• How do you teach and encourage your students to compose if you have little or no experience composing?
There was a round-table discussion of “creativity in the classroom” at the 2013 Newfound Music Festival, moderated by Professors Andrea Rose and Ki Adams. The audience included music education students and others interested in this topic, and the remaining panel participants were multi-instrumentalist and improviser Paul Bendzsa, ethnomusicologist and "soundsinger" Chris Tonelli, and myself.
This was the ninth consecutive festival with a session on this topic, and the objective every year is to discuss ways in which creativity can be developed and nurtured through teaching music in the public school system, from kindergarten to grade twelve (K-12). As Dr. Rose reminded us, composing is one of the “specific curriculum outcomes” for K-12 in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador (if visiting this link, see page 20).
Therein lies the challenge to be explored in today’s blog. Many school music teachers lack a background in composition; how do such teachers cultivate and facilitate composing and, more generally, creativity in their classrooms?
• Is it possible to be a good teacher of something in which you have little experience?
• Is it possible to be a bad teacher of something in which you are highly skilled?
If you're in a hurry, I'll give you a hint: The answer to both questions is yes.
If you wish to continue reading, then consider this:
- Teachers are sometimes not experts in the things they teach. Example: About a week before he started his first teaching job, a friend of mine was asked/told to teach physical education, something for which (a) he had no specific qualifications, and (b) no specific skill set. As a child, gym teachers routinely gave up on my friend because he was considered physically unskilled, and, for the most part, he was okay with that; his attitude was he knew it, and they knew it, so why pretend otherwise? Despite this, or perhaps because of this, I understand he became a very good phys. ed. teacher. He researched the best ways to teach and motivate students in kinesiology (also known as human kinetics, or phys. ed. if you prefer old-school terminology), established fitness goals, and found fun ways for his students to reach them. He found ways to encourage and empower kids who had been written off by previous gym teachers, precisely because he had been one of those people.
- School wind-band teachers are required to have some knowledge of all the instruments of the wind band, but teachers can't necessarily play all (or even any) of the instruments well. They are of course proficient on their main instrument, and they may well be competent in a few others, but for most instruments, they have had very little training or experience. And yet, there they are, teaching our kids how to play these instruments! Is this a problem? Not necessarily. Good teachers find a way to teach basic skills in band instruments, and less-good teachers, for reasons that probably have more to do with pedagogical shortcomings than any lack of proficiency on these instruments, are less successful in this.
- Many school teachers and professors have found themselves in a position of having to teach something in which they had very little training, and some have gone on to become very good at teaching that subject. This is analogous to parenthood, in that nobody has any experience before embarking on it, but some become very good parents despite this, while others don't. One of the ways many people learn best is by doing.
- On the other hand, most musicians either know first-hand, or have heard of, cases where a virtuoso performer turned out to be a rather poor teacher of their instrument. Sometimes, the more you struggle in learning something, the better you understand how to teach it, and vice-versa.
- Experience and proficiency in something do not necessarily make you a great teacher. Overcoming obstacles and struggling to achieve proficiency can make you better equipped to helping students overcome their own struggles.
- Everyone is creative. We too often think of creativity as a "special" thing, a gift, which is bestowed upon some, but not others. This is wrong; we are all creative, but in different ways. In a recent study, 70% of respondents in the United States said they believed the education system stifles creativity. Some people may be more creative than others, but if true, this may be related to the encouragement or discouragement of creative activities experienced while growing up.
- Encourage creativity. Hypothetical situation: A child makes up a tune and plays it for her teacher; consider two different responses:
- Teacher 1 response: "Well, I guess it's okay, but I've got to be honest and tell you that it really sounds too much like a Justin Bieber song, which makes it unoriginal, and a pretty poor choice of somebody to copy! I'll give you a C-plus for that, 'cause I'm feeling generous today!" The child is discouraged and embarrassed, and either never tries making up a tune again, or if they do, they know enough to not show it to the teacher.
- Teacher 2 response: "Wow, that's good! And it kind of sounds like Justin Bieber… but better! You should write more songs!" The child feels encouraged, and keeps at it, keeps improving, and eventually finds their own original voice, which, not surprisingly, turns out to be nothing like The Bieb's.
