At this stage teachers and their students might explore inter-arts, inter-cultural and inter-curricular relationships to their music focus. This might for example, involve relating music with ceremony, dance, visual arts through study of related paintings, architecture, costume, weaving, craft, poetry and stories and other arts, other cultural settin gs and to other learning areas. Engagement in these activities offers further opportunities to enjoy the 'first time feel' of related arts and inter-curricular works.

Activities to support these could include listen to or viewing videos of musical or re lated performances, reading related stories or organising as a narrative poem as piece of choral verse. As a part of giving the music under study a cultural context and relating it to the other arts and across key learning areas, teachers and classes could devise strategies for interpreting and presenting the poem. Teachers and students could observe other arts by discussing the background and construction of two and three dimensional artifacts related to the theme. Throughout these investigations of re lated arts and key learning areas teachers and students should share discussion about the qualities which give each a context related to the musical focus. This might for example be encouraged through questions like 'How can you tell that this is .......?'

While there is some common thinking that the arts involve the communicating of emotions or feelings there are many interpretations of how arts do this.

'artistic achievement which fosters the retention of traditional art and craft skills and ideas, increases intercultural understanding, and contributes to the development of a uniquely Australian expression of culture.'

While there is no denying that these are critical to understanding a significant arena of music as western high art music, school music studies need to embrace music both parochially and globally. Insisting that music be written, for example, may deny the value of its oral transmission, and a focus on musical 'elements' may denigrate the music of cultures who never indulge in their music as analytical or intellectual pursuits. To many wor l d peoples music is integral to living and there may not even have a separate name for it. Perhaps we should be less engrossed with what music 'is', somehow implying that it is unchanging, than with what music 'does', as it is constantly reinterpreted, refashioned and transformed. Swanwick (1979:112)

'Music structures feeling but also impregnates structure with feeling. It is a merging of subjectivity with objectivity'.

Musical movement 'is invested with humanity not merely because music is created and performed by humans but because it provides a sense of unity and purpose' (Davies, 1994: 229). The dependency of the organisation or 'Form' of any piece of music on UNITY or 'oneness' may be music's most universal cultural at tribute. For this unity directs musical movement and is subsequently communicated from performer to listener.

'A culturally agreed upon pattern of rhythm and melody, ie. a song, that is sung together, provides a shared form of emotion that, at least durin g the course of the song, carries along the participants so that they experience their bodies responding emotionally in very similar ways. (Storr,1993)'

Perhaps we need a more 'Renaissance' view of music which sees it as an integral part of other disciplines, certainly at least of the Arts. In fact many cultures do not separate music from dance, drama, and the visual arts. In schools dance often ends up being the 'responsibility' of the PE faculty. I suggest that it is as ap propriate, if not more appropriate that it be included in the Arts. But rather than argue the distinction why not work co-operatively with other staff to run dance as a joint activity. Dance certainly supports rhythm activities as the following dance and movement activities demonstrate. These are provided to give an example of ways an imaginative teacher might encourage students, particularly but not exclusively in early childhood, to interpret different rhythms.