In music schools of the near future, I would like to see more consideration given towards why we make music. Many music teachers already encourage their students to think about their purpose and identity as musicians, but making this explicit in curriculum might make for a radically different education. If, instead of making sure students have a thorough understanding of the history, structure, and performance of mostly white, Western musicians, all courses might be geared toward concepts of community, diversity, and self-expression, for example. With these ideas in mind, things like learning figured bass become less crucial, and dancing much more so.
The thought of making room for all different kinds of music theory had me worried that with a smattering of so many things, I wouldn’t have a solid grounding in any one of them to rely on. Obviously, this kind of thinking is a result of my white racial bias and fear of any hard work that would put me outside the comfortable and limited realm of what I know. I realize that a typical music degree prepares one to study and play and write and experience music in a limited way. If my goal as a musician is to play and understand Western Classical music really well, then that’s perfect. But why should that be all? What is the point of being a musician in the first place? For me, it’s to connect with other people and to express myself. If connection is the ideal, it seems much more natural to give non-white/male/dead composers and musicians as much attention as we now give Bach.
Singers like myself often chase a sound that was developed in 18th century Europe and continues to be the ideal in Westen Classical music. I never questioned that this is the ‘most correct’ and most elevated way to perform. My voice teacher recently showed me a recording of Aretha Franklin singing ‘Nessun Dorma,’ and it opened so many doors for me! She sang the piece with absolute power and fantastic expression, all with her distinctly jazz/R&B vocal. My ‘common sense’ said, this piece should be sung with a certain intonation, diction, etc, but all of those intuitions really come down to the euro-centric framework of music that I’ve learned. If music pedagogy and, as a result, musicianship generally were more consciously focussed on the power and purpose of music-making (promoting diversity, collaboration, and an appreciation for many cultures, for another example), voices of all kinds would sing in many different styles. I think this would produce insightful, creative, and much less uptight musicians.