educating ndivhuho; music education in a rural environment
TRANSCRIPT
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Educat ing Ndivhuho Luvhengo:
M u s ic e d u c a t i o n i n a r u r a l e n v i r o n m e n t
Geo f f M a pa y a , Dep ar tm ent of Mu s ic ,
U n i v e r s i t y o f V e n d a [ U n i v e n ]
This art ic le ref lects on issues that are at
p lay whe n teach ing music to an Af r i can
student in a rura l context . I t d raws f rom
my exper ience as a music lec turer in
the L imp opo pro v ince. I t sketches the
progre ss and chal lenges of a th i rd year
gu i tar s tuden t w ho is s tudy ing toward s
a B.Mus. degree a t the Univers i t y o f
Venda, and h is soc ia l / cu l tura l s i tuat ion.
For a South Af r i ca n music le c tur er
who teaches in the so-ca l led b lack
un ivers i t y , edu cat ion in genera l assumes
an abn orm al ro le . I t becom es an
emot ive mat ter because in b lack
soc ie t ies music educat ion was a lmost
non ex is tent pr io r 1994. Even today
educa t i on s t anda rds a re com prom i sed
in the face o f the worsen ing cond i t ions
of learning.
South Af r i ca n educ at ion i s supposed
t o em pow er s t uden t s f o r f u t u re ro l es ,
whi le seeking to redress the i l ls of the
pas t . The ques t i on o f w he t he r ou r
music educat ion can sat isfy these needs
is unavo idab le . In secto rs o f th e
communi ty , music educat ion i s
cons idered an e l i t i s t l uxury , wh ich has
l i t t l e to do w i th the process o f
rebu i ld ing com mu ni t ies , hence the lack
o f suppo r t f o r m us i c educa t i on .
C a s e S t y d y
Ndivhuho Luvhengo was born in 1981
in Ndyelele area at the vi l lage cal led
Tsha vhalov hedz i . In 1989, his pare nts
separated and he, toge ther w i th h is
mo the r and s ib lings, move d in w i th h is
malome
i
in a vi l lage called Mau ngan i. In
1997,
wh i lst st i l l in Maungani his m oth er
bough t a house throug h a scheme . The
fo l low ing year she was re t renched and
had to surr ende r the house. She moved
to Muledani where she bought a s i te
and bu i l t another house.
N d i vhuho s t a r t ed schoo l a t S i l om
pr i m a ry sc hoo l , w h e re he d id h i s
substandard A and B school ing, and
then moved to Maungani Pr imary
school fo r s tandard I and 2 . He
com p l e t ed h i s p r i m ary schoo l i ng a t
Beus t e r p r i m ary schoo l and p roceeded
wi th h igh school educat ion a t
Thohoyandou seconda ry schoo l .
Nd ivhu ho becam e a bo rn aga in
Chr is t ian in
1997
w h i l e w i t h Apos t o l i c
Fa i th M iss ion. He th en jo ine d the
Seven t h D ayAdven t i s t C hu rch . H e i s
now a t t ached t o t he L i v i ng W a t e r s
Fe l l ow sh i p C hu rch .
He s tar ted formal music educat ion
at the age o f 24, and a t 27 , Nd ivh uho is
in h is four th year o f music s tud ies a t
the U nivers i t y o f Venda. In the f i rs t
year, he com ple te d a cer t i f i ca te in music
and proceeded to B Mus where he i s
current l y in the th i rd year .
A n a l y s i s
This short case study presents issues
that are o f concern for e f fec t i ve learn ing
and a re com m o n t o m os t s tuden t s w h o
are faced w i th s im i lar c i rcumstances.
These issues are presented and
discussed w i th the a im of encourag ing
lecturers to be compa ss ionate wh i le
ful f i l ing thei r duty.
N d i vhuho expe r i enced t he b reak i ng
down of h is parents ' marr iage a t age 8 .
Also, he was the eldest of the six
ch i ld ren. Th is meant that he had,
som e how , t o sup po r t h is m o t he r , and
co m for t h is s ib lings. For h im t o succeed
he needs to have a s t rong character
and an opt im is t i c a t t i t ude.
