Discover, then Compose… Rediscovering the importance of listening, imitation and exploration in secondary general music. Seth Pendergast ! [email protected] Music Composition Learning Model: • Musical Concept o It is beneficial to give students parameters for their compositions. Students who are not given any orientation to the composition task tend to create some of the weakest compositions. Texture, Form, Theme and Melody are few examples of music concepts that can provide focus to a composition project. Students need an understanding of how music works and how great compositions are created. This is where that happens. • Musicianship o Music Theory and skills are the bag of tools students will draw upon to compose music. I’ve found that stronger musicians often create more coherent and satisfying compositions. This is not to say that inexperienced musicians can’t compose music. When inexperienced musicians begin composing they often have some early success thanks to the assistance from the technology on the computer or their own ingenuity. However, they soon become frustrated and their compositions become stale because they don’t have the tools to create new or innovative music. Music Theory and keyboarding are essential parts of my class. They are the tools we use to create increasingly new and complex compositions. • Composition o This is where the rubber meets the road. The students understand the direction (musical concept) and have the skills (musicianship), now they have to apply these skills and ideas in a composition. For example, when students know their task is to create a well structured melody and they understand the principles of a strong melody, the quality of the compositions will be much higher than if the directions were vague and the composition unstructured. Spiral Curriculum Sequence Unit Design Introduction to Composition Form Lesson Concept (Form, Melody, etc.) Timbre Listening Texture Melody (Part 1) Imitation/Exploration Harmony Composition Melody (Part II) Melody and Harmony Assessment Orchestration Theme Strategies for Teaching Each Unit Concept: Please see the “Scope and Sequence” attached to this handout. It includes teaching strategies for each unit. Developing Curriculum 1. Use my Ideas: I have attached a scope and sequence that I developed. You are welcome to use it in your own classroom! Feel free to email me if you would like additional resources, materials or have additional questions. 2. Use my outline and plug in your own material: This curriculum is designed to be flexible. There is no perfect way to teach this course. 3. Purchase Curriculum: There are a number of well-written and well-developed curriculums on the market. a. Teaching Music Through Composition (Barbara Freedman) b. Making Music with Garageband and MixCraft (Hodson, Frankel, McCreedy, Fein) c. Music Outside the Lines (Maud Hickey) d. www.musicedtech.com e. www.midnightmusic.com.au. How or Why to Start a Class 1. Create a hybrid class - Many of these concepts could be woven into current music classes. For example, what if your chorus class simply worked on some of these projects every Friday? This would be a great way to experiment with some of these ideas to see if this is a class that could be offered full time. 2. Start a Music Composition Class - Simple… buy some curriculum, gather your resources, and get started! 3. Are you new and struggling to build a program at your school? – Recruiting for this class is not difficult. Students who may never have stepped foot in a band room will enjoy making music in this class. As you gain exposure with more students, your program will grow. “A rising tide lifts all boats.” 4. Supplement your current music program – You may have a thriving traditional music program at your school. That is wonderful! Consider that adding diversity to the music program could give your current students a new way to learn and make music. Extra Resources 1. Free Online Digital Audio Workstations (DAW) a. www.Soundation.com b. http://www.presonus.com/products/studio-one/explore/start-free-go-pro 2. James Frankel a. www.jamesfrankel.com 3. SoundTree a. Classroom Technology Solutions b. www.soundtree.com 4. TI:ME (Technology for Music Education) a. Music Education Technology National Organization b. www.ti-me.org 5. Musical Futures Project a. A hands-on, student driven curriculum for learning music. b. www.musicalfutures.org Getting Started… Give it a try! Section 3: Give it a try. Use what you Most music educators I talk to can understand the benefits of have. Watch it grow! teaching composition with technology. Still, many music educators don’t attempt it. I would like to challenge you to give this way of teaching a shot. Consider trying a few of these lessons at the end of school, after a concert, or even during a week of testing. Even if you think you don’t have enough technology, getting started is still possible. Consider