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Plato and Aristotle On Music and Music Education: Lessons From Ancient Greece
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the Athenian views of music and music education as these are presented in the works of the ancient Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle and to suggest ways in which the issues raised by them are still relevant for music education today. Their philosophical and practical views on music education, apart from being an excellent and very up-to-date source for advocacy, can also initiate thoughts and promote solutions on problems that still remain unsolved. During the study, of their works, the reader surprisingly realizes that these philosophers had stated 2,500 years ago what the music education community has, just recently, come to realize concerning the value of music education, children's musical development, and instructional strategies in music.
... This is why he considers the teaching of appropriate songs crucial, to "prevent the child's soul from becoming habituated to feeling delighted and pain in a way opposed to the law and to those who are persuaded by the law, to make the child's soul follow and feel the same joys and pains as an old man" (659d. pp.6-10, cited in Lelouda, 2002). The ability to feel delighted and pain in the appropriate way, as Plato observed, can be developed by teaching children those melodies and rhythms that have been decided by the wise men in the city to be the appropriate ones for children's education. ...
... The aim of music training, however, is not musical expertise but the cultivation of the soul. As he says, "the vocal aspect reaching the soul we regarded as education in virtue and we named it music (Laws, 673a, pp.4-5, cited in Lelouda, 2002). http://ojadilipublishing.com.ng/onyiuke/ ...
The priority of the social dimension of ecumenism over the theological dimension has been spotted as the major barrier towards attaining the ecumenical goal by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). The uneasiness and unwillingness exhibited among members towards the ecumenical discussion, believed to have been spurred by pre-CAN tensions and animosities among denominations are evidence of the misplaced priority. Recommendations such as a well-articulated ecumenical formation and information programs were seen as fundamental steps towards addressing the observed ecumenical challenges in CAN. Unfortunately, there seems to be little consideration on the possible and effective channels through which these proposals can be actualized. The study aims to explore the capacity of music serving as one of the tools in the entire scheme. The study is qualitative, employing a descriptive phenomenological design. Data for the study was collated through a review of related and relevant materials. The findings reveal that music remains a universal language and a means of communication; communicating emotion, thoughts and inspiration transcending race, religion and emotional wellbeing of our life. On this revelation, the study beckons on CAN among other strategies to adopt music as a dominant tool, which should not be restricted only to prayer meetings but constantly employ in the entire ecumenical process and dialogue.
... Historically, dance movements were largely traditional and could be semi-improvised on the spot (Landels, 2002). Many books have been written about Greek dance, and great doctors and philosophers of the ancient world left many written texts covering almost all areas of philosophy and medical science, with Hippocrates, Plato, and Aristotle being among the most important (Jaeger, 1965;Stamou, 2002;Φούντα, 2006), in the time of ...
Aim The aim of this research is to understand the application of rhythm in judo through the experience of expert Japanese coaches.
... Historically, dance movements were largely traditional and could be semi-improvised on the spot (Landels, 2002). Many books have been written about Greek dance, and great doctors and philosophers of the ancient world left many written texts covering almost all areas of philosophy and medical science, with Hippocrates, Plato, and Aristotle being among the most important (Jaeger, 1965;Stamou, 2002;Φούντα, 2006), in the time of ...
... De musica is a unique work -especially in the context of antiquity. By the time it was composed there was, of course, already a long tradition of reflection on music, starting with thinkers such as Pythagoras (see Godwin 1992), as well as Plato and Aristotle (see Stamou 2002). Music also formed part of the core curriculum of the seven liberal arts in which Augustine was trained and which -as mentioned here -he intended to explore in a series of writings (see Clair 2017:25ff;Panti 2020:450). ...
This essay reflects theologically on rhythm by turning to the North African church father Augustine, specifically his work De musica. It begins by briefly referring to recent theological work on rhythm, before introducing Augustine and discussing the role music played during and after his conversion to Christianity. This is followed by an exposition of De musica: a work which comprises six books. It is shown how the first five books offer a comprehensive rhythmic theory, which is then followed – in Book 6 – by a theological discussion of the topic. Finally, the essay briefly explores what we can learn from Augustine’s text, not only in terms of rhythm but also about theological engagements with the arts more generally.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: As part of the larger interdisciplinary conversation between theology and the arts, this essay focuses on the theological dimensions and implications of rhythm by turning to what could probably be viewed as one of Christian theology’s first interdisciplinary texts, namely Augustine’s De musica. Interdisciplinarity thus stands at the very heart of the contribution.
