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> That is, what's called "music theory" should be called something like "Western Classical Music theory" (as one commentor says it done in South Africa). In It
by rbecker 6y ago
> That is, what's called "music theory" should be called something like "Western Classical Music theory" (as one commentor says it done in South Africa).
In Italy, Italian restaurants are just called "restaurants".
So Music Theory doesn't differ much from how History or Geography or Literature are taught all over the world. I agree that when speaking to a global audience, some clarification would be nice, but that's a very low bar to call it "white supremacist".
The comparison with literary canon is apt. The one I was exposed to in school was composed in great part of works that are completely unknown to English-speaking audiences. Yet we didn't feel the need to call ourselves supremacist for focusing our studies on our own culture.
- eesmith 6y agoI don't understand why you write that it "doesn't differ much from how History or Geography or Literature are taught all over the world" The history courses I took in school in the US weren't called "history", except maybe in elementary school. In high school I took "World History" (8th grade), "American History" (11th), and "European History" (12th). In elementary school geography I remember doing reports on Iceland and Ecuador. My college geography course also wasn't limited to geography, though it focused more concepts like Chisholm's hinterland theory and orographic rainfall. I also remember learning about using mapping of extant fruit trees on one of the Caribbean islands to infer the locations of vanished homesteads. I didn't take a literature course. My high school English course readings included Zora Neale Hurston and Chinua Achebe, which was part of the then-trend of moving away from a dead white male western european focus. So if "Music Theory" has that name, but excludes music theory for other musical traditions, then it seems unlike the three fields you listed, based on my own experience. Amusingly, https://www.italiarail.com/food/italian-restaurant-names-italy-eatery-guide https://www.italiarail.com/food/italian-restaurant-names-ita... says that "A “restaurant” in Italy is more upscale and pricier than a trattoria or pizzeria, with a menu that often isn’t limited to typical Italian food."
- rbecker 6y agoYour US experience differs from my non-US one, at least regarding how courses are named. Even when they focused on, or dealt exclusively with, our corner of the world, they were called just "History" or "Geography". Though I didn't mean to imply the rest of the world wasn't covered in them, but it was covered in far less detail. As ksaj noted, in other countries, Music Theory also has a local focus. The only difference is those countries don't feel a need to represent the whole world, or guilt when they don't. And trattoria just means something like "small restaurant", so it would again need an "Italian" prefix to distinguish it from other kinds. But since it's in Italy, and with an Italian name, they don't feel the need to do that. And while restaurants (often) aren't limited to typical Italian food, their menus would often earn them the label of "Italian restaurant" outside of Italy.
- eesmith 6y agoSure, but you wrote "all over the world". What culture do you come from? I have a hard time thinking that past primary school a history course is simply called "History". Are you actually responding to the video? If so, could you explain what points you are responding to? Or are you responding to my half-baked interpretations of YouTube comments? Because if so, it seems like a waste of your time and mine. FWIW, "white guilt" seems more often used to silence white support of non-whites than be an accurate description.