Preface

The World of Music is a music listening book. Going beyond the traditional limits of repertoire used for music study, it is designed for that growing number of teachers who want to focus on perceptive or analytical listening to music as it exists in the real world. In addition to western European classical music, this text includes folk, religious, jazz, popular, ethnic, and world music. These "nonclassical" repertoires, given substantive coverage in early chapters, provide appropriate material for introducing musical concepts and for gaining an understanding of the nature of music, how it is created, and how it functions. This approach affirms that no repertoire is too small for the study of music and that all repertoires are important, differing only in style and function.

The World of Music does not seek to study cultures and repertoires in depth, nor does it seek to teach repertoires as much as to use them. Its primary purpose is to use these sources to increase musical understanding. A goal of the textbook is to capture the essence of each repertoire. Students will recognize the different styles, appreciate their different functions, and develop a solid foundation for continued learning in areas of personal interest.

In a comprehensive book such as this, there is a trade-off. By giving added attention to nonclassical repertoires, western European classical music has of necessity been reduced. Again, the goal is to capture the essence of the nature of classical music in its varied styles. Therefore, all that is sacrificed is the quantity of information.

The World of Music presumes no prior musical training on the part of the student. It is a textbook for any introductory music listening course whether it is entitled Music Appreciation, Introduction to Music, Survey of Music Literature, or Music Listening. Its broad scope and introductory nature make it ideally suited for lower-division music literature courses designed for those not majoring in music as well as for music majors. In fact, when considering the global nature and the complexities of today's society, the attention the book gives to music from many traditional and contemporary musical styles may provide a much needed philosophical and curricular foundation for music majors early in their professional preparation.

Two broad, related statements underlie the philosophy and approach on which this book is based:

The core of the approach leads to the development of listening skills, including the ability to describe and comment on the music heard.

Listening skills can be taught through music of any time or place.

Listening Skills

The sequential development of substantive listening and descriptive skills is the central purpose of the text. More than the study of specific repertoires, it is the study, through listening, of musical concepts common to nearly all repertoires that ties the chapters together. Learning strategies are more clearly and frequently stated in this fifth edition than in previous ones. In addition to the elements of music presented in chapters 2 and 3, listening goals, musical concepts, and terminology are introduced throughout the book, as needed, particularly at the beginning of each chapter's Goals for Listening.

All chapters other than 1, 2, and 16 include Listening Guides, each of which is comprised of a recorded musical example from the full set of CDs that accompany the text. Listening Guides, as much as possible, explicitly reflect musical concepts discussed within the chapter. In previous editions, all guides were included as summary material at the end of chapters. This fifth edition now has them incorporated within the text, placed close to directly related content.

Also new to the fifth edition is "crossover" music, defined as music that reflects more than one genre or is sufficiently unique to defy classification. Crossover Additional Listening Guides are included at the ends of chapters 4 through 15.

The purpose of each guide is to reinforce printed information and concepts. Each musical example included a variety of strategies to assist in the listening process. Thus, for each recorded example, there is a listening guide that includes the following:

Background information.

Goals for developing listening and descriptive skills.

The listening guide – an outline of or commentary on the music and its structure and style.

Reflections on the listening experiences.

The goals for each listening experience have been developed sequentially so that, as students progress, their listening and descriptive skills and use of vocabulary grow gradually and consistently. The guides help lead this listening experience. However, since listening can to some extent be subjective, listeners may hear music in a different way than a guide indicates; thus, multiple perceptions may be entirely valid. The reflective comments and questions are presented to enhance perceptions, particularly from repeated listening, and to use as catalysts for discussion.

The goals and reflections are meant to be flexible, intended only as possibilities and as models. Teachers can modify them as desired and can have students create their own reflective statements or questions for discussion.

Repertoire

The choice of repertoire for music study is comprehensive and presented, as much as possible, without bias. Such an approach includes and reinforces the importance of cultural backgrounds that are not western European. It also acknowledges the musical validity of using music other than western European classical music in the curriculum.

The expanded repertoire for music study represented in this text symbolizes several important notions:

At the dawn of this new century, it seems logical that substantive attention should be given to recent and current classical and popular music – the music of our own time.

The United States of America is comprised of diverse cultures, and curricula should reflect this diversity as it is; thus, a strong emphasis should be given to music of our own nation.

Music exists in faraway, exotic places – in other cultures. However, much music, derived from non-Western cultures, is close to our home and is important to American society – American ethnic music. Thus, we acknowledge the importance and the study of music of the world.

The United States is part of our global culture; thus, in this sense, its jazz, folk, popular, and classical music is part of "world music." To sustain the notion that American music is part of, not separate from, world music, we include a variety of repertoires within American music that have non-Western roots or influences. These repertoires include the music of Native Americans, American ethnic and immigrant groups, and creators and performers of Latin America and the Caribbean. This broad coverage affirms that all repertoires can contribute in important ways to the study of music.

Because of the emphasis on expanded repertoire, choices of content and musical examples obviously had to be made. The text is organized so chapters, sections, or pieces can be omitted or given emphasis different from the text's to suit an individual instructor's interests and needs. In such a case, modifications can and should be made to the goals and descriptions in the Listening Guides to retain the sequential development of listening skills.

Photographs throughout the text are essential to its philosophical basis, depicting music as it is – performed by people everywhere, serving many valid purposes, and enjoyed and valued in many different contexts. Music is an active art, and people are seen making and responding to music.

This book focuses largely on the roots of a musical repertoire that includes: (1) background, history, and relationships to a culture (context), and (2) significant influences and contributions of creators and performers to a society and to musical development. This background, however, has been balanced with contemporary elements of various music, including its more contemporary sounds. Thus, this fifth edition of The World of Music is both historical and contemporary and can be a viable musical resource for the early years of the twenty-first century.

2003 McGraw-Hill Higher Education
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