Looping Pedals and Constructivist Learning
May 7th, 2006 by jabramo
In recent months I have been using a looping pedal to have students explore the inner workings of music. In my case I have been using a Line 6 Pedal, but others will do as good or a better job. Artists like Tyondai Braxton use this technique in performance.
This is how it has worked for me: The students and I pick a song to loop; a popular one has been the first 8 measures of 7 Nation Army by the White Stripes. The pedal loops these eight measures and the students improvise different melodies, rhythms, etc. over the loop. The student-generated material builds up and becomes more the students’ composition than the original piece. This allows the students to explore and layer their own material and make the piece “their own.”
Constructivist educators talk about the layering of knowledge; that we build knowledge in our heads (and our bodies) by layering different experiences. How does the looping pedal align with constructivism? Can the layering of music on a pedal lead to a layering of knowledge?
[…] A couple of posts ago Joe discussed a project he does with his students where they use a looping pedal to layer improvised loops on top of a pre-existing piece. Here’s a cellist who layered 37 cello parts , all performed by himself, using a cello and computer technology! My first thought when comparing the two approaches to layering, was that the former approach was live improvisation/performance while the latter was composition. The more I thought about it though, the more I realized that each most likely had to involve elements of improvisation and composition. The decisions that the students made when layering their improvised parts must have had some composition or planning like decisions they were making while the cello player was probably improvising as he decided what types of parts he would like to layer and record. […]
Cool ideas here. For me, what is cool about your metaphor of looping and constructivism is not necessarily the aspect of layers, but instead of the interaction among prior and new material into a new gestalt. Yes, constructivists advocate connecting to and building upon prior knowledge (striations of layers, perhaps), but the result is a new whole…a NEW understanding. For me, it’s like a mixed down stereo mp3 file as the end result, rather than the source file which keeps the layers distinct. As we learn and construct our understanding of the world, we aren’t necessarily always aware of how we came to our understandings, but our understandings reflect where we’ve been in a complex manner…. like the stereo mp3 waveform.
Just my $.02.
-Alex