Challenging Western Ethnocentrism:

Incorporating Multicultural Music in the Choral Classroom

Chelsea Green
University of Colorado Boulder
Summer MME Student
June 28, 2019
chelsea.green@colorado.edu

Problem:
• Choirs perform multicultural pieces in the Western bel canto choral style instead of traditional vocal
methods

• Music educators are teaching their students that the western standard of bel canto singing is superior to
other vocal styles that utilize chest voice

• Prioritization of Western singing practices can communicate a subtext of cultural superiority and
promotes ethnocentrism

• “A cultures’ preferred vocal timbre is as important to its people as a bel canto sound is to most Western-
trained classical musicians” (Goetze, Fales, & Smishkewych, 2012, p. 217).

Bel Canto Singing Chest Voice Singing

Three Contributing Factors: Standard style of singing for: Standard style of singing for:
• Western choral style • Musical theatre
• Lack of training in Music Teacher • Popular music
Education Programs Italian for “beautiful singing” • Multicultural vocal traditions

Characteristics:
• The myth of authenticity and fears of • Tall Vowel Shape
cultural appropriation • Low Larynx
• Cricothyroid (CT) dominant
• Concerns about vocal health when vocal production
singing in non-bel canto styles • Lengethens vocal folds
• Higher pitch
Characteristics:
• Horizontal vowel shape
• High Larynx
• Thyroarytenoid (TA) dominant
vocal production
• Shortens vocal folds
• Lower pitch
• For characteristics in specific
cultures, see Goetze, Fales, &
Smishkewych, 2012, p. 230

Research indicates that students can learn to sing in both bel canto technique
and chest voice styles without damaging the voice.
————————————————————————————————
Solutions:
1. Vocal Conditioning — strengthens the voice over time — similar to body building
2. Rehearse music that requires chest voice at the end of practice
3. Attempt to recreate the pedagogical process of a piece
4. Have students identify changes in transcriptions and arrangements of music
5. Invite guests (or utilize technology) to teach diction, explore the meaning behind the piece,
and to serve as a “culture-bearer” for that particular culture
 Challenging Western Ethnocentrism:
Incorporating Multicultural Music in the Choral Classroom
References

Barlow, C., LoVetri, J. (2010). Closed quotient and spectral measures of female adolescent
singers in different singing styles. Journal of Voice. 24(3), 314-318.
doi:10.1016/j.jvoice.2008.10.003

Cash, S. L. (2012). The use of world music in high school choral classrooms (Doctoral
Dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest. (ProQuest No. 3539539).

Edwin, R. (2007). Popular song and musical theatre: Belt is legit. Journal of Singing - the
Official Journal of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, 64(2), 213-215.

Goetze, M., Fales, C., & Smishkewych, W. (2012). Exploring the universal voice. De Quadros,
A. (Ed.) In The Cambridge companion to choral music. (pp. 216-237). Cambridge, NY:
Cambridge University Press.

Kang, S. (2016). The history of multicultural music education and its prospects: The controversy
of music universalism and its application. Update: Applications of Research in Music
Education, 34(2), 21-28. doi:10.1177/8755123314548044

Wells, B. (2006). On the voice - belt technique: Research, acoustics, and possible world music
applications. Choral Journal, 46(9), 65-77.

Yoo, H. (2017). Multicultural choral music pedagogy based on the facets model. Music
Educators Journal, 104(1), 34–39. doi:10.1177/0027432117708602