Modern African classical drumming : a potential instrumental optionfor South African school Music curriculum

[摘要] The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement or CAPS (which is the modifiedextension of the National Curriculum Statement policy), Music learning area, gives anoption for Music learners to follow the Indigenous African Music (IAM) stream. Thiscaters for them to be examined in African instruments. Currently, there are no availableprescribed instrumental curricula in any IAM instrumental practices that learners canfollow should they choose the IAM stream. Therefore, this research was prompted bythe need for graded curriculum in IAM instruments for Music learners at the FurtherEducation and Training (FET) level.This quantitative research focuses on the incorporation of contemporary Africaninstrumental music practices in the modern Music curriculum as demanded by currenttrends, multiculturalism and multi‐ethnic societies with their emerging modern culturewhich to an extent nevertheless still embrace old traditions. The research isunderpinned by the theoretical framework of multicultural music education.This study comprises two sections. Section one analyzes the dilemma that the SouthAfrican Music curriculum faces when incorporating indigenous African instruments forexamination at FET level and poses questions on how and which instrumental practicescan be part of the possible solution. It revisits the epistemology of traditional Africandrumming and investigates how some of the traditional drumming practices havechanged and are practised in the contemporary context.Section two introduces a contemporary African instrumental practice whosedevelopment is rooted in the generic traditional idioms of African drumming. Thiscontemporary drumming style is not tied to a specific ethnic group but rather a creativecontinuum of African traditional drumming. This practice is explored as a potentialinstrumental option for the South African Music curriculum (IAM stream); throughconducting of training workshops, progress survey and the evaluation of theimplementation process of the pilot graded model curriculum. Lastly, pedagogicalinstructions on teaching, learning and evaluation of this contemporary drummingpractice are provided.

[发布机构] University of Pretoria