The act of sharing something you create with someone else makes you vulnerable; you can never be sure how people will react, and for most of us, others' responses matter. Compounding this is the self-doubt that many of us feel when trying something new. Encouraging creative activities for your students is vitally important because it assuages these self-doubts, which in turn makes it more likely that students will want to continue creating things. I think that people who self-identify as "not creative" would not be limiting themselves in this way if they had been encouraged more in their creative activities while growing up. - Originality is overrated, at least in the early stages of learning to compose; avoid over-emphasizing its importance to your students. Sounding like someone else when you start composing is a normal part of the process. Indeed, part of the training that many composers received throughout history was to learn to write music "in the style of" some other composer (Palestrina, Bach, Chopin, Schoenberg, Webern, Messiaen, etc.). In doing this, we learn different techniques, and we may choose to recombine aspects of these techniques in any way we wish when writing our own music. Everyone will find their own voice if they keep at it, but they won't keep at it if they are discouraged. If your students like pop music, then you could make a class project where everyone writes a short song (or even just one verse of a song) in the style of an artist they admire. Students can work in teams if they like, and then perform their songs for one another.
- The creative process is often messy. Things we make are usually not very good before they become good. Anyone who composes knows this, I suspect. However, there is a myth about the creative process in which genius composers get their ideas in a flash, or at least relatively effortlessly, perhaps as a gift from the Almighty, and all the genius composer has to do is to take dictation feverishly quickly in order to notate the genius composition. Movies such as "Amadeus" reinforce this absurd notion. It is important to make sure your students know that every "genius" composer that ever lived had periods of struggle during the creative process, especially when they were starting out, and often throughout their creative lives as well. "Amadeus" is entertainment with some factual content, not a documentary. .
- Self doubt is normal, both for students and teachers, when attempting something new. Self doubt can be an important part of the creative process: A person attempts to create something, but comes to the "realization" that the thing they are creating is not very good. "This sucks!" they might say to themselves, or to you.
This "realization," however, may be (a) flawed; it may not "suck" at all, although it could almost certainly be improved, and (b) is a normal occurrence in the creative process, even for experienced creators; it's an illustration of how our perspective can change from day to day on things we create, and an indicator that we need to keep working on our creation in order to improve it. I have written several posts in which perspective is discussed in relation to the creative process, including this one, should you wish to read further.
As teachers, we can try to ensure that our students know it's okay to doubt ourselves at times, and we can encourage students when this happens. As more experienced musicians than our students (hopefully!), we can suggest some concrete ideas for improvements, such as simplify (texture, harmony, ideas, etc.), repeat, vary earlier ideas, use a simple form like ABA, modulate, try an exotic scale, identify and clarify foreground and background (beginning composers often do not distinguish between the two, making the music sound confused), make it more idiomatic for the performers, and simplify. And simplify. And… Okay, you get it: Simplifying ideas is often a key to improving them! - Critique carefully, and sparingly. I think that people who are just getting started in composition or in any endeavour primarily need encouragement, and, while the role of a teacher typically includes critical assessment, often what we as teachers intend as constructive criticism is received by students as discouragement. I would therefore suggest that any critiquing we offer, which ideally can be very helpful to students, be presented in the most encouraging way possible. Students should feel that they are free to take or leave any suggestions offered.
- Don't be afraid to admit you are not an experienced composer; there is no need to present yourself as an "authority" or "master" of composition, even if you are! Students, even at the university level, often respond well to a comment such as: "I really like your idea there, but I was hoping to hear more of it! Do you think that section could go on a bit longer?" On the other hand, a comment such as, "That section is too short and needs to be extended; what were you thinking?" is likely to alienate people, in part because it sounds like the person saying it is very full of himself. Music is generally written for audiences of non-experts (Milton Babbitt's, "Who Cares if you Listen?" notwithstanding), and non-experts can have very insightful and helpful comments too.
