433718

2011
IJM0010.1177/0255761411433718McIntoshInternational Journal of Music Education

Article

International Journal of

‘Seeing the bigger Music Education

1­–11
© The Author(s) 2012
picture’: Experiential learning, Reprints and permission: sagepub.
co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
applied ethnomusicology and the DOI: 10.1177/0255761411433718
ijm.sagepub.com
use of gamelan music in adult
literacy education

Jonathan McIntosh
The University of Western Australia, Australia

Abstract
Highlighting the application of ethnomusicology beyond the traditional boundaries of the academy,
this article investigates the use of music in adult literacy education. In 2005, as part of the Literacy
and Equality in Irish Society (LEIS) project, adult literacy tutors working in Northern Ireland,
United Kingdom (UK), were invited to enrol in short, professional-development courses that
required their participation in a Balinese gamelan ensemble – an orchestra comprised mainly of
metallophones, drums and gongs. During each course, tutors were encouraged to reflect upon
their learning processes to help them become more empathetic with some of the difficulties faced
by adult literacy students. By focusing on the tutors’ experiences of learning gamelan music, this
article provides insights into how participants used these development courses as a means to
critically reflect upon issues of approach to teaching adult literacy education.

Keywords
adult literacy education, applied ethnomusicology, community music, experiential learning,
gamelan music, professional development

Introduction
In his book ‘A commonsense view of all music’: Reflections on Percy Grainger’s contribution to
ethnomusicology and music education, Blacking (1987, p. 147) argues that ‘music education
should not be cosy or comfortable’ and that ‘it is the business of music educators to induce in all
their pupils new artistic experiences, which may or may not generate new social experiences’.

Corresponding author:
Dr Jonathan McIntosh, Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology, School of Music (M413), The University of Western
Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA, 6009, Australia.
Email: jonathan.mcintosh@uwa.edu.au

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2 International Journal of Music Education

Focusing on the application of ethnomusicology beyond the traditional boundaries of the academy,
this article investigates the ‘new experiences’ of adult literacy tutors in Northern Ireland, United
Kingdom (UK), who participated in two short, professional-development courses that required
their involvement in a Balinese gamelan ensemble. Organized as part of the Literacy and Equality
in Irish Society (LEIS) project, the two courses were devised to enable and empower literacy tutors
to realize the possibilities of using music as a creative methodology in their teaching. Excerpts
from learning journals that were kept by two tutors throughout the duration of each course provide
insights into the participants’ experiences of learning gamelan music. The learning journals also
demonstrate how the experience of participating in the Balinese gamelan ensemble allowed tutors
to reflect upon concerns relating to their teaching of adult literacy. However, before discussing the
tutors’ experiences of learning gamelan music, it is important to situate the two short courses
within the context of applied ethnomusicological research. Such contextualization will also
serve to demonstrate the significant role played by the ethnomusicology programme at Queen’s
University Belfast (QUB) concerning the development of community projects utilizing gamelan
music in the context of Northern Ireland.

