Contents
#ImaginingPossibilities for Music Learning & Teaching
2023-3-15
Hello!
I’m Evan Tobias, Associate Professor of Music Learning & Teaching at Arizona State University. You’re receiving this email because you signed up for #ImaginingPossibilities an occasional newsletter on imagining possibilities for music learning and teaching and exploring academic workflows.
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Wonderments & Curiosities
- What happens when you make preparing and rehearsing music more participatory?
- How might we liberate classical music from the typical constraints of large ensembles?
Phoenix Symphony Clarinetist Alex Laing, Artist/Producer TRUVONNE, and I are collaborating on #LiquidWeber, a project that explores a more liquid process of making classical music by experimenting with ideas such as open-kitchen orchestra, zero-waste music making, musical compost, regenerative culture, and related ideas.
You can learn about #LiquidWeber on our website.
We invite you to try the latest iteration of our project.
Check out our invitation for people to create new music with excerpts of Alex practicing the Weber Clarinet Concerto.
Consider:
How might students create new music using “scraps” of Alex’s practice of the Weber Clarinet Concerto?
Find out by having students (or anyone else) create with our current LiquidWeber sample pack produced by TRUVONNE from recordings of practice sessions of the Weber Clarinet Concerto. The sample pack comes along with an example of a project plan.
We’re wondering what people will create.
Might a student create and record their own concerto for their instrument and produced music from our sample pack?
Might students create ambient music, dance music, beats?
If you would like to be more involved in the project, let us know via the link at the end of the newsletter.
Ideas & Inspirations
- Do you ever wonder how to support creativity and improvisation in large ensemble settings?
- Curious about an approach that blends conducting with improv or composing?
Consider something like Butch Morris’s Conduction in your program.
Butch Morris developed sophisticated systems for facilitating ensemble improvisation. You can learn more about conduction and some ideas for the classroom here.
Rather than adopting conduction specifically (conduction is a complex and trademarked system that Morris developed over years) take inspiration and build on the broader concept of facilitating creative decisions and music making in ensembles.
Consider collaborating with students to create unique systems for creative music making in your own program.
- How might people re-imagine existing music to express their lived experiences in our world and society?
In the Sept. 2022 issue of Action Criticism Theory (a free open access music education research journal), Mya Scarlato invites us to consider re-imaginings of the US National Anthem “to account for a plurality of American perspectives and to de-legitimize ways in which racism and White privilege have dictated “correct interpretations” of the anthem throughout U.S. history.”
Scarlato’s (2022) article follows in the footsteps of related work such as Carlos Abril’s (2007) article Functions of a national anthem in society and education: A sociocultural perspective; his (2016) chapter, A national anthem: Patriotic symbol or democratic action?, or Estelle Jorgensen’s (2007) article Songs to teach a nation to question the status quo around our National Anthem and its relationship to music education.**
I remember working through some of these issues with middle school students back in 2006 when Nuestro Himno was met with both celebration and controversy.
Scarlato’s article would have been useful in adding to the conversation and sparking some additional ideas for the music classroom!
In terms of practical applications, the article (and other resources above) might give you some ideas for addressing existing re-imaginings of the National Anthem with students in your program or inviting students to re-imagine the National Anthem through their own interpretations. Granted, there’s much work to do to think through the complexities when addressing issues around race, culture, nationality, aesthetics, and numerous related issues – so, be intentional and do your homework before launching into something in your program.
** If you want to read the Abril or Jorgensen articles and don’t have access, you can always try interlibrary loan or contacting the authors themselves. Most folks are happy to send along their published work to whoever asks.
- Abril, C. R. (2016). A national anthem: Patriotic symbol or democratic action?. In Patriotism and nationalism in music education (pp. 77-94). Routledge.
- Abril, C. R. (2007). Functions of a national anthem in society and education: A sociocultural perspective. Bulletin of the Council for research in Music Education_ 69-87.
- Jorgensen, E. R. (2007). Songs to teach a nation. Philosophy of Music Education Review,15(2),150-160.
- Scarlato, M. (2022). Playing Upon the Blue Guitar: Toward Re-imaginings of the US National Anthems. Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education, 21(2), 89-125.
Sparks & Springboards
- SoundGym | Audio Ear Training Online So much of aural skills and ear training in music education focuses on Western European art music and related practices. Consider expanding students’ aural skills and ear training with a focus on audio production and engineering. Interesting to consider the biases and assumptions in our curricula when it comes to “aural skills.”
- Learn about composer Quinn Mason who creates music for orchestras and wind ensembles in this interview with I Care If You Listen.
- I love this NYTimes “The Hidden Melodies of Subways Around the World” if for nothing else than to hear the varied subway door announcements and sounds but it also invites an exploration of sound & place & all kinds of creative engagement (and it brings me joy to hear NYC’s “Stand clear of the closing doors, please”).
Don’t Miss . . .
The Hip Hop Literacies Conference 2023 takes place on March 30 & 31 at Ohio State University and the conference supports online access for free. This conference “honors the efforts of the LGBTQ+ community to make Hiphop and the larger society more equitable. Black Queer and Trans Feminisms and Lives Matter!” Register now!
and just because . . .
I took one of my kids to experience STOMP this past weekend. He was laughing pretty much the entire show. STOMP was on my go to list for sub plans back in the early 2000s when I taught middle school – couldn’t believe it was still going strong decades later (though they performed their last show in NYC on Jan. 8). It was fun as ever though I’m curious about all the musical cultures that inform, inspire, or show up throughout the show. . . Check it out if it’s in a city near you.
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