Abstract
When a common set of characteristics is used to examine the different areas of human interest and endeavour, music can lay claim to being a discipline of knowledge equal in depth, breadth, structure, rigour and quality to the sciences, social sciences and other humanities. Since a universal goal is to provide opportunities for those interested in the music discipline to develop competencies for successful participation, it is imperative that these characteristics be understood and their cross-cultural values promoted. The music discipline has a membership, a worldwide community of people who have shared interests, values, common roots and goals, and a commitment to a common cause. Composers, performers, and musicologists are the core members of the community. Its members interact: they (a) communicate and collaborate with each other, (b) use a specialised language and symbol system, (c) are dedicated to exploring and perpetuating the language of sound. They also develop expertise: they (a) work in special ways using unique modes in inquiry, (b) contribute to the conceptual structure of sound that communicates across cultures, (c) have a capacity for innovation and ways of perpetuating the discipline. Instructional programmes based on characteristics of music as a discipline of knowledge are a microcosm of the world's music community; they bridge the present to the past and to the future and have relevance for all cultures and times.
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