Creativity in the Classroom: Teaching Literacy Through Composition in the Large Ensemble Music Class By: Kelly Lamorena

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1 Kelly Lamorena 5/27/2014 EDUC 365 Final Paper Creativity in the Classroom: Teaching Literacy Through Composition in the Large Ensemble Music Class By: Kelly Lamorena If you open up almost any dictionary and look up the word literacy you will most likely see, noun. the ability to read and write, or something similar to that. Most people think that this is the only definition of literacy, and for a while educators had the same belief. However, today there is a much more accurate and broader definition. That seems like that would be an oxymoron. The definition is accurate in which the definition seems more true than our traditional definition, but broader in the way that it covers more skills than just reading and writing in the traditional sense. Throughout my time at Illinois Wesleyan University especially in EDUC 365, my definition for literacy has changed. As a music teacher, it is difficult to just think of literacy as reading and writing. I think of students I have had in the past. Students who can play their instruments proficiently, play almost any song by ear, and have the best tone and musical instincts than anyone else in the ensemble. However, students like that are not always able to read music, or struggle with reading and music notation. Does this mean that this student is illiterate? No. This student is a fantastic musician; they just have more work to be done. This is where that new definition of literacy comes in. To be literate in any content area means that you are able to perform skills, understand concepts, and have knowledge that applies to that subject. I prefer to use the definition that one of my colleagues used to describe literacy. The ability to comprehend and communicate via a given medium; proficiency in seeing/recognizing symbols and then interpreting them; literacy crosses multiple content areas and demonstrating competency (skills and knowledge) in those areas. 1 A person who is literate in music can read, write, and understand musical symbols, proficiently perform on a given instrument, understands music through a culturally and historically stand point, and is able to teach it. There are different levels of music literacy just like any other subject. Because of these different levels, there are different approaches for teaching literacy in different settings. 1 From a conversation with Christina Hoblin, Illinois Wesleyan University 13, prior to taking EDUC 365

2 Teachers often think that approaches to teaching literacy in the large ensemble, (band, choir, orchestra) are generally limited. Many directors feel the need to get through music, preparing for concerts, contest/festival scores, and having a good performance. Many overlook actually teaching the content of music. Teachers in many cases end up handing information to students as opposed to students discovering it on their own or having a true understanding of content. Composition is something that is most often left out of large ensemble settings. Teachers believe that it is too difficult because of time constraints, resources, and too many students. However, composition can be one of the most affective tools in teaching literacy through a large ensemble. Composition can work for all age levels in the large ensembles. Beginning musicians can use composition in similar ways that high school students do, and both groups would benefit. Composition could be a daily, weekly, or once in a while activity. It could be used in warm ups or projects. It could also be used in the form of improvisation. Improvisation is often overlooked too because many educators under estimate the creativity and ability of their students. In order to use composition effectively, educators can take literacy subjects that have been successful in other mediums and apply it to the music content area. Cross-age/peer tutoring is a strategy that music educators use in their ensembles all of the time. Cross-age/peer tutoring has many benefits such as developing leadership skills, students can find commonalities, and students who need extra time can catch up. Peer and cross-age tutoring, characterized by children teaching other children, has many benefits. It has been associated with increases in student achievement, problem-solving skills, independence, and self-initiative for tutors and tutees. It can elevate levels of volunteerism and positive attitudes toward being in school. In situations where peers tutor students with socialization difficulties, improvement of social skills often occurs. Opportunities for social interaction may allow for greater development of cognitive and performance skills. 2 Cross-age/peer tutoring can be used not only to help a student review and get individual attention, but can also be used in composition projects. In individualized sessions like these, the tutee can compose what he/or she wishes but not be limited to the lack of the ability to write out the music. The tutor would be able to help dictate what the tutee wants to hear. The tutor essentially is like a translation tool; helping the tutee decode the language of music so that barrier is eliminated and they can focus on the music. This situation would be good for when students can be assigned pairs in the large ensemble classroom. However, some large ensembles might not have 2 Sheldon, Deborah A. "Peer And Cross- Age Tutoring In Music."

