation as part of NASM standing.
At first I was a little overwhelmed at the idea of building curriculum that was not a major part of my own studies at Indiana University. Nor was there a substantial amount of World Music in the textbook, The Enjoyment of Music by Forney and Machlis, our required text for the class (unless you count Zydeco, Mariachi, or a little Chinese Traditional). Music most of the students were familiar with from eating ethnic cuisine.
I must admit, although we are a global community I was still naive to the relevance or the impact it would have on me.
One day while researching lecture notes on the Whirling Dervishes in Islamic Sufism I had a student knock on my office door. I was listening to the music while writing, in an effort to stay inspired. The student inquired what I was listening to and why. After I answered, the student, who is a member of ROTC programs, said “so when I hear this I am supposed to shoot.”
And like all moments of Fate’s Intervention in my life, the relevance smacked me in the face. For all those who do not know me personally, please note- I support all of our troops. My comment stems from my own fear of war and the use of music/art as propaganda.
With new vigor I continued my research. The library took on my challenge and purchased music from around the world so students could research and peer teach about cultures they discovered just as I had.
This fall, in my continued research I spent a considerable amount of time with music from Africa. The music from the countries Congo and Sudan, war torn lands, not always popular in media discussions. I did well with the Congo, focusing on Soukus and the development of the Rumba, dance that has become popular in the West.
But the music from Sudan left me a little personally shaken. The considerable
government censorship made finding the tribal music difficult to locate. And when I did locate tribal music the text “When the elephants fight the grass gets trampled”, made reference to the civil war in Sudan from the years between 1950 - 2005. Call me tender hearted, but it left me a little raw. This coincided with the beginning of the holiday season, a time in our culture of generosity of spirit, and the goal of “Peace on Earth”, a concept difficult to locate while researching guerilla war fare and imprisonment/murder of artists for not adhering to an 11 pm, no music making curfew.
Through my continued meditation, I was able to tap into my greater self and a small sense of peace. I realized maybe if we all create a little peace within ourselves we step closer to the dream of peace on earth. So this year, I wish for all to be one with the “Peace within You”.
For all the creative entrepreneurs who are curious where my inspiration for this blog came from:
Listen to a sample of the Sudanese music Daloka bet el Mal