The application of gamelan music outside of the academy

Outside of Indonesia, gamelan ensembles have primarily been applied to the teaching of ethnomu-
sicology in higher education institutions (e.g., see Goldsworthy, 1997; Harnish, 2004; Harnish,
Solís, & Witzleben, 2004; Solís, 2004; Sumarsam, 2004; Vetter, 2004). Few scholars, however,
have focused on the applied use of gamelan ensembles in wider community contexts. Although
studies pertaining to this specific area of investigation remain in the minority, those that are avail-
able offer rich insights into the application of gamelan music in music education and community
music contexts. For example, Diamond (1983) shows how the applied use of gamelan music can
lead to greater cross-cultural understanding (see also Dunbar-Hall, 2005). Contemporary studies
by Watson and Dunbar-Hall (2002) and McIntosh (2009) build on this research by investigating the
value individuals attach to the musical identities they construct as a result of their participation in
a gamelan ensemble. In a study focusing on disabled individuals in Glasgow, UK, MacDonald and
Miell (2002) explore the use of gamelan music as a tool employed in various socio-therapeutic and
educational settings. Similarly, Bakan et al. (2008) investigate the health and well-being benefits
of incorporating gamelan music into a programme for children with autism. Other important
works concerning the use of gamelan music outside of Indonesia include Mendonça’s (2001, 2002)
thorough examination of community gamelan ensembles in the UK and Eastburn’s (2003) project
report concerning the use of gamelan ensembles in English prisons (see also Mendonça, 2010).
Applied ethnomusicological studies by Sanger and Kippen (1987), Ramnarine (2004) and McIntosh
(2005) also demonstrate the significant role of gamelan music in various community music
projects in Northern Ireland, UK.
It was John Blacking (1928–90), the late Professor of Social Anthropology who, in 1982,
convinced Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) to purchase a Balinese gamelan ensemble for the
university’s ethnomusicology programme.1 In collaboration with Annette Sanger, who would
later be employed as a lecturer in ethnomusicology at QUB, Blacking promoted the use of the
newly-arrived ensemble as a community musical tool. Encouraged by Dr Michael Swallow, then
a neurology consultant at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, Blacking and Sanger used the
QUB gamelan ensemble, along with a range of other musical instruments, at the first Share
Music Course in 1985. The course took place at the Share Centre, a purpose-built residential
activity unit for able-bodied and disabled people in Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh, Northern

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McIntosh 3

Ireland. The ensemble was considered to be an ideal musical tool for use as part of the Share
Music Course because the success of gamelan music depends on group interaction rather than on
the competence and skill levels of individual players.
As a result of Blacking’s foresight and enthusiasm, as well as research published by Sanger and
Kippen (1987), community arts organizations in Northern Ireland continued to realize the possibili-
ties of appropriating the QUB gamelan ensemble for use in their community work. Open Arts, a
Belfast-based charitable organization, is an example of one such company. Founded in 1992 as a
pilot project attached to the Centre for Social Research at QUB, Open Arts was established to ensure
access for disabled people to arts activities. As part of the voluntary sector, the organization’s key
aim is to empower disabled people to take full part in arts activities. In 1995, following the success
of several community projects involving the QUB Balinese gamelan ensemble, the company
decided to buy its own Javanese gamelan orchestra. Purchased as a touring ensemble, the Open Arts’
gamelan ensemble has travelled extensively throughout Northern Ireland and the Republic of
Ireland, and has been used to facilitate music workshops and residential projects for able-bodied
participants and those with additional support needs (see McIntosh, 2005). As a result of the studies
outlined here, gamelan music was deemed suitable for inclusion into the LEIS project.

The Literacy and Equality in Irish Society (LEIS) project

Operating from August 2004 to March 2006, the LEIS project was set up to examine approaches
to teaching adult literacy education. Established as a cross-border initiative by University
College Dublin (UCD) in the Republic of Ireland and the Equality Studies Centre and the
Institute of Lifelong Learning at QUB in Northern Ireland, the LEIS project had two main aims.
The first of these was to design and develop creative methodologies, what the project termed
‘text-free’ teaching methods that would complement and expand conventional ‘text-based’
approaches to adult literacy education. By providing access to short, professional-development
courses, the second aim of the project was to encourage tutors to incorporate creative methods
into their teaching practice. Moreover, through developing new skills and greater levels of
cooperation between literacy tutors in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, the project
also sought to understand some of the causes and consequences of inequalities in adult literacy
education. When the project was established, for instance, significant disparities existed con-
cerning levels of government funding and provision of adult literacy education in the two con-
texts. Inequalities were also inherent in the employment and professional development of tutors.
For example, in order to practice, tutors working in Northern Ireland had to first obtain specific
qualifications endorsed by Lifelong Learning (UK). Moreover, once qualified, tutors were often
paid to instruct several students at one time. In contrast to their counterparts working in Northern
Ireland, tutors in the Republic of Ireland tended to be volunteers who were not required to obtain
specific qualifications because they largely worked with students on a one-to-one basis.
To address some of these inequalities, the LEIS project sought to provide professional devel-
opment to literacy tutors via short, professional-development courses. Each of these courses
promoted a specific text-free methodology stemming from the creative and performance arts.
Furthermore, instead of being considered a secondary support to conventional text-based
approaches, the project strove to promote and legitimize text-free methods within adult literacy
education. To achieve this goal, the LEIS project employed community practitioners specializ-
ing in the visual arts, drama, storytelling, image theatre and music to develop innovative and
creative teaching methods. These methods were then piloted via various short, professional-
development courses involving adult literacy tutors and tutor trainers from across Northern

