Week 1
Over four weeks, I and other Music Education students had the opportunity to learn Balinese Gamelan music from Peter Dunbar-Hall. The process of learning that occurred within these intensives challenged us to learn an unfamiliar music in an unfamiliar way, whilst reflecting on the way we were being taught and how we can bring this into our own practice.
To begin, students were asked to remove their shoes and ensure that instruments were not to be stepped over. This was seen as a sign of disrespect and is a tradition that was expected to be maintained in this classroom. This understanding comes from Peter’s lived experience studying the music in Bali. It was incredibly clear that the knowledge that was being shared with us was learnt in the cultural context the music exists. Peter’s knowledge was also being shared from a place of genuine respect and appreciation for both the music and culture, which reinforces the idea of teaching with integrity that we have looked at in this course so far (Coppola, 2021).
Peter modelled several teaching methods when teaching the first piece ‘Gilak Dung’. The focus on learning this piece was aurally and visually. Peter repeated the phrase ‘Watch my Panggul’ to emphasise this method which was referred to later as ‘Maguru Panggul’. The idea that the ‘Panggul is the teacher’ is interesting and challenges traditional Western and notation-based learning styles. It does, however, align with more contemporary and informal-based learning approaches, which similarly rely on self-correction, repetition, modelling, group-learning, and a lack of notation.
Peter continued to teach through the appropriate terminology, introducing us to concepts such as lagu, kotekan, sangsih, polos, pokok, gongan. Although there was some discussion about the meanings of these terms in relation to English and Western musical traditions, the focus was understanding these terms according to the Balinese Gamelan traditions. The focus on cultural sensitivity and teaching with integrity regarding musical cultures of the world highlights how as teachers, we could integrate these methods when teaching any musical cultures or traditions.
Here is an example of the kotekan for Gilak Dung – Note Peter highlighting the third part that is created from the two parts playing at the same time.
Week 2
The second week began in the same way as the first, entering the room removing shoes and sitting down within the Gamelan ensemble. Peter had written a number of terminologies on the board, revealing a lesson plan. Some words were familiar from the first week, whilst some were not. This process feels helpful as a learner in any classroom setting, however, it does reinforce the incremental learning that Peter discussed in Balinese music learning.
Gamelan music is typically learnt in group settings which is why the ‘jigsaw memory’ teaching strategy that was used by Peter was particularly relevant. Peter used questioning “Each of you is going to tell me one thing you learned last week”. This was a helpful tool as a learner, but it is also a technique that I plan on using when teaching music in group settings.
After revising ‘Gilak Dung’ and the kotekan from week 1, we began learning a piece called ‘Bapang Tembung’. This piece had a different sound and feeling from the first piece. The learning that took place mirrored the process of the first week, which is learning the lagu first, adding the pokok and learning the kotekan parts, adding the kotekan with pokok, structuring the piece, and adding the gongan.
Week 3
The third intensive with Peter extended on our understanding of how the kotekan worked. Up until this point, remembering the parts was enough of a challenge and it was helpful to understand the theory behind the kotekan. For our understanding, and to provide a resource for us to use in our teaching, Peter had notated the kotekan parts on the board. Although this breaks from the way that the music is taught in Bali, it seems logical to provide a number of different notations and perspectives when teaching this music to non-Balinese students.
Through our revision of ‘Gilak Dung’ and ‘Bapang Tembung’, we were provided with opportunities to play each kotekan and instrument. As a teaching strategy, Peter highlighted the importance of this as each part is relevant to every student and it allows you to remain teaching the entire class. Gamelan is interesting in the sense that each part is also musically and mathematically related to each other, so through learning each part, you can understand and predict the parts that are played on the gongan, reong, or trompong.
We began to learn our third and final piece of the intensives. This piece ‘Guak Maling Telur’ used the Slendro Alit patet (345 71) and was a challenging lagu to remember. The same techniques of repetition, self-correction, watching the teacher (or panggul), and a lack of notation were employed by Peter. The notes of the scale were discussed to encourage us to see the pattern in the music.
Week 4
The final intensive with Peter included a revision of all songs and an opportunity for students to play every instrument, including some new percussion instruments and the reong.
The reong is played by four people who work together to play a series of three or four notes that make up a melodic and rhythmic pattern. Peter turned over some of the pieces of the reong so that students could more easily see the correct notes that were needed for the part. I thought this was interesting that the instrument itself offered a strategy for differentiation. Peter ran this part of the workshop almost like a jam, where students were continuously playing their part, whilst Peter taught other students a new part somewhere else. This allowed for students to repeat their newly learned part, essentially drilling it in. It also allowed for a steady flow of learning to occur without interruption. It was fantastic to witness great teaching in this way and offer ideas for teaching Gamelan music, as well as music in all other areas.
Further to this, Peter provided a handout of the pieces we have learnt, which included information on the Gamelan type, Patet and the occasion that the music would occur in. As a teaching resource, this is fantastic and offers an element of musicology into the study of Balinese Gamelan. The combination of performance, composition and musicology tasks is built into the intensive and has provided me with a range of activities to use in the classroom.
Classroom Adaptation
Peter provided several ideas for ways to adapt these methods into the classroom. The concept of teaching with integrity, that is, teaching music of different cultures after researching and experiencing the music as much as possible would require some further experience on my behalf. I hope to travel to Bali and experience the music first-hand. However, prioritising integrity over authenticity means that using classroom instruments is acceptable, as long as the spirit of the music and its contexts are considered and respected. The following are some ideas provided by Peter on how to do this:
The piano and xylophone would be suitable and it is even possible to achieve similar timbres if done creatively. Further to this, the use of drums and cymbals commonly found in music classrooms could be adapted for this purpose.
This is how it sounds on a regular piano sound and I believe it still allows to hear the scales used and how the kotekan is derived from this lagu.
Overall, this experience was an incredible way to experience Balinese Gamelan music. The methods used by Peter provide an amazing example of how to teach music of different cultures in a classroom setting. This was such a fantastic example of the way an experienced music educator has brought their own research and passion into their teachings and it has definitely provided inspiration for how to approach teaching a range of musical cultures.
Music Education Portfolio 