Whatever we understand and enjoy in human products instantly becomes ours, wherever they might have their origin – Rabindranath Tagore*
During this presentation, musical figures from several distinct traditions were explored in a practice-oriented manner. The figures selected are appealing beyond South Asia where they originated many centuries ago and continue to play a key role in classical and applied music.
Our shared goal was to enable young and old to collaborate in a memorable learning process that blends seemlessly into any chosen subject, academic and otherwise.
The criteria for selecting a particular figure were (1) its flexibility as for combining it with another subject, for instance mathematics, geography or history; (2) its appeal going by prior experience with learners from different age groups; and (3) its scope for variation, movement, visualisation and analysis in accordance with learners’ specific needs and abilities.
Scope
As part of integrated music education, Indian music enables even complete strangers to share a useful learning process. This calls for a natural and playful approach to melody, rhythm, hand signs and body movement. In this manner we are prepared to include newcomers – children and adults lacking a common language – to instantly participate in music.
Indian music is valued for fostering memory, analytical thinking, concentration, and cooperation among peers. Its basic concepts are exhilarating and liberating whether or not there is scope for studying Indian culture in its own right. This is a boon in circumstances where verbal or written instructions fail to engage learners. Rather than resigning in the face of such formidable challenges, educators are free to experiment and spread solidarity through instant inclusion – the essential joy of “creating” music oneself. This aspect addresses a common fear among learners, namely to be left behind (again!), be it in music or other subjects – a fear that is all too often justified in competitive modern society.
To help educators to overcome such fears, we build lessons around simple figures that bind tunes, rhythms and movements together into a rounded whole. Some of these may appear familiar enough to “break the ice” if needed; and others are so fresh and mind-boggling as to trigger further experimentation among peers in informal settings – anywhere and anytime. For this to happen, we dispense with technical resources of any kind.
Adaptation is the key to rapidly changing learning scenarios wherein cultural stereotyping, a known stumbling block for educators all over the world, must be overcome. This is easily achieved by integrating Indian music into discussions of academic concepts, or by letting its rhythms enrich social and outdoor activities. Such activities are by definition location specific and all-inclusive.
Educators from Canada, Finland, Germany, Hungary, India, Singapore and Switzerland were among the eleven participants in this one-hour session. They explored a time proven method suited to the needs of a wide range of abilities and learning goals; and this irrespective of participants’ cultural roots.
Date: 28 July 2016 | photos by courtesy of Dr. Tony Makarome, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Singapore
Abstract ISME World Conference (Glasgow)
“Yours figuratively: Indian music in intercultural education””Yours figuratively: Indian music in intercultural education”
Music counts among the proverbial “64 arts and skills” of ancient India where it became synonymous with “leading a fulfilled life”. Thus, having evolved along with other pursuits, Indian music is an interdisciplinary concept that connects people irrespective of age and cultural background. It is in this context that we explore the world of musical figures: figures that convey subtle meaning while symbolizing the very joy of participating in music making of a high order. Rather than borrowing sounds from a supposedly exotic culture, we apply the building blocks of Indian music for several good reasons: for their accessibility in the context of intercultural education and, of course, for their intrinsic value and beauty.
Learners tap into the mind-boggling world of India’s musical ideas. Tiny musical figures are adapted in a manner that has stood the test of time. While being fun on first hearing they also lend themselves to being visualized and analyzed for non-musical purposes.
This teaching method lends itself to classroom and lifelong learning across the entire social spectrum: it adds colour to other school subjects like maths, languages, geography or physical fitness; and requiring no more than voices, hands and open-mindedness, it kindles communication where there is a lack of time and resources, or even a common language. Figuratively yours, ours truly!
Ludwig Pesch studied at Freiburg University from where he went to India in order to be trained and perform as bamboo flautist. Since then he develops intercultural activities that suit the needs of children, music students and teachers; and also for museum education (e.g. family programmes for Museum Rietberg Zurich in conjunction with Indian art exhibitions).
He authored The Oxford Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music and among other writings, contributed to the journal of the Gesellschaft für Musikforschung (Goettingen University “Music | Musics. Structures and Processes“) and to Integrated Music Education. Challenges for Teaching and Teacher Training by M. Cslovjecsek and M. Zulauf, forthcoming). Among his research projects are “Sam, Reflection, Gathering Together!” (Bern University of the Arts in collaboration with Natanakairali, Research and Performing Center for Traditional Arts in Kerala). His ideas on collaborative work are summarized by the acronym AIUME for “Adapting Indian Universals in Music Education“.
Find publications by Ludwig Pesch on worldcat.org >>
A Musical Lotus Pond – ISME World Conference (Thessaloniki)
Purpose
Probing the depths of Indian sounds and symbols both for their interdisciplinary potential and intrinsic value.
Content
We pool musical, visual and numerical motifs. Sounds, hand gestures and movements link two school subjects within a single session; and more subjects wherever this approach lends itself to being integrated into a curriculum.
Method
The “Musical Lotus Pond” is a biotope where beauty flourishes in unexpected ways. Each participant embellishes a sheet of paper containing numbers and shapes. These form the basis for musical activities. At the conclusion, the sheets are folded into small cones resembling the “school cones” traditionally used to entice European children to attend school. Children will spontaneously share their experiences with peers and family members.