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4 International Journal of Music Education

Ireland and the border counties of the Republic of Ireland. As part of this project, the community
practitioners then worked with tutors and those responsible for training tutors not only to explore
issues relating to each creative method but also to interrogate the various ways in which each
approach could better inform the teaching of adult literacy.
At the time of the project I was a postgraduate student in ethnomusicology and social anthropol-
ogy completing my doctoral study on children’s practice and performance of dance, music and
song in Bali, Indonesia (see McIntosh, 2006). In 2004, after completing 12 months of fieldwork –
during which time I undertook intensive study of traditional Balinese music and dance – and fol-
lowing my return to Belfast, I was contracted as the music consultant for the LEIS project. As part
of my employment I was asked to devise and deliver two five-week professional-development
courses, each of which was called ‘Literacy and Equality Through Gamelan’.2 None of the indi-
viduals who chose to participate in the aforementioned two courses had played gamelan music
before. Thus, by re-situating tutors and tutor trainers as learners, participants were encouraged to
reflect upon their experiences of playing gamelan music in an attempt to gain deeper insights
into their own learning processes; insights – it was hoped – that would enable tutors to better relate
to the difficulties experienced by students when they returned to adult literacy education.

Justifying music as a creative method in adult literacy education

Prior to the first LEIS gamelan course I was placed in a situation which enabled me to better
empathize with the difficulties faced by adult literacy tutors who wish to include creative meth-
ods in their teaching. This situation occurred early in 2005 during a meeting with the academic
evaluator for the LEIS project. The meeting lasted for approximately 30 minutes, during which
time the evaluator continuously questioned me as to ‘why’ music? What benefit could music
possibly have for adult literacy education? More importantly, how could I justify the costs of
spending money from the project on a music-based initiative? In my answers to these questions,
I explained that gamelan music – as a participatory musical activity – would encourage group
learning and cohesion, as well as promote issues relating to individual and group perceptions of
musical ability and creativity. Moreover, with reference to several studies, I indicated how music
could benefit the development of literacy skills (see Hallam, 2010, pp. 273–274). Two days
later I received a telephone call from the evaluator informing me that – despite some lingering
reservations – the two LEIS gamelan courses could proceed. My experiences of having to validate
the inclusion of music in the LEIS project gave me insights into the problems tutors sometimes
face when trying to convince sceptical tutor trainers or managers of the benefits creative methods
can bring to adult literacy education.

Learning through gamelan music

The QUB Balinese gamelan ensemble was considered to be an ideal musical tool for use in a LEIS
short, professional-development course because of the project’s aim to encourage adult literacy
tutors to experience, and potentially employ, creative methods in their teaching. Originating pri-
marily from the Indonesian islands of Java and Bali,3 gamelan ensembles feature a variety of
instruments, including metallophones (glockenspiel-like instruments), gongs and drums. In Java
and Bali ensemble music making is highly valued, with the structure of the music reflecting the
organization of people in society (see Becker & Becker, 1981; Keeler, 1975). Moreover, in gamelan
music all players are traditionally considered to be equal despite the fact that some instruments
require individuals to demonstrate higher levels of technical proficiency. Emphasizing the

