Composition to Inspire

     As a child, my family of six, did not have a lot of money. In fact, my mother just recently told me she had $40 a week to spend on groceries. How she did it, I don't know. Since money was tight, dance lessons and girl scouts were out. However, my parents did allow me to take piano lessons starting in second grade. My first teacher was Sister Romaine. She was very old, had stinky breath, and wobbly hands, but she was a great teacher. I was hooked on the piano. I still am. Piano is my therapy. I love playing and feel a sense of relief, euphoria, and happiness when I play. My love for piano led to a desire to create my own music. I remember my first composition project was in sixth grade. We were asked to compose a song, with really no parameters, and perform it for the class. I chose to use the piano and voice. I remember hearing an airline commercial with piano music in it, and modeled my song off of that music. My words were about friendship. I was very proud of my first piece. In discovering composition, I found that writing and composing music was a way for me to express my feelings, to release my emotions. This was very helpful through my childhood and into adulthood. I'm not always good at expressing myself, but I can tell you anything through a song.
     As a teacher, I was inspired to pass on my composition knowledge to my students. I tried this with the fifth grade. The project was to create a song, with lyrics, and perform/play (optional) for the class. Students did not need to notate their compositions in a traditional way. They were able to use GarageBand to record their sounds and voices. Bauer (2014) states, "There needs to be an appropriate balance between assigned constraints and freedom of choice" (p. 60). I find this point so important. One should not ever limit a person's creativity. We don't all create or think the same way. Why should our compositions sound the same? In this unit, I taught students three different ways to go about composing: write a melody first, write lyrics first, use a combination of the two. We did writing and composing exercises using these formulas. At this age level, students were very unsure of what to write about. It seemed they had never been asked to do something like this. It was very humbling to be a part of their writings as I could tell they were quite personal to many. There were some who really took to the writing part. They continued to bring me poems/lyrics throughout the year. There were others who really enjoyed creating music, the "80%". There were others who did not like this project at all.
     One take-away from this week's focus on composition is Barrett's (2006) teaching strategies for composition. Of these, providing reassurance is such an important part to helping students compose. They need to know that what they are creating isn't "wrong" or "bad". Using the compliment sandwich is such a great way to give structured feedback in a delicate way (Bauer, 2014, p. 62). Also, the composing activities highlighted are very helpful. I especially want to create a lesson plan around composing a soundtrack. The use of electronic, digital instruments, and music notation software, perhaps even Soundation, in conjunction with students showcasing their own lives and tastes through video and pictures, seems a great way to engage students interests.

Bauer, W. (2014). Music learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing, and responding to music. New York: Oxford University Press.