Composing in the Classroom: Theory and Practice of Creative Music Education

Course description

Examination of the role of composition in developing children’s musical voice. Understanding the historical context of the emergence of composition as a key component of music education practice: Introduction to creative-music-in-education movement. Composition and improvisation: relationships and contradictions. Systematic engagement in group composition based on a variety of stimuli and techniques.

Learning outcomes

In this course students are expected to: 

• develop an inclusive and critical understanding of the notion of composing
• acquire a basic understanding of the multiplicity of compositional practices, practices that go well beyond the normative conception of werktreue ideal
• discuss how children engage in improvisation process in different contexts
• acknowledge the importance of music improvisation in music education
• contextualize current emphasis on compositional criticality in education within a larger historical trajectory
• compose, solo, or in groups, based on a variety applying compositional techniques in imaginative and liberating ways

Assessment

Assessment  involves (a) written exams at the end of the term (b) presentation-performance (at the end of the term) of a group composition based on the work done throughout the course 

Teaching methods

Direct  involvement  in composition activities both in large and small groups, lectures, reflective dialogical inquiry centered on issues that emerge in our practical work.

Recommended literature 

Barrett, M. S. (ed.) (2014). Collarobative Creative Thought and Practice in Music. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate. 

Barrett, M. S. (2005).  A systems view of musical creativity.  In D. J. Elliott (Ed.), Praxial Music Education: Reflections and Dialogues Creativity (pp. 177-195).  New York: Oxford University Press. 

Blacking, J. (1981). Η Έκφραση της Ανθρώπινης Μουσικότητας. Αθήνα: Νεφέλη.

Collins, D. (2012). The Act of Musical Composition: Studies in the Creative Process. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate. 

Cook, N. (1998). Music: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Dennis, B. (1970), Experimental music in schools, London: Oxford University Press.

Green, L. (2014). Άκου, Ακροάσου, Παίξε!: Πώς να απελευθερώσετε την ακουστική αντίληψη των μαθητών σας και τις δεξιότητές τους στον αυτοσχεδιασμό και στην εκτέλεση. Aθήνα: Φαγκότο.  

Glover, J. 2000. Children composing 4-14. London: Routledge/Falmer.

Greene, M. (1995). Releasing the Imagination. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Hickey, M. (ed). (2003) Why and How to Teach Music Composition: A new horizon for music education. UK: Rowman & Littlefield. (ISBN-13: 978-1565451544) 

Howard, J. (2004) Mαθήματα Σύνθεσης (μτφρ. Β. Νίκα). Aθήνα: Εκδόσεις Σύγχρονη Μουσική.

Kanellopoulos, P.A. , Stefanou, D., 2015. ‘ Music beyond monuments: Re-imagining creative music engagement in the light of museum-based projects’. MuseumEdu, 1, pp.37-63.

Kanellopoulos, P.A. , Nakou, I., 2015. "Experimenting with sound, playing with culture collaborative composing as a means for creative engagement with the museum world / παίζοντας με τον ήχο και τον πολιτισμό: η συνεργατική μουσική σύνθεση ως μέσο δημιουργικής επαφής με τον κόσμο του μουσείου". MuseumEdu, 1, pp.135-160. 

Nyman, M. (2012).  Πειραματική Μουσική (μτφρ. Δανάη Στεφάνου).  Αθήνα: Εκδόσεις Οκτώ.   

Owens, P. (1986) ‘The contemporary composer in the classroom’. British Journal of Music Education, 3(3): 341-352.

Palmer, P. J. (1998). The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Paynter, J. (1972). Hear and now: An introduction to modern music in schools. London: Universal.

Paynter, J. (1992). Sound and structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Paynter, J. (2000). Making progress with composing. British Journal of Music Education, 17(1), 5-31.

Paynter, J. , Aston, P. (1970). Sound and Silence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Varese E. (2006). Ο προορισμός της μουσικής. Tα Mουσικά, τ. 9, 15-20.

Vella, R. (2003). Sounds in Space, Sounds in Time: Projects in Listening, Improvising and Composing. London: Boosey & Hawkes.

Young S. (2008). Communicative Creativity in Young Children’s Spontaneous Music-making. International Journal of Experimental Research in Education 

Βάργκα, Μ. Α.  (2004). Συνομιλίες με τον Γιάννη Ξενάκη. Αθήνα: Ποταμός.

Κανελλόπουλος, Π. Α. (2009). Μουσικός Αυτοσχεδιασμός και Μουσική Εκπαίδευση: Σχέσεις και (εν)τάσεις. Στο Ξ. Παπαπαναγιώτου (Επιμ.) Ζητήματα Μουσικής Παιδαγωγικής (σσ. 239-264). Θεσσαλονίκη: Ελληνική Ένωση για τη Μουσική Εκπαίδευση.