Critical Review #5

Critical Review #5

Richard Alan Waterman’s views on African music in relation to the music of Western culture point at the importance of location when considering a cultures’ music. Where a culture is located in relation to the West- or “The America’s,” presents similarities as well as disparities within each cultures’ music. However, Waterman’s views on where a culture is located provide, at times, a skewed opinion of how that culture creates its music as well as how it utilizes different musical aspects.

Harmony is the main element that Waterman speaks of when looking at African music. He states, “Africans, except those who have been in contact with European music, use harmony only as the accidental result of polyphonic overlapping of leader and chorus phrases.” I feel as if Waterman comes at this notion from a preconceived standpoint. However, he subsequently notes that this statement has “stemmed from certain preconceptions.” I agree with Waterman when he says of, these preconceptions, “Africans had not developed enough culturally to be expected to have harmony.” Who are we, as Westerners, to say whether or not a culture’s music is “developed enough?” Waterman’s piece points at the notion that location can be binding. As ethnomusicologists, we must get out of our own preconceived “locations,” both literally and musically if we went to be open to all forms of music. This includes the questioning of a culture’s musical origin, how and when it chooses to use harmony, or if it chooses to use harmony at all.