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McIntosh 5

importance of the group over the individual, however, serves to neutralize any potential issues that
may arise from this arrangement. When compared with Western art music, where participation of
individuals is heavily dependent on specific assumptions pertaining to notions of talent and
virtuosity, it was hoped that gamelan music – with its focus on collective learning – would enable
LEIS participants to overcome fears and perceptions that otherwise might have prevented them
from participating in a music ensemble.
Predominantly an oral tradition,4 knowledge of gamelan music is usually transferred from
teacher to student by means of imitation and rote learning, and teachers tend not to use verbal
explanations to correct students. Instead, to assist students during rehearsals, teachers often sing
the musical material being studied and employ other non-verbal forms of communication, such
as eye movements and hand movements. Given that musical material is almost always taught in
a group situation, such teaching methods also serve to promote a sense of collaborative learning
among gamelan musicians. This means that individuals must work together if the ensemble is to
be effective. Of course, the learning of any music requires individuals to foster skills that are
applicable to non-musical contexts. For example, individuals develop listening and comprehen-
sion skills. Within the context of a gamelan ensemble, this means that players must not only
learn their own part but they must be able to listen to others and play their part at the correct
moment in the music. Moreover, playing in a music ensemble encourages individuals to develop
problem solving and teamwork skills through a different means of communication. Based upon
the democratic ethos outlined earlier, participating in a gamelan ensemble allowed adult literacy
tutors to develop new skills, learn with and from others, and explore the potential for employing
music as a creative method in their teaching.
Approximately 30 participants – of whom only one was male – attended the two LEIS gamelan
courses. The first course took place in May–June 2005; the second in November–December of the
same year. For practical reasons, and due to the location of the QUB Balinese gamelan during the
academic teaching semester, the courses were held in the Ethnomusicology Performance Room in
the School of History and Anthropology. The primary aims of each course were to: (1) ensure that
tutors became proficient in basic gamelan music playing techniques; (2) use the tutors’ experience
of playing in the gamelan ensemble to enable them to reflect on teaching and learning issues; and
(3) to encourage tutors to contemplate the possibility of using music as a creative method in their
teaching or, if not, to encourage them to think of how they could best apply their experiences of
participating in the gamelan ensemble when instructing adult literacy learners.
Each course consisted of five two-hour sessions. The first hour of each session was dedicated to
gamelan music, with tutors learning two or three eight-beat Balinese music compositions over the
duration of each course. These works included an elementary composition entitled Tabuh Gilak, as
well as the melodies drawn from other pieces, such as Seliser and Baris. Usually performed at a
fast tempo, the latter composition accompanies a solo male warrior dance. For the purpose of each
LEIS course, however, the piece was played at a slow tempo.
In order to experience the numerous musical lines that together form the polyphonic soundscapes
characteristic of Balinese gamelan compositions, the tutors were also encouraged to learn the dis-
tinct parts for the various instruments in the gamelan ensemble. Such an approach not only allowed
individuals to gain different perspectives from within the ensemble but it also facilitated the tutors
to better understand, and discuss with each other, the processes involved in teaching and learning
gamelan music. During the second hour of each weekly session the tutors were encouraged to
discuss their gamelan learning experiences with each other. Following this, guest community
practitioners specializing in the visual arts – drama, storytelling and image theatre – were invited
to share with tutors the ways in which they use creative methodologies in their work.

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6 International Journal of Music Education

At the end of each course the tutors took part in a short, public concert for friends and family
in which they performed the gamelan compositions they had learned. Additionally, on
2 December 2005, tutors involved in the second gamelan course performed for delegates from
Europe and North American who attended the LEIS conference that took place at QUB. Although
some participants were initially apprehensive about this aspect of each course, such a component
was considered to be essential if tutors were to truly embrace their positions as learners.
Moreover, to help them develop a greater sense of empathy towards their students, the end-of-
course performance was also an attempt to simulate something akin to the pressurized situations
that might be faced by their students. As a result, the performance was likened to a test or exam:
circumstances many adult learners experience shortly after returning to literacy education. When
encouraged to approach the performance in this way, tutors looked forward to the task as a
means to demonstrate the gamelan music skills they had learned. In order to highlight how par-
ticipating in the gamelan ensemble enabled the tutors to reflect upon their teaching approaches,
the article will now focus on the learning experiences of two participants.

