Music Outside The Lines

Music Outside the Lines
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Ideas for Composing
in K–12 Music Classrooms
Maud Hickey
1
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hickey, Maud.
Music outside the lines : ideas for composing in K-12 music classrooms / Maud Hickey.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-982677-3 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-19-982679-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. School music—Instruction and study. 2. Composition (Music) I. Title.
MT155.H55 2012
781.3071dc23 2011052882
1 3 5 7 9 8 4 6 2
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

Preface
This book has been in the works for a very long time. The genesis for it likely goes back to
when I was teaching band in a small town in Wisconsin. It was in this circumstance that I
first began to wonder about the lack of creative thinking that was taking place in my band
room. What’s wrong with this classroom if I am the only person here making the musical deci-
sions (creative or otherwise)? My pursuit for the answer to the question led me down the
path to where I sit today: teaching teachers in higher education about ways in which we
can infuse more creative thinking—through improvisation and composition—into our
music classrooms. On this journey I have experimented by teaching composition and im-
provisation to many, many different students, of all ages and backgrounds, and in all kinds
of classrooms and spaces. My recent work has brought me into urban facilities and deten-
tion centers for high-needs young men and women where I see the positive power of imagi-
native musical thinking magnified.
When I present my ideas to in-service or preservice teachers now, I feel like what I do
is just so perfectly normal. Yet I’m often surprised when I learn that these ideas are still new
and that there is still a long way to go to make music composition and improvisation an
integral part of music education.
All of my teaching experiences have only strengthened my conviction that creative
music making simply must be at the very center of every child’s music education. I have
observed repeatedly the joy, delight, passion, enthusiasm, patience, concentration and ded-
ication that the children and adults I have worked with exhibit when given the opportu-
nity to improvise and compose. So I want to thank them for giving me the opportunity to
try out all of my crazy ideas, as this project would not be remotely possible without their
willingness to play along. Unfortunately, none of them will get any credit for writing this
book, but they ultimately shaped my thoughts, strengthened my belief in the power of
music composition, and taught me what works so that I now can share with others.
vi | P R E FA C E
A project like this could not come to fruition after all of these years without many
people who have been instrumental in supporting and helping me (directly or indirectly).
I have had the good fortune of working with wonderful colleagues and students over the
years that have listened patiently as I tried to convince them of my ideas. They have also
thoughtfully argued with me and challenged me to think even more critically and carefully
about my convictions and notions about teaching composition and improvisation. And
they have encouraged me to persevere when I wanted to just give up.
I would be remiss without mentioning and thanking my colleague Dr. Janet Barrett,
who is responsible for sparking many of the interdisciplinary composing activities that are
presented in this book. Her book, Sound Ways of Knowing: Music in the Interdisciplinary
Curriculum (Barrett, McCoy & Veblan, 1997) also provided a model for this book because
of its eloquent approach to combining both theory and practice. She also sets a standard of
thinking and writing that I will forever try to reach.
Thanks to Norm Hirschy for his timely and encouraging feedback from the begin-
ning to the end of this project and to Erica Woods Tucker for her amazing editing eye
(both at Oxford University Press). I also thank independent artist Wendy Griffiths for the
design of my some of the figures in the book.
What better inspiration for cover art on a book about children’s music inventions
than from children themselves? Thank you to my sweet grandchildren, Noah and Maya,
for not only providing the cover art, but also making up songs for me whenever I asked!
Finally I would like to dedicate this book to the wonderful friends and family that I
am so blessed to have. And more specifically . . .
To the memory of my dad, who taught me to work really hard but always with a sense
of humor;
To my mom, whose model of strength and wisdom continues to be a lifelong goal;
And, finally, to Fred, my husband (as well as editor, golf partner, chef, and friend). He
is brilliant, patient, encouraging, kind, funny, and loving: the best kind of life partner one
could ever ask for.
I have little interest in teaching you what I know.
I wish to stimulate you to tell me what you know.
In my office toward you I am simply trying
to improve my own environment.
Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

Contents
1. Introduction 3
2. The Issues 15
3. Define, Listen, and Explore 40
4. Compositional Prompts: Inspiration and Identity 62
5. Form in Music 84
6. Musical Elements 105
7. Big Elements 129
8. Composition at the Core of School Music 147
Notes 159
References 161
Index 167
1
Introduction
The teacher must convince his students that the study of composition will not
make them experts or acknowledged judges, that its only purpose is to help
them understand music better, to obtain that pleasure which is inherent in
the art.
A R N O L D S C H O E N B E R G , Style & Idea:
Selected writings of Arnold Schoenberg
Why Bother?
I have yet to meet a child who could not or would not compose when asked, just as I’ve
never met a child who could not or would not get joy from listening to music, or singing, or
performing music on an instrument. Making up music is as natural to children as making
up stories and games, or creating original artwork with finger paints and crayons. Yet music
composition has not been included as a regular part of the school music curriculum in the
United States. In fact, the idea of a person who is both performer and composer at the same
time has nearly vanished from Western music since its normalcy only 200 years ago.1
Although we can rightfully boast about North America’s vast success in producing
phenomenal school bands, orchestras and choirs, and professional-level performance mu-
sicians who have come through the ranks of these school program ever since the inception
of school music education in the early 1800s, we are probably the least successful when it
comes to teaching the art of music creation through improvisation and composition. Be-
cause of the lack of exposure to music composition in K–12 music classrooms, the natural
proclivity and excitement toward music composition fades as students go through formal
and school music education. It is a self-perpetuating cycle that we are caught in, as the
music teachers themselves have never composed through their education and therefore
avoid it in the classroom (and likely send a message that it is something very specialized). If
we want to change this condition, then there is an urgent need to begin music composition
activities early, often, and in a systematic fashion in our school music curricula as well as
in higher education. Music composition (as well as improvisation) needs to be embedded
4 | MUSIC OUTSIDE THE LINES
into the experience of every music education undergraduate, and I would argue, those ma-
joring in performance as well.
The absence of composition in music education settings seems curious, especially if
we compare our approach of teaching music to that of teaching our sister creative art: visual
art. The following scenario illustrates the striking difference between music and visual art
education when we imagine teaching visual art in public school in the same way we teach
our young musicians.
Beginning Art Class Scenario

On the first day of “painting” class, students walk excitedly into the art classroom
carrying their expensive, new (rented of course) paintbrushes in carefully identified
cases. Ms. Easington, the teacher, warns the children not to open their cases: “Please
set your cases on the table with the handle on the down side, and do not open the
case until I tell you to.” It takes several minutes to teach the children to open their
cases properly and to take out the paintbrushes and hold them in the correct man-
ner. They repeat taking out the brush and putting it back several times until Ms.
Easington is absolutely sure the children understand. At the end of this first lesson,
Ms. Easington gives instruction for the children to practice this “exercise” every day
until the next lesson. Subsequent lessons of course get the children painting, but in
a very careful and prescribed manner. The paintbrush must be held correctly, and
the students must paint by number and work to stay in the lines of the very basic
circles, squares, and triangles! By the end of the first semester, most of the children
have memorized four basic colors with their corresponding numbers (blue = 1, red
= 2, yellow = 3, green = 4; this is as abstract and random as the standard notation
for a quarter note) and are getting quite good at staying in the lines.
At the end of the fifth grade, many of the children have memorized eight colors
(and their corresponding numbers), and some children are getting quite good at
painting by number and staying in lines, which are increasingly more complex than
the beginning basic shapes. Exhibited in the school hallways are basic (somewhat
simple and boring) geometric patterns, all exactly alike with the corresponding
colors carefully within the lines of squares, circles, and triangles.
Of course a few children do not have the fine motor skills, memorization skills,
and/or patience to follow this routine and give up on practicing and decide to drop
visual art for the rest of their school career. (Some of these students, however, eventu-
ally get together to form a successful company that designs computer graphics for
other web-based companies; with no place to work in their school, these highly
motivated and successful students work out of a garage on their parents’ old Apple
computers.)
This natural attrition most often peaks between the middle school and high
school years, because the specialty for painting at the high school becomes very
INTRODUCTION | 5
complex and more time consuming. The painting students are asked to paint not
only complicated “paint-by-number” templates of the great masters (such as Van
Gogh’s flowers and Monet’s fruit) but also are required to help the athletic depart-
ment by painting the mascot on the gymnasium wall and school bleachers. The
commitment is great, and only a minority of high school students with the deter-
mination and special talent stay with this visual art program.
As absurd as this visual art education scenario may seem, it is somewhat characteristic
of the approach we take in instrumental music education in the United States. It is also
reminiscent of general music classes in which teachers might allow students to read only
previously written music (“paint by number”). This scenario is the impetus for the title of
this book—that is, music classes are replete with playing “inside the lines” but lack any
room for creative playing and making music “outside of the lines.”
Hopefully, this may be changing with a relatively recent interest in and focus on
music composition as part of a child’s total music education. Though the initial thrust
toward more creative music education of the 1960s (Benson, 1967; Burton, 1990; Con-
temporary Music Project, 1965, 1966; Mark, 1996; Thomas, 1970) seemed to have ended
abruptly in the 1970s, it never lost its impact. Creative teachers continued to experiment
with more innovative approaches to curricula by including composition and improvisation
in their classrooms, and the advent of computer music technology in the 1990s supported
these efforts even further. Teachers are much more aware of the need for music composi-
tion, partly because of the comprehensive National Standards for Music Education (Music
Educators National Conference [MENC], 1994) and now more regularly include com-
posing activities in their daily plans. And it is not at all unusual to hear student composi-
tions being played at local, district and state festivals and conferences. What is needed now,
more than ever, are resources for teachers to continue enriching their students’ musical
lives with music composition.
The Need for Materials

The National Standards for Music Education (MENC, 1994) include composition and
improvisation as two of the nine standards. MENC has worked at providing additional
documents to support the implementation of the standards. For example, the Performance
Standards for Music (MENC, 1996) provides sample benchmark assessment strategies
and corresponding sample achievement levels for each of the content standards. The book
Benchmark Student Performances in Music: Composing and Arranging (MENC, 2001) is
the first publication in a new series that offers sample assessment strategies together with
descriptions of student responses at the basic, proficient, and advanced levels for music
composition and improvisation at grades 4, 8, and 12. The publication features examples
of student work corresponding with the strategies to assist music educators in making
judgments about students’ progress toward national, state, or local standards. Although
these materials support composition in schools, many more are needed to give teachers
confidence to make music composition a regular part of their daily music curriculum.
In 2000 Bennett Reimer organized a “Northwestern University Music Education
Leadership Seminar” around the topic of music composition in the schools at Northwest-
ern University in Evanston, Illinois. This seminar brought together scholars in music edu-
cation who have focused on research and practice of music composition in education. The
result of the 5-day think tank was a book published by MENC (Hickey, 2003) that pro-
vides recent thoughts from leaders in music education who value the importance of music
composition with children.
There is still, however, a need for quality materials to aid teachers in teaching music
composition in their studios and classrooms, especially in the United States. Historically,
texts by Murray Schafer (e.g., 1986, 1992) and John Paynter (Paynter, 1992; Paynter &
Aston, 1970)—as well as many of the activities I include in this text and continue to use
with children—have positively influenced many teachers in providing creative music ac-
tivities in classrooms. However, as of this writing I am aware of only a few fairly recent
books for aiding teachers in this endeavor: Composing in the Classroom, by David Bramhall
(1989), Learning to Compose, by John Howard (1990), Composing Matters, by Patrick
Allen (2002), and Sounds in Space, Sounds in Time: Projects in Listening, Improvising and
Composing, by Richard Vella (2003). Unfortunately, the first two books are out of print,
and the second two are published in England, making them expensive and somewhat dif-
ficult to obtain. Because the music education system in the United Kingdom includes
music composition as an integral part of their music curricula, and has a long history of
doing such, it is not surprising that most materials for teachers are published there.
In the United States, other than texts written for academic (university) composers or
the popular press (e.g., Music Composition for Dummies [ Jarrett & Day, 2008] and Song-
writing for Dummies [Peterik, Austin, & Bickford, 2002]), there is only one recent text
published by authors in the United States intended for public school music teachers:
Minds on Music: Composition for Creative and Critical Thinking, by Michelle Kaschub and
Janice Smith (2009). Another book, Outside the Line: A New Approach to Composing in the
Classroom (Burrows, 2007), for grades 2–6, is out of print. Kaschub and Smith’s book, as
well as those mentioned above, are hopefully the start of many more materials to come that
will help teachers feel more comfortable making music composition an integral part of the
K–12 music education landscape.
In order to move music education forward to a place where music composition be-
comes a regular part of music classrooms in the United States, teachers need to understand
why composition is so fundamental to music learning and what students are capable of as
composers; and they need materials with ideas for including music composition as a regular
part of their curriculum. The intent of this book is to provide this information and more.
In the remainder of this chapter, I offer ideas on what music and music composition means in
the context of teaching music, provide information on creative thinking, discuss differences
INTRODUCTION | 7
between music composition for children and professional composers, and conclude with
the notion that music composition is essential for our students’ creative musical growth.
Composition Is . . .
When teaching music composition, one of the first things that I ask my students to do is to
define music and to define music composition. 2 This exercise invariably underscores the
array of possible definitions for each and provides grist for meaningful and educational
debates. The teachers and preservice teachers I work with have all been trained in the clas-
sical “conservatory” tradition, so they often place music composition erroneously into a
narrow field of study in which the only people who are really capable are those who have
had years of specialized education. This separation of music composition from music mak-
ing into its own category, as a specialty that can only be honed through years of focused
education and practice, places music composition outside of the realm of classroom or
studio music in the minds of many teachers. Students invariably learn through this ill-
conceived notion that music composition requires special status and training. Ask a typical
5-year-old child to compose, and there will be no hesitation, but this uninhibited behavior
disappears almost completely by the time he or she reaches secondary school, perhaps be-
cause the child has not been given the opportunity to compose in the music classroom.
Early in the process of teaching music, it is important to break down flawed yet stead-
fast assumptions of what music is and what it means to compose music. I enjoy observing the
rich learning that occurs as my university students debate among themselves and struggle
to come up with acceptable definitions of music and music composition.3 The definitions
that eventually emerge are often similar to the definitions that I ultimately share with stu-
dents. Perhaps the most succinct (and sufficiently vague) definition comes from John Cage:
“The material of music is sound and silence. Integrating these is composing” (1961, p. 62).
This simple definition makes it clear that any person is capable of composing music,4
and that playing around with sound is central to this process. Music composition is simply
organizing music parts into logical, interesting, and feelingful form. To think creatively
and organize sounds into something that is interesting is what makes music composition
challenging, fun, and educational for children and adults alike. It involves thoughtful mu-
sical behaviors such as careful listening, exploration, divergent thinking, critical decision
making, and aesthetic craftsmanship. It is with this philosophy and very basic definition
that I approach music composition with students and have found it to be extremely useful
to begin this way. But to do so well, it helps to understand a bit about the creative process
in music and in general.
Creative Thinking in Music

