THE EDITOR, Sir:IT WAS with great amazement that I read Dawn Ritch's article 'Reggae, violence and cultural decline'. Where there is indeed need for analysis of music in the popular genre and its effects on behaviour, Miss Ritch has approached the task by merely throwing wild generalisations and misinformation into the air. I strongly suggest that she reconsider the reliability of her data sources.
It is inaccurate to say that "singing is not taught in our schools, neither is music". All Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture school curricula include music. The subject continues to gain attention in primary and post-primary institutions and in pre-service and in-service teacher education. The recent introduction of CXC music has also provided certain advancements for the subject and this year some 10 Jamaican schools entered students for CXC music. All school music curricula draw on the pluralism of Caribbean musical culture by providing for the study of classical music, folk, pop, gospel and other genres. It is totally incorrect to say that there is no academic education in classical music. The development of these curricula has provided necessary advancements in music education for they seek to move schools beyond the mono-culturalism of the pre-independence years, a task started by Ministry officers immediately after independence.
ANNUAL COMPETITIONS
The Festival Commission continues to host its annual competitions where thousands of children enter classes in classical, folk and popular music (vocal and instrumental). I have often noticed that Festival events in Kingston are seldom attended by the music/arts lovers of upper St. Andrew. As the Festival showcases music in schools, I suggest that attendance at the numerous events would provide more reliable information on the state and nature of musical performance in our schools than the information on which this article is based.
The changes that occurred in the School of Music in the 1970s have been a thorn in the flesh of these whose Eurocentric preoccupations debarred them from understanding that musical elitism was being questioned not only in Jamaica, but also in a number of European countries. When the institution introduced jazz and folk music in departments headed by the highly respected Melba Liston and Marjorie Whylie respectively, it caused a stir. What amazes me is that a lady as seemingly progressive as Miss Ritch should still be batting on so old a wicket. Further, that she is making such sweeping criticism about reggae, dancehall and those who perform in these genres. Are there really no good current reggae or dancehall musicians?
CURRENT TRENDS
It is time that Miss Ritch and her informants acquaint themselves with current trends in music education and stop bemoaning the perceived loss of piano lessons, theory and appreciation. They undoubtedly continue to be important and to gain attention, but this is an age in which children are being encouraged to listen to, perform and compose music with or without knowledge of European composers or the notation on which they relied. Information and Communication Technology has provided us with a range of tools that now allow our children to study "world music", to record and notate the music of their ancestors who operated in an aural-oral modality, and to utilise their creative abilities to become composers of the music of the 21st century. Our hope is that the Jamaican composers of the future will draw on the cultural diversity of the region, and not be deterred by those who continue to suffer from a myopic concentration on the past.
I am, etc.,
JOAN TUCKER
Senior Lecturer in Music Education,
Institute of Education,
University of the West Indies, Mona.