Another cha l lenge was that h is
parents ' separat ion was the beg inn ing
of a ser ies o f moves. T he f i rs t move
f rom h is paterna l home in
Tshavhalovhedz i to that o f h is
malome s
in Maungani was because of the
separat ion. The second move was
wh en h is mo the r boug ht a house in
Maungani , and they mov ed o ut o f
malome s
ho use. Soon a f ter his mo the r
was re t re nch ed, and she had to se ll the
house. Wi th the l i t t l e mon ey she
rece ived f rom re t ren chm en t she bough t
a si te in Muledani and bui l t a house, and
t h i s com p l e t ed t he t h i rd m ove .
Ano t he r f o rm o f re l oca t i on w as t ha t
N d i vhuho changed p r i m ary schoo l s
three t imes.
Changes a lso took p lace on the
sp i r i tua l f ro nt . From h is paterna l
sp i r it ua l backg round , N d i v huh o j o i ned
Ap osto l i c Fa i th M iss ion, and the n
m oved t o t he Seven t h -D ay Adven t i s t
Chu rch, and today he i s w i th the mo re
fash ionab le L iv ing W ate rs Fe l lowship
C hurch .
N d i vh uho m oved fa r t o o m any
t i m es . C hang i ng env i ronm en t s robbe d
him of a chance to cement h is ro le
among the d i f fe rent const i tuenc ies to
wh ich he br ie f l y be long ed. Perhaps the
most d is turb ing o f these re locat ions
was the f i rs t dur ing h is format ive years .
As a resu l t , Nd ivhuho seems to have
grown to hate the customary r i tua ls as
prac t iced by his father's fami ly, wh ich he
now, since he has beco me a born-aga in
Christ ian, regards as pagan. This shi f t
f ro m an Af r i can way o f l if e to
Chr is t ian i t y presents many po in ts for
d iscuss ion. O f conc ern in th is ar t i c le
are i ssues around hered i t y and ident i t y
f o rm a t i on .
I . This means un cle. In Afr ican s ociet ies th ere is a
d i s t i nc t i on be tween the mother ' s and the fa the r ' s
b ro thers .The te rm unc le wou ld re fe r to the
mother ' s b ro ther , wh o seems mo re imp or ta n t tha t
the father 's broth er.
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F r o m K n o w n t o U n k n o w n
InVenda there are f ive main types of
popular music; namely
Tshingondo
- a music genre th at is
gui tar-based which closely resembles
the music o f Z imbabwe;
Reggae - as made popu lar by C ol be rt
Mukwevho o f Har ley and the Rasta
Fami ly fame;
Indigenous music which is inextr icably
i n t e r t w i ned w i t h dance ;
Gospel music; and
Chora l music .
Classical music and jazz do not feature
muc h in the musical li fe ofVh aven da. I t
wou ld seem that d i f fe rent se ts o f
aesthet ic values apply to music in
Venda.
For someone who grew up in th is
env i ronment i t takes e f for t to beg in to
app rec ia t e new sounds . W he n
Ndivhuho walked in to the Music
D e pa r t m e n t i n 2005 , he hea rd , f o r t he
f i rst t im e, the gen re of mu sic cal led jazz.
Further he had no idea of Classical
music , le t a lone the me aning o f fo rm al l y
s tudy ing these genres. A few years
la ter , Nd ivhu ho recognised tha t there i s
noVe ndan jazz gu i tar i s t . Nd ivhu ho no w
bel ieves that jazz gui tar playing could
bec om e his niche area. H e claims th at
he has been exposed to al l the genres
of music l isted above , includin g the
music of his ch urc h, bu t finds jazz m or e
l iberat ing.