Application for integrated education
Analytical thinking, self-expression and teamwork are cultivated. For this purpose, motifs derived from Indian music are combined with those belonging to subjects as diverse as visual arts, geography, biology, physical education and maths.
Pure maths is a religion and in the East, valued for more than merely its technical application – Novalis (1799)
Background information
Indian culture is permeated by synesthetic associations that make learning both enjoyable and (cost) effective. Moreover it fosters concentration and teamwork. It is therefore no coincidence that the ubiquitous lotus motif symbolizes the aspiration to rise above the ordinary and beyond predictability.
The presenters work with the motto “Adapting Indian Universals in Music Education”; and this in response to the needs of children and music students. Contributions to exhibitions (e.g. Museum Rietberg Zürich and Royal Tropical Museum Amsterdam) complement their artistic and scholarly pursuits: one is a singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist; the other trained and performed as flautist in India, and authored The Oxford Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music.
I surely know the hundred petals of a lotus will not remain closed for ever and the secret recess of its honey will be bared. – from Gitanjali by Nobel Awardee Rabindranath Tagore
Indian music for all: Music at all ages: ISME World Conference (Bologna)
Date: 23 July 2008 9.00-10.00 – Venue: Academia Belle Arti, Bologna (GAC 1)
Workshop by Ludwig Pesch and Manickam Yogeswaran
In the Blue Rider Almanac, one of the most influential art publications of the 20th century, Nikolai Kulbin declares that “water, air and birds don’t sing according to our notes, but use all the notes that they find pleasure in – and with that, the laws of the natural music are observed exactly.” (Der Blaue Reiter, 1912) Minute intervals, such as those found in Indian music, not only lend “colour” to music, he continues. As they are not even difficult to discern, they provide the key to free and truly expressive music. But conventional signs cannot convey the required subtleties. They also stifle spontaneity and creativity.
Flexible methods are needed more than ever before wherever intercultural education is happening. We work with a “toolkit” that provides combinations of hand gestures and exercises based on sargam solmization. It is designed for classroom and workshop situations. In India’s arts – music, dance, drama, painting, sculpture and film – both these key concepts have been applied with success to express feelings and evoke specific moods. Having evolved since antiquity, these methods tend to be practiced separately and as part of some specialization or other, seldom by outsiders.
In tune with the ISME motto “Music at all ages”, we seek to fill every available moment with the joy of making music together irrespective of our cultural roots. Expressive gestures with matching sounds and rhythms serve to establish rapport, visualize tonal shades, improvize and express a particular feeling. They are invaluable for promoting learning progress beyond music in terms of concentration and memory training.
As specialized knowledge is not the issue here, immersion in Indian music is achieved in a hands-on manner using one’s natural voice and hands. An innovative adaptation of the Curwen / Kodaly method of hand signs is introduced. It facilitates the singing of notes associated with raga based tunes. A keen sense of timing is inculcated through “audible” and “silent” gestures based on tala cycles.
Indian music has always been associated with the celebration of life and beauty irrespective of one’s religious outlook. It is valued for fostering a spirit of sharing and scientific inquiry while stimulating the faculty of imagination. These values deserve to be rediscovered considering that Western interest tends to focus on exotic musical instruments and theories, mysticism or the training of prospective performers.
References
Vaitari: A musical picture book from Kerala. A publication for children and educators; didactic concept and teachers’ companion by Ludwig Pesch. Amsterdam: Ekagrata Publications, 2006.
Less is More and More is More: Why Indian music should find its way into General Education by Ludwig Pesch. Indian Folklife 20 (July 2005). National Folklore Support Centre. Chennai.
“Sam, Reflection, Gathering Together!” presented by Ludwig Pesch at ISME 2006 in Kuala Lumpur
Introduction: Sam, Reflection, Gathering Together! World Conference (Kuala Lumpur)
Sam, Reflection, Gathering Together! (*) is a music education research project initiated at the Bern University for the Arts (HKB, Switzerland) in collaboration with Natanakairali, an institution for the performing arts in Irinjalakuda (Kerala, India). It was first presented at the biannual conference of the International Society for Music Education held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (ISME 2006) in order to explore the vast potential for applying Indian music in general education and music therapy.
The need for such an awareness stems from the fact that a majority of children in most countries have little or no opportunity to experience the joy of making music together. Members of the elites of every civilized country in the world are, however, fully aware of the scientifically proven benefits of music making, so much so as to ensure that their own children are musically educated in some way or other.
If you are interested in specific aspects not yet covered in the English section of this website, feel free to contact the project initiators for more information (see Contact on the left). >> About the word sam in project title >>
(*) Officially titled Sam, Sammlung, Zusammen! Stimmen und Hände im Umfeld des traditionellen indischen (Tanz-) Theaters; English subtitle: Voices and hands in traditional Indian (dance) theatre, January 2005 – December 2006
*Rabindranath Tagore in a letter to C.F. Andrews; quoted by Amartya Sen in The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian History, Culture and Identity. London: Penguin, 2005, p. 86.