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Introducing Instrumental Students to Improvisation 1

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Introducing Instrumental Students to Improvisation 1 Introducing Instrumental Students to Improvisation Mark Fairlie Dipnall MMusSt, BMus, DipEd (The University of Melbourne) Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Education (with coursework component) March 2012 Produced on archival quality paper Melbourne Graduate School of Education The University of Melbourne Victoria, Australia ABSTRACT Improvisation has been an integral component of music practice throughout a variety of world musics, such as the Indonesian Gamelan, Japanese Kabuki Theatre, African drumming, Australian Indigenous music, Klezmer music, the Indian Raga, Jazz and Popular music. Instrumental tuition, within the present system of Western school music education, on the other hand, tends to emphasise an early and ongoing commitment to the reading of notated music. Some of the literature in the area suggests that the emphasis for instrumental music tuition should be concerned with improvisation thus producing opportunities to achieve a more personalised and independent result with music expression. By including improvisation within regular tuition the student instrumentalist could feel more at one with his or her own voice and imagination, rather than attempting to take on the role of reproducing the character and style of another person’s notation. This thesis focussed on the development and provision of improvised music activities with high school music students from Years 10 and 11. Consideration was given to how these improvised music activities might have impacted not only their improvisational skills but also broader attitudes to music. The study included a specifically designed curriculum emphasising improvisational techniques. It was constructed and implemented over a ten-week period with accompanying interviews, questionnaire and video. The aim of the study was to assess the impact of the implementation of this curriculum and how it could assist the learning and teaching of improvisation. The study’s performance-ensemble consisted of rhythm and lead instrumentalists where all participants had the opportunity to engage with specific instrumental techniques that assisted the expression of improvisation. Simultaneously, all participants had the liberty of managing the lesson-content with original extemporised melody and composition. The results showed the participants experienced increased confidence with improvisation. The conclusion suggests that improvisation be viewed as an integral component within the teaching and learning of instrumental music. iii DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY 1. The thesis comprises only my original work towards the Masters. 2. Due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other references. 3. The thesis is 20,000 words in length exclusive of tables, list of references and appendices. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis was very much encouraged by my original lecturer, Andrew Swainston, when I completed my Master of Music Studies at The University of Melbourne in 2008. Andrew convinced me to present my views on improvisation by conducting the appropriate research requirements for the Master of Education Degree. I was then in turn introduced to Dr. Neryl Jeanneret, who in party with Andrew became my Principal and Associate Supervisors and Researchers. Dr. David Forrest, Dr. Helen Farrell and Dr. Judy Rogers have been supportive and encouraging, as have all the local and interstate members of the Australian Society for Music Education. Members of the Victorian Music Teachers’ Association have also been supportive colleagues. Acknowledgement must also go to my parents, Robert and Merle Dipnall. The participants in this research and the many students that I have taught have stimulated the origins of this inquiry. All my music students, whether they have been beginners or very advanced, have experienced times when they have been called upon to musically improvise. Their humble, courageous faces and optimistic disposition towards the unknown elements of improvisation, requiring a spontaneous musical expression without the assistance of notation, have made a lasting impression. