This chapter focuses on multiple perspectives to view children's creativity and to offer a practical guide to implement Gardner's multiple intelligence to music teaching and learning. This chapter offers a theoretical framework for music teachers and learners of music to understand the process of offering musical activities in which everyone may participate. Peer-to-peer learning and sharing musical enjoyment are the heart of music for everyone to participate, to build a musical community. The music itself entails getting along with others and especially dealing with differences. By nature, the music contains the elements of listening to and engaging with different voices, timbre, texture, and world culture. Music invites everyone to participate via various entry points by playing, singing, dancing, and in any other art form. This chapter proposes musical activities and creative ideas that best represent the shared sense of learning from each other and to build a musical community for everyone to participate.
TopIntroduction
This chapter offers a theoretical framework for music teachers and learners of music to understand the process of offering musical activities in which everyone may participate. Dissanayake (2015) criticized the contemporary changes in the concept of overemphasis on performance outcomes, which like sports, requires tough competition, and ignores the community sense of musical sharing. In a traditional society in any culture, music was originally shared from the religious ceremony to local carnivals, and there was no wall between performing and listening. Everyone used to participate in music in a shared sense either by singing, dancing, playing instruments, composing or other artistic spheres in their daily lives. Now in contemporary society, Dissanayake (2015) points out, we tend to consider arts for special and selected persons with gifted talent, certain skills, and sufficient background.
Such a view is echoed by Lamb (2010) who considers music as a socio-cultural phenomenon, and describes as follows:
This emphasis on interaction differs from the emphasis on music education as either skills or talents. By emphasizing the interaction and the meaning of these interactions to the individuals, groups, social structures, and institutions, we gain much richer and deeper knowledge that subsequently demonstrate music as a meaningful and relevant educational endeavor (p.25).
Peer-to-peer learning and sharing musical enjoyment are the heart of music for everyone to participate, to build a musical community. The music itself entails getting along with others and especially dealing with differences. By nature, the music contains the elements of listening to and engaging with different voices, timbre, texture and world culture. Music invites everyone to participate via various entry points by playing, singing, dancing and in any other art form. This chapter proposes musical activities and creative ideas which best represent the shared sense of learning from each other and to build a musical community for everyone to participate.
Philosophy of Musicking in Practice
Musicking is a dynamic, critical, communicative and authentic approach of musical performance and listening, first introduced by Christopher Small (Small, 1998). Whether by performing, by listening, by rehearsing or practicing, by composing, by dancing, and even by supporting other musicians, “to music is for everyone to participate in any capacity of musical lives” (Small, 1998, p. 9)
In this book, in the later chapters from Chapter 7 to 10, the author addresses the theoretical framework of musicking in the field of music education from P-12 schools including in special schools to family and community musical settings. The book particularly focuses on actual musicking experiences of individual learners, teachers, caregivers, and community members who as peers, learn from each other in and through various musical activities. Music is an unbroken living tradition (Thomas, 2019). Music is part of our everyday lives, but music condenses the essence to create a new language. The language is still evolving and speaks lovingly and speaks to who you are (Thomas, 2019).