Creative thinking in music is different from what one might traditionally think of as musi-
cal aptitude or “talent.” Although one might have tremendous talent to perform flawlessly
a range of technically difficult etudes on an instrument, creative thinking in music involves

producing new ideas. Musical talent may certainly aid in the production of original and
interesting musical products, but a “musically talented” individual may not be very cre-
ative. And having students compose or improvise (create new musical ideas) does not nec-
essarily mean that teachers are stimulating creative musical thinking. It is not difficult to
imagine a painfully noncreative music composition lesson. Conversely, being musically cre-
ative does not necessarily manifest itself only through music composition or improvisation
activities; one could be a musically creative performer or listener as well.
If teachers want to use music composition as an outlet for creative musical thinking,
then how can they best encourage their students to think creatively through music compo-
sition? What makes a musical student more or less creative? An understanding of concepts
from both the field of music as well as creativity will aid in answering these important ques-
tions to help teachers feel confident that they are nurturing creative thinking in students
through the activity of music composition.
Let’s begin by defining creativity and creative thinking. A simple (hence favorite) defi-
nition for creativity is this: “Creativity is a basic human instinct to make that which is new”
(Piirto, 1998, p. 41). All humans are born with this potential to create something new or
original. For those brought up in an optimal environment (a supportive home, school, and
cultural environment), this natural inclination might manifest itself in a domain for which
a person has talent as well as exposure, such as in music, or visual art, or science.
Creative musical thinking involves the ability to think imaginatively (creatively) in
sound and to manipulate and create new and interesting musical ideas. As musicians call
upon their creative intelligence in music, they are thinking mostly divergently, rather than
convergently, about putting together new sound possibilities. Convergent thinking is the
ability to think logically to find the one best solution to a problem, whereas divergent
thinking does not require one correct answer, but the ability to render many possible an-
swers. Music composition and improvisation require both kinds of thinking, but offer the
best opportunities for students to exercise their divergent, or creative, musical thinking.
Creativity is a valued trait, and often assumed to be synonymous with the arts. How-
ever, the adjective creative alone can be confusing because of the vast possibilities of mean-
ings. This term might be used to describe a musical product (creative composition or impro-
visation), personality traits (creative people), or thinking styles (creative processes). Creative
can also be used to describe a “place,” such as a classroom or studio where teaching takes
place. The creative product, person, process, and place will be described in the paragraphs
that follow.
Creative Product
The creative product is the tangible result of the creative thinking process. In the domain
of music, the creative product might be an original composition, improvisation, or even
originally nuanced performance of a standard concerto. In most of the myriad definitions
of creative products, two adjectives—original and useful—are used consistently. A creative
INTRODUCTION | 9
product is one that is both novel to its creator and appropriate or aesthetically interesting
in the context of its domain (Mayer, 1999). A product that is only original (imagine that I
go to the piano and plunk out a series of random notes that have never been plunked out
before), but is in no way or intention interesting, is simply original. Creative implies not
only novel, but also appropriate or aesthetically interesting within the domain.
Of course that which is aesthetically interesting in a domain such as music may not be
recognized as such until many years later. Indeed, creative products are socially and histori-
cally contextual, and their value may change within and between social and historical con-
texts. In the milieu of a third-grade classroom, the most creative musical compositions will
be original and interesting relative to the world of 9-year-old children. As teachers, we want
to encourage students to be thoughtful and creative about their music compositions, to
think about the intent of the product, and to be able to reflect upon this intent. Teachers
should not discourage “strange-sounding” musical compositions in the classroom, but en-
courage students to reflect upon their creative products in ways that make them think about
their audiences and the effects of their products on their audiences. The issue of assessment
of the creative product in music (musical composition) will be covered in the next chapter.
Creative Person
Much of what we know about creative people has been compiled from the study of the
most creative people in our society both past and present (e.g., Gardner, 1993; Simonton,
1987, 1991, 1999). Analyses of these findings provide us with some common character-
istics of creative people, including the following: risk taking; humorous; independent;
curious; attraction to ambiguity, complexity, and novelty; open-mindedness; capacity for
fantasy; and heightened perception (Davis, 2004; Feist, 1999). There are also potentially
negative traits associated with the creative personality as well. These include the following:
aloofness, distractible, compulsive, sloppy, and rebellious (Davis, 2004).
Oftentimes little patience is shown for the creative personality and little time is given
for creative processes in daily classroom routines. Supporting creative personality charac-
teristics such as those described above is not easy because it is clear that some of these traits
are not conducive to maintaining quiet and orderly classrooms. The personality character-
istics of the class troublemaker might also characterize that student as the most creative. An
awareness of the creative potentials of disruptive students may perhaps help teachers deal
better with their behavior. This is not to say that all troublemakers are creative. However,
if students’ behaviors stem from their creative personalities, then the self-fulfilled role of
troublemaker could be changed to something more positive and productive if that energy
were channeled toward creative tasks such as improvising and composing.
Of course all students have potential for creative development, and an awareness of
creative personality characteristics can help teachers to support and bolster the most posi-
tive creative personality traits in students. Music teachers might promote creative potential
by offering music tasks or assignments that require some risk taking or even silly behavior,
as well as support risk taking and humor in the classroom (when appropriate of course).
10 | M U S I C O U T S I D E THE LINES
Creative Process
The creative process involves the thinking processes that take place as a person is working
on a creative product. Because creativity involves an invisible and complex array of factors,
there are no exact answers for how this magical “process” takes place. There are, however,
several conceptual models of the creative thinking process that have been hypothesized by
researchers. Webster developed a model of creative thinking in music (Webster, 1990) that
begins with an idea or intention and ends with a creative product. Along this process, one
must have support of enabling skills such as musical aptitude, and an environment that
supports creative thinking. In this model creativity also requires aesthetic sensitivity and
craftsmanship skills, and takes time to move through stages of preparation, incubation,
illumination, and verification (borrowed from Wallas, 1926).
Models of the creative process by others point out that personality factors combine
with affect, cognitive skills, and creativity relevant skills and highlight the complexity of
the process (e.g., Amabile, 1996; Russ, 1996; Sternberg & Lubart, 1991). Perhaps one
thing that most agree on is that the creative thinking process requires a combination of
both divergent and convergent thinking skills. Divergent thinking is the ability to come up
with several possible answers or solutions to a potential problem or stimulus. In music
composition, a divergent thinking activity would be to generate several endings to a begin-
ning musical phrase, for example. Convergent thinking is the ability to narrow solutions
down to one “right” answer. This is required near the end of the creative thinking process
when a product is being fashioned into its final form.
Problem-finding behavior has also been identified as important to the creative think-
ing process and as an indicative behavior of creative people. Problem finding is defined as
behavior that includes manipulating, exploring, and selecting elements of a problem, and
shaping the parameters of the problem itself. The less that a task is defined, the more that
problem-finding behavior is needed. A relationship between problem-finding behavior
and creative output has been shown in visual art (e.g., Dillon, 1982; Getzels & Csikszent-
mihalyi, 1976; Runco, 1994; Runco & Chand, 1995; Sapp, 1997; Wakefield, 1985, 1991,
1994) and in music (Brinkman, 1999; Hickey, 1995). These studies found that subjects
who spent more time in exploration of materials before finishing a product produced more
creative products than subjects who spent less time exploring.
Sometimes teachers feel the need to take over the problem-finding role and select all
of the parameters for a given music project in order to get to a completed product as
quickly as possible. With the typical time constraints in music classes today, this is not
surprising. However, if the value of music composition lies, at least partly, in the idea that
it may promote creative musical thinking, then more time needs to be dedicated to prob-
lem-finding and exploratory activities.
In order to stimulate problem finding and creative thinking, open-ended and heuris-
tic tasks (versus contrived and “right-answer” exercises) are needed. The ability to deal with
fewer parameters is not only a trait that will encourage more creative thinking, but it is also
I N T R O D U C T I O N | 11
a trait that needs to be developed in students (especially given the high-stakes testing atmo-
sphere of schools in recent decades). Ideas for these kinds of tasks are provided in the ac-
tivities outlined at the end of chapters 3 through 7.
Creative Place
The process of creative thinking takes time and is messy, yet our often controlled and hurry-
up classroom culture makes it difficult to do this. It is important to encourage and facili-
tate more careful and thoughtful approaches to creative musical growth in the classroom
by providing more time and opportunities to explore a variety of sounds and composition
possibilities. Depth over breadth and quality over quantity should be the rule rather than
the exception in music composition in order to promote musical creative thinking.
Supporting the creative thinking process through music composition does not need
to be as open and uncontrolled as it may seem at this point, however. One can offer guid-
ance for exploration such as asking students to spend time exploring high/low, loud/soft,
fast/slow, and different timbres. What are their favorites? Why? Ask students to keep a log
of favorite sounds and their descriptions. Listen to recordings of a wide variety of music
from traditional as well as nontraditional sound sources. Our ultimate goal should be to
get students to become critical listeners as well as creative music explorers on their own. To
do this, we need to imbed creative and exploratory activities such as music composition
and improvisation into the daily music classroom instruction.
Music composition will nurture creative thinking when exploratory processes such as
divergent thinking and problem finding are encouraged in the classroom. By offering more
opportunities for exploring in sound through music composition, the creative musical
abilities of students will shine. With more creative music composition exercises added to
music curricula, there are more opportunities for students to exercise their creative music
imaginations and creative personalities. Through music composition, the creative intelli-
gence can be stimulated and nurtured in music classrooms and studios. Naturally the vary-
ing personalities and temperaments of students promise varying thresholds for the open
creative process. But too often it is assumed that students are able to work only within the
strictest parameters and that giving fewer parameters means a loss of teacher control. Nei-
ther extreme is educational or conducive to creativity. Students need structure and disci-
pline as well as the chance for freedom, spontaneity, and time for exploration and manipu-
lation of musical sounds. We need to provide varied opportunities for students in music
composition tasks if we want to encourage and nurture the most creative musical thinking
processes. The music composition exercises in chapters 3 through 7 will help to stimulate
creative musical thinking through guided divergent activities.
Composing for “Real”

My passion for teaching music composition to children, and my experiences in doing so,
has, at times, made me feel self-conscious around “real” composers because I have had no
Students Composers
Play with sound Compose satisfying Compose socially

Experiment/Explore and age-appropriate recognized music
Improvise music compositions compositions
Process Product
Intent
Age (or experience)
Young Mature
(beginner) (Professional)
FIGURE 1.1 Continuum of Compositional Experiences
formal education in music composition and I have not composed professionally, much less
seriously. How could I possibly teach something that I’ve never been trained to do (a ques-
tion most likely asked by many teachers facing this challenge)? This seeming contradiction
between what I say and what I do prompted several discussions about music composition
with colleague composers and has led me to develop the view that music composition for
our students is mostly about a process (rather than the product) that contributes to creative
and musical intellectual growth. For professional composers, music composition is more
about developing a product using the tools and experiences they have developed (through
disciplined study) over the years. In other words, music composition is an activity that has
different meanings and/or purposes depending upon where it falls along a continuum of
intent and experience.
In figure 1.1, I provide a continuum that represents the different approaches to music
composition for young beginners—the typical students in our classrooms—and profes-
sional composers. The early level of playing with sound and experimenting can lead to very
satisfying music compositions for all of our students. Some students may wish to go further
and pursue more advanced composition whereby they become composers, who compose
music for a living and are recognized in a social and historical context as professional.
Music composition in school, especially in the beginning stages, might best be viewed
as a process-oriented tool for teaching and nurturing music exploration skills that will en-
hance musical understanding as well as musical creative thinking. Teaching music compo-
sition at this beginning level also provides scaffolding for the eventual skill of crafting a fine
music composition; this should certainly be a goal as students progress through experiences
with music composition. For young children (or first-time composers), music composition
presents an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding about music through explora-
tion. It is important for teachers to keep in mind that the enjoyment of the process is more
important than crafting a product that is “correct.” For students in the beginning stages, “It
is the exploration itself that motivates rather than the outcome” (Runco, 1996, p. 7). Young
children naturally enjoy musical composition because music exploration and process ori-
entation is so natural for them.5 This is not to say that young students (or novice composers
I N T R O D U C T I O N | 13
of any age) are incapable of creating authentic musical compositions. Children are capable,
and in fact do compose, as has been documented by several researchers (Barrett, 1996;
Davies, 1986, 1992, 1994; Marsh, 1995; Moorhead & Pond, 1978/1951; Upitis, 1990,
1992). The point is that children’s compositions will likely not be recognized as master-
pieces, and may not even sound “right” to our conservatory trained ears. But to compose
music is as natural as finger painting, and in the beginning stages, at least, teaching this re-
quires no specialized education, but only the capability to offer materials, time, and support.
The creation of music also provides an important vehicle for the development of one’s
feelings, emotions, and self-concept. And this development does not need to depend upon
technical training. Lowenfeld and Brittain (1987) emphasize this point in their discussion
of the importance of creation in visual art that can readily be applied to the “scribbling”
involved in the creation of music:
There is great satisfaction in expressing one’s own feelings and emotions in art. Even
the very young child who knows nothing about the technical difficulties in pencil
rendering, or the various gradations of graphite hardness, can get great satisfaction
from making a scribble with a soft pencil. The child expresses self-importance
through scribbling, and the satisfaction derived from this achievement is self-
evident. The self-confidence that can develop from this type of expression provides
the basis for more advanced levels of art. (p. 18)
Natural mental and musical development, along with experiences in music composi-
tion activities, will produce natural growth toward product orientation. Some students will
pursue music composition as a vocation or avocation and will follow, with our guidance,
the necessary and traditional educational path to reach their goals. As students develop
and pursue more specialized (product-oriented) composing, it is the obligation of their
teachers to find experts capable of giving continued education, just as we might pass our
gifted bassoon student on to a professional bassoonist for more specialized tutoring after
they outgrow our musical guidance (especially if we have never been trained on the bas-
soon). All students need the opportunity to reach this point and, at the least, learn to
compose and experience music, as shown in the beginning and intermediate stages of the
continuum in figure 1.1.
With the traditional music education that music teachers receive (and as I have re-
ceived), they should have no trouble guiding students through the beginning and interme-
diate stages of this continuum, to a point where their students are composing satisfying
and age-appropriate musical compositions.
Conclusions
For too long, music composition has been put on a pedestal and viewed as a special skill
that only an elite few could do. It is time to dispel that notion and offer classroom and
studio teachers not only reasons for making music composition an integral part of their
curriculum, but also provide practical ideas and activities for doing so.
In this first chapter I have provided a rationale for teachers to begin composition ac-
tivities in their own classrooms, as well as some thoughts about the creative musical person
and process. I have also explored the continuum—as opposed to the gap—that exists
from the beginning stages of music exploration to the achievement of professional compo-
sition and argued that music teachers are sufficiently educated (even without music com-
position lessons) to take students along this path toward composing satisfying musical
compositions.
In chapter 2 I address some of the stickier issues that plague teaching music composi-
tion in schools, such as assessment, notation, and technology. I also introduce a potential
curricular model for teaching composition that frames the organization for the remaining
chapters. In chapters 3 through 7, I provide readers with an array of composition activities
based on the curriculum unit focus for each chapter. Although this book is not just a “how-
to” text for music composition, it contains a collection of practical ideas for teachers to use
to encourage musical and creative growth through music composition. The composition
activities in the middle chapters provide a jumping-off point for music teachers to exercise
their own creative thinking and create music composition activities that are customized
to their classes and needs (and perhaps to stimulate a few teachers to begin composing
themselves!). I argue in the final chapter of this book that because music composition is so
musically and educationally multifaceted, it should be placed at the core of the school music
curriculum.
2
The Issues
We must heed Wittgenstein’s warning that rules of grammar do not explain
how people speak, nor “cause” them to speak in a certain way.
J. W. A S T I N G T O N AND D . R . O L S O N , “The Cognitive Revolution in
Children’s Understanding of Mind”
If you asked me to diagram a sentence, I’d be hard pressed to do it. I have always struggled
with this exercise, and really never grasped the idea of a “dangling participle.” Yet I like to
think that I write pretty well. The rules of grammar certainly help (and they must have in-
fluenced me in a positive way), yet we needn’t let rules get in the way of flow and creativity.
Music instruction in schools sometimes includes too much focus on grammar and little
room for creativity. If we want children to read better, we should have them write stories;
if we want children to become poets, we should ask them to write poetry. Similarly, if we
want our students to be fulfilled and creative musicians, then they must be given many
chances to compose—without the rules of “grammar” impeding their way. We simply need
to let them compose and improvise. Creative activities will open the door to a much deeper
understanding of all of the concepts, the “rules” that should be taught in music education.
But how can we teach both creativity and the rules of music? Before delving into the
main focus of this book, which is to provide activities and ideas for teaching music compo-
sition to students, I will address a number of issues that often cloud progress toward teach-
ing music composition in schools. In this chapter, the issues that are examined include
composition settings and parameters, notation, use of technology, assessment, and com-
posing in performance ensembles. These issues were chosen because they repeatedly emerge
in my conversations with teachers and composers when talking about teaching composi-
tion to students, and they also affect the relative success or failure of such endeavors. I do
not presume to offer simple solutions, but hope to clarify important points and provide
some answers to questions regarding these issues in the succeeding paragraphs.
Composition Settings and Parameters

