{"id":34156,"date":"2021-11-06T08:23:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-06T14:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/?post_type=journalarticle&#038;p=34156"},"modified":"2024-09-18T10:37:45","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T16:37:45","slug":"beyond-book-one-a-culturally-relevant-approach-for-beginning-string-repertoire","status":"publish","type":"journalarticle","link":"https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/pt\/journalarticle\/beyond-book-one-a-culturally-relevant-approach-for-beginning-string-repertoire\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond Book One: uma abordagem culturalmente relevante para o repert\u00f3rio de cordas para iniciantes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For two years, I taught Suzuki-style group violin for third graders in a gymnasium within a public elementary school in New York City. Every day before class, I would set up our learning space with carpet squares and name mats. My prep time would overlap with loud, chaotic indoor recess in the winter. While I tuned instruments and organized name mats, recess monitors would play music from a Spotify playlist over the speaker system. I observed how the students engaged with the pop and movie music they heard in the background. Between the basketball players and the jump-ropers, I would see a group of kids dancing in unison to a favorite song, or others singing along as loud as possible. Sometimes a song would come up in the playlist and elicit a loud, approving cheer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite having no dedicated music classroom, the culture of this school turned every room into a music room. I watched as the transition from indoor recess to violin class transformed the musical space, from pop music to tiri-tiri-ti-ti. I began to explore the relationship between a strong, modern musical culture at one elementary school and the beginning Twinkle rhythms. If students danced, sang, and cheered with unbridled enthusiasm for Camila Cabello, why wouldn\u2019t they do the same for \u201cLightly Row\u201d? Based on their behavior, I asked myself this question: what\u2019s missing from my teaching practice\u2014and what\u2019s missing from my Suzuki practice?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Musical expertise<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All students are experts\u2014experts in themselves, and in their own cultures (Souto-Manning, et al. 2018). When we meet new students of any age, we should try to understand them as culturally and musically situated people who hold significant musical knowledge and expertise acquired through their musical lived experiences. As we introduce new repertoire through the Suzuki method for our students to learn, we rely on this potential for enculturation. However, we do not always rely on the existing musical expertise of children, even young children, when we begin the journey of teaching a child a new instrument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A modern mother tongue method, then, might make use of this existing expertise by drawing on more familiar tunes to facilitate learning new skills. Compare the ubiquity of a song like \u201cBaby Shark,\u201d for example, with the beginning tunes in the string method books. I can say with certainty that I did not know \u201cLong, Long Ago\u201d or \u201cO Come, Little Children\u201d before I encountered those songs in my first year of study. I had to learn those songs simultaneously as I learned the technical skills required to perform them, which defeats the purpose of using folk songs in a mother tongue method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our goal as Suzuki teachers is to embrace the music that children know before coming to lessons to facilitate teaching the complex motor skills necessary to play string instruments; we cannot accomplish that goal with a limited set of folk songs alone. The songs Dr. Suzuki chose for the violin method are also restrictive because almost all of them are of European origin. Due to cultural exchange, European folk songs were brought to Japan and integrated into Japanese music education, and Dr. Suzuki chose tunes that would likely be familiar to Japanese students; some songs date back to German music textbooks from the 1850s (Howe 1995).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We ask our students to learn these old European folk songs so that they can acquire technical skills that will be relevant to future repertoire. Unfortunately, this locks our practice into a rigid track that begins with European folk songs and ends with Western classical art music. Regardless of how much we may treasure unaccompanied Bach or Vivaldi sonatas, our singular focus on monocultural repertoire does not respect or respond to the lived musical experiences of all students. If we insist that Every Child Can, it is our responsibility to create a learning environment in which every child\u2019s culture is honored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thus, the question for our community becomes: if every child possesses the natural ability to reflect the musical culture(s) that they are born into, why do we as music teachers come into these children\u2019s lives and insist on promoting one culture\u2014the culture of Western classical art music? We should rethink this prioritization. My current students have access to an unprecedented wealth of music from all eras, from all over the world, almost instantly. In the era of YouTube, Spotify, and TikTok, children\u2019s development of musical and cultural expertise extends well beyond the Twinkle variations. In 2021, it feels irresponsible to ignore or underestimate the power of this connection; instead, we must consider how we can celebrate this vibrant cultural exchange in our teaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Culturally relevant teaching<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Suzuki philosophy recognizes the brilliance and potential of every child to learn music of all cultures, genres, and styles. However, that axiom is not always borne out in our practice, especially when the repertoire we choose to teach is culturally monolithic. Practicing culturally relevant teaching could expand that narrow framework to engage more fully with the Suzuki philosophy, particularly when our students may feel alienated or marginalized by not seeing themselves reflected in the music they learn in our studios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Due to the deep connection between music and culture, students whose cultures are not reflected in the Eurocentric frameworks of traditional music approaches may feel that \u201ctheir music, and therefore their very being, is rejected\u201d (Shaw 2012, 72). When faced with a classroom or a studio of young musicians who represent multiple cultures and cultures of reference (Ladson-Billings 1995), teachers may feel overwhelmed or unequipped to respond to those students\u2019 lived experiences. Shaw (2012) suggests the following strategies: changing repertoire selection, adapting new rehearsal formats and practices, using music to teach socio-political competence, and developing a curriculum that centers culturally relevant musical experiences. We have a responsibility to treat our students as experts in their own upbringing and home culture, instead of people who lack the skills or knowledge that only we can provide. This is the central question that we as educators must grapple with: how can we make any given piece of music technically accessible to students using their expertise, prioritizing their musicianship and knowledge over our preferences for repertoire, curricula, and materials?