d u c a t i n g N d i v h u h o
Wyat t MacGaf fey (1982) descr ibes
edu cat ion as t he passing of acqu ired
com pe t ence f rom one gene ra t i on t o
anothe r, and that this is ho w soc iety
reproduces i tsel f . Educat ion involves
cul tur al issue, wh ich is why i t is
i m po r t an t f o r educa t o rs t o know and
unders tand the background o f the i r
s tudents . What shou ld emerge out o f
the educa t iona l process i s a be t ter
funct iona l human be ing wh o m eets
exp ectat io ns a nd standa rds, and has a
chance of succeeding in l i fe. This, for
me, has been the star t ing po int in
des ign ing a learn ing pro gra mm e. I re fer
to my ex per ience w hen I was a music
s tudent . The broad unders tand ing o f
the ob ject i ve o f educat ion and the
ab i l i t y to draw pos i t i ve ly f rom persona l
exper ience works e f fec t i ve ly a l l the
t i m e .
N o t much has changed s ince the
t ime when I mysel f , as a young student ,
began formal music educat ion in my
mid- twent ies w i th noth ing but a pass ion
for music . Nd ivhuh o, and mos t A f r i can
stude nts, usual ly seem no t to c are
whether they w i l l f i nd jobs a f ter
f in ishing the i r studies. At so me level i t
is, for the m, not abo ut a job, but a
career. I t is abo ut discove ring and
get t ing to know someth ing they
genuinely love - music making. This
drive yields the energy that makes the
process of educat ing some of these late
s t a r t e rs w o r t hw h i l e .
A p p r e c i a t i o n
Apprec ia t ion o f s tudents ' cond i t ions and
prob lems he lps in ga in ing t rus t f rom the
students . Lecturers shou ld be aware
that s tudents as o ld as Ndivhu ho com e
to c lass, hav ing w i th s to od en orm ous
pressures f rom di f ferent angles of l i fe.
At age 24 they are supposed to be
start ing thei r professional l ives and
establ ishing relat ionships that may lead
to m arr iage. I t is com mo n to f ind that
some of these students al ready have
ch i ld ren o f the i r own. A l l these are ,
relat ively spea king, aspects which need
proper hand l ing. The ab i l i t y to create
l inks even at a spi r i tual level goes a long
way in preparing students for chal lenges
that come wi th s tudy ing music .
G o i n g a n e x t r a m i l e
Af te r apprec ia t ing the s tudent 's
prob lem s, i t is impo rtan t to o f fer
sup por t whe re poss ib le . Of ten , such a
gesture leads to th e lec ture r assuming a
fa ther or a mo the r f igure , a me nto r and
a f r ien d w ho is always there for his or
her s tudents . Over t ime the lec turer
deve lops a rap po r t w i th the s tudents t o
an extent that he or she is able to see
through them. Once th is leve l i s
ach ieved, the s tudents rec iproca te by
being open wi th the lecturer. In this
env i ronment respect f rom both s ides i s
s t rengthened beyond the normal
s tudent - teacher re la t ion.
A d m i t t i n g l i m i t a t i o n s a n d f l a u n t i n g
c o m p e t e n c e
A t un ivers i t y ther e are some s tudents
who are smarter than o thers and may
even be sm arte r than the lecturer. I t is
important to encourage such s tudents
to express thems elves, even i f they may
chal lenge the lecture r. In cases wh ere
the lec ture r does not have an
immedia te answer t o a cha llenge or a
ques t i on ,
i t is advisable to accede to a
po in t ra ther than to main ta in a pos i t ion
that may not be correct .
Learners need an assurance that
the i r l ec turer i s a t the cut t ing edge o f
what they are studying. This is why, in
music , s tudents enr o l w i th cer ta in
ins t i tu t ions because they want to s tudy
unde r a cer ta in lec turer . For the m,
f ind ing the i r i con ic lec turer be ing
human and approachable un locks most
facul t ies for ef fect ive learning.
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T y p i c a l B M u s . P r o g r a m m e
A
Technica l Abi l i ty
H o l d i n g t h e G u i t a r a n d
s t r u m m i n g ,
in tens ive exe rc ises .
Lea rn ing heads .
Lea rn ing the B lues s ide -by -
s i d e w i t h Mbhaqanga.