... Η σχέση της μουσικής με τον λόγο Η σύνδεση της μουσικής με τον λόγο και την κίνηση θεωρείται μία ενότητα αυτονόητη στις περισσότερες μουσικοπαιδαγωγικές δραστηριότητες. Η ενότητα αυτή εντοπίζεται χιλιάδες χρόνια πριν στην μουσική παιδεία των αρχαίων Ελλήνων (Ράπτης, 2015), όπου η μουσική είχε μία σημασία ευρύτερη από τη σημερινή, καθώς σήμαινε την όλη παιδεία και ήταν συνδεδεμένη με τον λόγο (Stamou, 2002), την κίνηση και τον χορό. Ένας βασικός λόγος που οι αρχαίοι Έλληνες εκτιμούσαν την μουσική ήταν ότι εκείνη διευκολύνει την εκπαίδευση των νέων, καθώς βοηθά στην αφομοίωση των νοημάτων του λόγου (Νικολάου 2006). ...
Το παρόν άρθρο παρουσιάζει ένα εκπαιδευτικό πρόγραμμα που έχει ως σκοπό την καλλιέργεια της μουσικής δημιουργικότητας σε μαθητές Δ ́ τάξης Δημοτικού Σχολείου, μέσα από τον συνδυασμό των τεχνών και παράλληλα την ενίσχυση ενός διαπολιτισμικού τρόπου σκέψης. Ειδικότερα, στόχος ήταν η μουσική, η λογοτεχνία, η δημιουργική γραφή και τα εικαστικά να λειτουργήσουν ως εργαλεία, ώστε μέσα από παιγνιώδεις δραστηριότητες, να οδηγήσουν τους μαθητές στο να βιώσουν την διαδικασία δημιουργίας ενός τραγουδιού σε όλα της τα στάδια, από την φάση της έμπνευσης, της κατάθεσης ιδεών, της στιχουργικής και της μελοποίησης. Η έρευνα δράσης έλαβε χώρα στο Δημοτικό Σχολείο της Δυτικής Ελλάδας κατά τους μήνες Απρίλιο και Μάιο του 2019. Η ποιοτική προσέγγιση θεωρήθηκε ως η καταλληλότερη μέθοδος για την προσέγγιση του παιδαγωγικού στόχου, καθώς παρέχει το πλαίσιο για πληρέστερη κατανόηση και ερμηνεία των συναισθημάτων, των εμπειριών και των αξιών των μαθητών. Τα συμπεράσματα δείχνουν ότι οι μαθητές είναι ιδιαίτερα δεκτικοί και δημιουργικοί σε νέους τρόπους παραγωγής μουσικής και λόγου και τα αποτελέσματα ενισχύουν την άποψη ότι η καλλιέργεια της μουσικής δημιουργικότητας μπορεί να επιτευχθεί μέσα από ένα συνδυασμό των τεχνών.
... Οι θέσεις του είναι σχεδιασμένες με πολύ προσεκτικό τρόπο τονίζοντας τόσο τη σχέση της μουσικής με τον άνθρωπο όσο και το ρόλο της στην κοινωνία. Η προσαρμογή της παιδείας, ανάλογα με τη φύση του κάθε ανθρώπου, η κριτική του πνευματικού πολιτισμού που παρέχεται στους νέους και ο ηθοπλαστικός ρόλος της μουσικής είναι μερικές από τις βασικές τοποθετήσεις του που έχουν επηρεάσει και την σκέψη νεότερων φιλοσόφων και παιδαγωγών, όπως επισημαίνει και η Stamou (2002), και καθιστούν το έργο του επίκαιρο για την σημερινή μουσική εκπαίδευση. ...
Plato, in his masterpiece Republic, examines the status of music in education and its power in influencing ethos of a human being. Music in Plato, and generally in antiquity, had a broadened sense than it has today, meaning education of all “means” and it included poetry, theatre, art and so on. The sectors of music education in Republic, are: 1. Myths and their right choosing 2. The right way in expressing those myths. 3. The suitable melodies and harmonies, the right rhythms and instruments in educating of youngsters. Through musical education, Plato sees the route to virtues, like wisdom, bravery, temperance, generosity. One can get this kind of education through addiction and exercise and is addressed to the moral and intellectual culture of citizens. Plato’s aspects about music education have influenced the thought of posterior philosophers and educators and render his work current concerning the music education of today.
