ABSTRACT
It is now widely accepted, and enshrined in the National Curriculum, that children should be exposed to a broad and diverse musical repertoire. The educational rationale for this has been well-aired within the music education community as well as amongst educationists as a whole. Music is an expression of collective as well as personal values, beliefs and actions, and what happens in school should reflect, acknowledge and celebrate this. The imperative to include musical traditions from all over the world in the curriculum arises from two main sources:
1 Musical: music is in a state of continual change and development, influenced by the way people live and where they live. The more we are exposed to different musics through recordings and our own travels, the more music will reflect the mixing and fusion of different styles and traditions (Paul Simon’s ‘Graceland’, the compositions of Steve Reich, Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue’, The Gypsy Kings, Bhangra and so on). On the other hand, and for the exact same reasons, communities who are displaced or in a minority seek to maintain their own cultural traditions and their distinctive musical voice.
