Passport to Music: My own expedition towards diversity
Here I was, planning a Passport to Music Theme in my studio and suddenly it led me down an unexpected path of “diversity.” So please bear with my train of thought.
Diversity has been an overdue and important trending theme in the world of music teaching.
Although I am sensitive to broadening the scope of my music library, currently, most of my students play literature that’s available at their level which happens to be music from living mostly American composers and dead European white guys.
My intent is to incorporate more music from a vast array of composers and countries but it’s been tough to find repertoire that suits beginner to elementary levels—what I would call an accessible level.
Friend, colleague and contributor here at Leilaviss.com, Dorla Aparicio is one to watch as she continues to build her Piano Pyramid library.
Friend and colleague Chee-Hwa Tan just launched a new site where she shares her growing library of sheet music called Dayung Sampan Music.
And, along with Christopher Norton, Elissa Milne and Paul Myatt, Samantha Coates’ Rote Repertoire has expanded my repertoire collection from Australia!
On a personal note, whenever my emotions need a place to land I immediately go to my Alexis Ffrench Spotify playlist. Sigh…gorgeous music and the sheet music is available but it’s not for beginners or early intermediate players.
BTW: if anyone happens to know him and could introduce me, I’d love to have Mr. Ffrench as a guest on my podcast. PLEASE let me know!!
So there are some options but Dorla has an answer to why it’s hard finding works of composers from other cultures and countries:
“The main reason it’s hard to find repertoire from different cultures is that they have different ways of learning music. Not all cultures write out their music in the way that music is traditionally taught in piano lessons. Piano is not a household instrument around the world.”
what’s in my library?
After going through my current library shelves, here’s what I found:
Volumes of music composed by dead European white guys. Not showing disrespect here but it is true.
Oodles of pedagogically-sound repertoire written mostly by composers from the United States.
In both of these large collections, there are numerous pieces written in styles that reflect different cultures like Mozart’s “Rondo Alla Turca” or Catherine Rollin’s “Sound of Spain.”
We all love to play these pieces and I see nothing wrong with enjoying them but does that mean that my studio library is diverse?
So, what’s missing from my library?
Volumes of music written by composers from countries or nationalities who compose in the style of their own culture, country or ethnic background.
Oodles of pedagogically-sound repertoire written by composers from countries or nationalities who compose in the style of their own culture, country or ethnic background.
why is my library NOT diverse?
This really is a huge and hot topic and something better saved for another post but here are my quick thoughts.
My library lacks diversity because:
I have not been intentional in seeking out music from composers from other countries.
Chee-Hwa Tan who is Malaysian, admits that her traditional training has embedded the seeds that music from her background is not as “good” as the standard European repertoire. So composers tend to compose what’s expected and do not necessarily think about inspiration from their heritage.
Most publishers limit the composers they publish and could be considered the gatekeepers of what’s readily available to piano teachers.
how does a studio branch out and embrace diversity?
It’s not my intention to open up a can of worms here. The main purpose of this post (which I’ll get to in just a moment) is to have fun and explore the vast music of the world and learn a little about different countries.
The word diversity is thrown around so much and I appreciate Chee-Hwa Tan’s suggestion:
Personally, I like the phrase “underrepresented” because that speaks in a different way - underrepresented composers, or underrepresented cultures or ethnicities of composers whose music are truly worthy of being heard and learned.
Writing this post has made me think twice about what next to add to my library.
My final suggestions on this subject before I carry on…
I can—we can—be more mindful about what music to select going forward.
Think inclusively instead of exclusively.
It really does take a village (not just publishers) to expand our knowledge of WHO and WHAT’s out there!
I’d love to be informed by YOU about favorite artists and composers who aren’t in the mainstream market but have accessible and appealing music.
back to why a theme called passport to music?
Good friend and colleague Marie Lee put in a request for a digital badge board to keep track of a studio-wide 30-piece challenge.
While pondering the direction for the badge board, I stumbled across dozens of passport stamps in Canva and the idea came to me—Passport to Music.
what could a passport to music theme include?
🌍 Students play repertoire that is related to countries and/or travel.
🌍 Students play repertoire written by composers that celebrate their heritage or musical traditions.
🌍 Students earn stamps from a different country every time they add a piece to their 30-piece challenge.
