Meaningful Collaborations: An Introduction to Music of Jamaica

Abstract

The purpose of this column is to explore a meaningful collaboration between a classroom music teacher and an expert from a music culture. Dr. David Aarons from Jamaica worked with a music educator and a class of 5th grade students. They explored dance traditions, steel pan performance, singing games, and stories. They also discussed sociocultural and sociohistorical meanings of the lyrics, instruments, and hybrid nature of many of the current traditions.