We have no method of teaching, only ways of learning,” says Angelo Joaquin Jr., founder of the Young Waila Musicians Workshop. He was not talking about string instruction, but the philosophy implicit in his remarks summarizes some of the valuable lessons string teachers might receive from the Tohono O'odham Indian nation.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
➢ BakanMichael B. “Lessons from a World: Balinese Methods of Applied Music Instruction and the Teaching of Western ‘Art’ Music.”College Music Symposium, 33–34 (1993/1995): 1–22.
2.
➢ CampbellPatricia Shehan. Lessons from the World: A Cross-Cultural Guide to Music Teaching and Learning.New York: Schirmer Books, 1991.
3.
➢ CrouchJohn, and CrouchjennyViolin Voices of the Old Pueblo.Tucson: Southwest Series, Inc., 1996.
4.
A video featuring an old-style waila fiddle band, and a profile of veteran O'odham fiddler Edmund Wilson. Other string traditions profiled are mariachi violins, country swing-band fiddling, and the rare Apache one-stringed violin.
5.
➢ DensmoreFrances, Papago Music.Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1929.
6.
➢ EllisCatherine J. Aboriginal Music, Education for Living: Cross-Cultural Experiences from South Australia, St. Lucia, Queensland: University of Queensland Press,1985.
7.
➢ GriffithJames S. “Waila: The Social Dance Music of the Tohono O'odham.” In RassmussenA., and LornellK., eds. Multicultural Musics of the United States.New York: Schirmer Books, 1997.
8.
This text conies with an accompanying compact disc that includes two representative samples of waila music, one representing the older style of the Gu Achi Fiddlers and the other the more contemporary sound of popular group Southern Scratch.
9.
➢ HaeferJ. Richard. Musical Thought in Papago Culture.University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Ph.D. dissertation. 1981.
10.
➢ Papago Music and Dance.Tsaile, Ariz.: Navajo Community College Press, 1977.
11.
➢ KingsburyHenry. Music, Talent, and Performance. A Conservatory Cultural System.Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1988.
12.
➢ SturmanJanet. “Movement Analysis as a Tool for Understanding Identity: Retentions, Borrowings, and Transformations in Native American Waila.”The World of Music9 (3, 1997): 51–69.
13.
➢ UnderbillRuth M. Singing for Power: The Song Magic of the Papago Indians of Southern Arizona.Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1993 (1938).