🌍 After a stamp is earned, they watch a video about the music from that country.
🌍 Students explore their pieces and look for important signs and symbols in their sheet music—like a map—to get to their final destination—an excellent performance.
🌍 Students improvise within the patterns or traditions of various countries.
At this point, you may be asking, what is a Digital Badge Board?
A paperless way to keep track of progress or incentive programs in your studio like the well-known and beloved 30-Piece Challenge
A versatile tool good for online or in-person lessons.
Below you see a sample of the passport stamps and two levels of expedition pages.
What does the Passport to Music Digital Badge board include?
Links to three colorful badge boards that feature passport stamps of 30 different countries.
Expedition sheets which encourage players to scan their music and locate specific music elements.
And more—keep reading….
How does it work?
Every time a student adds a piece to his/her challenge, there’s a quick way to change the color of the passport stamp. (Watch the video below.)
I write down the title of the piece in students’ Tonara assignment.
How does this digital badge board expand horizons beyond suburbia?
The activity is a stretch but it’s a start.
Since we can’t all pack our bags and take a trip around the world students skip the plane ride and learn a little about the country and its music that corresponds with the stamp they just earned by watching a video.
I’ve curated videos into three separate Get Inspired! Episodes that correlate with the countries represented by the passport stamps.
Pieces 11-20 = Episode #23 (coming soon!)
Pieces 21-30 = Episode #24 (coming soon!)
What if “digital” is not your jam?
Although many appreciate the paperless route, I understand that some of you prefer a tactile, more crafty approach to keep track of the 30-piece challenge.
So, in addition to the digital badge board, the Passport to Music resource also includes colorful passport stamps for each country. These can be cut and adhered to a passport notebook (like this) or I’ve created a one-page sheet that students can write in titles and add the cut-out stamps to the page.
My “highly sophisticated” system for organizing the books into levels pulled from my shelves.
As you can tell, some of my selections go WAY back.
what are some ideas for Repertoire?
Here is where your imagination kicks in but options include:
Music that celebrates characteristics of different cultures and countries.
Music that is related to travel and destinations.
Music written by composers from various countries and ethnicities.
Music to match each country. Some teachers are taking the passport stamps ultra seriously and doing this. While I applaud their efforts, I’m not being quite so loyal to each stamp.
Music in your personal library with country or travel-related titles.
Number five is what I did . I sifted through my current inventory and have made stacks divided into levels with country or travel-related titles.
A short list of music books composed by US composers in the style of various cultures:
There are many more titles of individual pieces in various books—too many to list here—but please add YOUR favorite titles in the comments below!
A few links of music books composed by composers from around the world:
The Hal Leonard Catalog has an array of books dedicated to music from China, Korea, South Africa, Japan at an “educational” level.
Here are links that Dorla includes in her Pura Vida! piano camp sold here at LeilaViss.com.
I look forward to growing this list as I continue on my quest.
is there a way to encourage improvisation with this theme?
For improvisation, I headed straight to Forrest Kinney’s Pattern Play books 1-3. Two of my favorite pieces from his book one that immediately transport imaginations to new destinations are “World Piece” and “Persia!”
Also, here’s the chance to get under the hood of the repertoire and explore with your students why a piece sounds like it is from a certain country? What characteristics stand out? Is it the scale, the patterns? the chords? Once they make the discovery encourage your pianist to improvise with the pattern or scale.
I imported the graphic to Pages and added student names.
how can we Celebrate in style?
Innovative teacher Susan Hong reached out and let me know that she, too, is using a musical passport theme in her studio and pointed out these adorable photo props she’s using in her studio.
I created binder covers for students with Andrea West’s Around the World graphic (on sale here!)
Use and modify digital or printable badge boards to track progress for a 30-piece challenge while celebrating the diverse cultures and music of 30 countries.
“Oh, the places we go” when venturing into a blog post!
I did not expect to go in this direction. I just was excited about the Passport theme and then…well…
Again, I hope my intentions are clear—I realize that I need to do some work when it comes to developing a more diverse library and I appreciate your patience with me.
I commend anyone who has broadened the scope of their studio repertoire.
Please leave your tips and suggestions below.
I appreciate learning from you!
