Music In Western And Non-Western Societies

The European culture has been cut off from the rest of the world for more than three centuries due to their belief that their art was superior to all the rest. In 1889 the Paris World Exhibition was held and for the first time in Europe, the gamelan of Java and the musical theatre of Cochin China was performed. Out of all of the western musicians, only Claude Achille Debussy understood that there were other musical cultures that were as good as the west. Debussy took this as a learning opportunity and incorporated what he heard into his own music.

To hear a culture's music for what it truly is, we must strip away our western music “rules”: 1) the idea that music is a self-contained art, 2) the idea of a musical composition as having an abstract existence apart from the performer and the performance, 3) the idea that the techniques of harmony and harmonically governed counterpoint to achieve the composer’s expressive ends are superior musical techniques, 4) the main attention is given to pitch relationships, 5) accepting the lack of attention to rhythmic elements in music, 6) the idea of music as the awareness of time so that one always knows where the beginning and end is, and 7) the idea that it is necessary to use devices to make the articulation in time clear to the listener. Music in many non-western cultures is seen as part of their natural lives not just an activity or a thing to perform. It is used for temple ceremonies and dances, not for profession but for civilians. Music is not traditionally taught but rather the children are immersed in, learning and playing with the people around them. Music is passed through communities and each makes it their own. Music is enjoyed at the moment and is always progressing.

Plus Ça Change

In non-western societies when learning music, you are focusing on the fluency of your playing. And improving your natural abilities, whereas western music focuses on technique, using scales and technical passages to improve. In western music today if you do not have your doctorate and study with famous musicians you are not seen as being able to create. A composer is trained to compose and a performer is trained to perform. If non-musicians are not included in the musical process then the musical experience will remain the same.

Students consume information, making it the teacher’s job to choose the quality of the information that the student will absorb. The teacher teaches the student without any student to student communication. A syllabus is given to the students as a representation of the subject, stating exactly what they will be learning and expected to understand restricting them from learning anything outside of the curriculum.