There are many possible variables from which to choose when developing music composi-
tion assignments for students. The environment we create is absolutely crucial for making
or breaking our students’ comfort with music composition. Some of the choices made can
also affect the creative quality and/or success of their compositions. The factors that affect
the composition environment, such as open versus closed assignments, time, and group
versus individual work, will be examined in this section.
Open versus Closed Composition Assignments

One way to organize types of composition assignments is on a continuum from very closed,
with many parameters delineated, to very open, in which the assignments are more “free,”
with few, if any, teacher parameters (see figure 2.1). Often the “safest” way to begin, par-
ticularly in first composition assignments, is to structure closed assignments with very
strict parameters in order to control the outcome. When one sets up a careful manuscript
template with rules for the durations, note names, time signature, number of measures, and
beginning and ending notes, the chance for success at simple and tonal music (which is
often assumed to be “good”) is very high. However, these closed assignments offer little
room for exploration and imagination, much less error. Although the intent is understand-
able, I suggest that teachers try just the opposite in their first and subsequent music com-
position assignments. That is, they should offer more open assignments with fewer param-
eters in the beginning stages in order to give students the chance to explore and create music
within their own boundaries.
Research studies of creative thinking in music have shown consistently that more
creative children feel comfortable exploring many options of sounds before closure when
confronted with creative tasks (DeLorenzo, 1989; Hickey, 1995; Levi, 1991; Moorhead
& Pond, 1978/1942). Early opportunities for sound exploration and manipulation in the
composition process should be made available in the music classroom in order to help stu-
dents begin to develop their creative music composition repertoire. Activities that involve
brainstorming solutions to musical problems, and that do not require one single right an-
swer (such as creating several endings for the beginning of a musical phrase), should be the
norm rather than the exception. When given a composition assignment with more leeway
to explore, students will be better able to exercise their musical creativity and natural musi-
cal curiosity. In other words, more emphasis should be placed on creative process and ex-
ploration than finding the “right answer.” It is important to point out that giving more
open-ended assignments does not mean creating a “free-for-all” classroom culture. Students
Closed Assignment Parameters: Open

Evaluative Assessment Type: Non-evaluative
feedback
FIGURE 2.1 Open and Closed Assignment Continuum

T H E I S S U E S | 17
need control and need to know their boundaries, so although more open assignments allow
for more creative music compositions, students must still understand the importance of
working without disturbing others and following rules for time limits or getting assign-
ments finished, and so forth.
However the point is not to exclude closed assignments altogether. There are clear
circumstances in which giving a very specific assignment is most appropriate. One of the
most useful purposes for giving a closed composition assignment is to teach a musical con-
cept. When students are learning a new musical concept, I would argue that the quickest
way for them to learn (and for the teacher to assess their understanding) is through music
composition. For example, say we want to introduce the concept of sixteenth notes to a
class of students. The most creative approach to assess whether students understand the
lesson, and the way for teachers to apply the lesson creatively, is to construct a relatively
closed composition assignment that requires use of sixteenth notes. A template that in-
cludes the measures, time signature, and beginning and ending notes will help the students
to get started and be able to concentrate on using sixteenth notes in their compositions—
which is the intent of the lesson. In this case the parameters are carefully delineated so that
students can compose music, yet at the same time allow the teacher to assess their under-
standing of the concept being taught and give students a chance to apply their knowledge
at level of complexity that is more authentic than simply providing an answer on a paper-
and-pencil test. And when students complete their sixteenth-note composition, it will be
immediately clear whether they understand the concept of sixteenth notes.
The issue of open versus closed assignments is inextricably linked to the assessment
issue. If the purpose of a composition assignment is specific (i.e., to teach how to write in
rondo form), or is to teach a concept (such as in the sixteenth-note example), then the as-
signment can and should be evaluated for quality. If a composition assignment is open,
however, then simple feedback would be more appropriate than a qualitative evaluation.
Nonevaluative feedback given on an open assignment is more helpful (and fairer) than
giving an evaluation such as a grade. Imagine how anxious students would feel if they were
asked to compose a piece of music, with no other guidelines except that it be something
good, knowing that it will be graded. This is not only unfair to students, but also difficult
to do! On the other hand, if the assignment is to write an 8-measure composition in 6/8
time using eighth, quarter, and dotted-quarter notes, it would be easy to evaluate students’
understanding of, and their ability to write using these parameters. Giving a grade on such
a “closed” type of assignment makes perfect sense. Figure 2.1 shows the types of assign-
ments and assessment types described above.
Researchers have found an interesting interaction between the parameters and assess-
ment method of an assignment and the effects on creativity and intrinsic motivation.1 Fol-
ger, Rosenfield, and Hays (1976) discovered an inconsistency in literature related to effects
of extrinsic motivation on creativity: specifically, the overjustification hypothesis that
stated that external reward had a detrimental effect upon intrinsic motivation. They found
that the variable of choice in a given task mediates motivation: a positive relationship exists
TABLE 2.1 The interaction between instructional set and levels of external
reward and its effect upon creative output and intrinsic motivation
Instructional Set
Reward Closed (Informed) Task Open Task
Low External Reward Low creativity High creativity

High intrinsic motivation High intrinsic motivation
High External Reward High creativity Low creativity
Low intrinsic motivation Low intrinsic motivation
between external reward and intrinsic motivation under conditions in which little choice
is given in the task, whereas an inverse relationship exists between external reward and in-
trinsic motivation under high-choice conditions (Eisenberger & Cameron, 1998). The
type of choice conditions related to a given task, then, must qualify the overjustification
hypothesis.
Amabile (1979, 1996) also discovered that when subjects were given rewards for
completing certain creative tasks, they indeed showed more creativity. This contradicted a
previous theory that nonrewarded tasks produced more creative products. The purpose of
her 1979 study was to reconcile these contradictory findings by identifying the instruc-
tional sets under which extrinsic rewards might undermine creativity, and those that might
enhance it. The results showed that the evaluated (high external reward) groups scored
significantly lower on creative scores of their visual art products than the nonevaluated
(low external reward) groups except when explicit instructions (closed task) were given for
creating a product. Though this group (closed task and evaluation) scored highest of all on
creativity, they scored lowest in interest of the required task. The group whose task was
open and without evaluation (open task, low external reward) exhibited a high level of in-
trinsic interest to match its high level of creativity. This finding was in agreement with
others (Eisenberger & Cameron, 1998; Folger et al., 1976), in that the conditions of the
task will mediate the effect of external reward on intrinsic motivation and creative output.
This interaction between instructional sets and types of reward and its effect upon motiva-
tion and creativity is illustrated in table 2.12. (More specific ideas for approaches to assess-
ment are provided later in this chapter.)
The ideal condition then, for supporting high intrinsic motivation and high creative
output is one in which individuals perceive that external rewards are low, and the tasks in-
volved are relatively open (i.e., the upper right-hand cell in table 2.1). Of course, the for-
mula in table 2.1 is only a theory, and the realities of teaching are complex: many tacit
factors confound the issue of assignment parameters, assessment, intrinsic motivation, and
creativity. Students come to the classroom with a multitude of personality traits that may
inhibit or contribute to their creative and motivational approach toward learning, and
therefore they also approach composing through different “pathways” (Burnard & Younker,
2004). Different students have varying thresholds for ambiguity: some students will have
an easier time with strict parameters, whereas others will prefer the freedom of few pa-
rameters. We also know that setting up closed assignments is necessary for achieving spe-
cific teaching goals. Too much of either extreme for too long is not the best educational
practice. Making sure that we include a variety of both open and closed (and in between)
parameters, and gear music composition toward problem-based activities in a supportive
environment is the best solution.
Time
The development of quality and creative musical ideas takes time. Schools are set up such
that teachers must work on a strict and limited time schedule, with few precious moments
allowed in a week for music instruction, along with the additional burden of having to
produce stellar concerts for public performance. Unfortunately, this hectic approach to
teaching may be least conducive for creative thinking. Researchers have provided evidence
that when given shorter time to work on a creative task, subjects produced lower scores
on fluency, flexibility, and originality tests (Borland, 1988; Morse, Morse, & Johns, 2001).
Additionally, researchers found that students produce their most original ideas later in
creative tasks rather than earlier ( Johns, Morse, & Morse, 2001). My own experience teach-
ing composition to children provides anecdotal evidence to support the notion that they
need (and often covet) a significant amount of undisturbed time when composing. I often
have had a difficult time convincing students to take a break, even after hours of working
on a music composition project.
For the development of quality musical thinking skills through music composition,
depth is more important than breadth. Because time for exploration, incubation, and just
messing around with musical ideas is conducive to creativity, it is suggested that if only a
few class periods can be devoted to music composition in an academic year, these few
classes focus on only one musical composition problem, rather than several. Another alter-
native is to visit a single composition project for a few minutes of each class period and take
this time for an entire year rather than offer several small and miscellaneous composition
activities.
A more radical thought, as the final chapter in this book suggests, is to focus an entire
music curriculum around the original musical compositions of the students in our class-
rooms, rather than performing, listening to, and analyzing already published music. All of
the basic skills that are covered in music class could still be covered using student compo-
sitions, and at the same time, students would get the opportunity to compose the music.
The time students spend creating and thinking about their own music will reap benefits of
musical knowledge beyond the traditional approach of teaching through precomposed
(sometimes contrived) musical examples. Chapter 8 will expand on these ideas.
Group and Individual Approaches

Several studies have examined the efficacy and dynamics of group musical composition pro-
cesses (Claire, 1993/1994; Kaschub, 1997; MacDonald & Miell, 2000; Wiggins, 1994,
2000, 2003) and group creativity processes (Mumford, Feldman, Hein, & Nagao, 2001;
Sawyer, 2006). This research shows, as might be expected, that individual composition and
group composition require different approaches. Although there is no apparent advantage
or disadvantage between teaching musical composition in groups or to individuals, at most
times in a classroom setting group composition may be the most convenient and economi-
cal approach. Composing in groups requires careful organization, however, and a sensitiv-
ity to group dynamics in order to keep all students qualitatively involved in creative musi-
cal thinking processes. Just as in any group work, leaders and followers will emerge and a
sensitive teacher will arrange and rearrange groups until the right chemistry supports the
best dynamics for creative development and learning.
It is also important to allow individual work on music composition. Students use dif-
ferent types of skills in group versus individual situations—skills that are important for
music as well as social growth and development. Just as we wish for students to learn to
perform as soloists, we also should strive to have students learn to compose music on their
own. A healthy variety of both group music composition projects along with individual
work is the best solution. The majority of the composition activities that are provided in
the following chapters can be accomplished through either individual or group work.
The environment for music composition should be challenging, respectful, fun, and
attractive to the curiosity of the learner. Setting up the composition parameters, such as
the type of assignment, time given, and group or individual activities, must be carefully
choreographed by a skillful and sensitive teacher. The individual differences of students
will demand an environment that is adaptable enough to entice even the most finicky
learner to produce his/her creative best.
Notation
Although the debate over rote versus note teaching has swung back and forth over the years
(Keene, 1982), and between pedagogies (e.g. Orff-Schulwerk, Kodály, Suzuki), the issue of
whether or not to teach music notation has not wavered. Regardless of which side of the
note/rote debate one is on, when it comes to teaching music, most have agreed that an
eventual understanding of traditional music notation is critical for a complete music edu-
cation. In other words, the debate has not been about if, but when and with how much
emphasis notation should be taught for music reading. There is in fact quite a strong focus
on deciphering traditional music notation in American music education that may be partly
due to the heavy emphasis we place on music performance in the school music programs.
When I suggest to preservice and in-service teachers that music notation need not be
the focus, much less a component of music composition, I find myself up against a deeply
ingrained assumption that music notation is not only key to music learning, but central to
music composition. Because of this assumption, common mistakes in teaching music com-
position are to wait to introduce composition until students understand standard notation,
or to have students compose only what they are able to notate in standard notation. This
would be equivalent to (and as absurd as) not allowing children to make up stories until
they are able to write them down. Children are natural storytellers and music makers long
before they acquire formal knowledge of the abstract symbol systems we use to record
these products. As Upitis (1992) points out, “Children view themselves as writers long
before they view themselves as readers” (p. 53). Her meaning of writing in this instance
connotes the ability to make things up and produce notation of any sort that is meaning-
ful to the child (certainly nonstandard, and often nondecipherable to adult readers). We
should not squelch this proclivity toward creating by first requiring the understanding of a
very abstract symbol system that serves only as a convenient record of musical ideas.
Music notation is not music. Music is sound, and notation provides a means for rep-
resenting that sound, mostly for the purpose of re-creation by others. When we want an-
other person to perform music we’ve composed, then standard notation might be the most
efficient means of doing so. For many cultures (and, I would argue, some ages and experi-
ence levels), notation is not the most efficient means for passing on music—imitation is.
Though the comprehension of standard music notation should be an eventual goal of our
music curricula, it should not be a barrier to teaching music composition. Students should
learn to read notation so that they may learn to decipher, in print, other’s music, just as they
should eventually learn to write standard notation so that they may offer their original
music for others to read.2 However, music notation in the context of composing music
should be thought of as only a vehicle that composers use to share their music so that
others may perform it. Music notation is neither a prerequisite nor requisite for music
composition.
Begin with Students’ Notations

