Overview:
Lessons in creativity focus primarily on process rather than product or the act of reproducing music. In order for students to become independent thinkers in music, they should be motivated to develop aesthetic decision-making skills through improvisation and composition. Skills in creativity based upon divergent thinking can occur at various levels beginning with the spontaneity of young students singing a song to more developed works capable of becoming a musical product in the form of compositions, and pre-composed or improvised performances.
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
- Explain the rationale for creativity lessons in the elementary music class,
- Summarize the ways improvisation is initiated through simple activities,
- Identify how lessons focusing on creativity can reinforce music concepts through improvisation and composition,
- Illustrate the ways in which creativity activities can stimulate students’ imagination through divergent thinking and exploration,
- Describe the guidelines for teaching a lesson focusing on creativity,
- Design the basic elements for creating a sequence when teaching an improvisation and composition lessons,
- Describe how creativity activities can be assessed effectively,
- Design and demonstrate a creativity lesson, and
- Identify ways in which technology can enhance a creativity lesson.
Why are Creativity Lessons Important?
Students’ creative imaginations are the result of their play activities. When young children engage in games and songs, they explore, invent, and create new ways to control and organize sounds. The music educator can be an effective guide for stimulating musical growth by designing and shaping activities that enable the expansion of creativity and artistic development of all students.
Students should proceed through a three-stage process that includes:
- Exploration and discovery
- Improvisationnd arranging
- Composition
What are the Guidelines for Teaching Creativity?
Students need the opportunities to explore music through activities that require divergent thinking. Lessons must be designed that challenge students to generate musical ideas and perform them with ease. With extended experiences, students will begin to adopt more originality in their creations.
In order for students to develop more unique and sophisticated musical ideas, they need to build confidence in their performance abilities. Many students may not be immediately adept at expressing or conveying musical ideas. Teachers should plan activities that:
- Break down musical ideas into small elements that students can control confidently. For example, start with a one measure rhythmic ostinato and guide students to find ways in which to alter the rhythm, tempo, or dynamics.
- Practice exploring and improvising musical ideas on a regular basis. One effective method is to perform a one-measure melodic roll call and teach it as a call-and-response. Once the student feel confident answering their response that is an echo of the teacher’s, ask them to change the pitches or rhythm.
By providing a classroom atmosphere that encourages exploration through lessons that stimulate the imagination, students will begin to perceive these activities as part of the everyday musical classroom.
Breaking down the components of performance and improvisation into smaller units or parameters will keep the student from being overwhelmed. With more extensive practice, students will begin to consciously manipulate and construct more complex products of their imaginations.