A Survey of Unpublished Materials Focusing on the Pedagogy of Afro-American Music in General Music Education

Abstract

The documents cited in this article-dissertations and theses are unpublished and not widely circulated. Therefore, music educators may not be aware of their existence. It is hoped that this article will assist in increasing awareness of these materials and will identify areas of deficiency in the research literature that focuses specifically on the pedagogy of Afro-American music. The works cited here address all levels of music education, from elementary to college, and provide a varied sample of curriculum materials, including methodologies, course outlines, lesson plans, syllabi, and curriculum guides. The works cover a wide variety of topics, discussing the teaching of Afro-American music from a broad spectrum in addition to providing a body of practical teaching aids. Works that treat Afro-American music in general are cited, along with works dealing with individual genres such as gospel music, spirituals, Afro-American folk music, and jazz. Two of the works cited are concerned with the development of courses designed to acquaint prospective teachers of music with the music of Afro-Americans. The Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) and the Kodaly method, two wellknown methodologies, are applied to jazz and Afro-American folk music, respectively, in two of the works. The discussion in this article begins with a general overview of graduate-level research in the area of Afro-American music and proceeds with a survey of recent theses and dissertations that have addressed the pedagogy of this music in general music education courses. The works discussed were selected because they are appropriate for use in non-specialist music education with general students or non-music majors. The materials include works that provide general information of relevance to all students or works that deal with pedagogy of AfroAmerican music in general music classes or music appreciation courses.