- Ask the student if there is any part of their composition that they would like to improve. Or you could ask, "on a scale of one to ten, how do you feel about your piece?" Questions such as these can make the student feel empowered, and they contribute to establishing your role as a helper. Ideally, a student would feel comfortable enough to identify at least some aspect of their composition that could be improved, because that builds a bridge between your role as a helper and their desire to improve their piece; you are both on the same side, and the student needs to know this. If the answer is that the student is fully satisfied with their work, this suggests that the work is either really good or the student does not want to hear anything negative or even constructive about it. In this case, it is best not to press the matter; there is little point in attempting to help someone that does not want help. If you continue to build trust with your students, you may find that some students that were initially closed to your suggestions will gradually become more receptive to them.
- Ask class members for suggestions or reactions to each others' pieces. Do this before you say anything about the students' creations, because once the teacher speaks, some students might not wish to say anything if their opinion differs from the teacher's, while others can be swayed by the teacher's words. If no students wish to offer feedback, you could …
- Ask specific questions, such as,
- What do you think of the opening? Does it work for you?
- Where are some places where the music expresses the meaning of the text really well?
- Are there places where the music could better express the meaning of the text? (Possible follow-up: What are some ways of making this happen?)
- What do you like most about this song/composition?
- How many different musical ideas are there? Do they all work equally well, or can any be improved? Can any be eliminated?
- GarageBand. This is perhaps the greatest facilitator of composition for untrained music-lovers ever invented, and I say this as the least-hyperbolic person in the history of the universe! ;) If your school has Macintosh computers, the computers should already have GarageBand installed. If your school has iPads, GarageBand is available as an iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch app (or sometimes it comes bundled with the iPad). I had this program on my computers for years but never used it until a few years ago, and I quickly came to realize that it is easy to use, even for (especially for) non-musicians, fun, and remarkably powerful.
Briefly, GarageBand allows multi-track composition by combining any of thousands of pre-recorded (or pre-created) loops in its library (organized by categories, such as drums, guitars, basses, orchestral, country, jazz, world, cinematic, experimental, etc.), each of which can be edited, abridged, or repeated, as desired by the user. It also allows mutli-track recording and editing of live instruments or voice(s) along with these loops, or on their own, and has guitar-amp modelling that "simulates the sounds of famous guitar amplifiers." It can do a lot more, but the exciting and empowering aspect of it for me is that you don't need any knowledge of musical notation, music theory, or even how to play a musical instrument, in order to produce surprisingly-sophisticated compositions.
My suggestion here is that if your school has access to this app, spend some time fooling around with it, and then get your students working with it. Alternatively, spend no time getting to know it and get your students to figure it out and explain it to you! - Do not force the issue. Some people insist on defining themselves by their limitations, e.g., I'm not creative; I'm lousy at art (or sports, or math, etc.); I could spend 100 years studying music and never write anything that was any good. Like the old adage, you can lead a camel to water, but you can't make it drink, you can offer choices to your students, but it's up to them to select them or not.
“One of the myths of creativity is that very few people are really creative,” said Sir Ken Robinson, Ph.D., an internationally recognized leader in the development of education, creativity and innovation. “The truth is that everyone has great capacities but not everyone develops them. One of the problems is that too often our educational systems don’t enable students to develop their natural creative powers. Instead, they promote uniformity and standardization. The result is that we're draining people of their creative possibilities and, as this study reveals, producing a workforce that's conditioned to prioritize conformity over creativity.” ["Study Reveals Global Creativity Gap"]
Wow… yet another tome-masquerading-as-blog-post… apologies for the length! :-$
If you would like even more-specific suggestions, consider reading (or referring your students to) a series of posts I wrote on the nuts and bolts of composition from a few years ago called Composition Issues. There is a lot of information available elsewhere on the Internet as well.
And if any of this is helpful, or if you have further suggestions or disagree with any of these suggestions, please leave a comment!
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21 comments:
As a music education degree hopeful, this blog was very informative. There are many aspects I didn't think of before, like finding ways to encourage kids drawing on your own short-comings or personal experiences. One thing that comes to mind with this for me as a private piano teacher is how one of my friends in piano lessons was forced to play only classical music, which in turn made her end up hating it. As a result of this, when I am teaching I encourage my students to come to me with any songs they would like to learn, while still incorporating some more technically challenging pieces.