Maura
An experienced adult literacy tutor in her mid 50s, Maura was not exactly sure why she decided to
enrol in the LEIS gamelan course. Nevertheless, in her learning journal, she writes how ‘the pros-
pect of using music to engage learners [adult literacy students], and to have another tool in [her]
tool kit, was appealing’ (p. 2). Excited to be ‘involved in something so different from anything
[she] had undertaken before’ (p. 2), Maura was also one of the few tutors – attending either of the
two courses – who had studied Western art music as a child. Reflecting upon the first workshop
session of the course, during which time participants were introduced to the various instruments in
the ensemble, Maura writes that the experience was ‘truly amazing’ and that ‘the interaction of the
various instruments and the dependency and importance of each participant in the whole group was
a powerful demonstration for the learning scenario’ (p. 2). She also notes how the first session was
‘awash with difference’ due to the contributions and expectations of individual participants.
This last comment also indicates Maura’s ability, as a result of her participation in the gamelan
ensemble, to reflect on diversity issues in relation to her teaching practice.
For Maura, learning to play gamelan music really was ‘a different kind of learning’ (p. 3) and,
in her journal, she asks herself several times how she can best apply her experiences to help learn-
ers achieve more in her literacy classes. Reflecting on this point, Maura expresses her dissatisfac-
tion with ‘traditional’ literacy teaching methods: why must such approaches continue to rely on
‘paper, pen, worksheets and handouts’? Although she does not interrogate this issue any further,
Maura does provide insight into how the process of learning gamelan music led her to reflect
further upon her approach to teaching adult literacy. For example, in her journal Maura focuses
on the different methods used to teach gamelan music throughout the course. In particular, she
highlights how the use of hand signals and the lack of verbal explanations actually accelerated her
learning experience. Experiencing cross-cultural teaching methods also prompted Maura (p. 3) to
contemplate whether if, in her teaching, she ‘gives clear and correct information to learners in
order to assist the experiences of students?’. As a result of the difficulties experienced in trying to
learn and remember something completely new, Maura (p. 3s) also reminds herself of the need to
be ‘patient and sympathetic with [her] learners [when they too] experience difficulties’. Finally,
for Maura, each workshop seemed to be over too quickly and, on several occasions, she writes
that she does ‘not know where the time has gone’. In response to this fact, Maura (p. 3) attempts
to elicit from herself the reason why she finds the course so enjoyable, for ‘what is it about this

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McIntosh 7

course that [makes] it so stimulating? Is it the tutor? Is it the location and setting? Is it the other
participants? Is it the variety of experience[s]?’.

Nessa
Like Maura, Nessa is also an experienced adult literacy tutor in her mid 50s. However, when
compared with Maura, Nessa’s experience of participating in the gamelan ensemble was rather
different. Having enrolled in the course ‘just for fun’ (p. 1), on first impressions Nessa was
rather disappointed. Before attending the course, Nessa thought that a gamelan ensemble would
be a ‘collection of drums’. It then followed that, by attending the workshops, she thought that
she was ‘just going to a drum banging session’ (p. 3). Unable to attend the first workshop of the
course, Nessa admits that she attended the second workshop with a slight air of trepidation. In
her journal, she also tells of how she felt ‘anxious about joining the class on her own’ because
‘the others would be ahead’ of her. Despite these misgivings, Nessa decided to still attend to
the second workshop session. Reflecting upon entering the gamelan room for the first time, she
writes (p. 2):

We [Nessa and her daughter] arrived a few minutes late and found everyone seated at their instruments.
We were greeted by the teacher who invited me to sit down on the floor in front of what appeared to be a
form of xylophone. There were spaces in the front, middle and back rows. I plopped myself down on the
ground in front of a glockenspiel-like instrument with my daughter beside. Where were the drums? What
about a set of bongos at least!!! This is not what I had expected, it suddenly dawned on me that my idea of
gamelan bore no resemblance to the reality of the situation.