Lea rn ing jazz Standa rds .
Lea rn ing Bebop Heads .
Lea rn ing to in te rp re t and p lay
a r ranged mus ic .
B
Technica l Sk i l l
Dia ton ic Seven th cho rd in
f ive pos i t ions .
Left hand finger
independence .
Loca l me lod ies as a re fe rence .
C o o r d i n a t i o n
Scales, arpegg ios and cho rds.
Wo r k i n g f r o m l e a d s h e e t s .
Ma jo r , M in o r d ia ton ic
sys tems .
Modes o f a ma jo r sca le .
Imp rov isa t ion techn iques .
Read ing .
A u r a l p e r c e p t i o n .
C
T h e o r e t i c a l
U n d e r s t a n d i n g
Mus ic l i te racy : the s tudy o f
the e lemen ts o f mus ic .
U n d e r s t a n d i n g M e l o d i c a n d
H a r m o n i c C o n c e p t s .
K n o w l e d g e o f p r i m a r y
H a r m o n y .
M a s t e r y o f D i a t o n i c
H a r m o n y .
M a s t e r y o f T e r t i a r y H a r m o n y .
A p p r e c i a t i o n o f A t o n a l M u s i c .
M a s t e r y o f M o d a l H a r m o n y .
Free you rse l f f rom ha rmony .
D
H i s t o r i c a l a n d S t y l i s t i c
awareness
W ha t each o f the five
con t inen ts b r ings to mus ic?
O v e r v i e w o f H i s t o r y o f
Mus ic .
Early Jazz (1900) and
Rag t ime -p ian is ts .
D ix ie land bands .
Ch icago -e ra .
Swing (1935) .
I n t r o d u c t i o n t o
Bebop (1940 ) .
T h e C o o r - e r a ( 1 94 5 ) .
A r r a n g e m e n t s .
H a r d B o b ( 1 9 50 ) .
M o d a l .
A v a n t - g a r d e ( i 9 6 0 ) .
Free and Fus ion (1966 ) .
E
S e l f - k n o w l e d g e
Are you ab le to command a
place at th is level?
Es tab l ish p rac t ice rou t ine .
Play chor ds in a band.
Se l f -s tudy me thods
Play melodies and chords in
the band .
H a r m o n i c t a s t e .
W r i t e l i tt l e c o m p o s i t i o n s .
Play them in the band.
Taste.
Es tab l ish l i fe t ime f r iendsh ip
wi th ce r ta in fe l low band
m e m b e r s .
D i s r e g a r d h a r m o n y w i t h o u t
bounda r ies .
F
Year Level
C e r t i f i c a t e
B Mus I
B Mus 2
B Mus 3
B Mus 4
P r o g r a m m e D y n a m i c s
Above i s a rough representa t ion o f a
jazz prog ram me . Colum ns A and B
rep resen t t he t echn i ca l w o rk N d i vhuho
has been learning. These ski l ls are
essent ial ly aimed at improving his
psy cho mo tor sk i ll s , w i t h great emphasis
on the motor sk i l l s . Co lumn C and D
are knowledge based. The app l i ca t ion o f
knowledge conta ined in these two
columns is sl ight ly di f ferent . Column Cs
type o f knowledge impacts d i rec t l y on
the p ract ical aspect of learning, wh i le
co lum n D bu i lds unde rs tand ing, and
leans toward s co lumn E. C olu mn E is
important because i t def ines the
students ; wh eth er he or she is
adequately, musical ly educated.
Progress in column A is chal lenging
f o r N d i vhuh o o r any o t he r s t uden t
w i th s im i lar ( lack o f ) background. As
music is a pract ical subject , students are
under pressure to cover a l l the s tudy
mater ia ls presen ted, a lmost a t once. As
much as this ideal is desi rable, i t is not
a lways poss ib le . An exper ienced
educator knows that a successfu l
t reatment o f co lumn B sets a s tudent
up for an eventual real isat ion of
co l um n A .