Another point made in this blog that I identified with was the idea that "not everyone is creative". In high school music class we were given a composition project, and there were several people in the class that said "I'm not that creative", but once they got past this they actually had some very good compositions. This mentality of only some people being creative is definitely one that should be abolished in a classroom setting, and overall.
Your point about originality was interesting. The idea that "sound like someone else is part of the process" is something I never thought of before. I've often written songs, and would get really frustrated with myself and my ability to write when I mother or brother would walk by and say "That sounds like a Pink Floyd song" or something similar. But the whole "it's part of the process" really makes me feel better about myself! Like if I keep writing music, even if it does sound like someone else's music, it will still give me experience and practice with writing, and eventually, it will sound more and more original.
Something else that this blog entry made me think about. My uncle is a song writer, and he often asks me for my opinions when he's working. I'll come over or he'll send me clips. At first, I found it very difficult to give constructive remarks. Especially knowing that I was not an experienced composer at all. Everything sounded fine to me. After some time, I got comfortable making comments about his work. And after being in this class, I found things I could actually give opinions and suggestions about. Once I started making suggested based on what we learned in class, I got more comfortable giving him comments, and it went even past things we talked about in class. I was able to think of my own suggestions and opinions. This actually helped me in my own compositions. While listening back to my own music, I would be reminded of something I told my uncle, or something I heard in one of his pieces, and I would try my suggestions in my own music. It was very helpful.
My first and foremost dream would be a composer, but I can really see myself teaching high school, perhaps composing on the side. I have friends that tell me I'm really good with kids, and the people I talk to that don't know a whole lot about music say they get realy inspired when I talk about it, so I'd like to have that effect on younger generations, to kind of guide them along until they find the path that I chose, which was music school, I'd love to be the reason why people went to music school, that feels like it would be such a magical moment for a teacher. I laughed out loud at the Justin Beiber part in your first point, but I do agree that creativity needs to be encouraged to your students, or else what would they have to go by, why would they write? For themselves? No, not usually. People that age are usually looking for some kind of attention and to be noticed by their talents and this is one great way to boost their confidence about it. A very important issue with composition students is confidence. You have the respond the right way to their music, in your seventh point, you talked about a nicer way to say things (not really the point of your point, but it made me think of this) and not to be mean about something you think is wrong or could use work. You should play with your words until you find the right combination that will both make the student think about what you said, and they won't get their feeling hurts. Helpful blog, thanks.
For me an artist is someone who can create, and as I think that everybody can create, then everybody is an artist. I totally agree that the word creativity is an important word for teachers and students and that everybody should encouraged and be encouraged to create and develop their creativity. I totally understand that a teacher can be stressed out to teach something new. I guess the hardest thing is to know how to start. But from there, but from there, the students and the teacher learn from each others. What is great to teach art is that is can be approached by different points of view, there are no rules. We all have something to learn and something to teach, I guess the most important is to be very curious and to share the love of teaching.
This is such a great post! When I was still in high school, I was determined to teach piano lessons, figuring that I would be able to teach, since I already know how to play. I was very, very wrong. I quickly learned that I did not possess the gift of teaching; I was a very poor teacher. Just because someone demonstrates a higher skill level in a certain area does NOT mean they are fit to teach in that area. Communicating effectively and demonstrating concepts, as well as providing relevant learning materials and ample encouragement are key elements to teaching that not everyone can accomplish. Teaching is very challenging, and we often undervalue the work teachers do since so much of it is often behind the scenes. The opposite is also true: someone may be a naturally gifted teacher and may not need much previous knowledge in the area which they are teaching. Not that knowledge of the subject isn't important, but a skilled educator can learn material and more easily synthesize and pass the knowledge on to others.
Thanks for a great post, it had a lot of great points that I hadn't previously considered!