“In order to understand formal symbol systems, individuals must first construct their own
versions of symbol systems” (Upitis, 1992, p. 10). Children and nontrained adults’ ability
to understand and decipher standard notation is developmental (Bamberger, 1991; David-
son & Scripp, 1988; Upitis, 1992). That is, they go through stages of understanding nota-
tion from simple and nonabstract (graphic) to the abstract symbol system that we use in our
traditional notation. The development of this understanding seems to be based on experi-
ence rather than age. If we attempt to force the learning of, and use of, a symbol system that
is abstract (such as our traditional notation system) too early in the development process, it
will cause only confusion, or at least meaningless rote learning. Therefore the first step to-
ward standard notation understanding is allowing students to make up their own notation—
often termed invented notation. Children (and adults!) learn quickly that notation of any
kind is helpful for keeping track of what one composes, and they enjoy using their own
graphic systems to notate their musical ideas. When students eventually see the need to no-
tate in standard notation for their music composition projects, they will want to learn how to
do so, and experience in creating their own notation systems will aid this learning process.
If students have not been exposed to traditional music reading/writing lessons, on
first attempts at music composition they will feel most comfortable notating musical ideas
using whatever system—graphic, numeric, alphabetic, and so forth—is most meaningful

to them. The system they use to write down and keep track of their compositional ideas
does not matter. What matters more in music education is that students eventually come
to realize the need for standard notation as they simultaneously refine their own systems.
Music composition is the best activity to develop this “need to know.” Encouraging stu-
dents to share their original notations with one another will develop in them a tolerance of
notational forms different from their own and at the same time stimulate a real curiosity
about standard notation as they refine their own systems. Ask students to compose music
that they must teach to the class or a classmate using their notation. When they are devel-
opmentally ready and sufficiently curious or motivated, they will begin to learn to read and
write standard music notation (and discover, in many cases, that it is a pretty efficient sys-
tem). In the meantime, students should be encouraged to simply write down their music
in any way they want, so that they can remember it, or so that they can teach it to others. If
there is no reason to remember it, or no plan to teach the composition to somebody else, it
does not matter if the composition is notated.3
Using Ears Rather than Eyes

I often start music composition activities with students by using computer sequencing soft-
ware and turn off any notation feature of the software. This forces students to use their ears
more than their eyes while exploring and organizing sounds into original music composi-
tions, allowing them to more wholly enjoy their creative musical task. The computer soft-
ware takes care of the recording, notating, and remembering for them. I have only once
encountered a child who was reluctant to compose in this way. The following scenario is
shared because it offers a description of this instance when a child preferred to use standard
notation. It is the only time that this occurred in my teaching, yet it offers a possible sce-
nario for teachers.
Sam
On the first day of the four-Saturday music composition workshop, I took the
fourth- and fifth-grade students to the computer lab, each at his/her own com-
puter, and asked them to explore the available synthesizer sounds as well as become
familiar with the sequencing software by recording some musical ideas. They quickly
learned to record music they played on the keyboard into multiple tracks and had
the option of using any of 128 general MIDI sounds. The first assignment I gave was
to compose a “musical scenery”—that is, compose a song that described a particular
setting (forest, subway, lunchroom, outer space, etc.). They were asked to use at least
four tracks simultaneously but could use any of the timbres they wished. The goals
of this first assignment were to give the students the opportunity to explore differ-
ent sounds, to learn the software, and to be immediately successful with a first music
composition. The graphic notation option (as opposed to standard notation)
appeared on the screen to encourage them simply to explore and record sound
manipulation—and not to worry about reading notes.
One student, Sam, was immediately confused with the assignment and
situation. He did not do anything for a long time but sat and stared at the computer
screen. When asked what was wrong, Sam stated that he did not know how to play
the piano and wondered if he could compose a song using “real notes” instead
(standard notation on the screen would allow him to “point and click” each note
into the program rather than play it in from the synthesizer/keyboard). However,
the software program was a sequencing program, as opposed to a notation program,
and therefore not conducive to easy point-and-click notation—that would be too
clumsy and would surely cause Sam more undue frustration. An immediate decision
had to be made: do I open a notation program for Sam, so that his first computer
composition project is notated in standard notation as he wished? Or do I gently
coerce Sam into forgetting about standard notation, to use his ears, and simply
experiment and record something, anything, using the keyboard? I chose to go
with the latter option. Sam was a sport and pleasantly shrugged his shoulders with
a whatever attitude and went to work. A few minutes later, watching from afar, I
could see that Sam seemed to be enthusiastically playing with the sounds on the
keyboard/synthesizer. When he caught my eye, he beckoned me over excitedly:
“Listen to what I recorded! ” My first hearing revealed what sounded like a messy
conglomerate of several different timbres playing all at once, and then slowly fading
away. “Interesting, Sam! Tell me about it.” “It’s the Mission Impossible theme,” he
replied. I listened again, and sure enough, deep within the tangle of sounds, I could
faintly recognize the Mission Impossible theme song. Sam had used his ear to sound
it out and record it into one of the tracks. Then around that he added the wild
sounds of which he was so enthusiastically proud.
The incident with Sam illustrates several points. First, although Sam was reluctant,
with gentle persuasion he agreed to at least try composing outside of the comfort zone of
what he knew best: standard notation. Once he overcame this hurdle, he never looked
back. Second, this persuasion to get Sam to ignore his eye for notation illustrated how he
really used his ears to come up with a familiar tune while playing around on the keyboard.
Music composition, more than any other music activity, requires the most “ear work” be-
cause of the aural decisions that must be made in order to organize sounds into some ac-
ceptable form. When we add the “eye” distraction, that is, trying to notate on paper what
we hear or wish to hear, we create a barrier to music composition—at least in the begin-
ning stages. Composing music requires careful and creative organization of aural sounds,
whereas notating is a secondary component. I have had several students without any piano
background show a remarkable ability to re-create songs they knew by ear on the keyboard.
They then enjoyed “dressing them up” with accompaniments of different timbres and
rhythms, and so forth. Indeed, sometimes more complex music, such as that created by
young children as well as contemporary composers, is more conducive to nontraditional
notation than standard notation. Of course a long-term goal for composers should be to
learn to write what they hear so that others can play their music through our standard nota-
tion system. However, this should not be the first step toward teaching music composition.
So, as teachers begin to experiment incorporating music composition activities into
their classrooms, I would strongly suggest that they begin without the barrier of standard
notation. Notation will develop as it is needed and/or through other music classroom
learning activities. It should not stand in the way of composing music.
Technology
“Musical creativity owes much to inventions” (Arieti, 1976, p. 239), and the invention of
the computer has spawned tremendous new possibilities for music and music making.
Computer technology is to music composition in the classroom what the phonograph was
to music appreciation just after the turn of the twentieth century. Computer technology
is a tool that can transform the way we teach and the way students learn music. It opens as
many avenues to music composition for our students as the phonograph did for music lis-
tening. As educational technology guru Seymour Papert proclaims, “The computer breaks
down the barriers that traditionally separate the preletterate from the letterate, the con-
crete from the abstract, the bodily from the disembodied” (1993, p. 49).4
Computer music sequencing and notation software,5 along with a keyboard/synthesizer
or other input device, provides learners with a large and varied palette of sounds, from
traditional orchestral instruments to popular instruments to an array of synthesized sounds.
The computer allows users to record and store several ideas at once, and these ideas can then
be varied by pitch, rhythm, duration, timbre, volume, and more. Most significant is that
any recorded idea can be accessed and played back immediately. One no longer has to wait
to have music performed by live humans in order to get feedback on how it sounds. The
computer music workstation provides an entire recording studio at the fingertips of the
young composer!6
A New Music Literacy

Another compelling reason for promoting the use of technology in composition activities
has to do with the new kind of music and music making that relies solely on computer
technology. This new music literacy is one that our students are learning outside of, and
in spite of, the teaching that takes place in our music classrooms. As teachers, we must
somehow connect this new literacy with the “letteracy” that is part of our traditional
music classrooms.
Music technology not only offers more flexible accompaniment, listening, recording,
and music instruction tools for teaching, but there are now new approaches to composi-
tion and improvisation that emulate musical styles in popular culture. The growing collec-
tion of new mixing software imitates approaches to music making by DJs and hip hop
artists by providing tools for mixing (vertically or horizontally) rhythmic sound samples.
Software programs such as Groovemaker, Mixman, GarageBand, and Virtual DeeJay pro-
vide the user (composer) with tools to mix digital music files and add layers of pulsating
rhythmic tracks and “bass tracks” to create completely new compositions. The new remix
approach to composition using computer technology is described in the manual for the
software Mixman:
In recent years there has been a significant amount of hype about electronic music,
remixes, and DJ culture. Record companies have always remixed versions of songs to
breathe new life into them or make them appeal to a specific music market. A slow
ballad might be turned into a stylish dance song. But what is a remix? A remix in
its truest sense is the art of taking elements from an existing song and adding new
musical elements in order to augment or change the feel of the original song. It is
quite common today to find artists that alter the original parts of a song to the point
at which the line between remixing and composing is significantly blurred. As we
approach the new millennium, with software like Mixman Studio, the definition of
DJ, artist, remixer and producer will continue to change and grow. (Mixman Studio
Manual, p. 3-2)
Looping software (software that allows users to pick from predigitized sounds that
can be looped and pasted into layers of tracks) is the most recent type of technology avail-
able for music composition. A quick critique from traditionalists may dismiss this software
as being too easy to turn out rapid or thoughtless compositions. Yet, to do it well—that is,
to create musically expressive compositions—is incredibly difficult for those of us accus-
tomed to thinking about music composition in more traditional ways.
I use computer software and keyboard/synthesizers early and often when I teach music
composition to children and adults. I do not believe it is absolutely necessary, nor even the
panacea for teaching music composition, but I use computer technology whenever I have
the access because of the extra tools it offers me as a teacher. Computer technology pro-
vides a new and exciting avenue of possibilities for opening up the music composition
world to students who are becoming increasingly more computer literate. However, I do
not use it exclusively, nor do I recommend using it exclusively (especially in the beginning
stages). I vary all music composition activities between the use of computer technology
and the use of traditional (and nontraditional) classroom techniques in order to expose
learners to the possibilities of music making in any circumstance. Students will figure out
how to use it and may find the new “literacy” more appealing to their learning styles and
more relevant to their personal cultures. Ideas for music composition technology assign-
ments will be shared in each of the activity chapters that follow.
Assessment
One of the most important yet confounding issues that teachers face when dealing with
music composition in the classroom is that of assessment. Unlike a musical performance,
which is relatively easy to rate in an objective manner, it is difficult to deal objectively with
the subjective art of music composition. Musical performances have, of course, some lee-
way in expressive interpretation, but are mainly judged based on the performer getting the
correct notes, rhythms, key signatures, and so forth. We also have a fairly reliable set of
benchmarks for knowing at what level and capability performers should be for each year
of their experience on an instrument. Because of the lack of music composition teaching
in the schools, there are no benchmark data to aid teachers in assessing the relative success
or failure of students’ music compositions at different grade or experience levels.
For some, there are the questions of not only how to judge subjective work of chil-
dren, but whether one should judge at all. Viktor Lowenfeld, an influential art educator,
philosopher, and researcher, took a nonnegotiable stance against evaluation of students’
visual art in the context of the art classroom:
There should be one place in the school system where marks do not count. The art
room should be a sanctuary against school regulations, where youngsters are free
to be themselves and to put down their ideas and feelings and emotions without
censorship, where they can evaluate their own progress toward their own goals
without the imposition of an arbitrary grading system. (Lowenfeld & Brittain,
1987, p. 176)
One can easily imagine how this stance in visual art could parallel beliefs about evalu-
ating music composition, since a child’s original visual art is similar in its subjectivity to a
child’s original music. As discussed earlier, we know that intrinsic motivation and its role in
creativity presents a complex array of factors involved in establishing the most conducive
environments for creative output. One finding seems consistent, however: giving a reward
for a task (such as a grade) has the potential to be detrimental to the intrinsic motivation
for the task (Deci, Koestner, & Ryan, 2001; Kohn, 1993) as well as the creativity of the
resulting product (Amabile, 1996; Hennessey, 2000; Hennessey & Amabile, 1988). Lowen-
feld’s aversion toward evaluating children’s art may be fair, and the lesson may be that
teachers who want to encourage the most creative output from their students should try to
avoid always giving rewards or evaluative marks for creative work.
On the other hand, it is probably not wise to quickly and simply dismiss assessment
of music composition because of its subjectivity. Assessment comes in many forms and can
aid in the learning process. It can be a nod of approval, a scathing critique, honest feed-
back, an evaluative mark such as a grade or a simple reward for a job well done. Whatever
form we use, it must be used carefully because of the subjective and personal nature of
music composition.
When I first began working with children on music compositions, I often wondered
about the “quality” of the compositions. It seemed random and scattered to me. But with
patience and experience, I eventually learned that my aesthetic and theirs were not only
different, but that we could mutually learn from each other. I also learned that the develop-
ment of “quality” in a music composition is a long, slow process. I have learned to not judge
quickly when I hear a child’s musical composition. Rather, I ask questions to learn more
about their intent. This questioning critique (as opposed to a telling critique), when done
by themselves, their peers, and me will help students develop abilities as lifelong critical
thinkers and self-assessors. We have much to learn in this area and might begin by examin-
ing the work of our peers in visual arts and creative writing (e.g., Calkins, Hartman, &
White, 2005; Reese, 2003; Soep, 1996).
So, rather than dismiss the notion of assessment of music composition altogether, I
hope to offer ideas for teachers who are faced with giving feedback on their students’ music
compositions. In this discussion I come back to the continuum of feedback presented in
figure 2.1 that can range from evaluative (rating the quality either in relation to others or a
standard benchmark) to nonevaluative feedback (simply describing what we hear without
“good” or “bad” implied). Feedback need not always be evaluative but should provide ob-
jective information in order to help students develop their own critical skills and growth
as musicians. Students likely realize when the feedback they receive is honest:
Some compositions are simply not as successful as others, and children know this
as well as the adults who teach them. Just as some paintings or stories show more
imagination than others, so too do the musical creations of children. It would be
a mistake to treat all compositions in the same way, and this is apparent to children
as well as to the adults with whom they may share their works. (Upitis, 1992,
p. 32)
One reason for the difficulty of assessing musical compositions is that composing
music is an inherently subjective act—beauty lies in the ears of different beholders. How-
ever, recent research has shown that music teachers can come into a reasonable agreement
as to what is a good composition and what is not (Bangs, 1992; Brinkman, 1999; Hickey,
1995, 2001). This research on “consensual assessment” shows that given a variety of chil-
dren’s musical compositions, groups of teachers are able to consistently agree as to which
compositions are the most creative, most appealing, or most technically solid.7 This is not
to say that teachers need to get a panel of judges together every time they want to assess
musical compositions, but I mention it in order to boost teachers’ confidence that they
indeed have the musical ability to tell a more “successful” composition from another. I
often meet teachers who are reluctant to try music composition in their classroom because
they feel unprepared to give feedback. Music teachers’ musical background and training
provides all of the necessary tools for making accurate and thoughtful comments about
their students’ compositions.
Feedback as Assessment
The most productive first approach to assessment is simple observation of, questioning
about, and subsequent reflection on various components of both the compositional pro-
cess as well as the final product. The first step is to begin with a question to find out what
the student intends in his/her music composition. In the process of conferring with stu-
dents on their creative writing, Calkins (Calkins, Hartman, & White, 2005) labels this
first step research. “Observe and interview to try to understand what the child is trying to
do as a writer. Probe to glean more about the child’s intentions” (Calkins et al., p. 7). It is
easy for us to leap to conclusions about a child’s music composition—often using our con-
servatory trained ears as benchmarks—when in fact a child may have a completely differ-
ent idea as to why he or she made a particular musical decision in a composition. Learning
of their intention before critiquing shows children that we respect them as composers, and
will help us guide the creative process in a much more respectful manner.
Reese (2003) surveyed research on composers and from art and poetry educators to
come up with these ideas regarding feedback on artwork:
• Observe carefully, and know students’ music well before offering critiques.
• Encourage students to find solutions to musical problems on their own; help them
discover how other composers may have addressed problems similar to ones they are
having.
• Use a systematic approach to description of the work, and delay interpretation or
judgment.
• When changing or adding to a student’s music, offer incremental changes based
directly on the student’s musical ideas.
• Help students who are stuck by varying one of their ideas or by offering incomplete
portions of music to extend.
• Validate students’ work through genuine responses because these are inherently
valuable even when they do not contain detailed comments.
• Use a facilitative approach to help students find their own composing interests in
addition to a didactic approach, which gives direct suggestions on changes that could
or should be made in the music.
Hickey and Reese (2001) developed a guideline for new teachers for evaluating their
assessment of feedback on their students’ compositions. The traits of good feedback in-
clude the following:
• Positive feedback should be specific to the composition or composition process, rather

