OMEA Conference

This OMEA conference, I attended a session on Egyptian music and its uses in the general classroom. I found this to be not only a fascinating session, but also a sobering experience that reminded me exactly how much I still have to learn about multicultural music and its integration into the classroom.

One of the first things that I found exceptionally fascinating about the session was how different actual Egyptian (and Middle Eastern music in general) is from its common perception in the United States. As was mentioned in class, I have always perceived Egyptian music to be closely associated with the harmonic minor scale (especially the augmented second). This, however, certainly is not the case. I was also completely unaware of the rich percussion and vocal heritage that this music enjoys. The final aspect of the music that I found interesting was its functionality. This, though, I feel, is not from a lack of exposure, but a lack of thinking about how it would be used in daily Egyptian life (specifically spiritual life and ceremonial life).

I also found the strategies for inclusion of this music to be excellent. I particularity liked the idea of preparing an Orff arrangement to go with a cultural story. This could be an excellent use of scaffolding, especially if the students are already familiar with Orff instruments. Overall, I was very impressed by the session and am looking forward to the opportunity to include multicultural music into a classroom.