A Music Education Blog Collective

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.

Each approach probably lends itself to different ways of layering knowledge through the various processes being used. It would be interesting to have students try out each method and discuss their experiences and the similarities and differences between them. As they moved from one approach to the other and possibly back again it might also be interesting to observe their “layering” of knowledge and experiences. Whether using analog equipment like looping pedals or digital software that allows you to record, edit and add new tracks, it seems the potential for layering both music and knowledge are pretty amazing.

Whether you end up trying a looping project or not definitely watch the “A Cello Rondo” video on the cellist’s website!

Please listen to this powerful segment on NPR’s Morning edition on Music and the Holocaust.  From the NPR site: “During World War II, hundreds of prisoners in the Terezin concentration camp in Czechoslovakia performed Verdi’s requiem as a way to passively defy their Nazi captors. On Sunday, American musicians performed the same requiem in the former Nazi camp as a tribute to the victims and survivors of Terezin.”

It is powerful segment because some survivors talk about how music was as important as water and food during this difficult time.  It is also powerful because it shows how the use of music can be a powerful political statement. 

Also, Famously, Oliver Messiaen while a prisoner of war in a German Camp during WWII, wrote his Quartet for the End of Time for himself and other inmates to perform. 

What use does this segment and Messiaen’s work have in our classroom?  How can music teach us about the holocaust, the power of music and Social Justice?  And how does experience these things through music differ than “just talking about it?”

The American Idol and music education story didn’t make it on air tonight but did make it online.

You can see some of my students responding to questions about the contestents’ performances and what the judges were saying. You can also see how 2nd graders in a school in PA use American Idol in their classroom by judging each other. The story also shows how music programs are loosing funding due to No Child Left Behind shifting funding and support in schools to math, and language arts and away from the arts. At the end of the clip you can see my students composing music on computers and also some 5th graders singing an original art song they created with the music they created.

I wish they would have shown more of my students working on their compositions and critiquing each other with specific feedback but it was nice that they were able to show that they can watch American Idol on a deeper level than just passive entertainment.

Here’s what I focused on in my classes.

Radio Lab, a public radio show, tries to answer this question on its show entitled Musical Language.
One of the issues brought up on the Musical Language show is the notion that the artist has a duty to present people with work that is not easily assimilated into their prior experiences, such as when Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring debuted. Yet, a year later, this same piece of music was heralded a triumph and then eventually used in the Disney movie Fantasia. Like artists, do educators sometimes have to structure uncomfortable or even shocking experiences for their students in order to foster leaps in their students’ growth?

With music sharing, sampling and mashing being a big part of students musical culture, issues of copyright and music sharing have made their way into my classroom.  If you haven’t heard of Brad Sucks, check out Garage Spin’s interview.  Brad is a one man band who that writes, records, mixes, masters, and sells his own music.  He encourages others to “steal” his music, as a way to gain his growing fan base. Many of my students post and share their music via myspace and other sites as a way to not only gain fans, but to exchange samples and gain feedback from other musicians.  I have found ccmixter, part of creative commons, to be a fantastic way to engage in the complexities of mashing, sampling and copyright, in a legal way in the classroom.  Not only are there samples, acappella files and remixes on the site - all using music licensed by creative commons, but users also comment on each other’s remixes, post samples to be remixed by others, and become part of a legal, filesharing, mashing community.  I highly recommend this site for schools as a tool to integrate student’s musical culture into your lessons.

Greg Sandow, on his blog talks about the lack of talking at contemporary music concerts. Performers, composers and conductors very rarely connect to their audience. With the complexity often associated with contemporary music, many lay-listeners feel confused and alienated. He also has a link to a music festival that links pop music and new classical music. Composers like Frank Zappa and John Zorn bridge the classical/pop divide and it makes me question the often-times arbitrariness of genres. How do we, as educators, use the music they are familiar with to make connections to music that is “strange and unfamiliar?”

Thanks again to Alex Ross for directing me to an exceptional student musician–this time 13-year-old composer Jeremiah R. Klarman. It is relatively common to encounter prodigy performers, but until now, the last prodigy composer I had heard of was Mozart. How many more young composers, extraordinary or not, would there be if music educators emphasized composing as much as they do performing? Many students are unaware that composing is a viable way of engaging in music. Often, teachers present composers as “masters” or “geniuses” and provide few opportunities for students to take on a composer role. Yet, composing is a profound means of sonic creative expression and a key way to explore the inner workings of music, thus gaining a deeper understanding of music.

A rebalancing of most music curriculums and a shifting of priorities must occur in order to make room for this vital aspect of becoming educated in music. My fourth- and fifth-grade instrumental music students compose music collaboratively and individually and perform some of the music on concerts. Inevitably, they play fewer large ensemble pieces and meet more often in smaller groups than as a band. The rich learning experience of composing and performing music in a chamber group or as a soloist is well worth it.

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? 

Belinda Reynolds recently wrote about young performers playing music by living composers. A look through a catalog for music being composed for school ensembles will result in many names of living composers. These composers, for the most part, write specifically for school ensembles. Do our students realize that there are living composers who write for ensembles other than the ones they play in?

More often than not we present composers as historical figures. If the only composers students hear about are ones who are no longer living, they have every reason to believe that composers no longer exist. The more we as teachers are aware of living composers and present their music to our students, the more our students will be aware that music is still being written.

Besides performing music by living composers either through commissions or already existing pieces, another way for students to get a sense that composers are still creating music in our society is to have them create music themselves.

What do your students have to say about composers writing music today?

Belinda Reynolds, a composer who I have referenced in previous posts, now has a column on newmusicbox focusing on issues facing composers writing music for young people. I think this is a great initiative to encourage some dialogue between educators, composers, performers, critics etc. We can certainly learn from each other. Her most recent post deals with the question of what teachers are looking for in selecting music for young people focusing mostly on the issue of quality.

One of the most important decisions we make as music teachers is the selection of music we present to our students. Have you reflected on these decisions lately? Here are just a few questions that might be beneficial to think about:

What do you look for when selecting music for your students?

What are your criteria for considering a piece of music written for a young person to be “quality” music ?

What advice would you give to composers considering writing music for young people?

What advice would your students give to you as the person selecting the music or to the composer writing it?

Do any of your students play a role in selecting the music they perform?