Teaching students to use their imagination or to develop their improvisation is an abstract concept. Bauer states that many people “believe that creativity is a rare gift, with only a chosen few being born with creative talents” (Bauer, 2014, p. 48). I do believe that creativity is a rare gift that is often acquired at birth. I also believe that it is a skill that can be developed if one has the discipline to persist. Bauer uses Twyla Tharp, and Stephen King as examples of successful creative people. Baur points that these artists are successful because they are persistent when they are not motivated or inspired to create their work. As a first year teacher I was apprehensive about teaching improvisation to my Jazz/Rock ensemble. I believed I lacked the skills to teach improvisation. I was fortunate to have a guitarist in the class who was skilled in improvisation. He shared how his private teacher (Graduate of the Berklee School of Music) introduced improvisation to him. This perspective in turn gave me a basis in teaching improvisation to other students. This student is a perfect example of an artist who is naturally skilled in creativity, and is persistent in developing these skills.
I greatly admire teachers who can successfully teach their students to improvise. It is a skill that I have been able to somewhat develop as a musician. However, I have only been able to develop teaching improvisation on a basic level with the help of my student guitarist. The “seven-step sequential model” that Kratus developed for teaching improvisation truly resonated with me (Bauer, 2014, p. 52). It is a process I can follow when teaching improvisation. In my district, students are introduced to instrumental improvisation in 7th and 8th grade stage band. I plan to talk to the middle school band director, and pursue using these steps as a basis of our improvisation curriculum.
I teach Electronic music using the Digital Audio Workstation called Mixcraft. Mixcraft solely consists of MIDI sounds within its loops and Virtual Instruments. I understand that MIDI is data for producing sound rather than audio actually moving through cables. However, it seems that I am lacking some information in my understanding in how MIDI truly works. It would be helpful for me to learn specifically how MIDI was developed and how it works. Teaching Electronic music reminds me a lot of the story of Kate at the beginning of Chapter 3. Many of the assignments which the story described are similar to the assignments in my curriculum (i.e. “composing a soundtrack for a video”) (Bauer, 2014, p. 45). She also reminds me of two students that were inspired by electronic music and are both pursuing a degree in sound recording technology.
Noteflight seems to be beneficial as an educational tool. Noteflight’s largest selling points are that it is cloud based and free. My school district adopted the use of chromebooks which makes Noteflight a wonderful addition to student learning. All my classes, except two, are taught in the band room. Students developing an account would add endless possibilities of learning in my performance classes. This program could help me teach concepts like: how to transpose, how to transcribe solos, or for personal practice for chorus students. Sharing documents in Noteflight has already made an effect on music education in general. Sharing capabilities allows students to share their work with teachers for assessments, and to share work with their peers for collaboration and fun. Being a Finale user I have found a bit of a learning curve with Noteflight. I found that it took too long to figure out certain tasks (i.e. formatting and layout of a score) that I found to be more user friendly with Finale.
Musescore is beneficial for my own musical practice and performance. Musescore is seemingly similar to Finale which is the industry standard. It is not cloud based, but it is free. Musescore and Noteflight can be used in the same manner if a teacher has computer lab access, and networking capabilities. It is not cloud based which makes online collaboration harder, but not necessarily harder for classroom collaboration. I can still have students work in groups where one person is working on the computer and they are all contributing to the project at hand. I happen to have a piano lab where all keyboards are connected to computers with internet access. I will install Musescore on all these computers and have students develop a Noteflight account. The value of Noteflight and Musescore is endless. I would like to experiment which program will work best for my teaching situation.
References
Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing, and
responding to music. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Thank you for your post. I believe that as musicians we all develop our creativity on a sort of continuum. There are two scenarios in which people struggle to be creative. The first is when skills are lacking. For example, I am much more creative on the piano than on guitar as my piano skills are developed to a higher level than my skills on guitar. However, when a high level of skill exists but creativity is still not in evidence, it might be a matter of self doubt or even a lack of permission. For example, I enjoy writing songs very much. It is a hobby I pursue for my own pleasure and I gain considerable delight from the process. Although I began exploitative song writing as a child, I did not develop the skill with any sort of intentional way until I was an adult, not because I didn't enjoy it, but because I didn't think I was allowed. My education as a musician was limited to recreating and copying the compositions of other people. In terms of improvisation and composition it is our duty, even as we refine our practice to give our students permission to create. It seems that your encounter with the student guitarist was providential! I applaud your intent to become a better teacher of improvisation. As someone who is still in the process of gaining understanding in how to teach composition, I find the thought of teaching improvisation to be daunting indeed! Like you, I believe that the instructional process described by Bauer is the most accessible explanation about what sort of methodology should go into teaching improvisation. Equipping musicians to be fully literate and confident in their improvisation and composition skills is a worthy goal for any music teacher. Imagine the creative empowerment that could occur if we as teachers can put our thinking into instructive action.
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