After getting over her initial disappointment, Nessa then goes on to explain how she learned to
play an eight-beat melodic sequence on her instrument. She states that ‘[t]he sequence was simple
enough; just eight notes to hit in the correct order and keep repeating it until everyone stopped’
(p. 3). However, despite the perceived simplicity of this task, Nessa soon became confused and
frustrated with the demands placed on her in this new learning situation. In particular, she disliked
having to ‘fit in with the group’ who had already learned the same musical material the previous
week (p. 3).
Nessa’s impressions of her first gamelan workshop were so negative that she even considered
withdrawing from the course. There were also a number of other reasons or, in her words,
‘excuses’ that she could have used not to return: she was busy at work; it was a long journey by
car for her to travel to Belfast to attend the course; and she was already ‘out’ two nights a week
partaking in other work-related activities (p. 3). Despite these misgivings, Nessa returned to the
third week of the course. In her learning journal, although she was uncertain about this decision,
Nessa states that ‘[w]hatever it was that motivated me to return, I was glad I did so’ (p. 4).
Describing how playing gamelan music in the third week was much easier, Nessa realises that
she ‘was not so self-absorbed [that] week with [her] own performance’. For this reason, Nessa
was able to enjoy the workshop. Indeed, the transformation in her attitude towards participating
in the gamelan ensemble also prompted Nessa to critically reflect upon the way in which she
approaches instructing adult literacy learners. In her journal, she writes that the LEIS gamelan
course was ‘a timely experience because it provided [her] with the chance to reflect on the cor-
relation between [her] experience as a new learner and that of adults who return to literacy
classes’ (p. 6). Moreover, in expressing similar sentiments towards the end of her learning jour-
nal, Nessa (pp. 6–8) concludes that:

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8 International Journal of Music Education

. . . [g]oing into the class as a beginner let me see how anxious learners can feel. Such was my anxiety that
I had taken my daughter along for moral support. Where do new [adult literacy] learners get their support
for coming to class? As a tutor, I hold a position of power to make students feel welcome and comfortable
about stepping back into learning . . . my misconceptions about gamelan music made me aware that adults
coming back to [literacy education] do not always realize what they are signing up for. Playing in the
gamelan ensemble let me reflect on the fact that all learners are individuals who can be at different stages
of learning . . . seeing the bigger picture – that’s what some learners need to do in order to make sense of
[new] things.

By being prepared to step back and see ‘the bigger picture’ Nessa’s participation in the gamelan
ensemble enabled her to gain new insights into her learning process and to reflect upon issues per-
tinent to her teaching of adult literacy. Her willingness to return to the course, following her initial
disappointment with gamelan music, also ultimately meant that Nessa could better identify with,
and relate to, similar pressurized situations faced by adult literacy learners.

Conclusion
Towards the end of 2005 the LEIS project evaluator invited me to attend a second meeting, this
time to review the two LEIS music courses. In this second meeting I communicated to the evalua-
tor what I perceived to be the significant benefits that music, as a creative and ‘text-free’ methodol-
ogy, had brought to the LEIS project. First, the LEIS gamelan courses afforded tutors the opportunity
to come together and explore the potential for using music in their teaching. Participating in the
Balinese gamelan ensemble had been crucial to this process because it enabled tutors to gain deeper
insights into their own learning processes, as well as the learning processes of their peers. Second,
by reflecting upon their experiences of learning gamelan music, tutors were better able to relate to
the sometimes pressurized situations that challenge students when they return to adult literacy
education. As a result of discussing their learning experiences with each other, in addition to keep-
ing a reflective journal, almost all of the tutors who partook in either of the two LEIS gamelan
courses reached this conclusion. Finally, by creating a safe and comfortable learning environment
in which participants felt at ease to try something new, each course also encouraged tutors to
explore the potential of music as a creative method in their teaching or, if not, how to best apply
their experiences to the context of adult literacy education. Of course, instead of participating in a
five-week music course, the tutors could have learned a foreign language, such as Mandarin or
Indonesian. Such a practice would also have re-situated the tutors as learners. Nevertheless, it is
unlikely that the learning of another language – especially in a short timeframe – would have
afforded tutors with the same level of success they experienced as a result of learning and, more
importantly, performing gamelan music.
Although the circumstances surrounding the use of gamelan music in the LEIS project were
perhaps serendipitous, the act of re-situating tutors as learners is highly applicable to the discipline
of music education. Facilitating access for music educators to ‘new artistic experiences, which may
or may not generate new social experiences’ (Blacking, 1987, p. 47) through participation in world
music ensembles, for example, could serve as a useful form of professional development in music
education. Not only would such an approach provide new opportunities for established musicians
and music educators, as well as future specialists but, if adopted, such a practice would also do
much to re-contextualize the teaching of music at the tertiary level. For, according to Leppert and
McClary (1987, p. xviii), only recently have university music departments and conservatoires
developed practices that enable them to seek out opportunities to positively impact on the