3 enough tutors to go around. In order to remedy this, this would be an okay time where tutors could help multiple students. Some educators will also find that this project would be more suitable for a tutoring program, but face the issue of setting up a tutoring program. A program would not be impossible to set up, but would have a lot of steps and work into getting it to work effectively. Improvisation is one of the best ways for students to learn through composition. Improvisation is composition on the spot using given tools. Too often band directors (and other music directors) ignore this aspect of music unless it is in a jazz band. Many do not know how to implement an activity like this, think their students are incapable of improvisation and therefore would not learn anything from it, or think it takes too much time. Implementation is not as hard as it seems. For educators who have never had their students improvise, an easy seven-step structure might be the way for them to follow and first introduce improvisation. First, the teacher should introduce a springboard topic. Ideally this topic would be something that the students could relate to. This could be something that they are reading in another class, a recent movie, or an event in their lives. This springboard will be the main topic of the activity. The next step is to start asking open-ended questions about the topic. The class could start out with questions like, What do you know about the Olympics? What event would you do if you were in the Olympics? How do you think the athletes feel before/during/after they competed? After you ask a few of the questions, start to make a list on the board of how the athletes feel. Some students might say nervous, on top of the world, confident, etc. This leads to the next step, which is brainstorming. During the brainstorming step, encourage the students to think of how those emotions would sound. How would nervousness sound like on the xylophone? Start having students compose little phrases or motives on their given instruments. Make sure to have students listen and compare to the differences between motives for the same emotion. This should lead into the fourth step, personal experiments. Have every student pick a term from the board and compose a short representation of that emotion. Then have each student play their motive for the class, and figure out which motives work well together. Next, you add the conductor. It is good to start with the teacher to demonstrate, but then having different students conduct gives them more control of how the piece would go. The conductor has to make musical decisions on when students will play their motive next, and to create a story. This step can be done in groups, so it is easier to have all students play and have a turn during the piece. After this record the students work, play it back to them and have them reflect and analyze the recording. The last step of reflection is very important. This is a time where students can develop listening skills, get other students feedback, and find

4 anywhere that they could refine their work. You can also have students compare and contrast the different pieces. 3 This seven-step method is just one way of incorporating improvisation into the band curriculum. Students will benefit from this exercise because the improvisation is structured in a way that the students have a topic to think about and something to match their music too, but are not limited to a certain key, rhythm, etc. This improvisation exercise is also conducted in a positive and safe environment so students should not be intimidated. Another improvisation exercise I like to use is scale improvisation during warm up. Scale improvisation is a way for students to make up little melodies using a scale that they are comfortable with. For example, most students are very comfortable with the concert Bb scale by sixth grade, which is either one or two years after they first started playing. As a class, have the students warm up playing the entire scale; first slow then at a moderate pace in quarter notes. After this, have the band play the scale up (should be two measures) then have students have a solo, where they improvise using their notes from the scale for two measures. After this solo, have the whole band play the scale down (again, two measures), and then another student solo for two more measures. Keep this process going until every student has had a turn, or as long as time will allow. In order to keep the scale repetitions between each solo from getting tedious, occasionally change the rhythm or which group of students plays the response. This exercise is a great way to incorporate improvisation into everyday rehearsal. Students become fluent in whatever key you are practicing in (which you should start with their most comfortable key then move to one they are starting to learn about), enforce counting and listening skills and are not overwhelmed to improvise because an inviting structure has been set up for them. Students also will start to enjoy creating their own music, and develop confidence and a stronger interest in band. Overall, composition in the classroom is very accomplishable. It is also essential for effective, comprehensive, large instrumental ensemble teaching. It is something that has unfortunately been neglected from instrumental education in many programs. Before method books and band programs, how did musicians learn music? Most of it was from individuals watching and listening to other musicians, improvising, playing by ear, and composing. There are many instances still today where music is learned around the world without notation. Much of non-western music is learned by rote, where master performers learn by ear and self- 3 Robinson, Nathalie G., Cindy L. Bell, and Lenore Pogonowski. "The Creative Music Strategy.

5 exploration. We cannot forget that this is where music education has come from as we move forward in the field. 4 It is most important for educators to remember that being literate does not mean that their students only need to be able to read and understand the symbols of music. Master drummers from African drum circles are literate musicians, but probably do not have much experience with Western music notation. This does not mean that they are anything less than a classically trained musician. On the other side, a person could read and understand music, but still not be able to play in time, or perform at all meaning that they are not very literate in music either. Educators must keep in mind that literacy is being able to perform, understand, teach, and communicate in any medium. In order to develop wellrounded musicians, music educators must address all angles of this definition. Classroom creativity through composition is an imperative approach to effectively teaching and encouraging student growth and literacy. 4 Priest, Thomas. "Creative Thinking In Instrumental Classes."

6 Bibliography McIntire, Jean M. "Developing Literacy Through Music." Teaching Music 15.1 (2007): 44. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 24 May Priest, Thomas. "Creative Thinking In Instrumental Classes." Music Educators Journal 88.4 (2002): 47. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 May Robinson, Nathalie G., Cindy L. Bell, and Lenore Pogonowski. "The Creative Music Strategy." Music Educators Journal 97.3 (2011): Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 May Sheldon, Deborah A. "Peer And Cross-Age Tutoring In Music." Music Educators Journal 87.6 (2001): 33. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 May 2014.