Using Technology to Unlock Musical Creativity

349 Pages·2011·4.926 MB·English

by  Scott Watson

Using
Technology
to Unlock
Musical
Creativity
This page intentionally left blank
USING
TECHNOLOGY
TO UNLOCK
MUSICAL
CREATIVITY
SCOTT WATSON
1
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Watson, Scott, 1962–
Using technology to unlock musical creativity / Scott Watson.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-974276-9 (alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-19-974277-6 (alk. paper)
1. Music—Instruction and study—Technological innovations. 2. Music and technology. I. Title.
MT1.W39 2011
780.7—dc22 2010034071
Web examples (marked in text with ) are available online at www.oup.com/us/musicalcreativity
Access with username Music1 and password Book5983
For more information on Oxford Web Music, visit www.oxfordwebmusic.com
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Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
PREFACE
v
MY INTEREST IN USING TECHNOLOGY in a creativity-based approach to music
learning developed over many years. Early in my teaching career, I tended to
fall back on pedagogical models I experienced when I was a student. Th ese
generally did not incorporate creative activity. Th is is fairly common among all
young teachers, and frankly I absorbed some great stuff along the way since I
had many fi ne music teachers. As a composer, however, I have been interested
in creativity for some time. I just didn’t see the connection at fi rst between what
motivated and facilitated my creativity and my work with students.
It was the concurrence of three things that moved me in the direction of
incorporating principles of creativity-based learning. First, I observed that my
students—with or without my urging—were naturally creative. Many begin-
ning band students would bring in songs they had written using the fi rst few
notes presented in their method book. Th eir eyes would light up when I helped
them typeset their music with notation soft ware, showing them how the soft -
ware can playback what they had written. One sixth-grade fl ute student brought
me in a self-made CD, recorded and produced with multitrack soft ware at home,
titled Vicki’s Greatest Hits. A middle-school tuba player wrote a song about
ocean pollution for a social studies project; all he needed from me was a little
help producing it using GarageBand. A colleague from a neighboring town es-
tablished a popular aft er-school “recording club” and the tunes they were pro-
ducing were surprisingly well done. And on and on. Just look online at sites like
YouTube if you want to see for yourself the types of creativity, especially musi-
cal, that kids engage in all the time without the urging or formal guidance of
their teachers. It is truly amazing.
Second, I began to recognize the allure and power for music education of the
technology tools I was using to create music myself. I dove head fi rst into using
Finale music notation soft ware in my composing, fascinated by its many useful
features. I swelled with pride when I presented a professional-looking score to
a client, even more so when I heard the work’s premiere. Th e time it took to
learn the program was a small price for all that. Did I resent the hours I spent
Preface
producing music with Digital Performer for a project? Actually . . . no. I re-
member years ago working on incidental music for a play being produced in the
Philadelphia area. I had to write and produce about 45 minutes of music in only
about three weeks. Working in my offi ce, I would look at the clock and realize
vi
that I had spent three hours perfecting a 30-second cue! I thoroughly enjoyed
the work, even when it got tedious, knowing the pride I would feel when others
heard my music. Of course, my wife would always bring me back to earth with
remarks such as, “You spent all night on that?” Eventually I realized that my
students would respond to creative activity, using these and other technology
tools, in the same enthusiastic way.
Th e third factor that moved me toward using creative projects in my music
teaching was simply the professional confi dence and openness to risk taking
that comes from experience. When you lead students in creative activities, at
least at fi rst, you feel like you are a trapeze artist fl ying without a net. Th ere are
many reasons for this, including the fact that there are not a lot of models to
follow and that teachers are unsure how to assess a student’s creative output
(both of which are addressed in this book). When I fi rst decided to have my
high school Music Production class produce a holiday CD (write the arrange-
ments; record, program, and mix the tracks; and market the fi nished product),
it was a little scary. I had no idea if they could actually pull it off ! I had seen a
couple colleagues around the country do something similar, though, and the
results were great. But would my kids come through and put forth the eff ort
required to produce a CD of which we could be proud (or at least not embarrass
me)? I set off with my students on a month-long adventure that has now be-
come a much-anticipated annual event for the class. Aft er teaching and proving
myself for some time in the same school district, I could stop worrying so much
