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The Emic and Etic Learning and Teaching

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The Emic and Etic Learning and Teaching THE EMIC AND ETIC TEACHING PERSPECTIVES OF TRADITIONAL GHANAIAN DANCE-DRUMMING: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF GHANAIAN AND AMERICAN MUSIC COGNITION AND THE TRANSMISSION PROCESS A thesis submitted to the College of the Arts of Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by Mitchell J. Greco Thesis written by Mitchell J. Greco B.A., SUNY Fredonia 2008 B.M., SUNY Fredonia 2008 M.M., Appalachian State University, 2012 Approved by ______________________________, Advisor Kazadi wa Mukuna ______________________________, Director, School of Music Denise A. Seachrist _______________________________, Dean, College of Arts John R. Crawford TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... vi PREFACE ........................................................................................................................................v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... vii PART I. INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................8 Research Design.......................................................................................................................12 Ghanaian Musical Style ...........................................................................................................19 Music in Ghanaian Life ........................................................................................................20 Ethnicity in Ghana ................................................................................................................22 “Traditional” in Ghanaian Society ......................................................................................25 The Repertoire of Ghanaian Dance-drumming ....................................................................27 Instrumentation .....................................................................................................................29 Sound Elements .....................................................................................................................31 II. TEACHING TECHNIQUES AND LEARNING PROCESSES ...........................................40 The Traditional Music Transmission Process in Ghana ..........................................................43 Informal Style ........................................................................................................................45 Formality in the Institutional Dimension ..............................................................................49 Master Musicians ..................................................................................................................51 Contemporary Continuity and Change .................................................................................53 Oral Methods ........................................................................................................................55 Visual Methods......................................................................................................................58 Kinesthetic Methods ..............................................................................................................60 Teaching and Learning in America ..........................................................................................63 Multicultural Music Education in America ..........................................................................64 Disputing the Categorization of Instructors .........................................................................68 Visual Methods......................................................................................................................75 Oral Methods ........................................................................................................................90 Teaching Performance Techniques.......................................................................................91 Views of Entitlement .............................................................................................................95 Instrumentations ...................................................................................................................98 The Isolation of Instruments ...............................................................................................103 Approaching Form ..............................................................................................................104 Learning to Sing and Dance ...............................................................................................106 Public Performance ............................................................................................................109 Audience Participation .......................................................................................................110 Stage Arrangement..............................................................................................................111 Motivations to Learn Ghanaian Music ...............................................................................112 iii Student Reliance on Sight ...................................................................................................115 Physical and Mental Hurdles..............................................................................................117 Negotiating Points of Reference .........................................................................................118 Western Improvisation ........................................................................................................121 Studying Abroad..................................................................................................................122 Recordings as a Learning Tool ...........................................................................................123 III. CONCLUSIONS.................................................................................................................127 APPENDIXES A. Glossary of Terms ................................................................................................................133 B. Further Readings ..................................................................................................................136 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................139 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Notation of an Emic Perspective of Adowa Bell Pattern .........................................................35 2. Notations of Etic Perspectives of Adowa Bell Pattern ............................................................36 3. Locke’s “Three-Part Conversation” in Gahu ...........................................................................37 4. Example of the Time Unit Box System (TUBS) .....................................................................79 5. Example of TUBS Notation with Perceived Gross Pulse ........................................................79 6. Example of Serwadda and Pantaleoni’s suggested notation ....................................................80 7. Example of Greenotation .........................................................................................................81 8. Two Supporting Parts in Woma’s Version of Kpanlogo .........................................................88 9. Woma’s Mnemonic Phrase to End Gahu .................................................................................91 10. Woma’s Exercise Led in Rehearsal .......................................................................................94 11. Woma’s Variations of the “First” Kpanlogo Supporting Part .............................................105 12. Kpanlogo Gonkogui Break ..................................................................................................106 13. Kpanlogo Drum Break .........................................................................................................106 14. Woma’s Song to Accompany Kpanlogo..............................................................................107 v PREFACE I became interested in the music of Ghana during my first semesters as an undergraduate student at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Fredonia. While auditioning for university music programs, SUNY Fredonia percussion head Dr. Kay Stonefelt encouraged me to seek out study with native Ghanaian master drummer and xylophonist Bernard Woma, who was going to be in residence at SUNY Fredonia beginning the following year. I always was a enthusiast of all kinds of music, including rock and roll, jazz, funk, R&B, hip-hop, and classical – music that I had heard before. Because I had never really heard a great deal of African music, studying African drumming with a master Ghanaian piqued my interest. I was thoroughly ecstatic about attending SUNY Fredonia and eagerly anticipated the arrival of Woma. While his immigration papers were being finalized, Stonefelt taught the ensemble and introduced the basic concepts of SubSaharan African music-making. When Woma came to Fredonia, I found myself quickly infatuated with “his” music. The layering and interlocking of the timeline patterns and the use of cycles intrigued my mathematical mind, and I was captivated by the intensity of the
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