An empirical study into the learning practices and enculturation of DJs, turntablists, hip hop and dance music producers

Abstract

This study explores the music practices and learning strategies of nine popular electronic musicians (DJs, turntablists, Hip-hop and dance music producers) through the consideration of current literature in empirical music studies, trends in music education and the theme of musical enculturation as a key component of a popular electronic musician's development. Following the investigation into the learning practices employed by the musicians, as they gather the necessary skills and knowledge to compose, arrange, produce and perform dance and Hip-hop genres of electronic music, the paper goes on to consider whether the learning practices and values expressed by the musicians could be realistically adapted or included within formal music education.

Exploring the experiences, perceptions and reflections of popular electronic musicians at UK higher education institutions

“…The comments above highlight that, similar to findings in other studies (Thompson 2012;Green 2002;Snell and Söderman 2014), students often had to contextualize the technical aspects of their programmes to specifically relate to their own popular electronic musical practices. The musicians in this study, though, did not view this as a specific issue; rather, they viewed it as an opportunity to learn related skills that supported their musical practice.…”

“…Although not always the case (see Mok 2011), it typically involves the use of aural and oral methods of teaching and learning, often with musical notation to supplement the guidance of a teacher or mentor. Informal music education typically involves developing musical skills and acquiring musical knowledge without a structured curriculum (Mason and Rennie 2004) and often employs the approach of watching and copying teachers, family, friends, recordings or performances (Green 2002;Thompson 2012). Although these educational categories have been described as a continuum (Green 2002;Folkestad 2006), it is still unclear where formal education ends and non-formal or informal education begins (Rogers 2004).…”

“…Consequently there are only a handful of studies in this area (Snell and Söderman 2014;Söderman and Sernhede 2015). Thompson (2012) argues that Western Art music pedagogy and its related conventions as observed by Campbell (1991) are still evident in formal institutions today. The integration of popular electronic styles of music, such as hip hop and house, into the curricula of formal educational syllabi, has therefore been decidedly slow.…”

“…These include the use of sampling devices such as the Akai MPC drum machine trigger pads, and more recently gestural controllers linked to computers, samplers or recording software. The difficulty in integrating the popular electronic musician into formal educational and musical structures is generally linked to the use of these music and recording technologies rather than traditional instrumentation (Thompson 2012). For popular electronic musicians this technology forms an intrinsic role in the composition, production and performance of the music, with the technology forming or replacing the instrument (see Harkins [2010] for a more detailed exploration of the use of the digital sampler in this context).…”

‘They wasn't makin’ my kinda music’: a hip-hop musician's perspective on school, schooling, and school music

“…The small amount of empirical music education scholarship concerned with hip-hop has so far corroborated Green's (2002) hypothesis that musicians of differing vernacular traditions teach and learn in diverse ways. Söderman and Folkestad (2004) reported on hip-hop composition process, Thompson (2012) investigated learning experiences and enculturation for DJs, turntablists, and other electronic musicians, and Söderman (2011) compared hip-hop music education to a Swedish self-education concept of 'folkbildning'. All of these scholars supported the notion that hip-hop musical learning may differ from rock and other pop traditions as well as differing from the musical cultures most often found in American music classrooms.…”