I would say that the ability a teacher has to teach composition to grades K-12 depends on their ability to teach the fundamentals of music, the teachers knowledge of these fundamentals, and the existing knowledge of the student with regards to these fundamentals of music. Of course, the success rate in which a teacher can teach composition to younger students will vary from student to student as different peoples' creativity is shown in different ways. Some students may also not be as interested in this subject and therefore it will prove more difficult to garner good results from the teaching. However, in all cases, as is mentioned in many bullet points of the blog post, a positive attitude and deliverance of feedback is essential in succeeding in teaching composition (and really anything) effectively. I have not really put much thought into the process of teaching composition, however now that I have this on my mind, I am realizing how much different it is from other forms of education, since in many cases there are no right or wrong answers, and critical yet constructive/positive feedback is essential. I will definitely be thinking about this more in the future as I consider education as a potential career choice.
I loved this post! As an comprehensive education student this gives me both a lot of advice on how to move forward teaching in areas of teaching I’m familiar with and gives me confidence to move forward in areas I am not overly comfortable with.
I liked your discussion on how some incredible performers are indeed poor teachers. The idea that someone struggling to learn something can make you a better teacher. This particularly relates to me in regards of the technique/pedagogy courses I am taking. I am unfortunately terrible at a bunch of the instruments and have struggled learning them. But I have learned a lot about how to work through the problems I’ve been having. The idea that this in fact could make me a better teacher is super exciting and builds my confidence as a future teacher.
I also enjoyed your points about originality being overrated and how messy the process is when it comes to teaching composition. As someone who has learned a huge amount about composing this year I think both of these points are important to remember when you are teaching beginner composition. In the beginning of comp 3100 I found myself trying so hard to be original that I barely wrote anything. Once I stopped focusing on looking for originality, my ideas became clearer and I am starting to move into my own compositional path.
I really enjoyed this post! As a child, I had a great music teacher who encouraged me to compose often. Although I was quite young, and never kept up with it I always look back to the skills she taught me as a young student and her encouragement when I am composing now.
In your post you talk about more or less "gently" critiquing the students by asking them "what they would like to work on with their composition" or giving them advice rather than a criticism. I think this is very important when teaching young children as they are very impressionable and often a critique will make them think their work is "bad" and they won't want to return to it. I think one of them main points to think about when teaching a young child is to try to be as excited about their progress as they are! I always try to up my energy level when teaching children as they are looking at you as their role model. If the teacher doesn't enjoy it, why should they? This can go for composition as well, be excited to hear their new work and they will be more eager to produce music.
This summer, I’ve been considering starting my own voice studio in my hometown. I’ve been quite hesitant about teaching because it’s something I have never done before. Ive had over 7 years experience singing, but the voice is such an odd instrument to teach because we can’t see whats happening in our students’ throats when they’re singing and diagnose problems to fix. We have to hear them and work from there. What if I diagnose an issue and fix it wrong, setting up bad technique that will be harder to fix later down the road. It’s lack of confidence and lack of teaching that holds me back. Hearing these elements and tips about teaching has given me more confidence in how to go about helping people learn how to sing and write and play. I want people to enjoy what they’re doing just as much as I enjoy singing. You never notice how stifling a teacher can be on your creativity until you have a teacher that encourages and guides you down a path you're happy with and want to be on.
I see you using elements of all these ideas in your classroom teaching and it is inspiring to see. Thanks for the post and thank you for being an incredible teacher!
I really enjoyed the perspective of this article because right away it argues that the non-composer can teach composition - especially in a K to 12 setting. I believe that while it is most valuable to learn from those whos career is primarily in composition, it is not to say that a non composer is insufficient in this subject area. While I take my studies in composition quite seriously, it is without a doubt that my career aspiration is performance, with a focus on new music. There are also performers out there who may not have even studied composition yet have commissioned new works, and are very strong in theory/ orchestration. With the many fields of music that exist in the world such as ethnomusicology, technology, performance, conducting and more, I believe that in some way shape or form that we can all embrace composition in some way. It is also crucial that the educator is willing to admit that studying with a composer is clearly the most logical course of action, because the composer is much more frequently exposed to advanced orchestration techniques as well as having the experience of commissioning new works. I also briefly want to mention that there are some composers who may have had a life long injury while performing or have had a significant life turn which fuels their new path of composition as well. Long story short, we should not discourage the non-composer from teaching composition, while we should also encourage the student seeking compositional help to reach out to their local expert!
I was never encouraged to compose music at all in K-12, despite my involvement with school concert band, choir, etc., led by qualified music educators. I agree that it is both possible to be a good teacher of something with which you are inexperienced, and a bad teacher of something with which you are highly experienced.