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McIntosh 9

communities of which these tertiary institutions are an integral part (after Keil, 1993). By working
outside of the perceived boundaries of the university context, music educators are potentially well
placed to assist individuals and groups to reflect upon their own music practices while, at the
same time, learning about the musics of others in surrounding communities (see, e.g., Hallam &
MacDonald, 2009).
Moreover, such a development would serve to advance broader (ethno)musicological per-
spectives and assist educators who, more often than not, are expected to teach an ever-increasing
number of music genres to students. In relation to this point, Bakan (1994), Campbell (1991,
2004) and Lunquist and Szego (1998) have already suggested how music educators may incor-
porate world music practices into the classroom. Ethnomusicologists and music educators,
therefore, should work collaboratively to facilitate access to the experiential learning of world
musics for musicians and music educators, and those who aspire to join these professions. In this
way, ethnomusicologists and music educators can together promote ‘new global approaches to
school music instruction’ (Campbell, 2004, p. 28), as well as a more considered understanding
of the role of music in the wider community. However, to expedite such a process, academia
needs to reassess the ways in which music and music education students are trained for situations
‘outside’ of the music classroom. Only by ensuring that music students develop a broad palette
of skills – one that enables them to instruct children, teenagers and adults in a variety of settings –
will future musicians and music educators be better placed to practice in a range of contexts,
formal and informal, educational and recreational.

Notes
1. In 1970, following his appointment as Professor of Social Anthropology, Blacking introduced the study of
ethnomusicology to QUB. Some 20 years after Blacking’s death, a vibrant ethnomusicology programme
continues as part of the discipline group of anthropological studies.
2. In order to highlight the fact that the gamelan short courses took place in conjunction with the LEIS
project, the terms ‘literacy’ and ‘equality’ were employed in the title of each gamelan course. It should
be noted, however, that these courses were never intended to focus on issues relating to equality per se.
Rather, the aim was to re-situate tutors as learners by introducing them to a new form of learning through
music.
3. Despite being synonymous with Indonesia, gamelan-like ensembles and associated instruments are found
throughout mainland Southeast Asia, as well as on the island of Kalimantan and in the Philippines.
4. Although primarily an oral tradition, various modes of gamelan music notation do exist (e.g., see Sutton,
2001; Tenzer, 2000). It should be noted, however, that, in Bali, such systems are only used as an aide-
mémoire and are rarely used in performance.

References
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Author biography
Jonathan McIntosh is Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology at The University of Western Australia where
he teaches classes on ethnomusicology, popular music and the music and dance of Southeast Asia. His 2006
PhD dissertation (Queen’s University Belfast) focuses on children’s practice and performance of dance,
music and song in Bali, Indonesia. From 2000–2006, while an undergraduate and postgraduate student at
Queen’s University Belfast, he worked for the Belfast-based arts company Open Arts as a community
music facilitator specializing in the teaching of Balinese and Javanese gamelan music.

Abstract
«En voyant l’image d’ensemble»: L’apprentissage expérientiel, l’ethnomusicologie
appliquée et l’utilisation de la musique de gamelan dans l’alphabétisation
des adultes
Soulignant l’application de l’ethnomusicologie au-delà des frontières traditionnelles de
l’académie, cet article étudie l’utilisation de la musique dans l’alphabétisation des adultes. En
2005, dans le cadre du projet de l’alphabétisation et l’égalité dans la société irlandaise (SIEL), des
tuteurs d’alphabétisation des adultes travaillant dans l’Irlande du Nord, Royaume-Uni, ont été
invités à s’inscrire à des cours de perfectionnement de courte durée qui exigeait leur participation
à un ensemble de gamelan balinais - un orchestre composé principalement des métallophones,
tambours et les gongs. Durant chaque cours, les tuteurs ont été invités à réfléchir sur leur processus
d’apprentissage pour les aider à devenir plus empathique avec quelques-unes des difficultés ren-
contrées par les étudiants d’alphabétisation des adultes. En se concentrant sur les expériences des
tuteurs d’apprentissage de la musique de gamelan, cet article donne un aperçu de la façon dont
les participants ont utilisé ces cours de développement comme un moyen de réflexion critique sur
des questions d’approche à l’éducation alphabétisation pour adultes.

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