Ndiv huho' s s uc c e s s
This ar t i c le a t tempts to present fac tors
that af fect Ndivhuho's musical
educat iona l deve lopment . The educator
can now emphasise w i th Ndivhuho 's
soc ia l p rob lem s, and unders tan d the
background o f the communi ty he comes
from and the chal lenges he wi l l face
when he returns to play his role. I t is
imperat i ve to present a rough sketch o f
t he p rog ram m e t ha t
N d i vhuh o goes t h rough i n o rde r t o
appreciate the magni tude of the gap
that needs to be closed i f Ndivhuho is
to be successful .
Nd ivhuho 's success shou ld been
seen in three ways:
( I ) .
He has fou nd a way o f establ ishing
his own ident i ty.
(2).
His pro gres sion has been steady. He
passes al l the modules and works
hard at his pract icals to compensate
for his lack of experience.
(3).
His m ind is at the r ight place. He has
channel led al l his energies into his
studies. He has a mi ld personal i ty
which makes him l ikable.
Apart f rom h is academic work he now
plays gui tar in his churc h band, and o n
campus he is a key member of a student
reggae group. He is going to graduate
wi th a B.Mus. degre e. He shou ld be
encouraged to cons ider a teacher 's
qual i f icat ion , wh ich w i l l guarantee his
usefulness to his communi ty.
St ra te gie s be hind
In deal ing wi th Afr ican students, i t does
not help to dwel l on thei r lack of
preparat ion. Perhaps what i s important
is to , quickly and ef f ic ient ly, f ind a way of
reach ing them emot iona l l y and
intel lectual ly. One sure way of achieving
this is by acquir ing a thorough
understanding of the learning processes
they, as Afr ica ns, have been subjected to
since bi rth and exploi t them posi t ively.
Some of the modes o f learn ing common
in Af r i can comm uni t ies are (Mapaya,
2004):
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Seclusion: Occurs where
learners/initiates are removed from
their familiar environment and put in
a situation where they are faced
with music all the time, and can only
connect with their communities at
controlled intervals.This method is
common in the initiation process of
mangaka
2
.This method could be
more effective if, for argument's
sake,
a student fro m endawere to
be sent to study in an institution far
away. Howe ver, local students could
be encouraged to get into
accommodation on campus.They
should tr y t o remove themselves
from their home environments.
I mmers i on: Here the initiates are
exposed to extended periods of
drumming and dancing. Eventually,
2. Mangaka ngaka in singular) a Sesotho word for
what are comm only k nown as traditional healers.
the rhythms of the drums, and the
songs sung are absorbed by the
subconscious mind.The initiates hear
these sounds even in their sleep.
Music students who may not have
the privilege of having a collection of
jazz music are strongly encouraged,
almost c omp elled, to buy one jazz
album and listen to the music
continuously.
Dri l l ing:
Music students wh o did not
grow up learning music do not
understand the dynamics of
practicing.There are those elements
that need small doses of daily
practice, and there those that need
lengthy periods of practice until the
threshold is
passed.
Students should
be sensitised to these dynamics and
helped in realising them.
Coercion: African students,
particularly those with rural
backgrounds, would understand
easily if they were to be coerced
into doing certain things related to
their studies. Positive coercion has
been part of their upbringing where
a child has to wake up at a certain
time to fulfil certain tasks without
question.W ith Ndivhuho and others,
I threw them into the deep end by
demanding of them mastery of the
diatonic seventh chords system in
five different positions in one month
with no negotiations; and it wo rked .
That may be one reason why
Ndiv huh o is a success.
References
MacGaffey.W. (1982).Educ ation, Religion, and
Social Structure in Zaire. Anthropology and
EducationQuarterly Vol. 13 No. 3,, 13, pp.
2 3 8 -2 5 0 .
Mapaya, M. (2004). Aspects of
Contemporary
Northern SothoCulture Through Music:Its
Perpetuation within and beyond the region of
Ga-Mmalebogo,
Limpopo Province,
South
Africa.
Master's diss ertat ion Johannesburg: W its
University.
J5.P
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