I think “under-qualified” people teach things all the time and do very well at it. For example, when I was in high school, my classmates were skeptical of our chemistry teacher because his degree was not in chemistry, but he was a great teacher.
Something to consider is that people not trained visual arts teach arts and crafts to grade school students all the time. It just requires a bit of creativity (or inspiration from other educators) and you can come up with a basic art project that inspires creativity in students. I don’t think that’s so different from composition. Sure, perhaps the educator won’t be able to teach high levels of compositional discernment or advanced composition techniques, but encouraging students to create music of their own is not something that requires a high level of composition education. Any child can create little tunes, and I think that’s a great activity that promotes creativity and musical discernment.
Dr. Ross, I have thought about this quite a bit over the last few weeks! Not necessarily this exact topic, but what a difference it would have made for me if there was a "creativity/composition" course offered in K-12 schools. I think that there should be a creativity club in schools, like there is a band, a drama club, and all. of. the. flipping. sports. clubs.
As to whether or not a non-experienced composer should teach composition, I never thought I was a composer, until someone inspired me to tap into that creative mindset. Composing/creative really is about encouragement, and the feeling of creating something beautiful is truly amazing. Could a math teacher chaperone the newly-minted "Creative Club" at, say, MacDonald Drive Junior High? I think they can. If they want to, that is, and feel there is untapped potential in students, which there most definitely is. I honestly think there should be a creative club in schools, I think it would be beneficial to so many. I know it would have been beneficial for me.
I teach piano, voice and theory lessons. I started teaching in High School. When I was in high school, I spent a lot of my time teaching technique, aural skills, sight reading skills and the basics of learning how to play the piano or how to sing. I never really focused on the creative aspect of music that is either composing or improvising. But after starting music school and learning about music in new ways, taking Thinking and Writing 1005 and 1006, seeing improvisation at the NewFound Music Festival, I noticed I was missing something. Something that I myself had not been exposed to as a young musician.
As a child, not only is composing your own song extremely exciting and offers a chance to let your creative juices flowing rather than just sitting there playing Ode to Joy, but it of course teaches a child important musical skills that learning songs like Ode to Joy might overlook. As a musician, you have to know how to think on your feet, how to communicate and articulate ideas, how to express emotion and you need to know the principals of music theory (which doesn't have to be taught from only a textbook- composing can help). This is why I started devoting time of my lessons to improvisation or composition. A total change of pace while offering important educational values.
This blog post was enlightening and relieving. I have often second guessed myself and my ability to teach composition since I am no pro. But I do think that like mentioned, you don't have to pretend to be a pro. While not a master, I do know enough to teach young children and offer them new tools to put in their toolbox. Composition should be taught from a young age so we do not need to shy away.
I think this has been my favorite post that I've read so far. I currently teach private music lessons and plan to teach K-12 music, and have been thinking a lot about ways that I can encourage my students' creativity and personal goals recently. I think this advice and reminders that self-doubt is normal are very helpful.
I love the idea of encouraging creative assignments and songwriting/composition assignments in young musicians. When I was in music classes and lessons as a child, I was never really encouraged to do any creative thinking outside of the in-class curriculum and sadly became one of the "I'm not creative" people. This self-doubt is still very present and becomes a bit of a roadblock every time I try to create or improvise.
Through music school and beginning to work with kids, I've realized that I am more creative than I've let myself believe and I want to be able to foster creative confidence in my students as well. I'm already feeling inspired by ways to introduce more creative thinking into my lessons. I will very likely be returning to this post again in the future!
