2006 Edition 2 (Issue 144) - Sasmt-savmo.org.za

t h e s o u t h a f r i c a n m u s i c t e a c h e r ~ d i e s u i d - a f r i k a a n s e m u s i e k o n d e r w y s e r
editor ~ redakteur
Hannes Taljaard
business manager ~ bestuurder
Annette Massyn
copy editor ~ kopie-redakteur
Jaco Kruger
directory editor ~ ledelysredakteur
Hubert van der Spuy
advertising manager ~ advertensies
Annette Massyn
editorial assistants ~ redaksionele assistente
Danell Herbst
Elize Verwey
design & layout ~ ontwerp & uitleg
Polar Design Solutions
(082 770 5734)
info@polard.com
reproduction & printing
d.comm.
(018) 290 5554
distribution ~ verspreiding
Prestige Bulk Mailers
(011) 708-2324
postal address ~ posadres
SA Music Teacher
PO Box 20573, Noordbrug 2522
South Africa
Tel. +27 (0)18 299 1702
musdjt@nwu.ac.za
http://www.samusicteacher.org.za/magazine
physical address ~ fisiese adres
Conservatory ~ Konservatorium
Van Der Hoff Road, Potchefstroom 2531
South Africa
directory lists ~ ledelyste
Directory Editor ~ Ledelysredakteur
PO Box 36242, Menlo Park 0102
Fax. (012) 429-3644
vdspuhh@unisa.ac.za
The South African Music Teacher is the official organ of
the South African Society of Music Teachers (SASMT). It is
published and distributed biannually in the interest of music
and Southern African musicians. The SASMT is an association
not for gain incorporated in terms of Section 21 of the 1974
Companies Act, and all following amendments to the same,
and applies its income to the promotion of its goals.
Reg. no. 1932/004247/08
ISSN:0038-2493
Copyright © 2006, South African Music Teacher
All rights reserved
No article, picture or portions thereof in this magazine may
be reproduced, copied or transferred in any form whatsoever
without the express written consent of the writer(s) and the
editor. Contributors keep the intellectual property rights to
their work.
Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those
of the editor, publisher, the SASMT, sponsors or advertisers.
The South African Music Teacher is indexed in the Music Index
and the International Index to Music Periodicals.
p r e a m b l e
There are x-chromosomes which
we all have (some twice as many
as others); x-rays which are
useful, but also harmful if we are
exposed to them without proper
care; and The X-Files of which
each episode is supposed to
baffle us until the end when we sometimes feel a huge
sense of relief. Many of us have xses (and many have too
many) whom most of us would prefer not to experience
again.
Then there are x-zams. Many musicians have (had)
them (some many more than others) — they are useful,
but can be harmful; they certainly baffle most of us,
and only when they are over do we sometimes feel a
great sense of relief. Many of us would prefer not to
experience them again.
Thirty years ago evolutionary biologist Richard
Dawkins made himself a couple of friends and more
than a few enemies when he published his book The
Selfish Gene, in which he argued that the reason for
our existence — and those of all living creatures — is
simply to serve as survival machines that ensure the
preservation of replicators, those egotistic molecules
known as genes. Dawkins’s idea of the selfish gene
found its way into the minds of many thinkers and so
did another, even more controversial idea: the selfish
meme. Memes would be the cultural equivalent of
genes and our minds — simply meme machines.
I toyed with these ideas when trying to understand
this perplexing phenomenon of music exams. I must
confess to having strong and contradicting feelings
about music exams, and to being unable to make up
my mind. Sometimes we seem to be taking exams,
and often we seem to be taken hostage by them. So I
have been asking myself: might those music exams be
pernicious examples — indeed proof — of the theory
of the selfish meme? Or are they responsible ways to aid
the progress of our learners?
The editor would like to include many voices in The
South African Music Teacher. If you are interested in contributing
to the magazine, please contact the editor via
email for advice and guidelines on the editorial process
and the format of articles and reviews. Contributions will
most likely be edited to suit the vision, style and format of
the magazine. Please send photos and graphics as hard
copies and/or electronically as cmyk jpeg with a resolution
of at least 300 dpi and a compression ratio not less than 8.
Suid-Afrikaanse Musiek Onderwyser |144 | November 2006