Ο Πλάτων στην Πολιτεία εξετάζει τη θέση της μουσικής στην εκπαίδευση και τη δύναμή της να επιδρά στην διαμόρφωση του ήθους του ανθρώπου. Η μουσική παιδεία στο έργο του Πλάτωνα, αλλά και γενικά στην αρχαιότητα είχε μια πιο διευρυμένη έννοια από τη σημερινή, καθώς σήμαινε την όλη παιδεία, και περιελάμβανε την ποίηση, το θέατρο, τις εικαστικές τέχνες και τα όμοια. Οι τομείς που περιλαμβάνει η μουσική εκπαίδευση στην Πολιτεία είναι οι εξής: 1. Οι μύθοι και η σωστή επιλογή τους, 2. Ο σωστός τρόπος έκφρασης των μύθων και 3. Οι κατάλληλες μελωδίες και αρμονίες, οι κατάλληλοι ρυθμοί και όργανα στην εκπαίδευση των νέων. Μέσω της μουσικής παιδείας ο Πλάτων προσβλέπει στην καλλιέργεια αρετών, όπως της σωφροσύνης, της ανδρείας, της εγκράτειας, της μεγαλοψυχίας. Το είδος αυτό εκπαίδευσης αποκτά κανείς μέσω του εθισμού και της άσκησης, και απευθύνεται στην ηθική και πνευματική καλλιέργεια των πολιτών. Οι θέσεις αυτές του Πλάτωνα έχουν επηρεάσει και την σκέψη νεότερων φιλοσόφων και παιδαγωγών και καθιστούν το έργο του επίκαιρο για την σημερινή μουσική πραγματικότητα.
Neste artigo, os autores ensaiam uma reconceptualização da atividade pedagógica, estabelecendo distância crítica face à visão tecnicista e performativa que está implícita em muitos dos processos de avaliação da sua qualidade. Neste sentido, denunciam o vácuo ontológico que invalida a perspetiva construtivista da ação educativa e buscam um nexo da educação com o domínio artístico para compreender as potencialidades criativas da arte e o seu impacto na formação dos indivíduos, excluindo o fundamentalismo da mensuração que nutre a miséria simbólica e abre caminho para a robotização do humano.
"Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may benefit from music education as a potentially effective methodology for improving their verbal and social communication abilities. Therefore, the objective of this research is to evaluate how well music education aids students in their growth of social communication. The focus of the study area is the necessity of integrating music education into all classroom learning activities. This study's methodology involves reviewing a few earlier research projects on the value of music instruction for individuals with autism spectrum disorders. The reviewed studies will be critically analyzed to draw valid conclusions about the effectiveness of music education in improving social communication for autism spectrum disorder students. The study's findings indicate that ASD students have improved their attitudes toward using different music-based teaching techniques. Teachers also reported that students easily grasp the learning process's fundamentals, and that learning becomes more enjoyable. In conclusion, it can be seen that music education in the learning process of ASD students greatly affects the process of social communication. Keywords: music education, social communication, autism spectrum disorder, ASD"
This paper deals with the question of what makes public music education ‘public’, and how music-educational notions of ‘publicness’ can/should relate to politics. Our starting-point is a very concrete piece of music, from a particular tradition: Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Since already this musical work carries with it a highly ambivalent political aura, we investigate in which different ways one could today still make a ‘case’—in the very literal sense—for its use in public music education. Throughout our investigation we elaborate three music-pedagogical models for thinking the possibilities of contriving such a case, each of which is explained in terms of the agency of conducting. The first two models are historically the most dominant: the Platonic-inspired ‘conducting conducts’, focused on using music to fortify the harmony of the status quo; and the Adornian alternative of ‘contraducting conducts’, which approaches music education with the aim to emancipate the dissonance of music’s non-harmonizable, particular forms. With the third model, eventually, which we dub ‘viceducting conducts’, we not only try to respond to some common practical-educational concerns regarding the former two, but we also believe to propose a model that allows to relate to publicness in a more intrinsically music-educational way.
Taking Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of hope as a point of departure, I explore points of intersection between Freire's educational perspectives and my own regarding aspects of the artist's role in society and education in the arts. I suggest that education ought to seek to realize such ideals as freedom, justice, equality of opportunity, and civility, and a more just, humane society. I agree with Freire that hope provides the impetus in the struggle to improve the situation. The artist is an educator who imaginatively envisions how things are, how they might be, and presents lived reality for our intellectual contemplation, emotional grasp, and corporeal response. The arts provide means whereby hope can be instilled and a more humane society foreshadowed. If education is to grapple with the central issues of life, it ought to be vitally concerned not only with deconstructing and struggling against present realities but envisioning and celebrating alternative and prospective realities. The arts are uniquely suited to this project. As such, they ought not only to be at the centre of general education, but the artistic community can and ought to constitute a beachhead for hope, faith, and joy in the school, and a model for an education still to come.
Examines the relationship between music and human development. Gives an overview of research on children's musical responses. Says music educators can create an environment where children can develop musical knowledge and skills. Urges more longitudinal research like Harvard University's Project Zero where characteristics of developmental stages are identified. (NL)
Music education for preschool children holds much growth potential for music educators. Parents should be encouraged to sing lullabies to their babies and to provide a home atmosphere rich with music. Music educators should serve as guides to parents in an effort to influence positively the musical development of children. (RM)