Educating Ndivhuho; Music Education in a Rural Environment

8/11/2019 Educating Ndivhuho; Music Education in a Rural Environment

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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

J I I S S I I C I ^ ^

MSC W J^M^MM SMM :M ^fi

l l T I T I ^ l f ' V

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Documents

Educating Ndivhuho; Music Education in a Rural Environment