2.2. RIME Intervention Programs
RIME intervention programs were developed by two trained specialists, one from each of the two non-Western musical cultures, and the first author who has expertise in Western music, the two non-Western musical cultures, and in teaching musical instruments. Each RIME program contained two learning phases. Part A presented a two-hour pre-recorded lecture on musical culture, including four modules: (a) an introduction to the cultural history and social context related to the designated instrument (~30 min); (b) an introduction to a wide range of performance practices in different ritual, operatic, narrative, and folk ensembles and diverse musical traditions, including three exemplar performance clips (~30 min); (c) an overview of the instrument, e.g., conventional and alternative tunings, notation, and basic playing techniques, including four exemplar performance clips (~30 min); and (d) a module that demonstrated a White student learning to play a folk song from the trained specialist (~30 min). This final module consisted of learning the basics in instrumental playing techniques, learning from observation, learning from imitation, and then playing together. Part B was a two-hour hands-on instrumental learning session where the participant sat face-to-face with the first author to learn a folk song. The content from the fourth module in Part A was revisited and used as learning material in Part B. This learning sequence aligns with the active ingredients from the IMCM framework (see To minimise any effects related to the two different qualified experts used in the recorded RIME sessions for the Middle Eastern 