about failure and take the educational chances necessary for creativity-based
learning.
Some wonderfully expressive musical creations by my students as a result of
this shift are included as examples in this book and on the companion website
(www.oup.com/us/musicalcreativity). I hope you will take the time to examine
these as they serve a valuable role in bringing life to the main tenets of the book.
Seeing the natural creative bent of so many students, realizing the allure and
power of music technology tools, and gaining the confi dence to try some new
approaches in my teaching have led me to some of the most rewarding teaching
moments in my career thus far. Of all the reasons you will read in this book for
employing creative projects that feature technology, the one that drives me most
is the satisfying reaction I see in the eyes of my students when engaged in such
activity.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
vii
BACK IN 1999 when I was wrapping up my doctoral degree in composition,
having just written as my dissertation project an almost 20-minute Concerto
for Trumpet and Orchestra and an accompanying 60-page “monograph” to ex-
plain the work, I remember telling my wife, Kim, “Th at was one of the hardest
things I’ve ever had to do.” Having spent the last year assembling this book on a
technology-centered, creativity-based approach to music learning, I now have
one more thing to add to that list. I never could have completed either task
without the help and support of many special people.
I would like to thank Oxford University Press for believing in this project,
and my editor, Norman Hirschy, for his guidance and advocacy. I appreciate my
primary employer over the last quarter-century, the Parkland School District
(Allentown, PA), for providing an environment in which I could grow, and take
risks, as an educator. Many administrators and colleagues have been both en-
couraging and instructive. I appreciate the university music programs and their
directors, who have given me the opportunity to teach courses to in-service and
pre-service music teachers, developing and sharing many of the ideas in this
book (Villanova University, George Pinchock; Central Connecticut State Uni-
versity, Drs. Pam Perry and Charles Menoche; and Philadelphia Biblical Uni-
versity, Dr. Paul Isensee). TI:ME (Technology for Music Educators) has played
a prominent role in opening my eyes to the possibilities for using technology
with students. I am indebted to, and value the friendship of, inspiring music
teachers such as TI:ME’s founder and former president, Dr. Th omas Rudolph,
current President, Amy Burns, and Vice President, Dr. James Frankel. Other
professional colleagues who have so generously shared their work products,
anecdotes, web materials, and advice used in this book include Brian Balmages
(composer and editor, FJH Publications), Nancy Beitler (Southern Lehigh Mid-
dle School, Coopersburg, PA), Dr. Rick Dammers (Rowan University, NJ), Bar-
bara Freedman (Greenwich High School, CT), Jill Crissy-Kemmerer (Parkland
School District, PA), Dr. Sandi McLeod (Vermont MIDI Project), Dr. Joseph
Pisano (Grove City College, PA), Wayne Splettstoeszer (Torrington High School,
Acknowledgments
CT), Vietta Taylor (Springhurst Elementary School, NY), and Travis Weller
(Mercer Area Middle-Senior High School, PA). I have been greatly infl uenced
by, and am grateful for, my friend and composition teacher at Temple Univer-
sity, Dr. Maurice Wright. Maurice, a witty, talented composer of contemporary
viii
art music, is also a pioneer in creative multimedia works and online music in-
struction; he has left a lasting impression.
I could never have conceived to write this book, or done so convincingly,
without the help of dozens of current and former students whose creative out-
put—in their parlance—“blows me away.” Th anks to each for allowing me to
share examples of their wonderful musical creativity in this book and on the
companion website. I wish there was room for even more.
Finally, my greatest thanks go to my family—my wife, Kim, my son, Ben,
and my daughter, Abby—who for hours upon hours during the past year sac-
rifi ced doing without their husband and father in order to give me the time to
plan and execute this book. Each possesses a unique creativity—both musical
and otherwise—around which I love to be, so the sacrifi ce was mutual. I am
truly blessed.
CONTENTS
ix
About the Companion Website(cid:2)xi
PART I(cid:2)PHILOSOPHICAL AND PEDAGOGICAL
UNDERPINNINGS 1
1 Technology, Musical Creativity, and This Book 3
2 Thoughts on Creativity 14
3 Principle 1: Allow Students to Share Themselves 26
4 Principle 2: Off er Compelling Examples to Imitate
and Inspire 31
5 Principle 3: Employ Parameters and Limitations That
Remove Distractions and Help Students Focus 37
6 Principle 4: Remove Parameters and Limitations That
Stifl e Creativity and Lead to Contrived Expression 47
7 Principle 5: Facilitate Improvisation 62
8 Principle 6: Engage in Coaching Interaction 71
9 Principle 7: Foster Opportunities for Feedback
and Critique 89
10 Principle 8: Employ Performance and Recital 96
PART II(cid:2)CURRICULAR MATERIALS 107
11 Two Paths 109
12 Creativity With Keyboards 132
13 Creativity With Sound Recording Applications 152