folk music at kmh - muziekraad vlaanderenmuziekraad-vlaanderen.be/.../10/folkmusic-at-kmh...1...

FOLK MUSIC AT KMHA presentation of the Folk Music Department at the Royal College of Music, Stockholm (KMH)

Sven Ahlbäck/ Folk Music Department/ Royal College of Music /Stockholm/Sweden/ [email protected]

1torsdag, 2009 november 19

mailto:[email protected]


Kungliga Musikhögskolan (Royal College of Music, Stockholm)

• Founded 1771

• The largest music university college in Sweden (600 full-time students)

• Departments: Performance: Classical (including early music), Jazz, Folk, Composition & Conducting, Music and Media technology Music teaching: Music teaching (including Music Therapy, Music History, Music pedagogical research, instrumental and general music teaching)

• Degrees: Bachelor, Master, PhD (in cooperation with Stockholm university), DMus (in cooperation with Sib Academy)





Folk Music department at Royal College of Music in Stockholm (KMH)

• Folk Music education at KMH since 1976, separate department since 1994

• Highest level of Folk Music education in Sweden (bachelor, master/diploma and doctoral degrees)

• 1 professor, 1 senior lecturer, 8 adjunct lecturers, more than 30 part-time teachers on more regular basis + guest lecturers

• 1976 = 4 students, 1993 = 6 students 2008 = 41 students

• 36 BA students within performance programs (9 with pedagogical profile) + 2 associated students from other departments

• 3 MA students within performance program, 1 DMA/PhD student (in collaboration with the Sibelius-Academy)

• 2 MA Nordic Master in Folk music (KMH, Odense, Sib Ak)

• External courses





two musical profiles - two professional profiles - unlimited individual profiles

Music fromother cultures

Swedish FolkMusic

- Swedish tradition (60-70%)


- Norwegian

- Estonian

- Finnish

- Iranian

- West africa: Senegal, Gambia

- Klezmer- Balkan

- Iraqi Kurdish

- Arabic

- Chilean/Bolivian

- French

- Brittany

- Congolese

- Mozambique

- Tango





Swedish FolkMusic


- It’s all right to specialize in your own repertoire and style - but you have to learn how to make music over cultural boundaries

- You have to have some knowledge of a folk music tradition - and individual artistic expression - to be accepted. Shallow but broad is not enough!

- We don’t teach “world music” - but are happy when it happens!

- We accept students with a profile in music from other cultures if we can arrange teaching on the appropriate level


- two categories: those who are experienced musicians without formal music education and those who need to develop within their own style





Swedish FolkMusic


PERFORMANCE PROFILE

PEDAGOGIC AND PERFORMANCEPROFILE

- Both categories work after studies usually at least to some degree both pedagogically and artistically

- Some come back for the other profile!

- Very high rate of professional activity after examination (> 80 %)


- free-lance (few positions as music ped.)





Swedish FolkMusic


PERFORMANCE PROFILE

PEDAGOGIC AND PERFORMANCEPROFILE

Individual profile

- Students are encouraged to develop their own artistic and professional profile

- Broad or specialized? World/trad-folk/classical- pop or jazz crossover

- Many possible extensions and combinations, e.g. archive work, music production, theatre, story-telling, research, dance...





the aim

give deep knowledge of the tradition to be able to

do “your own thing”


promote individual musicianship




Folk Music department at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm (KMH)

STUDENTS:11 fiddle, 1 viola, 2 cello,

10 voice5 nyckelharpa3 percussion2 accordion

2 flute, 1 clarinet, 1 sax.1 guitar, 1 lute, 1 kora, 1 mandolin

1 quanon

LECTURER/ teacherswithin the following subjects:

fiddle/viola (4)voice (2)theory (2)

arranging/composition (3)ensemble (3)

piano (1)voice method (1)fiddle method (2)

all other instrumentand subjects

regular visiting teachers

All regular lecturers are performers within folk musicand have degrees in higher music education





General pedagogical ideas:

• Folk music as the starting-point

• Stimulate deep enough learning

• Stimulate a creative relationship to music performance

• Stimulate broadening of musical perspectives and competence

• Stimulate the development of musical consciousness





Folk music as the pedagogical foundation

LEARNING BY EAR

FOLK MUSIC EXISTS AS PERFORMANCE THERE IS NO

ORIGINAL- ONLY VARIANTS

TRADITION IMPLIES CHANGE AND CONTINUITY





A conceptual ground

LEARNING BY EAR

FOLK MUSIC EXISTS AS PERFORMANCE THERE IS NO

ORIGINAL- ONLY VARIANTS

TRADITION IMPLIES CHANGE AND CONTINUITY

TRADITION REQUIRES COMPETENCE

NO BOUNDARIES

BETWEEN FUNCTION AND ART





Pedagogical consequences

• A folk musical profile in all courses/subjects

• “Learning by ear”

• The instrumental training focuses on musical competence rather than instrumental skill in a limited sense

• Studying style and instrumental skill is intimately linked.

• Copying, listening, interpreting and recreating teachers performances, recordings and notations

• A common supporting educational material - field recordings, films, notation - digitized archive which can be accessed through the network

• A common folk music style-specific music theoretical toolbox for all subjects/courses

• Close connection between folk music theory - ensemble/arranging - main instrument studies - dance and dance music - improvisation

• Common methods of working with ensemble/arranging and composition based on arranging-by-ear principle


Typical curriculum BA program

Main instrument

Ensemble

Arranging

Concert training/Practice

Examination work(incl. Concert and thesis)

Folk music theory

Piano

Voice/folk singing

Folk dance / ergonomy

Music technology

Music in society(musicology)

Eligible courses (12,5% tot. 25%)

Main subject courses (67%)

Supportive courses (20%)


Our idea - a folk music department as place for a living folk music tradition

• Musical development comes from music making

• Music does not develop in isolation

• An arena for musical development within folk music

• Musical development needs to be recognized

• International cooperation is the future: Folk music is both local and global


WHY NOT IN BELGIUM?


folk music at kmh - muziekraad vlaanderenmuziekraad-vlaanderen.be/.../10/folkmusic-at-kmh...1...

Documents