I recently started teaching Voice, Piano and Guitar (and I throw some theory in there too) at a local studio, and it really took me for a loop when I first started. I never realized how difficult it can really be to take the knowledge I have in my own head, and explain it to a younger audience, it's something that I am still struggling with, and trying very hard to get better at. I definitely agree with the idea that a highly skilled person can be a poor teacher, I struggle the most with teaching voice (my principle instrument) But teaching piano and guitar (which are instruments I am less skilled in) is much easier! Composition is something I would like to introduce to my students at some point, but I find it difficult to tune my brain to a wavelength that my students would be able to understand, I have a tendency to explain to the level I am being currently taught (which doesn't work for kids that don't know what a whole note is or that a "tee-tee" is a two eighth notes) thus I struggle with this. In my teaching I always prioritize encouragement of my students, as when they don't get something right away, they tend to get frustrated, I was the same way when I was younger so I can understand what it feels like to have difficulty with something and want to give up. When my students become frustrated I generally switch focus for a bit and work on something else like theory, and then I ask them if they want to go back to playing. I think I may begin to include some composing in my lessons as it may help my students understand the music better!
This is a very inspiring article for me to read because I want to be someone who performs and teaches music at a professional level. I find certain teachers that never seemed to struggle at all and were always "considered good" may not know how to break a concept down into an edible chunk for a beginner to digest. Sometimes people who are so proficient take their own skills for granted and almost assume others know and understand it. I love nerding out about music for example and I have had moments at parties where non musician friends might ask me a simple question about a tune they enjoy and instead of answering the question in a way they can understand, it may turn into a crazy music theory side tangent that might not be relevant to them or they just might not care.
I think the more that teachers tell young kids: "Be quiet! Sit still! Just read the music!" The more kids resent their teachers and do the opposite. None of us learn the same way and those teachers that managed to make unique connections to explain concepts in a way that makes sense individually were the ones that really helped me. In the school band repertoire I find too many teachers only care about their own ego and sounding perfect in the concerts. Then certain kids get discouraged or excluded. I think that's fine for high school but with kids in grade 5 I think the teacher should make it fun and then prioritize the child sticking with the instrument. Most of the by the book "normal teachers" I cant really remember. The odd or eccentric ones though, I will never forget. Those were the teachers who had the greatest impact on me growing up because their quirks got to shine into their pedagogical approach rather than being boring and uniform.
The opening paragraph of this blog post caught me off guard, as throughout my K-12 experience I had never really been taught anything to do with composing. Growing up I was always the type of kid to seek out new musical experiences, taking almost all the music courses my high school had to offer and performing in community ensembles after school. Seeing that composition is a key curriculum outcome for K-12 music really shocked me, because if I, the hyper-involved music student, wasn’t able to stumble upon a compositional project or two, then I doubt most averagely-involved students would have either. Reflecting on my experience growing up, this greatly reminds me of that point in English class when you switch from writing and analyzing poems/prose, to just analyzing. One day you realize that you haven’t been required to write a poem for years, and that no aspect of your “creative arts” course has anything to do with being creative anymore. I feel as if music in the school system is the same way, labeled and discounted as a “creative” subject, however there really is no opportunity given to seriously develop your creative skills as a student. There seems to be some point in junior high or high school when the course curriculum stops valuing creative skills as much as it did in primary/elementary. We give 6-year-olds crayons and teach them how to color a picture, why don’t we give high school students the same tools and opportunities to use their brain creatively? Do these skills not matter anymore past a certain age?
I think that school would have been a lot better if there were more creative opportunities, like composition, in the core curriculum. Nearly every career path requires some creative aspect, whether it be conceptualizing a research project, creating a marketing strategy for a business, working directly in the arts field, or more. Creating also is introspective in a way, and I feel as if it would make schools a safer place to be if everybody were forced to be vulnerable every once and awhile through composing and creating, and sharing with their peers.
I really love this blog post. I would not necessarily consider myself a composer, more of a songwriter. I teach children's song writing lessons at my studio here in St. John's. I find a great way to encourage children to write music is to play games, such as "The Bubble Game", where kids pick a topic, and then name everything they can related to that topic, and create a brain web. Next, a more specific bubble is chosen, and another brain web is created. This can really help kids narrow down the topic of their song.
Another great game is "The Title Game" (my games have very creative names haha). In this game, students name three titles of songs that they know, without thinking, to get the ball rolling. Then, students come up with three new titles all on their own. They then choose one of these titles for their piece.
Another thing I like to allow students to do is just slam on their instrument and improv some fun things. This allows they to discover what they like and what sounds good. Discovery of sounds is an important part of composing.