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Developing culturally relevant repertoire and materials<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Adapting culturally relevant repertoire for beginning and intermediate string students often requires work beyond selecting supplemental materials or sorting through a sheet music catalog. In this section, I outline steps for arranging student-selected music for use in the string studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I first designed this process when I saw how students at my school responded to hearing \u201cHavana\u201d as performed by Camila Cabello. I wondered if my third-grade violin students might be interested in applying their new skills to \u201cplay along\u201d with the song in class. After hearing this song played in the school several times, I suspected that the students would likely have internalized some elements such as words, melody, form, and rhythm. I listened to the song at home and was delighted to discover that it is in G minor, making it compatible with open string playing. I used the tonic and dominant roots to create a simplified ostinato bass line that my beginning violinists could play almost immediately:<\/p>\n\n\n<p>[img=https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/lhuHrd6rJzdpjxO47bccZrpk5pXQoku0Zkrzh2g9SeVggLBUDD0tH60dZeCa1QT6VEWsH12DPJ7ml7CWiaz87sNqIiVzeJtTi6rpPZEo1fR0XHH-VxA16MdFDJcte_tMcVG8Svs]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During my next violin class, I introduced the ostinato out of context and rehearsed it a few times before pulling up the song on my phone. When I hit play, my students immediately recognized the song, and I cued them in after the instrumental introduction when the vocals begin. The rest of class became a combination karaoke and dance party, and \u201cHavana\u201d became part of the daily routine in our class for a few weeks. My students engaged with the music in a variety of different ways; some preferred dancing to their friends\u2019 playing, some were happy to pizz along with the bass line in groups, and some asked me to show them how to play parts of the melody. All of these ways of learning and knowing reflected how a group of young musicians can learn musical skills on their own terms, using their own expertises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After this experience, I started designing a process for adapting and arranging the music my students want to play. If and when students come to me with ideas for repertoire, I now have a method for finding ways for beginning string players to engage with that music. This framework is specifically intended for use in adapting popular music that is accessible through radio or streaming services for string instruments. Depending on the source material your students choose, your arrangements of that music may take different forms with varying notation and scaffolding. The goal of arranging music like this is to align elements of conventional lesson planning with the specific needs of your students. Remember that your students\u2019 interests come first, and they deserve to be involved in repertoire selection; never pick a popular song you assume they would like without their input.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Listening<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Establish the key area, tonic, and corresponding scale; find the pitches and roots of chords, and outline the form with verses, choruses, and the sections that match the form of the song.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Map out the general harmonic structure, confirm the roots of the chords, play along with the chord changes, and notate the bass line.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Define the melodic contour, identify the chromatics or accidentals, and begin notating the melody; for longer songs with a defined form, identify one or two sections to prioritize in lessons.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Analysis<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Check for technical compatibility with the instrument:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Is the key appropriate for the student\u2019s level? If not, transposition may be necessary. Keys that match open strings are excellent for beginners.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What rhythms do students need to work out? How familiar are they with the rhythmic components, like sung melodies or repeating accompanying rhythm patterns?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Identify the musical components of the song:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Harmonic structure, chords, chord roots, and bass line<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Primary melody<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Accompanying and harmonizing parts; counter melodies<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Instrumental and\/or vocal solos<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rhythm and percussion parts, grooves, ostinati<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Build your arrangement in a play-down structure: beginners on chord tones and percussion; intermediate students on inner voices, groove bass lines, and\/or simple melodic lines; advanced students on vocal melodies, descants, and instrumental solos. Write out these parts in your preferred notation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Analyze your arrangement by identifying the technical skills necessary to successfully play the piece; make a list of skills, being as specific as possible.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Imagine what a string-only arrangement of the song would sound like. What elements can be recreated on strings, and what sounds can be transformed by string instruments (like rhythm sections played by tapping on the body of the instrument, col legno bow strokes, etc.)