using some free software in your schools computer lab. Perhaps there are some iPads on your campus you could use. Maybe the TV production lab is open a few periods each day. Do your best to get your hands on just a little bit of technology and give music, composition, and technology a shot! Curriculum • Teaching Music through Composition (Freedman) • Music Outside the Lines (Hickey) …limited but FREE! Free Software: PreSonus Studio One …with a Little Cash Use existing PC’s at your school MixCraft - “Garageband for PC” • $approx. $35 per license Midi Controller: Korg NanoKey 2 - $50 …with More Cash iPads with Garageband $200 per iPod or $400 - $500 per iPad Cost Saving Idea: • Purchase 10 iPads and 10 - 15 inexpensive piano keyboards. This reduces the overall cost and allows you to teach keyboarding on the pianos (musicianship) and composition on the iPads while still accommodating 20 students. …with Lots o’ Cash MacLab - GarageBand and iMovie come for free! Estimated Cost: • $1,000 - $1,300 per iMac Cost Saving Idea: Purchase 10 iMacs and 10 -15 inexpensive piano keyboards (see above. Music Composition with Technology Scope and Sequence Introduction to Composition Unit Objectives Objectives: Students will… 1. know and understand the role of music in society. 2. be able to define music. 3. know and understand the role of composers. 4. practice asking questions about music they don’t understand instead of mocking it. 5. play with sound. Acquire Skills Lesson Concepts: 1. What is music? a. Simple definition: “Music is organized sound.” 2. Who writes music? a. Composers take sound and organize it in a way that is pleasing to the listener. 3. What do we use music for? i. Communication: “I want to tell you something.” 1. Emotion, Story, Message, etc. ii. Community: “I want to share this moment with you” 1. Celebration, grief, accomplishment, etc. iii. Atmosphere 1. Restaurant, Night Club, etc. 4. Music: The familiar and unfamiliar a. We fear what we don’t understand. So, seek to understand. When you hear a piece of music that doesn’t sound good or make sense to you, make it a habit to ask questions instead of developing conclusions too quickly. Vocabulary: Music Composer Communication Community Atmosphere Listening Examples: 1. Play different musical examples and simply ask: What do we use this music for? Or what is the purpose of this music? When do you hear this music? 2. Show a variety of music examples and rehearse asking questions about the music. Success in this class will be built when students seek to understand. Exploring the Concept / Creating: 1. Sound Discovery Project – Students will learn to create virtual instrument tracks in GarageBand. The instructor will display three pictures on the projector. Students must find sounds that represent each picture. Students can even experiment with recording the sounds. 2. Loop Discovery Project – The instructor will demonstrate how to use the loop library in GarageBand. Students are free to use the loop library to create small compositions for a specified amount of time. The purpose of this project is simply to explore the loop library and learn to use the software. Musicianship: During this time, students are learning all of the music basics. Positions, note names, counting and writing rhythms, the staff, etc. Each class consists of group instruction, individual practice, and assessment. It is essential that students are acquiring musicianship skills every day. Technology Notes: The projects during these initial lessons have two purposes. First, to give application to the concept being learned and second to give students a hands-on opportunity to learn the program (GarageBand). These initial projects require students to “drag and drop” music loops to create music. This means that their musicianship can be low but they still compose music that is satisfying to them. Form Unit Objectives Objectives: Students will… 1. understand and apply the definition of Form. 2. understand that most music has a structure (Form). 3. diagram the form of different compositions. 4. explore how composers structure their music to create effective compositions. 5. understand the role of different sections of a composition. 6. use a variety of techniques to compose effective beginnings, middles, and endings. Acquire Skills Lesson Concepts: 1. Form Definition – the structure or overall plan of a piece of music. a. Relate Form to the structure of the body. 2. Diagram the Form (Structure) of a song. 3. What is the role or function of each section? a. Composing effective beginnings and endings i. Introduce thematic material ii. Capture the listeners attention iii. Create tension / Resolve Tension b. Composing effective middles i. Developing Ideas– In the middle of the song the composer takes an idea and does something with it (Hickey). 4. Uniting a Composition a. How is the beginning, middle, and end interrelated.