Finally, I like to do fun composer spotlights with them, where I choose a song writer, and we listen to their music and read about their style so that we can grow as composers!
I love teaching composing to children, and I hope they love to learn about it.
Hello!
I love this post! I chose to do a music degree with the specific hopes of becoming a music educator. Sometimes the thought of having to be well-versed in *everything* to be a great teacher can be scary - but what you said here about encouraging the student to keep exploring and keep trying really struck a chord with me, because I think encouragement is the most important part of an educator (at least the teachers I remember and love the most are those who have cultivated a safe space to try and explore).
I have a private piano student (age 6) who is a perfectionist, and often I have to take a break in the lesson to colour with her or play her a song on youtube because even making a single mistake in a song when she is playing can bring her to tears. I try to always remind her that its okay to make mistakes, and the point is never to be perfect! I teach out of the Faber Piano Adventures method books, the theory series of the books often have a little composition activity where the teacher helps the student "set their hand up" in a position (ex: C position where the thumb is on the middle C key and each finger gets a key with pinky on G). The student then plays whatever key they want to make up a little melody. The first time I tried this activity with my perfectionist-student she couldn't understand and broke down in tears, repeating "but Miss Claire, I don't know what finger is next!" In hopes of me telling her the "Answer" while of course, in this case, there was no "answer." I kept trying it with her week by week, and it started with me most often saying "maybe we could try this finger next! Do you like how that sounds?" On Valentine's Day last week, we had a snow day on the day of her lesson so I emailed her mom a Valentine's day themed composition activity of the same nature. In an hour, I got a message from her mom with a video of my sweet student playing me her Valentines Composition as proud-as-punch. I was so, so excited!
Thanks so much for the ideas, Dr. Ross (and also the reminders about how to feel okay but my compositions as a University student!) I especially love what you said about EVERYONE being creative - so important, but so easy to forget.
-Claire
I really enjoyed reading this post. The story about phys. ed. teacher reminds me of my music teacher in middle school. She loved music and enjoyed teaching, but those two things, separately. At first it was a rough start and all we did was watch "Wunderkind Little Amadeus". It was entertaining to say the least. But she did so much extra work so she could learn guitar, ukulele, and recorder so that she could teach us. On top of that, she made it fun, played games that incorporated the instruments. She was my favourite teacher in middle school.
I like how you wrote, "Good teachers find a way to teach basic skills in band instruments, and less-good teachers, have more to do with pedagogical shortcomings than any lack of proficiency on these instruments," it is very true. The best teachers find solutions in areas they struggle in, they think about how they can make things better, they don't except defeat easily and find excuses.
I agree with you when you say everyone is creative. I used to teach young kids piano, guitar, and voice. All my students learned in different ways, but one kid really stuck out to me. He wanted to learn music but not your classic piano or guitar books. He wanted to creative music on his own. At this point, he knew the basics of chords on guitar and all the keys on piano. The kid had an ear for music. He was creative but lacked the skills to write his ideas down on sheet music, which is understandable because he was a beginner. I encouraged his creativity and let him freely compose his own piece. I hooked up garage band with my synthesizer and let him record using the sounds on the app. Once he was done creating his song we slowed it down, section by section and wrote it down on sheet music. It was a learning experience for both of us but I am glad I did it. My student was able to have freedom in his creativity and learn how to notate it afterwards.
I believe that there is a lot of very sound advice here. That said, the fact that any musician could feel as though they are an absolute noncomposer is indicative to me of a sorry state of affairs.
I think it is a shame that composition is not necessarily considered to be an imperative part of every musician's skillset. One's capacity to produce original music is naturally an extension of whatever theoretical knowledge they may possess (although this need not be profound in order to produce works of creative integrity, particularly in nonclassical idioms). Reciprocally, I think that one's understanding of theoretical processes and creative intentionality in repertoire which they examine or perform is helped tremendously by having some experience with composition themselves. In this way, composition can help any musician to realize a greater fulness of musical interpretation (I would say likewise for improvisation).
I always rather like comparing matters such as these to conventions within other art forms and creative mediums. One such comparison of tenuous integrity for this case: Could you imagine doing an entire degree in English literature without ever having to formulate an original sentence in English?
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