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Sample Syllabi for a Course on World Musics
greg@gregscheer.com

Teaching an introduction to world music presents a number of pedagogical difficulties: How can one accurately represent all the world's musics in one semester? If the scope must be narrowed, which genres will be taught? Should the course be primarily musical tourism, or should it introduce the methods of ethnomusicology? If the course is taught in a Christian college, how should other religions be presented and should missiology play a role in the pedagoical perspective? There are no easy answers to these questions, but I had success giving a broad overview of both world music and ethnomusicological methods. Because the course was a requirement for music ministry majors, I paid special attention to the way ethnomusicology is used in missions and global songs that can be used in western worship.

There are a number of good textbooks that are available for introductory courses like this. I decided on Titon's Worlds of Music. It presents the music and issues well, and generously represents each geographical area. I especially like the CD collection that accompanies the textbook, and I require that students buy it simply because it is a great collection of music that they should get to know well. A good alternative for undergraduate World Music courses for non-music majors is the short version of the Titon.

The other required book was World Praise 2. While there are many other collections of global worship songs, I chose this because it is a small and simple introduction to hymns from a variety of lands. At the beginning of each class I led the class in singing a song from the region we were studying. It was especially interesting to compare the "real" music we studied in the Titon with the sometimes westernized styles we encounter in World Praise 2. This led to some fertile discussions of authenticity, syncretism and western influence.

Course Objective

To provide an overview of music traditions of the world, to serve as an introduction to the study of ethnomusicology, and to give special attention to the use of ethnomusicology in missions and the use of world musics in worship.

Required Text & CD

                Titon, Jeff Todd, ed. Worlds of Music, 4th ed. New York: Schirmer Books, 2002.
                Peacock, David, ed. World Praise 2. Nashville: LifeWay Books, 2000.

Class Presentation

Teams of two students will choose a chapter from Worlds of Music (2: North America/Native American, 5: Bosnia and Central/Southeast Europe, 7: Asia/Indonesia, 8: East Asia/Japan, or 9: Latin America/Ecuador) and present the material to the rest of the class. (In the case of long chapters, I may approve the presentation of a smaller portion of the chapter.) In addition to the lecture, each team will produce an outline of their lecture and a list of terms, concepts, and listening examples which will be included on the next exam. (There should be 5-10 terms such as names of instruments or musical genres, 3-5 concepts that would require one sentence answers or short essays on a test, and 2-3 listening examples from our CD set.) Further, teams will lead songs from World Praise 2 or other sources that are related to their chapter in Worlds of Music.

Worship Leading Project

Two partners will lead a global worship song in chapel. In preparation, the partners will choose/propose a song (see schedule) and do background research on the area from which the song originates, the genre of music, and performance practice within that style. The week before the partners lead the song, they will turn in a 3 page paper detailing the song's background and their plan for teaching the song to the student body. The partners are free to use additional musicians. Following the song's introduction in chapel, the class will discuss the experience.

Reading Outlines
                For each reading assignment, students will hand in a typed, one page outline.

Course Schedule

              Topic, Assignment, and Chapters to read in preparation for class

  1. Introduction to World Musics
                  Instrument Classification
  2. Chapter 1: The Music-Culture
  3. Chapter 3: Intro to Africa, Ewe, Mande (pp87-122)
  4. Chapter 3: Dagbamba, Shona, BaAka (pp122-149)
  5. Exam #1
                  World Music in Worship
  6. Chapter 4: Black America (pp151-168)
  7. Chapter 4: Black America (pp168-209)
  8. Worship Leading Project - Song Choice due    
       
  9. Chapter 6: India
  10. Exam #2
                  Music in Missions
  11. Student Presentations
  12. Student Presentations
  13. Student Presentations
  14. Student Presentations
  15. Student Presentations
  16. Final

Note: Ramaker Library has a growing number of ethnomusicology and world music resources, including the Garland World Music Encyclopedia and Grove's Dictionary of Music in the reference section and a number of books. In the LRC is the JVC Anthology of World Music, a fantastic collection of field videos that I encourage you to use in your chapter presentations, and a number of other videos and recordings of music around the world. Finally, I have some good resources in my office, including a newsletter about music missions and related topics.