Dave Douglas recently posted a thought provoking email from one of his readers raising questions about practicing, composing, and thinking creatively in music. Both the post and the comments are worth reading and thinking about. While the email deals with a university context it could easily be applied to public school music programs.
The lingering questions I’m left with are: “To what extent do we provide opportunities for our students to think creatively in/with music? And for instrumental programs: How does this play out in the ways we encourage our students to practice?
What exactly is it that our students are practicing and what role will that play in their development as creative musicians?
Consider reading the original post on Douglas’s blog and adding your perspective to the comments there and/or here.
[updated 3/27/16] Then, take a look at Jon Harnum’s fantastic and well-researched book on practicing [affiliate link]: The Practice of Practice: How to Boost Your Music Skills.
Hey guys! If anyone is interested in composition, please check out my site:
http://www.composersstaff.blogspot.com I’d appreciate any feedback!
Thanks,
B. from the Composer’s Staff
Hi Evan,
To me, we need to encourage our students to be able to diagnose their performance problems themselves. Rather than the teacher/conductor giving them pre-written etudes addressing problems/challenges that the teacher/conductor perceives, why not teach students to analyze their own performance challenges and compose their own etudes?
For example, lets say a middle school band director was planning a piece for the end of the year concert that he/she knew was going to present some musical and technical challenges for each section in the ensemble. At the beginning of the year, that director could pass around or post a copy of the score on the wall of the band room for students to look at and analyze (how many middle school band students actually see the score?). Within each section, students could identify passages that would be challenging for them. The band director would then take a class period or part of multiple class periods to model how to compose etudes based on challenging passages. Then, students would be assigned to compose their own etudes for practice within their section. Perhaps around moving beyond the break on clarinet or a tricky rhythm, or playing high and delicate, yet soft?
The point of this assignment would be to help students learn how to solve their own performance problems by composing etudes based on real musical challenges that they would face later in the term. To me, this is the ideal way to infuse creative thinking with/in music within more traditional performance-based classes. The teacher uses composing to help students develop their performance skills all while honoring their creative agency and giving them creative voice in the musical process. I think students would be more inclined to practice if they knew why they needed to practice and if they were involved in creating the materials of which they were practicing.
A related project I’m working on now is having middle and high school small ensembles commission small ensemble pieces from each other that are collaborative composed via Noteflight. The main point behind this is that the student composers have to get to know the performers’ musical and technical limitations and strengths. Rather than composing for computer playback or a professional ensemble, they learn more about their instrument by composing a real piece for real students at similar performance levels. Performing great music composed by others is motivating in and of itself. I think motivation can be kicked up a notch when students are composing pieces written by their peers for their peers.
I just found your blog and am reading along and really enjoying it.
Thanks for this post! Two questions are now on my mind: To what extent do we provide opportunities for our students to think creatively in/with music? And, how does this play out in the ways we encourage our students to practice? Well, I honestly needed to stop for a while and discern; I even asked myself for several times. As music teaching has become both my passion and profession over the years, teaching my students how to play the piano has been one of the most-enjoyed and the most-awaited sessions I have with my dear students. With these queries on mind, I think I have provided a wider scope for them to work and think creatively. And as to my encouraging them to practice at all times not just for mastery but out of love for what they do, I think that I’ve done my best. However, I realize that I haven’t given them enough. Well, I should do it next time since they deserve only the best. Again, thanks and more power. Just in case, you’d like to learn and adopt more reliable, effective and innovative music and piano teaching tips and resources, please feel free to check this link out. This can even take your music teaching experience to a higher level. Enjoy!
Hi,
I am personally interested in music composing and I have found your post most suitable for my work. I agree to the question which music teacher have asked. I think that is a point of attention which needs to be answered apprehensively
Thank you for this post. This is a very important topic that many musicians and music educators avoid!
We need to make sure that students build in some “free time” or “fun time” into their practicing. During this time, they can play whatever they want. This freedom often leads to insights into what they are “supposed” to be practicing as well as creating ideas for solos, compositions, cadenzas, etc.
Great.. thanks for sharing…