Sandra Stauffer Notes on the Musical Creativity Arizona State Univers

<strong>Sandra</strong><strong>Stauffer</strong> <strong>Notes</strong>ontheMusicalCreativityArizonaStateUniversity ofChildrenandYouth s.stauffer@asu.edu AOSAConference,2012(Talkingpointsbelowwillbeillustratedwithexamplesofchildren’swork,possibilitiesforpractice,andsuggestedreadings.)Aworkingdefinition:Creativethinkinginmusicistheabilitytoimagineandthinkinsoundinmusicalways,tobeplayfulandinventivewithmusicalsounds,tobeawareofone’smusicalthinking,andtomakethatthinkingevidenttooneselfortoothers.Assumptions:•Allchildrenaremusical(andwearetoo...allofus).•Oneofourrolesasadultsinchildren’slivesistosustain,nurture,andenhancetheirmusicalselvessothatchildrencontinuetoseethemselvesasmusicalbeingsthroughouttheirlivesandtolearnaboutthemselvesandtheworldin,with,andthroughmusic.•Allchildrenarecreative(andwearetoo...allofus).•Creativethinkingcanbenurturedandpracticed,andtherearemultiplewaystodoso,inmusicandinotherdimensionsofourexperience,forourselvesandforchildren.•Creativethinkinginmusicmeansthatchildrenmakemusicaldecisions,andteachersallowspaceandtimeforthemtodoso.•Creativethinkershaveidiosyncraticwaysofworking,thinking,andinventing.•Creativethinkinghappenswhenithappens,andthat’snotnecessarilyondemand(butonecanstillpractice).Fourconsiderations: •Process •Product •Person •Place 1

Qualitiesofcreativethinking: •Embodiedknowing–inmusic,earsandbodieslead •Abalanceofworkandtimeawaymayleadtomomentsofinsight(Wallas) •Abalanceofdivergentandconvergentthinking(Guilford) •Fluency,flexibility,elaboration,originality(Torrance) •Intrinsicmotivation;extrinsicmotivation/feedbackthatprovidesinformationorfeedstheintrinsicstate(Amabile) •Asenseof“flow;”confluenceofsystems(Csikszentmihalyi) •Asenseplayfulnessasinearlychildhood(Gardner)•Personalinvestmentandintelligence(Sternberg)PotentialCreativityKillers: •Functionalfixedness •Somekindsofteachertalk(particularlythetimingof...) •Surveillance •Rewards •Competition •Evaluation(asopposedtoassessment)TenTips:•Childrengetbetteratcreatingbycreating.Includecreatinginsomewayeveryday,through“moments,”etudes,andprojects.•Time,tools,andtechniquesareinteractiveincreativethinking.•Explorationiscrucialtochildren.Explorationchangesovertimeandwithexperience.•Revising/revisionisnotthesameforchildrenasitisforadults.Theabilitytorevisechangeswithchildren’sdevelopmentallevel.Foryoungchildrenandless‐experiencedcreators,a“donealligator”isadonealligator.(Makeanotheralligatorinsteadof“fixing”thefirstone.)Forolderchildren,revisingintimeoccursbeforerevisingovermultiplesessions.•Repetitionofsimilarexperienceshelpsdevelopcreativethinkingabilities.(Drawanotheralligatorinsteadofswitchingtohorses.)•Childrenareattractedtotimbreandtexturefirst.Adultstendtofocusonrhythmandmelody.•Modelsmatter...boththemodelsstudentsbringwiththemfromtheirownenvironments(musicalandotherwise)aswellasthoseweprovide,includingourselvesandourowndispositions. 2