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract iii Declaration of Originality v Acknowledgements vii Table of Contents ix List of Tables xi Chapter 1: Introducing Instrumental Students to Improvisation 1 Chapter 2: Improvisation: A Literary Overview 2.1 Defining Improvisation 5 2.2 Improvisation Summary Definition 6 2.3 Historical Overview: World View, Mediaeval, Renaissance and Baroque 6 2.4 Cadenza Improvisation in Classical and Romantic Periods 9 2.5 Jazz 11 Chapter 3: Teaching Improvisation 3.1 Models of Teaching Improvisation 15 3.2 Extended Contexts 20 3.2.1 Self – Efficacy 20 3.2.2 Formal/ Informal Learning 21 3.2.3 Advanced Skill 23 3.2.4 Best Practice 24 3.2.5 Audiation 28 3.2.6 Kinaesthesis 28 3.2.7 Metacognition 29 3.3 Summary Conclusion 31 Chapter 4: Methodology 4.0 Introduction 33 4.1 The Setting 35 ix 4.2 The Participants 36 4.3 Data Collection 37 4.3.1 Background Questionnaire 38 4.3.2 Interviews 39 4.3.3 Mid Cycle Interviews 39 4.3.4 Final Interviews 40 4.3.5 Field Notes 41 4.3.6 Video 41 4.4 Resources 42 4.5 Teacher Researcher Participant Observer 42 4.6 Curriculum Pedagogy 43 4.7 Data Analysis 46 4.8 Data Storage 47 Chapter 5: Results and Discussion 5.0 Introduction 48 5.1 Background Questionnaire 48 5.2 Interviews 50 5.2.1 Beginning Interview Questions 50 5.2.2 Mid Cycle Interviews 53 5.2.3 Final Interviews 57 5.3 Video and Field Note Data 63 Chapter 6: Conclusion 6.0 Overview 65 6.1 Assumptions and Limitations 65 6.2 Conclusions 66 List of References 70 x List of Tables 3.2.2 Characteristics of Formal and Informal Learning 21 4.2 Profiles of the Participants 37 4.6 The Project Schedule 45 xi CHAPTER 1 Introducing Instrumental Students to Improvisation Improvisation is a practice that appears to be universal and cross-cultural. The ability to elaborate and improvise upon a melody was seen as the norm in ancient Greek music (Grout, 1973) as it was with the musicians of the Mediaeval, Renaissance and Baroque periods. As the printing of music grew, the skills, expectations and requirements of improvisation tended to disappear in the world of art music. Musicians gradually became bound to notation. It wasn’t until blues and jazz music emerged between 1870 and 1900 that improvised music reappeared. Within Australia, the 2005 National Review of School Music Education (DEEWR, 2005) strongly advocated the teaching of improvisation. The review suggested that the teaching and learning of improvisation should be prioritised and targeted. The evidence suggested that the teaching of improvisation in Australia was well intentioned but by no means thorough and failed to provide a progressive pathway from primary to secondary sectors. Within the UK context, Ross (1995), Small (1999) and Swanwick (1999) have also suggested that music education would benefit with a less formal approach. Swanwick (1992) and the National Review of School Music Education (DEEWR, 2005) have noted that instrumental music students tend to give up during year eight, or when they leave school. Data from the Australian Music Association’s market report (2007, 2008, pp. 2 - 3) noted that there had been a “dive into negative growth” in the purchase of orchestral wind and brass instruments, indicating less enthusiasm for school music programs. The growth area had been with “popular” instruments such as guitar and drums. Perhaps this negative growth is related to how music programs are taught and managed? If improvisation were perceived more broadly as an essential and overarching component of school music education, then perhaps the participation experience would be more enjoyable, progressive and meaningful for all concerned. This was one of my central concerns in this thesis aligned with an inquiry into an informed pedagogy relevant to the teaching and learning of improvisation. 1 In order to teach improvisation various influences were examined. Zemelman, Daniels and Hyde (2005) concluded that the most effective way of teaching was to employ a student-centered, holistic, collaborative and constructivist model of pedagogy. Zemelman, Daniels and Hyde’s (2005) model of best practice arose, in part, from the researchers sifting through more than 45 national curriculum reports published between 1989 to 2005 covering such diverse areas as mathematics, science, arts, reading, social studies, health and teaching standards. All the reports supported that classrooms should be student-centered, experiential, reflective, authentic, holistic, social, collaborative, democratic, cognitive, developmental, constructivist, and challenging (Jeanneret & DeGraffenreid, 2012). Green (2002) reached a similar conclusion after examining how popular musicians learn. A central component of popular music is the use of improvisation. According to Green, popular musicians became fully encultured by observing, mimicking and assimilating the idiosyncrasies of this idiom. They adopted an enthusiastic and relaxed approach to their studies in their natural setting (Green, 2005). Adding to this, Sloboda and Davidson (1996), McPherson (1993), Folkstead (2005) and Green (2008) concluded that a healthy mix of formal (deliberate) and informal pedagogy and practice tended to produce the most proficient instrumentalists capable of expert improvisation. Alternatively, Mills (2005) noted that “best practice” is not always seen in music lessons where teachers often instructed without an inquiring and original pedagogy. Similarly, Ross (1995) observed that
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