than general (“empty”).
• The critique of any weak areas in the composition should be specific.
• Feedback should include clear analysis/description of the important musical elements
of the composition.
• Feedback should provide musical (and/or technical) terms that are appropriate for the
age level of the composer.
• Feedback should contain specific suggestions for change if necessary.
• Any suggestions for change should be musically appropriate for the composition.
• Suggestions for change should be appropriate for the age level of the composer.
• The feedback should contain effective devices to communicate imaginatively about
suggestions or the piece as a whole, for example humor, metaphors, analogies, expres-
sive language.
Though these suggestions may seem like common sense, they are useful as reminders for
providing quality feedback to student composers.
The process that a young creator goes through can be guided and helped along, just as
the resulting product can be commented on in relation to others that the child has done.
The next step after research is to examine the processes and products of composition. The
following paragraphs offer suggestions for providing proper feedback to young composers
in both the process stage as well as the final product.
Process Feedback
As in all educational endeavors, and especially in more subjective areas such as visual art,
creative writing, or music composition, appraising the process toward a goal can be as en-
lightening as evaluating the final product. In creative writing, several typologies for the
writing process have been developed to aid teachers in stimulating and guiding students’
creative products. A useful process typology, applied by Tsisserev (1997) to analyze music
composition processes of high school students, was borrowed from the creative writing
literature (Hillocks, 1975) and may prove helpful for teachers to use with music composi-
tions (see figure 2.2).
The process categories that Tsisserev applies to music composition are idea genera-
tion, idea development/expansion, idea organization, and idea expression. The composer
begins by generating his or her ideas, inspired by any myriad of stimuli (including teacher
instruction). The “idea” may be a simple short musical motif, or it might be a grand sound-
scape inspired by a sunset. At this point, a teacher may help by asking questions about
Composition Process:
Idea Generation Idea Development Idea Final
or expansion Organization Expression (Product)
Teacher Feedback:
Offer alternatives Provide choices for Assist in Discuss expressive
development or musical/technical interpretations
variation issues
FIGURE 2.2 Music Composition Process Points for Teacher Feedback
potential alternatives such as pictures or stories or colors. The idea then moves on to the
next level, where it is expanded upon and developed into longer and more complex ideas.
Here, a teacher might aid by asking about students’ choices for development or variation,
or by prompting the composer to reflect on the development process he or she chooses.
The composer then organizes his or her ideas by creating patterns, repeating motifs, trans-
posing, and rearranging into a more complete whole. Students who struggle at this point
can be aided by teacher guidance on more technical matters. Finally, the composer applies
his or her final touches to a composition in order to help communicate the expressive qual-
ities that are intended. It is at this stage, Tsisserev points out, that the composer relies most
on his or her overall musical knowledge and decision-making ability. Teacher awareness
of each of these stages of the composition process may help make feedback to student com-
posers most fruitful.
Product Assessment
There are several criteria that one could use when assessing musical compositions. One is to
examine the effectiveness of each of the musical elements (e.g., melody, rhythm, texture,).
Another is to check the completeness of the assignment task or the appropriateness of the
writing for the instrument for which a composition is written. It is also important to con-
sider (and teach young composers to consider) the larger, more general aspects of music
composition such as the overall creativeness, craftsmanship, and aesthetic appeal of a final
composition. These more general criteria are important in order to show that they are val-
ued, to encourage more holistic and creative thinking, and to keep a sense of artistry in the
composition process.
Bringing to light the subjective qualities such as creativity or aesthetic appeal also
stimulates healthy discussion among students. For example, why might we call something
aesthetically appealing yet not creative? Can an object that is aesthetically appealing be one
that we do not like? Can music be creative but not appealing? An awareness of, and ability
to reflect upon, these larger qualities of art will lead to more critical musical thought by
our students as they develop as composers. One way to highlight the areas of creativity,
aesthetic appeal, and craftsmanship in a music composition is through a rubric designed to
define these words.
Rubrics
An extremely effective device for offering feedback to students is a rubric. An assessment
rubric is a scoring tool that lists criteria or components to be evaluated along with descrip-
tors for each of these components. The descriptors for each component often provide three
or four gradient levels of quality that range from best to worst. The rubric components
and their corresponding descriptors should be closely related to the assignment task and
therefore unique to each assignment and context. The connection of an assignment to an
assessment rubric will not only help students understand the assignment expectations, but
it will also clearly inform teachers of students’ progress and understanding. So rather than
giving a single (and often seemingly subjective and mysterious) grade upon completion of
a composition assignment, an assessment rubric should be given with a composition as-
signment so that both teachers and students are aware of the expectations for a successful
composition.
The following steps are suggested for setting up composition assignments and corre-
sponding assessment rubrics:
1. Determine the components of the end product that are most important for the objec-
tives of that assignment (e.g., number of measures, use of rhythms, specific tonal cen-
ter). Delineate three to five of these components for the assessment rubric (too many
will feel overwhelming; too few will not provide enough feedback).
2. Write down, as explicitly as possible, those characteristics of each component that are
deemed most positive and those characteristics that are the opposite—either by lack-
ing in positive characteristics or because of low quality. These descriptions should be
brief and concise.
3. Place these two descriptions at opposite ends of a “quality line.”
4. Work to fill in the middle rubric descriptions between the two end points by describ-
ing these qualities.
As mentioned previously, a combination of specific components with more general

components such as creativeness, craftsmanship, and aesthetic appeal should be used to
encourage the latter. A rubric for the following assignment is offered as an example in fig-
ure 2.3.
Compose a melody (or rhythm) that is in rondo form. Your “A” theme should be at
least 4 measures long. Create at least two other themes. Be sure that you can play or
sing your melody, and that it is interesting and something that you like when you
are finished. You should revise it as often as necessary until you are satisfied. Your
completed composition should be at least 20 measures long.
Peer Assessment
A very powerful means of learning through assessment is allowing opportunities for peer
critique. This requires the development of a classroom culture in which listening and peer
critique are done thoughtfully and sensitively. Students might have a composing buddy
with whom they consistently share, critique and help with each other’s compositions. Peri-
odic performance days might be set aside in which student composers perform their com-
positions, even in rough stages, in order to get helpful feedback from their peers. The use
of a simple feedback form for listening to and critiquing peer compositions works well for
older students. Teachers can serve as models by composing along with students and asking
them for feedback as well. Peer assessment is a powerful learning tool for all involved and
is highly recommended for teaching music composition.
Quality
Components: Needs work Terrific!

Correct rondo No formal There is a clear 4 The form of the
form structure. measure theme, composition is
and one other clearly Rondo
theme. Not in form with 2 other
rondo form, themes—
however. ABACA.
Appropriate The composition The composition The composition The composition
writing for the is written outside is written within is written within falls within the
instrument of the practical the practical the practical proper range of
range of the range of the range of the the instrument,
instrument it is instrument. instrument. Only and is
written for. However there 1 or 2 technically performable for
are too many awkward this level of
difficult passages passages for this proficiency.
for this level level player.
player.
Creativity This composition This composition This composition This composition
is not original (it is original, but is original and is completely
was composed does not contain provides some original and
before). any interesting interest. provides
features. interesting
features for the
listener.
FIGUR E 2. 3 Rubric Sample
Some General Assessment Guidelines

The more specific we can be with students about what it is we want, the more we can assess
whether they get it or not. But we should not formally evaluate or even casually assess ev-
erything that our students create. Research on children’s creativity supports the notion that
intrinsic motivation and creativity can be squelched when the prospect of evaluation is im-
minent.8 Therefore music composition should not always be approached as an assignment
to be completed and graded, but more as an ongoing activity in which students are given
opportunities and time to experiment with the manipulation and organization of musical
sound. Students should be encouraged to compose, edit, revise, and doodle with their mu-
sical ideas as often as possible and then keep their sketches as well as final compositions in
their own personal “portfolios” (much like visual artists keep sketches and drafts). Students
should have the opportunity and privacy to compose and keep drafts for nobody’s ears but
their own. Portfolio organization and assessment may be most conducive to this approach,
as students can choose works for teachers to judge and keep works not to be judged.
Assessment, critique, and evaluation of our students’ musical compositions need not
be a negative or squelching act, but one in which dialogue and learning take place between
students and teachers in an ongoing reflective and growing process. The ultimate goal is for
our students to be their own best judges of their creative endeavors.
Composing in Ensembles
Are we asking our students to be creative in our band, orchestra, or choir rehearsals? Are
we allowing them to “color outside of the lines, and paint by any number they want”? Do
we ever let them take charge from the podium? Too often, and for obvious reasons, all of
the musical decision-making processes are left up to the conductor. Students who partake
in performance ensembles as part of their school music education are rarely asked to make
aesthetic or creative musical decisions.
It is essential to understand how the benefits of composition activities can actually
enhance students’ understanding of music and therefore enrich the overall ensemble expe-
rience. Although the following learning opportunities likely can happen while performing
and listening to music, composition and improvisation offer rich avenues as well.
Composition and improvisation
• provide authentic and powerful ways to assess student knowledge;

• provide the most direct route to teaching musical concepts;
• provide a powerful means for ear training;
• provide a fun and creative vehicle for teaching notation;
• reveal otherwise untapped talents, often in our least suspected students; and
• provide a unique “way in” and, therefore, deeper understanding of music than would
be reached through performing only.
But how can we possibly teach music composition to an unwieldy group of students
holding instruments? Starting with beginners, I would suggest that any new concept that
is being taught should be composed. Once students learn two notes, ask them to compose
a short composition for their instrument using these two notes. The students will likely
practice their original compositions more than the music in their method books. As stu-
dents progress and learn more concepts, have them compose the concepts they are learning
(e.g., ask students to compose in 6/8 time when first learning 6/8 time). If working with a
large group, collect short compositions, enter them into a computer notation program and
transpose for all to play. Warm up by sight reading students’ compositions. Students’ desire
to create music for their peers will be great, and the satisfaction greater than they might get
by playing the trite music often presented in beginning instrument books. The ownership
that students have invested in the music they write is a natural motivator. Students may also
enjoy composing using music notation software.
Once students are no longer beginners and are playing or singing in large ensembles
in middle or high school grades, I suggest that teachers create composition activities in-
spired by the music they are performing. Using the usual analysis for score study, ask the
questions, “What about each of these elements lends itself to a composition activity?” and
“What compositional technique did the composer use that might be easy for my students to
try?” Figure 2.4 provides the types of analysis questions one might ask when going through
MELODIC ANALYSIS:
HARMONIC ANALYSIS: • Compose shape of melody

• Use composerʼs device on familiar melody
• Blues-like? Improvise • Compose variation of melody
• Simple chords? Compose
melody to chord progression
• Improvise warm-up
RHYTHMIC ANALYSIS: Ensemble OTHER?

Literature:
• Ostinato? Compose At the center of • Compose warm-up in key of
new piece
creative
• Improvise rhythm • Compose in historic or
• Compose warm-up Composition & composer style
using rhythm Improvisation • Compose using dynamic
Activities form of piece
FORM ANALYSIS:
STYLE ANALYSIS:
• Theme & Variation?
• Compose large concepts
Compose a variation
(tension & release &
• Add new coda
balance)
• AABA? Compose a
• Program music?
new “B” section
Compose new idea
th
• 20 Century techniques?
Create new notation
FIGURE 2.4 Compositional Analysis of Ensemble Literature
a score to see if there is anything exceptional about the compositional technique that would
be worth trying with the students in order to develop a greater understanding of the score.
It becomes a matter of analyzing the music from the perspective of the composer
to see whether there is any device that would work as a compositional tool. This does not
work in all ensemble music. However, when one discovers a compositional device to use as
an example for a student activity, then it can only enhance the students’ musical awareness
and appreciation for their ensemble music. Specific lessons for composing in ensemble are
included in each of the activities at the end of chapters 3 through 7.
So Where Do We Begin?
I have had so many teachers ask me, “How do you begin to get students to compose?” Al-
though there is no “right” answer, as I’ve worked with students on music composition over
the years, and struggled to find the “perfect” approach for getting students to start compos-
ing, I simultaneously read and learned from literature on teaching visual art and creative
writing. I came across the sensational work of Lucy McCormick Calkins, who has virtually
defined the contemporary “rules” for teaching creative writing to students.9 I find that her
“writing workshop” approach aligns with the principles that work best when teaching “cre-
ative writing” in music (music composition) to students.
One of the most helpful ideas from this writing workshop approach tackles the prob-
lem of how to start (this is also related to the issue of open versus closed assignment param-
eters, which was addressed previously). In the writing workshop approach, as well as in my
favorite composition texts by Paynter (1992) and Vella (2003), the stimulus for composing
begins with a problem. But whose problem? is often the question. Should the teacher pose
the problem, in the form of a carefully articulated assignment? Or should the problem
come from the child? A landmark study of visual artists by Getzels and Csikszentmihalyi
in 1976 found that problem finding was a hallmark of the most creative artists. The most
creative individuals tend to find the problem themselves; that is, they begin creative proj-
ects by choosing what parameters to set for themselves. Whether they’re working on a
composition, a painting, a play, or a plan for a building, “problem finders” seek to define
the problem themselves and then begin to “solve” it.
I have found that asking students to “find the problem” by challenging them to “com-
pose anything you want,” tends to paralyze older students who have been trained to follow
specific directions given to them by teachers throughout their schooling. Calkins (1983)
confirms this notion in her writings about guiding creative writing with children. As teach-
ers, we probably need to provide the “problem” for our students (although if given the
chance to compose early and often in their music education, students with creative musical
interests may begin composing on their own—finding their own problems—soon after they
start to get it), as well as provide freedom for students to define their own.
One of the most motivating types of creative writing or creative music composition
prompts is to give students an assignment that allows them to express that which is impor-
tant to their lives. Therefore, one of the first I assignments I give is to ask students to think
of a place that is meaningful to them and then to compose a musical scenery that depicts
the sounds (or feelings) in that place. One student decided to compose a song about the
police knocking on his neighbors’ doors to arrest a murderer in a ghetto of Chicago,
whereas another (in the same class of boys) wrote a composition for meditation because he
had recently learned about how to meditate when he was angry. Experiment with a variety
of prompts, such as those listed in table 2.2, to discover which work best for a particular
individual or group of students. Each of these prompts brings to life real situations for stu-
dents that give them enough freedom to create something that is real to them—something
that inspires them.
After starting the process, we might then talk about compositions in terms of form, or
I might introduce a new composition prompt that deals with musical form. I then move to
the musical elements to help guide and shape the compositional process. After spending some
time working on more detailed ideas (even notation perhaps), such as melody or rhythm, I
move on to the bigger elements of “unity and variety,” “tension and release,” and “balance.”
TABLE 2.2 Potential Music Composition Prompts
• Compose a musical scenery to depict a place (real or imaginary).