•Earsandbodiesbeforeeyes.Creativityinmusicismuchmorethancomposing,andcomposing≠notation.•Demonstratecuriosityaboutchildren’smusicmaking.Askquestionsaboutthatengagethemintalkingabouttheirthinking.(Thepronounproblem...) •Encouragesonicimagination,musicaldiscovery,andlearneragency.Allowtime.SuggestedReadings:InadditiontoarticlesintheOrffEcho,thefollowingselectedreadingsmaybeuseful.Thislistislimitedtoselectedsourcessince2009andpriortoJuly2012,andisarrangedbydate,thenauthor.Burnard, P. (2012). Musical creativities in practice. New York: Oxford University Pres.Cardany, A. B. (2012). Read, sing, play, and create a musical storm. General MusicToday, 25(3), 36-41.Guderian, L. V. (2012). Music improvisation and composition in the general musicclassroom. General Music Today, 25 (3), 6-14.Hargreaves, D., Miell, D., & Macdonald, R. (Eds.). (2012). Musical imaginations:Multidisciplinary perspectives on creativity, performance, and perception. NewYork: Oxford University Press.Kenney, S. H. (2012). Young children read and improvise: Part 1. General MusicToday, 25(3), 47-49.Odena O. (Ed.) (2012). Musical creativity: Insights from music education research.Surrey, England: Ashgate Press.Stephenson, K. (2012). Recorder composer. General Music Today, 25(3), 20-22.Taylor, D. M. (2012). Orff ensembles: Benefits, challenges, and solutions. GeneralMusic Today, 25(3), 31-35.Thibeault, M. D. (2012). The power of limits and the pleasure of games: An easy andfun piano duo improvisation. General Music Today, 25(3), 50-53.Thompson, D. E. (2012). Music technology and musical creativity: Makingconnections. General Music Today, 25 (3), 54-57.Freund, D. (2011). Guiding young composers. Philosophy of Music Education Review,19, 67-79.Katzenmoyer,S.P.,&Zerull,D.S.(2011).Beginningcompositionlessons.Instrumentalist,66(2),40‐44.Norgaard, M. (2011). Descriptions of improvisational thinking by artist-level jazzmusicians. Journal of Research in Music Education, 59, 109-127. (File)Ward-Steinman, D. (2011). On composing: Doing it, teaching it, living it. Philosophy ofMusic Education Review, 19, 5-23.Beegle,A.(2010).Aclassroom‐basedstudyofsmall‐groupplannedimprovisationwithfifth‐gradechildren.JournalofResearchinMusicEducation,58,219‐239. 3

Koops,L.H.(2010).“Deñuyjangalseenbopp”(Theyteachthemselves):Children’smusiclearninginTheGambia.JournalofResearchinMusicEd.,58,20‐36.Lau,W.C.M.,&Grieshaber,S.(2010).Musicalfreeplay:AcaseforinventedmusicalnotationinaHongKongkindergarten.BritishJournalofMusicEducation,27,127‐140.Leong,S.(2010).CreativityandassessmentinChineseartseducation:PerspectivesofHongKongstudents.ResearchStudiesinMusicEducation,32,75‐92.Peterson,C.W.,&Madsen,C.K.(2010).Encouragingcognitiveconnectionsandcreativityinthemusicclassroom.MusicEducatorsJournal,97(2),25‐29.Seddon,F.A.(2010).Collaborativecomputer‐mediatedmusiccompositionincyberspace.BritishJournalofMusicEducation,23(3),273‐283.Bolden,B.(2009).Bodyparts,thewatercycle,plants,anddolphins:Adventuresinprimary‐gradewhole‐classcomposing.GeneralMusicToday,22(3),8‐13.Breeze,N.(2009).Learningdesignandproscription:Howgenerativeactivitywaspromotedinmusiccomposing.InternationalJournalofMusicEducation,27,204‐219.Campbell,P.S.(2009).Learningtoimprovisemusic,improvisingtolearnmusic.InG.Solis&B.Nettl(Eds.),Musicalimprovisation:Art,educationandsociety(pp.119‐142).Urbana:UniversityofIllinoisPress.Doyle,E.(2009).Acompositionproject:Howsixthgradersanddirectorsteameduptowriteandoriginalbandwork.Instrumentalist,64(4),24.Guilbault,D.M.(2009).Theeffectsofharmonicaccompanimentonthetonalimprovisationsofstudentsinthefirstthroughsixthgrades.JournalofResearchinMusicEducation,57,81‐91.Hickey,M.(2009).Canimprovisationbe‘taught’?:Acallforfreeimprovisationinourschools.InternationalJournalofResearchinMusicEducation,27,285‐299.Kashub,M.,&Smith,J.(2009).Mindsonmusic:Compositionforcreativeandcriticalthinking.Lanham,MD:Rowman&Littlefield.Koutsoupidou,T.,&Hargreaves,D.J.(2009).Anexperimentalstudyoftheeffectsofimprovisationonthedevelopmentofchildren'screativethinkinginmusic.PsychologyofMusic,37,251‐278.Odena,O.,&Welch,G.(2009).Agenerativemodelofteachers'thinkingonmusicalcreativity.PsychologyofMusic,37,416‐442.Randles,C.(2009).“That’smypiece,that’smysignature,anditmeansmore...”:Creativeidentityandtheensembleteacher/arranger.ResearchStudiesinMusicEducation,31,52‐68.Whiteman,P.(2009).Type,function,andmusicalfeaturesofpreschoolchildren’sspontaneoussongs.InM.R.Campbell&L.Thompson(Eds.),ResearchPerspectives:ThoughtandPracticeinMusicEducation(pp.37‐62).Charlotte,NC:InformationAgePublishing.Young,S.(2009).Towardsconstructionsofmusicalchildhoods:Diversityanddigitaltechnologies.EarlyChildDevelopmentandCare,179,695‐705. 4