?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Lesson plan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Write out as much of the individual notated elements as you can with your preferred notation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Make a plan for scaffolding these skills. Bow rhythms can be taught by saying, clapping, moving, and air-bowing; melodies can be taught section by section with call-and-response. Remember that your students are musical experts, and they do not need to be taught the song \u201cfrom scratch.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Be creative in your use of approaches, teaching by rote with Western notation, student-created notation, and informal processes such as learning by ear.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Take time for students to \u201cnoodle\u201d and experiment using their existing knowledge of the piece and the instrument to meet the challenge of new repertoire.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Make space for peer teaching so students can practice together and develop ownership of the music they are learning.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once you begin the journey of transforming your practice to be culturally relevant, developing a consistent routine for self-reflection is critical (Lysaker 2021). At every step of your lesson planning, return to grounding questions. Culturally relevant teaching does not emerge on its own from checking items off a checklist; it requires constant assessment to ensure your practice truly prioritizes your students\u2019 lived experience. As you design lessons, ask yourself some grounding questions. Does this lesson:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Situate my students as musical experts?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Respect, honor, and center my students\u2019 expertise when presenting new material?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reflect the needs and interest of my students, rather than my personal preferences?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Provide opportunities at every stage for student-directed exploration and experimentation, including informal learning practices?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Include time for feedback from students?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also address your own approaches, priorities, biases, and assumptions. Ask yourself:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Am I using this song to teach \u201cthe real music,\u201d or am I treating this song as inherently and intrinsically valuable outside of its potential for reinforcing musical skills?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Am I exploiting or appropriating my students\u2019 musical cultures to further my own pedagogical goals?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Am I teaching this song with the same level of reverence and respect that I teach Western art music?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Am I teaching this song in love and celebration of music, even if this song does not necessarily appeal to me personally?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In order to keep our field moving forward, all of us must situate ourselves as enthusiastic learners who are open to growth and authentic dialogue. Similarly, any discussion of culturally relevant pedagogy should reflect and center the lived experiences of the students we serve. If the Suzuki community is culturally homogeneous, progress will stall, leaving only superficial, patronizing promises that never crystallize into practice. As we continue to refine and improve Suzuki teaching and learning, we must redefine musical success so that our repertoire supports and honors the cultures of the increasingly diverse students we teach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Howe, Sondra Wieland. \u201cSources of the Folk Songs in the Violin and Piano Books of Shinichi Suzuki.\u201d The Bulletin of Historical Research in Music Education 16, no. 3 (1995): 177-193.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ladson-Billings, Gloria. \u201cToward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy.&#8221; American Educational Research Journal 32, no. 3 (1995): 465-491.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ladson-Billings, Gloria. The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African-American Children. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass, 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lysaker, Mercedes Yvonne. \u201cBuilding Equity in the String Classroom Through Reflective Practice: Questions for Self-Reflection.\u201d American String Teacher 70, no. 1 (2021): 57-59.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shaw, Julia. \u201cThe Skin that We Sing.\u201d Music Educators Journal 98, no. 4 (2012): 75-81.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Souto-Manning, Mariana, Carmen Lugo Llerena, Jessica Martell, Abigail Salas Maguire, and Alicia Arce-Boardman. No More Culturally Irrelevant Teaching. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann. 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Durante dois anos, ensinei violino em grupo no estilo Suzuki para alunos da terceira s\u00e9rie em um gin\u00e1sio de uma escola p\u00fablica de ensino fundamental na cidade de Nova York. Todos os dias, antes da aula, eu preparava nosso espa\u00e7o de aprendizado com quadrados de carpete e tapetes com nomes. Meu tempo de prepara\u00e7\u00e3o coincidia com o recreio interno barulhento e ca\u00f3tico no inverno. Enquanto eu...<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"pmpro_default_level":"0","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":""},"article-tag":[814,783,768],"journalsection":[],"class_list":["post-34156","journalarticle","type-journalarticle","status-publish","hentry","article-tag-pedagogy","article-tag-repertoire","article-tag-suzuki-community","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"article-tag":[{"value":814,"label":"Pedagogy"},{"value":783,"label":"Repertoire"},{"value":768,"label":"Suzuki Community"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/journalarticle\/34156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/journalarticle"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/journalarticle"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"article-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article-tag?post=34156"},{"taxonomy":"journalsection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/journalsection?post=34156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}