• Compose music to accompany a story (fiction or nonfiction).
• Compose music inspired by a painting (abstract or realistic).
• Compose music that is a signature for your identity.
• Compose music to depict a mood (now or in a specific situation).
• Compose music to depict a color(s) or shape(s).
• Compose music that describes your childhood.
A Composition Curriculum Structure

Figure 2.5 provides a structure that I have found to be successful for initiating and then
organizing a flow of composition activities for students. The white arrows show the specific
concepts that I follow in order:
1. Define, Listen, and Explore

2. Compositional Prompts (Inspiration and Identity)
3. Form
4. Musical Elements
5. Big Elements
One could move through the sequence in different ways, as long as the “Define, Listen, and
Explore” concept is always approached first, followed by the “Composition Prompts.” The
gray arrows in the structure offer alternative routes to activities once the first two areas are
explored.
Regardless of which sequence is used, teaching composition should move through
each of these areas in a spiral manner: that is, upon completion of the entire sequence at
one skill level, one would begin again and move through the sequence at a more sophisti-
cated level. One cycle through the entire structure could take anywhere from 3 weeks to
4 years, depending upon the amount of time and depth of experiences devoted to music
composition in instruction. For example, this structure could provide the basis for a cur-
riculum that spans 3 years in a middle school, or the course of a 1-semester secondary
general music class, or repeated several times in spiral fashion over 6 years of an elementary
music program.
Each component of the curriculum structure is explained briefly below, and more
detail about each section is provided in the subsequent chapters.
Define, Listen and Explore: Chapter 3

At a beginning, general stage, students work to define music and music composition. Ex-
posure to a wide variety of music and developing critical listening skills are important.
Students then begin exploring sounds and becoming aware of sounds in the environment.
Define, Listen & Explore
Compositional Prompts
Inspiration & Identity
Big
Elements
Form Unity/Variety
Tension/Release
Balance
Musical
Elements
Pitch
Rhythm
Timbre
Texture
Density
FIGURE 2 .5 Composition Curriculum Structure
Composition Prompts: Inspiration and Identity: Chapter 4

What inspires you? How can you channel that into musical form? What musical voice
shapes your own identity? Perhaps the greatest reason for creating in the arts is also the
greatest motivator and inspiration for getting started: the meaningful events in our daily
lives. There is no simpler way to get children composing than to have them create sounds
inspired by important people, places, or events in their lives.
Form: Chapter 5
Form is the essence of music and of life. In this section, ideas are shared that help students
understand an awareness of form in music by composing in different forms.
Musical Elements: Chapter 6

This section provides more specific and carefully prescribed assignments that focus on the
elements we use to describe Western/tonal music, such as melody, harmony, texture, rhythm,
and timbre.
Big Elements: Chapter 7

It is the “big” elements of tension/release, unity/variety, and balance that make music in-
teresting. This section focuses on these elements through composition assignments that
use them explicitly.
Suggestions for Organization of Composition Activities

The units in the curriculum model were developed based on ideas gleaned from research
literature on creative thinking, as well as through my own practice and experience teaching
music composition to children. They are offered as guides for teachers to begin to experi-
ment with music composition with their students and perhaps find more effective or rele-
vant steps to follow in their own teaching. I hope that this guide provides more inspiration
than prescription!
As students work their way through the organizational scheme and composition ex-
ercises, a portfolio routine should be established. Students should be encouraged to keep a
collection of all of their musical ideas, as they might collect sketches for a painting or ideas
for a story. Musical ideas could be stored in a composition notebook, on a CD, or in a
folder on the computer. Periodically ask students to return to their portfolio or collection
of previously composed musical ideas to see whether something works for a new assign-
ment. Just as the great composers keep notebooks of musical sketches, so too should chil-
dren, as a way of observing their own progress and storing musical ideas on which to de-
velop. This also helps establish the attitude that first tries on any compositional assignment
do not have to be perfect. The process of brainstorming and messing around with many
ideas before finding the right one is more important than finding the perfect product.
TABLE 2.3 Lesson Activities by Chapter
Four:
Composition
Three: Define, Prompts:
Listen and Inspiration Five: Form in Six: Musical Seven: Big
Explore and Identity Music Elements Elements
Beginner Found sound Who are Same-change- Compose a Theme and

compositions you? different melody variation
Intermediate Sound Inspired by Beginnings and Applause! Perform my
spaces an event endings and in Graphic artwork
between notation
Advanced Prose Memory Song form Adding More with
composition pages harmony to less:
melodies minimalism
Technology Favorite Sound- Building blocks Chord fun Ostinato
sounds scapes
Ensemble Just scribble! Exploration SCAMPER Melody Aleatoric
etude writing for an music
instrument
Other A listening Arts inspire Multimovement Sound Movie
journal together composition textures soundtrack
The chapters that follow focus on each of the components of the organizational
structure shown in figure 2.5. Each chapter begins with discussion about the component
and offers ideas for getting students to be more explicitly aware of that component. The
second half of each chapter presents sample music composition exercises that apply the
chapter focus. There are exercises for beginning, intermediate, and advanced composition
levels, music technology, performance ensembles, and “other” miscellaneous composition
assignments. It is important to note that beginning, intermediate, and advanced does not
apply to grade level, but to composition experience level. The organization and titles of the
lesson activities are shown in table 2.3.
The goal of the next five chapters is to provide readers with a variety of ideas for get-
ting students to compose music in various teaching situations through the concepts out-
lined in the figure 2.5. I hope that these lessons will stimulate hundreds of more ideas for
teaching composition in music studios and classrooms.
3
Define, Listen, and Explore

We are surrounded by all kinds of sounds that are just waiting to be made into
music.
J O H N P AY N T E R , Sound and Structure
Big
Elements
Form Unity/Variety
Tension/Release
Balance
Musical
Elements
Pitch
Rhythm
Timbre
Texture
Density
DEFINE, LISTEN, AND E X P L O R E | 41
One of the first steps in the process of music composition involves setting the groundwork
for musical creativity. This means establishing an open, flexible, and curiosity-supporting
atmosphere in the classroom by providing time for exploration of many sounds. And it is
at this first stage that I suggest we begin by challenging students with such questions as,
what is music? And what does it mean to compose music? Music composition experiences
should start with defining, exploring, and listening in order to raise awareness about music
and contribute to a solid foundation for composing.
In this chapter I begin by sharing ideas for defining music and music composition,
discuss activities for music listening, and conclude with a focus on musical exploration.
Although they are presented here sequentially, it is best to think of defining, listening, and
exploring as intertwined strands in the first stage of music composition rather than as sepa-
rate and/or consecutive steps.
Define
What is music? This question often stops students in their tracks, especially when it comes
from me, their music teacher. What do you mean, “What is music?” Everybody knows
what music is! “Well,” I continue to prod, “then what is it?” This question presents a mul-
titude of possible answers and leads to lively classroom debate. It also compels students to
focus, often for the first time, on defining the art form in which they are about to create. A
secondary benefit of this question is that it allows students to break from their sometimes
narrow conceptions about what music really is.
Initially children tend to define music in familiar generic terms, such as “the songs we
hear on the radio” or the “songs we learn in music class,” or, if related to music theory they
have been learning, as the “notes of the scale put together.” These are often categories they
view as quite distinct. Children consider “music class music” to be in a category different
from the “real music” they hear in their everyday life. And, importantly, they think that
composing music is something that only a few exceptional (often long dead) individuals do
(or did). Music and its creation, when viewed in this limited sense, seem far removed from
children’s ordinary worlds and especially from their potential identity as composers.
This narrow view of music and composing becomes more entrenched as children
progress through music education programs that emphasize note reading and/or perfor-
mance, features that I believe contribute to the typical increasing reluctance of students to
compose as they advance through school. Very young children, or those with less experi-
ence in school music or formal music lessons, are much more responsive to the possibility
of being able to compose than experienced or older students. Changing their perception of
music from what somebody else creates to something anybody can create will produce
open-minded learners and composers. That is the goal of pondering the question of “What
is music?”
A fun way to start a music year, or music unit on composition then, is to begin by
asking: What is music? What is music composition? What is the difference between music
and noise? Can only humans make music?1 Can noise be considered music? Draw stu-
dents’ awareness to the sounds (and noises) around them and how these are put together
(and who put them together) and why we call some sounds music and others just noise.
Listen to a wide variety of recordings to stimulate a discussion toward a class definition of
music. Offer the following thought as a start for a useful discussion:
Any sound can be a material used in music making. If a sound is conceived of

as music, then it is music. Generally when a judge bangs his gavel it is not a mu-
sical gesture, but exactly the same gesture or sound could be part of music if it
was conceived as such. The person who uses a sound as a musical statement is
the only possible judge of whether it is musically valid or not. (Stevens, 2007,
p. 2)
A Definition
After much discussion and listening to wide variety of musics, I share my favorite defini-
tion of music and music composition with students. This definition is broad, yet pinpoints
the essence of music and composition, and makes sense to students of all ages:
Music is organized patterns of sounds and silences, created by a human composer, to

be expressive. Sounds can be high/low (pitch or melody), fast/slow (rhythm), loud/
soft (dynamics), short/long (durations), and have different timbres. Composition is
organizing musical sounds into logical, interesting, feelingful form.
With plenty of discussion, listening, and brainstorming activities, most students will come
to these definitions, or close to them. Once students understand that music composition
is simply the act of organizing sounds into a logical form, they begin to see themselves as
capable composers.
Listen
As mentioned previously, it is critical to provide students with a wide and contrasting vari-
ety of music listening experiences. Music listening will undoubtedly and positively affect
students’ music understanding and composition abilities. As Bernstein pointed out, “All
musicians write their music in terms of all of the music that preceded them” (1966, p. 271).
Not only is an exposure to a wide variety of music beneficial, but using a variety of music to
move beyond passive listening in the classroom is even better. Perceptive listening is the key
to better musical understanding as well as more informed music composition skills. We
need to help students listen in meaningful ways as they begin to explore their unique world
of music composition.
In the book What to Listen for in Music (1985/1939), Aaron Copland provides a
useful guide to describe different planes, or levels, of listening experiences. The first, and
least complicated, approach to listening is on the sensuous plane. At this basic level, the
most common for listeners, we listen to music simply for the pleasure of listening. In the
second, expressive plane, listeners consciously relate to the music because of the feelings
that it evokes. Copland wisely cautions that this does not mean there are specific and cor-
rect meanings or feelings associated with pieces of music. Rather, there are general feelings
that each of us experience when listening to music expressively because of our personal life
circumstances around music. Raising students’ awareness of the kinds of feelings that are
evoked for them when listening (and pointing out that each of us may have different feel-
ings) helps to move them to this second plane. The third, and most sophisticated, plane of
listening is what Copland terms the sheerly musical plane. Here one is drawn to the specifics
of the composer’s manipulation of the musical elements. It is at this level that one listens
perceptively and musical understanding is enhanced. For student composers, listening at
the level of the musical plane adds to their subconscious repertoire of tools for their own
composing. As teachers, we want to move students to listen at that musical level.
The following listening lesson provides an activity that can lead to refined definitions
of music as well as raise awareness of the wide variety of possible music. The recordings
selected for this lesson are intentionally very different in order to illustrate the point of the
lesson. Virtually any music can be used as long as it presents a drastically wide and varied
range of styles, including music that is very contemporary (e.g., atonal, arrhythmic, or com-
puter generated).
Lesson: What Is Music? What Is Music Composition?

Materials: Paper and pencils and the following musical recordings:
• “Idle Chatter” (track 1) from Paul Lansky’s CD More than Idle Chatter. The record-
ings on this CD are computer generated from human voices. Upon first listening to
“Idle Chatter,” it is very difficult to ascertain what (or who) is actually creating the
music.
• Any Beethoven or other classical symphonic music (I often use Beethoven’s 5th
Symphony because it is instantly recognized by most students).
• “Ridiculous” from the soundtrack to Leaving Las Vegas. This is the solo voice of actor
Nicholas Cage singing a silly verse. It begins with background sounds as the movie set
prepares for a take, the bell rings, somebody yells “Rolling,” and then Cage begins to
sing. At what point do we have “music”?
• “Money” on the Pink Floyd album Dark Side of the Moon. This track begins with the
sound of a cash register, which highlights the use of nonmusical instruments in a music
composition.
• “Thung Kwian Sunrise” is the first track on the CD Thai Elephant Orchestra, which
indeed is performed by elephants. This track sounds very much like peaceful Asian
gamelan music and stimulates, of course, some wonderful discourse about what it
means to compose.
Procedure
1. Prepare students by telling them you will be playing five musical excerpts with the ul-
timate goal for them to determine the commonalities among all of them in order to
come up with a definition of music and a definition of music composition. Ask them
to listen to each excerpt and to write notes about what they hear (mostly to remember
for discussion after hearing all of the excerpts).
2. Play each of the selections for approximately 1–2 minutes.
3. Organize students into small groups to discuss the music they heard, and ultimately
come up with a definition of music and music composition that would encompass all
of the selections.
4. Share the definitions from the groups, and discuss the definitions.
5. Reveal the titles and performers of the musical selections to lead to more discussion
about what is means to compose music and what a music composition is (these prompts
do not have right answers necessarily, but open up rich avenues for discussion).
6. Come together with an agreed upon class definition of music and music composition to
set the foundation for continued exploration as composition.
Sensitivity to Sounds
Composer Pauline Oliveros has dedicated a lifetime of work and energy toward the study
of what she labels deep listening. She has created several musical exercises (and composi-
tions) that revolve around careful, thoughtful, quiet, deep listening. Deep listening “cul-
tivates appreciation of sounds on a heightened level, expanding the potential for connec-
tion and interaction with one’s environment, technology and performance with others in
music and related arts” (downloaded from http://www.deeplistening.org/site/about,
March 23, 2010). In the current noise-polluted and overstimulated environment that sur-
rounds us all, it is useful (and refreshing) to take time to simply stop and listen. Careful,
dedicated, deep listening (that is, sitting in silence for long stretches of time) will not only
enhance our students’ sensitivity to the sounds around them, but bring them to the third
level of listening described by Copland—the sheerly musical plane—in a much more mean-
ingful way.
Oliveros’s book Deep Listening: A Composer’s Sound Practice (2005) provides thought-
ful exercises for musicians to improve their listening awareness. Sonic Meditations (Olive-
ros, 1974) contains twenty-five “prose compositions” that aid performers in listening more
carefully and deeply to sounds around them. Children and adults of all skill levels and ages
can use these and the other exercises to develop their listening awareness.
Listening maps provide another useful exercise for heightening students’ listening
abilities. Work by Kerchner (2000), Dunn (1997), and Blair (2007) provides interesting
exercises for teachers to enhance students’ musical understanding and perception of music
by creating maps as they listen to music.
Listening Journals
A crucial piece of the listening puzzle is to have students keep a listening journal to raise
students’ awareness of all of the sounds and music that surround them on a daily basis and
to make them conscious of the ways in which they listen to these.2 Ask students to be con-
scious of sounds in their environment, ranging from ambient noises to the favorite music
they listen to on their music devices, and to keep track of these sound experiences in listen-
ing journals. Ask them to think and write about how these sounds could be incorporated
into a musical composition. An extension of a listening journal activity is to have students
take turns with a small handheld recorder (or use their own cell phones) to capture a col-
lection of daily sounds in their home environments and to share these with classmates. This
activity could be finished by having students actually compose by organizing recorded
sounds in a digital music software program such as Audacity (lesson 3D describes this com-
position lesson).
All of the listening activities should include discussion about what makes some of
the sounds music, some noise, and how any of them might be used in a music composition.
Heightened listening should continually contribute to students’ repertoire and palette of
musical possibilities as they develop into composers.
Aural Imagination
Although the previous discussions are about the external listening experience and devel-
oping sensitivity to all sounds, another kind of listening experience is the inner listening,
or aural imagination. In the 1960s and 1970s, composer R. Murray Schafer created several
wonderful “ear cleaning” exercises that were designed to stimulate the hearing imagina-
tion. The Thinking Ear (Schafer, 1986) provides a wealth of music listening and creating
activities for teachers. A Sound Education (Schafer, 1992) provides “100 exercises in listen-
ing and sound-making” (p. 3). Both Schafer and Oliveros provide rich resources for teach-
ers who want to expand the listening perception and listening imagination of their music
students—a first and important step toward imaginative music composition.
I raise students’ awareness of the power of their aural imagination through a tech-
nique called SCAMPER, which was first conceived by Alex Osborne. Bob Eberle (1996)
created several SCAMPER games and activities to help improve children’s imaginative abil-
ity in a book titled Scamper: Games for Imagination Development. The acronym SCAMPER
is illustrated in figure 3.1.
Before doing a musical SCAMPER activity, introduce students to the concept of see-
ing, smelling, and hearing with their imaginations. To do this, ask students to close their
eyes and try to imagine a place they’ve recently visited with family or friends. Then request
that they “nod” when they can imagine this place using their imaginations. “Can you see
the colors around you?” “Can you smell the smells”? (If not, ask them to visualize a zoo
and imagine the smells of the elephant barn!) Finally ask, “Can you hear the sounds in this
place? Are they loud? Soft ?” and so forth.

Unanimous nodding will ensure that stu-
dents understand how to “image” with all
S ...ubstitute
of their senses. Next, take them through C ...ombine
an extended visualization activity such as A ...dapt
the following example taken from the Eb- M ...odify
erle book (1996) called “Sticks.” It begins
as follows:
...agnify
...inify
• Take a stick about as long as your P ...ut to other
arm . . . uses
E ...liminate
• Make it an old, weatherworn stick
with the bark off . . .
• Make it crooked with knots in it . . . R ...everse
• Make it rough . . . ...earrange
• Make it gray . . .
• Do you have it? FI G U R E 3. 1 SCAMPER
• All right. Hold it out at arm’s length
and pretend that it’s a snake . . .
(Eberle, 1996, p. 22)
And so on; the activity continues working the visual imagination until the stick ends
up as a spotlight rotating with colored jewels on it. Create a variation on this idea by devel-
oping a SCAMPER exercise with music. Ask students to close their eyes and to imagine
hearing the song “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” (or any song that would be familiar to
them). Again, after receiving a nod that the can imagine it, have them imagine this tune
played very slow and very soft and very low by a tuba. Try to hear it played by a high, fast,
and loud trumpet. How about a marching band playing “Twinkle Twinkle” as it marches
down the street? Or a noisy rock band? And so on. Now the fun part. Ask the students to
go back to hearing “Twinkle Twinkle” with just a piano playing. Now try to hear it back-
ward. Upside down? Whether or not our students are able to literally hear a backward
version of “Twinkle Twinkle” is not as important as them just messing around with musical
sounds in their imaginations.3 End these exercises by explaining that the ability to imagine
sounds in different ways is an important skill of music composers who must think about
the sounds they want to use in their music compositions.
Another aural imagination exercise I often do with students is to ask them to think
about and conjure up the sounds they were hearing 24 hours previously (or 2 hours or
2 days). They sit quietly and slowly bring into their aural imagination the sounds from a
place that they were previously. Next I may ask them to share one or two of their favorite
sounds—either by creating them vocally or with body sounds, or on a given instrument.
Extensions of this include improvising as a class with the sounds they imagined or breaking
into groups and composing a composition with group members’ imagined sounds realized
with their voice or on instruments. The ability to imagine and manipulate sounds in one’s
aural imagination is important for musical growth and skill in music composition.
Explore
Because sound is the essence of one’s musical composition palette, students should spend
time listening to and exploring all the possibilities of sounds, be it from a solitary instru-
ment, the sounds on the playground, or from the vast possibilities within the electronics of
a MIDI synthesizer. As they explore sounds, they develop more perceptive listening skills,
and with developed listening skills, sound exploration becomes more meaningful. The rich
exploration of sounds should be a process that never ends. The most successful composers
spend considerable time exploring the sound possibilities available in their palettes before
making compositional decisions.
Explore all of the sound sources in the classroom that are not instruments. How can
they be made into music? How can they make sounds that are different? Explore the infi-
nite variety of sound possibilities from classroom instruments. Listen to the ways we can
change the marimba sound by using different parts of the mallet or striking different parts
of the instrument. As students explore, facilitate learning by using descriptors such as high
and low, fast and slow, loud and soft, and timbre for different sounds. Eventually students
should build a musical vocabulary of the words we use to describe sounds.
Gladys Moorhead and Donald Pond (1978/1951) completed a remarkable experi-
ment in the 1940s in which they observed children as they played with musical instru-
ments, sang musical songs, and made up musical games. Their study is noteworthy because
it utilized qualitative methodology (unusual for that time period) using nonparticipant
and in-depth observation of children engaged in music exploration over a long period of
time (the first and only study of this magnitude). At any one time, 12 to 27 children, ages
1½ to 8½, spent time in the Pillsbury Foundation School in California surrounded by a
rich array of percussive and melodic Asian instruments. For the most part, the program
was very free, with the only formal organization occurring at lunch and rest periods. Al-
though some of the older children had intermittent reading and writing lessons (presented
in an informal manner), basically all of the children were left to explore the instruments
and listen to any of a wide variety of available music recordings while at this school. The
researchers observed, recorded, and ultimately analyzed the free musical play of the chil-
dren over a 5-year period.
The researchers found that even without adult intervention, students spontaneously
created music when given the opportunity to play around with the sounds that surrounded
them. The importance of free experimentation and musical play in children’s musical growth
was a key finding of the study, and has been substantiated in other studies since (Berger &
Cooper, 2003; Flohr, 2005; Levi, 1991; Littleton, 1991; Marsh & Young, 2006; Smithrim,
1997). “To produce his own music a young child’s first need, we find, is freedom—freedom
to move about in pursuit of his own interests and purposes, and free to make the sounds
appropriate to them” (Moorhead & Pond, 1978/1951, p. 33).
As students explore the musical and found sounds of the classroom, they will discover
that there is indeed an infinite possibility of sounds available for music composing. One
caution is that exercises in listening and creative exploring of sounds should not be ap-
proached as having any correct “answer.” Rules for steady beat and tonality should not
enter the conversation or lessons at this point, unless they can be used to further more
creative experiences. The point is to open students’ music and sound worlds to the vast pos-
sibilities of music composition.
Setting up a Lesson
The remainder of this chapter provides six activities for listening, defining, and/or explor-
ing music through music composition. As stated in chapter 1, these activities provide a
springboard for additional music composition ideas from music teachers. You will notice
in the procedures of several of the exercises that I often include directions to “give students
the following steps to help guide their work” and then I provide a list. Ideally this list
should be a written check-off form for the students to follow as they work. This is very
helpful to keep them on track, and the elements of the list can then be used in an assess-
ment rubric. Figure 3.2 provides an example of the type of worksheet that might accom-
pany a lesson (it corresponds with lesson 3A).
Check off each item as you complete it:
Find two sounds in the classroom that fit into each category
below. Write the names of these sounds on the spaces
below each of the categories:
high/low loud/soft fast/slow short/long
Choose one sound from each category. Circle your choices.
Now create a short composition (at least 15 seconds) that

uses the sounds you circled.
Notate your composition on the paper provided using a

different color to designate each sound.
FIGURE 3.2 Organizing Found Sounds
Composition Exercises
ACTIVITY 3A: Beginner: Found Sound Compositions
Rationale: No matter where we are, our aural surroundings present a vast array
of sound possibilities—with and/or without our manipulation. These
sounds provide a rich palette to consider using and organizing into
music compositions. The purpose of this lesson is to build an
appreciation for, and sensitivity toward, the many sounds around
us, and the potential for these sounds as elements in musical
compositions.
Level/Type: Beginning composers ages 9 and older. Groups of two or three

students.
Materials: • Any objects in the classroom

• Miscellaneous small objects from home (kitchen items, tools,
coasters, etc.) placed around the room
• Large (at least 14 × 9) paper for their musical score
• Colored markers or crayons
Objectives: Students will:

• Classify found sounds as high or low, soft or loud, short or long
• Organize found sounds into a composition
• Notate their found sound composition using graphic notation
• Perform their found sound compositions
Length: Two to five class periods
Preparation: Either review or introduce students to high/low, loud/soft, fast/slow,

and short/long. Demonstrate by having the class sing in these
different categories, and by showing how sounds around us fall into
these categories. For example: Listen to the birds outside. Are these
high or low sounds? What about the sounds of the lights over head?
Are they loud or soft? When I strike this bell, does the sound last or is
it very short? What about when I tap a pencil on the desk? How can I
make it sound lower?
Make sure the classroom has plenty of safe noise-making objects
around the room. Perhaps plant objects from home as potential
music makers.
Procedures: Introduction. Ask students to select any small object from their
backpack or desk or pocket. Tap it or jingle it or shake it. Does it
make a high or low sound? Is it loud or soft? Is the duration long or
short? Continue to explain how all sounds around us can be catego-
rized as high/low, loud/soft, short/long, and can be “played” either
fast or slow.
Step 1. Listen and categorize. With partners or trios, students should
act as detectives and move about the room to experiment with and
find different sounds. (Set the rules for items in the room that should
not be touched; warn of not defacing or breaking any materials;
musical objects that can be used must be played in a nontraditional
manner.) One student of the pair or trio should be the scribe and
write down the found sounds and categorize these as either high or
low and loud or soft (premade sheets with these categories printed
out can aid young children in this task). As students investigate
found sounds, ask them to think about the following: How can you
change the sound from low to high and back? If it is a short duration,
how might you make it longer (and vice versa)?
Step 2. Let each group decide upon their two favorite sounds from
each category (high/low, loud/soft, short/long) and circle or under-
line it on their paper (see figure 3.2 as a way to organize these
sounds). Taking turns, have students from the groups either go to
or pick up their favorite found sounds. If a group takes one that
another group had selected as a favorite, they should make a second
choice.
Step 3. Using any combination of your favorite found sounds, compose
a short composition. You can play your sounds in any way you want.
It should last for at least 15 seconds. So that you can remember your
composition, notate it on paper. Use a different color for each sound.
Practice it several times so that you can perform it for class.
Step 4. Perform the compositions. Discuss as appropriate and time
allows (have performers explain their sounds, ask audience members
to critique, etc.). Listen to the recordings of “real” compositions that
utilize found sounds (see resource list below for music ideas).
Assessment: Are students able to:

ü Categorize sounds as high/low? Loud/soft? Short/long?
ü Notate and perform an original composition using their found
sounds?
Extensions and • Students can make “found sound” instruments using materials from
Variations: home to produce sounds for their compositions. (Harry Partch
recordings would supplement this activity since he made several
of his instruments!)
• Introduce timbre by having students group their found sounds into
like-timbre groups. This might work well as an introduction to brass,
woodwind, and percussion timbres.
• Stimulate a composition of found sounds with an abstract piece of
art. Use the example of Earle Brown’s December 1952, which is one
of the first pieces written in graphic notation and for unspecified
instruments. Two different recordings of this can be heard on his
Selected Early Works CD to show how a score can be interpreted
in different ways. The use of graphics creates rich possibilities for
integrating lessons with the art teacher.
• Watch the video STOMP-Live (also available on YouTube) or listen to
recordings where musicians use a variety of “found sounds” as their
instruments (Audio by Blue Man Group or Sugar Factory with Evelyn
Glennie and Fred Frith are two good examples).
• Touch the Sound DVD provides a wonderful exploration into the
sound world of Evelyn Glennie, an award-winning percussionist
who also happens to be deaf. Use this DVD as a launching point for
discussion about sound exploration for music composition purposes.
Recordings and • Blue Man Group. (1999). Audio [Audio CD]. New York: EMD/Virgin.
Other • Brown, E. (2006). Selected Early Works [Audio CD]. New York: New
Resources: World Records.
• Creswell, L., & McNicholas, S. (Producers). (2008). STOMP Live [DVD].
USA: Well Go USA.
• Frith, F., & Glennie, E. (2007). The Sugar Factory [Audio CD]. New
York: Tzadik.
• Partch, H. (1974). Genesis of a Music: An Account of a Creative Work,
Its Roots and Its Fulfillments (2nd ed.). New York: Da Capo Press. This
book contains wonderful color and monochrome pictures of Partch’s
invented instruments.
• Riedelsheimer, T. (Director). (2006). Touch the Sound: A Sound
Journey with Evelyn Glennie [DVD]. USA: Docurama.
ACTIVITY 3B: Intermediate: Sound Spaces

Rationale: How often do we listen to the spaces around us and imagine they are
part of a music-scape? As I sit in the relative quiet of my home, I
become aware of the kitchen clock ticking, and then the heat coming
on suddenly through the vents, covering the sound. The heat shuts
off, and suddenly the ticking comes through. My sensitivity to these
sounds and my aural imagination organized them into a musical
piece. Raising awareness of the sounds around us as possible
material for music heightens aural sensitivity and imagination. In
the following composition activity, students are asked to draw upon
sounds from spaces in different places and then replicate these
sounds to re-create the space in a musical manner.
Level/Type: Beginner/intermediate. Group or individual.
Materials: • A variety of mallet and percussion classroom instruments

• Recall ambient sounds from a previously shared space
• Replicate ambient sounds on classroom instruments
• Create a musical composition that replicates a space
Length: One or two class periods
Preparation: Lead students through a discussion and then an exercise in imagining,

such as the exercise for imagining smells and sights in different
places as described earlier in this chapter. Make sure students
understand what it means to imagine if they are not already familiar
with this term. Play one or all of Benjamin Britten’s Four Sea Inter-
ludes (“Dawn,” “Moonlight,” “Sunday Morning,” and “Storm”) to
illustrate how a composer used the corresponding spaces to com-
pose for a symphony orchestra.
Procedures: Step 1. Ask students to name some of the spaces they have been in
most recently. List on the board the spaces they discuss. These might
be places such as the playground, a bus stop, their bedroom at night,
the cafeteria, and so on. Narrow the list down to about four or five
spaces that the majority of the students have experienced. Then ask
them to imagine what the sounds are in those spaces.
Step 2. Instructions: Close your eyes and imagine all of the sounds you
hear when you are in the school cafeteria. Give them time to imagine
many sounds. Have them list these. Ask for volunteers to share some
of their sounds.
Step 3. Break students into groups. Each group should have a limited
variety of classroom instruments such as one mallet instrument and
a few varied percussion instruments. Assign each group one of the
spaces they brainstormed from the first step. In their group they
are to first figure out how to replicate sounds from this space on
the traditional instruments, and then second to organize a musical
composition that depicts this space and these sounds.
Step 4. Students perform the compositions for each other.

ü Recall sounds from another space?
ü Replicate these sounds on traditional classroom instruments?
ü Organize their sounds into a musical composition that depicts a
space?
Extensions and • Assign spaces to groups without other groups knowing—students

Variations: must guess the space after hearing their peers’ compositions.
• Do this exercise with voices or traditional band or orchestra
instruments.
• Use technology to capture sounds and then manipulate to simulate
a space.
• Assign the same space (real or imagined) to all students, and see
how different groups compose differently for the space.
Recordings and • Britten, B. (1945). Four sea interludes from Peter Grimes. [Recorded
Other by the Boston Symphony Orchestra]. On Bernstein: The Final Concert
Resources: [Audio CD]. Berlin, Germany: Deutsche Grammaphon. (1992).
• Any other of the many recordings in which a composer uses a space
as his or her inspiration.
ACTIVITY 3C: Advanced: Prose Composition

Rationale: Many of composer Pauline Oliveros’s scores contain written instructions
to the performers rather than traditional notation. This style has
been described as “prose composition.” The concept of writing
instructions for players rather than writing musical notation is one
that will open up students’ understanding of musical as well as
compositional possibilities.
This particular lesson is inspired by a piece by Oliveros titled “Mirror-
rim,” which she wrote, along with several other composers, when
commissioned by saxophonist John Sampen and pianist Marilyn
Shrude to contribute “postcard pieces” highlighting their unique
musical style. The resulting CD, Visions of Metaphor contains a nice
variety of composed, aleatoric and contemporary music. Oliveros’
“Mirrorrim” is described as follows: “In a playful spirit appropriate to
“The Postcards,” Oliveros sent her score for Mirrorrim on a single
postcard. The composition begins and ends on a concert E ♭; other-
wise, the score is entirely verbal. Improvisational instructions
include: “If he goes up she goes down. If he goes down she goes
up. Try to do this more or less simultaneously without knowing what
the other is going to do. . . . PLAY. If you get confused it’s part of the
piece.” (downloaded March 23, 2010 from: http://www.dramonline
.org/albums/visions-in-metaphor/notes).
Level/Type: Intermediate/advanced. Individual.
Materials: • Recording of “Mirrorrim” by Pauline Oliveros

• Writing materials
• Instruments of any sort

• Write instructions for a music composition to be played by two others
• Perform a composition with written instructions
Length: One to two class periods for discussion and performances. Students
should have a week or so to actually compose their “prose
compositions.”
Preparation: Examine several of Pauline Oliveros’s musical compositions that are

prose (these can be purchased from the Deep Listening website
catalog). Provide students with the background information about
Sampen and Shrude’s commission to composers as well as Oliveros’
subsequent “Mirrorrim” (described in the “Rationale” section above).
John Cage’s instructions for 4′33″ would also provoke good discus-
sion in preparation for this lesson.
Procedures: Introduction.
Step 1. Listen to “Mirrorrim” as a class, with the instructions given.
Discuss how well the performers followed the instruction and how,
given Oliveros’ instructions, the piece could sound different. What are
the minimum instructions one could give to ensure a performance
that will follow a composers’ intent?
Step 2. Each student is assigned (or chooses) two members of the
class for whom they are to write a short (less than 5 minute) prose
composition. Before leaving class, they should be aware of the
instruments they will write for (it can be traditional instruments,
voice, or classroom instruments).
Step 3. Remind students to think about the sounds they would like to
hear and then imagine the best ways to write these in instructions.
Pitch, duration, density, and other factors come into play.
Step 4. After one week (or more) working on the compositions,
students share them with the class and their duos. The duos perform
and feedback is given.

ü Write composition instructions clearly enough for a duo of per-
formers to interpret and perform?
Extensions and • Rather than write for duos, students might write instructions for the
Variations: entire class as an ensemble.
• Pair with the language arts teacher to discuss using language as
musical composition instructions. In Harry Partch’s Enclosure-Two,
there is an example where he combines unusual instrumental
techniques and sounds with short texts.
• Compose music using diagrams or graphic notation such as music
shown in the Notations 21 sourcebook (Sauer, 2009) or on the liner
notes to the Anthony Braxton CD Creative Music for Orchestra.
Recordings and • Adams, J., et al. (1999). Visions in Metaphor [Recorded by John
Other Sampen and Marilyn Shrude] [Audio CD]. Albany, NY: Albany Records.
Resources: • Braxton, A. (1990). Creative Orchestra Music 1976 [Audio CD]. New
York: RCA Music.
• Partch, H. (2000). Enclosure-Two [Audio CD]. Saint Paul, MN: INNOVA
Recordings.
• Lely, J., & Saunders, J. (2012). Word events: perspectives on verbal
notation. London, England: Continuum. This book contains over
170 word scores from over 50 composers and provides excellent
examples of word notation for students.
ACTIVITY 3D: Technology: Favorite Sounds

Rationale: The purpose of this project is for students to begin to explore, collect
and refine, and organize (and perhaps even invent) their favorite
sounds from the world around them as well as the rich world of
technology. As they add to and grow these digital “sound palettes”
they will have access to their own favorite types of sounds from
which to compose.
Level/Type: Intermediate.
Materials: • A recording device

• Computer stations with audio editing software such as Audacity or
Garage Band

• Collect sounds and organize them in a digital sound portfolio
Length: No determined time
Preparation: Organize computer stations with folders that are unique to each
student. Within these folders they will begin to collect and organize
a digital sound collection.
Procedures: Introduction. Ask students to collect a wide variety of digital sounds.

Explain that these can come from any space that they can record or
can be favorite digital sounds that they discover in MIDI instruments
or that they manipulate using audio editing programs. Each sound
should only be a “sample”—lasting no longer than 4 seconds.
Step 1. Students organize sound folders according to the sounds they
begin to collect and place their collected sounds into these folders.
Step 2. Students eventually use this bank of sounds as “color” for their
personal compositions.

ü Collect and organize a variety of digital sounds?
Extensions and • Have students write about their favorite sound choices.
Variations: • Students compose a sound collage that combines some of their
favorite digital samples.
ACTIVITY 3E: Ensemble: Just Scribble!

Rationale: Often we get stuck trying to select the first note in a composition.
John Stevens, in his book Search and Reflect (2007) offers the idea
of “scribbling” on an instrument in order to free up creative ideas.
This activity begins with free improvisation as a way to generate
ideas for something “composed” (able to replicate). In this exercise,
taken from the Stevens text, students are encouraged to turn their
scribbles into a composition. All students understand the concept of
scribbling on paper; why not ask them to scribble on their instru-
ments? (When introducing this idea to a workshop of teachers, one
teacher lit up, “that’s what my students do everyday before we begin
our rehearsal!”) And as Stevens himself offers, “Scribbling can be a
liberating activity, freeing the mind from old habits and allowing
musicians to interact spontaneously, without resorting to well worn
clichés” (2007, p. 90).
Level/Type: Any.
Materials: Instruments (or voices)

• “Scribble” (improvise) freely on their instruments
• Compose a phrase based on a “scribbled” (improvised) pattern
Length: 15 minutes (warm-up)
Preparation: Make students conscious of their “scribbling” on their instruments

before a rehearsal. Ask them to listen carefully to their own and
another’s scribble. Challenge them to scribble when practicing to
see what kinds of musical ideas flow from their free play.
Procedures: Step 1. Write the words “SCRIBBLE” on the board as your warm-up
activity. Give students approximately 5 minutes to play (or sing)
freely on their instruments. They should focus on NOT editing their
playing, but letting musical ideas flow quickly and freely.
Step 2. Stop and ask students to scribble once more, but to begin to
listen to themselves and listen for a musical idea the length of a
short phrase that they like. Give them 1 minute to find the phrase.
(For older children, specific a two-measure length; shorter length for
younger children).
Step 3. Once they find a phrase, they should repeat it several times in
order to remember it.
Step 4. Go around the room and listen to student’s original phrases.

ü Find a phrase within their “scribble” and repeat it?
Extensions and • Students write their phrases on manuscript paper and keep a
Variations: portfolio of their weekly “Scribble phrases” (these could be in
standard notation, or iconic or graphic notation).
• The entire ensemble plays “call and response” with each member
playing their phrase and the rest of the ensemble copying. Add
Steven’s extension of extending the phrase into a longer
composition.
ACTIVITY 3F: A Listening Journal

Rationale: The listening journal provides an aid for teachers to better understand
student listening habits and preferences, and for students to keep
track of their growing awareness of, and sensitivity to music around
them. This project can be configured in many different ways, de-
pending upon the experience and age level of the student.
Level/Type: Appropriate for any level and age of students who are able to write.
Individual work.
Materials: Notebook
Length: One week to one year or more. Listening journals could also be passed
on from one music class to the next as students change teachers.
Preparation: If students are not used to keeping journals, then they would need
some preliminary instruction about keeping a journal. A template
page might be given to help guide them.
Procedures: Figure 3.3 offers an example of how a weekly listening journal might
be organized. There are infinite ways this can be done, depending
upon a teacher’s purpose. As students keep track of music they hear,
ask them to choose their favorite and least favorite from a week’s
worth of listening. Have them describe the musical elements of the
pieces, and the musical and personal reasons for liking or disliking
the music.
Instructions: Use this journal to keep a list of all of the music you hear
during the day. Each day write the titles (or description if you do not
know the title) of music you hear during the day, and the place you
are when you hear it. Choose one piece that is your favorite and one
that is your least favorite from the week to describe in more detail.
Use the format below for your descriptions:
Favorite (least favorite) music title:
Composer/artist:
Describe the musical elements:
What musical elements make this piece your favorite (least favorite)?
What personal elements make this piece your favorite (least favorite)?
Share these through class discussions.
Assessment: The longer students keep listening journals, the more musically
sophisticated their language should become as they describe the
music they listen to. Students should grow in their musical sensitiv-
ity when listening and also extend their breadth of music listening
experiences. There is no “right” or “wrong” to a listening journal and
teachers should be careful not to assess the quality of these. Rather,

listening journals should be used for class discussion or even for
self-assessment. Assess whether the variety and depth of listening
experiences changed over time. Ask students to keep track of this
growth in their journals.
Extensions and Use Copland’s three listening planes (sensuous, expressive, musical)
Variations: as rubrics for students to use to describe their listening experiences
throughout the day (or in class).
Develop more categories for students to fill in their journals. For
instance what music do they listen to in order to get going in the
morning? (Their “wake-up and go” song). What is music they listen
to when trying to sleep? (Their “fall asleep song”). What about when
doing their homework? And so on. These categories might also
become class playlists to accompany activities during the day.
Recordings and • Riedelsheimer, T. (Director). (2006). Touch the Sound: A Sound

Other Journey with Evelyn Glennie [DVD]. USA: Docurama.
Resources:
FIGURE 3.3 Listening Journal Template
4
Inspiration and Identity
Imagination is the outreaching of mind.

R O L L O M AY , The Courage to Create
Big
Elements
Form Unity/Variety
Tension/Release
Balance
Musical
Elements
Pitch
Rhythm
Timbre
Texture
Density
C O M P O S I T I O N A L P R O M P T S | 63
Shortly after giving a presentation to a group of music teachers about teaching music com-
position to children, I was asked a question that caught me off guard: “What materials do
you use to inspire your students to compose?” This struck me in a curious way because, as
silly as it sounds, I had not previously thought of the issue of inspiration as a motivator for
composition. When working with students I would simply give them an assignment to
compose, including the basic parameters for the assignment, and then go from there—
after all, that’s what we’re supposed to do as teachers. For instance, I might have asked stu-
dents to compose a melody in a new key we were learning, or compose a piece using X
number of sounds on the synthesizer, or compose music that is in rondo form. All of these
assignments are for the purpose of learning something technical about the craft of music—
a valuable and legitimate approach to music composition. Many of the examples in this
book fit into this category, which I would label “compose in order to learn about music.”
However, the question of how to inspire music composition, short of an assignment to
compose, never really crossed my mind. But it now makes incredible sense, and I feel
strongly that it is the key to successful and fulfilling music composition for students in our
classrooms.
In music teaching (or any school subject, for that matter) teachers sometimes fall into
the trap of giving assignments to meet objectives or standards without necessarily consid-
ering the potential for authentic inspiration for these assignments. Authentic music com-
position emerges from an inspiration—not simply from an assignment to compose (though
it is likely that such an assignment may inspire further composition). More than the “aca-
demic” school subjects, music affords teachers the luxury to focus on inspiration and emo-
tion, in addition to craft. This very simple realization has altered the way I teach music
composition to students and hence to include this important step, not only early on in the
process, but throughout all lessons. Although successful composition requires both imagi-
nation and craftsmanship, the quest for releasing our students’ imaginations should come
first. Imagination can easily be followed by the details of craft in music composition.
If not using students’ own personal experiences as inspiration, I have found it effec-
tive to provide prompts, such as other art works, a story, a quote—anything real to work
with—as inspiration for composing. This has led to great insight for me as a researcher/
teacher and to the creation of some very profound compositions from students. It seems
simple, this idea of providing something for inspiration, unless we get caught up in the
technical side of composing, as I had, and ask students to follow only a technical prompt
rather than an artistic prompt. Our students are bubbling over with potential inspiration
grist for the artistic mill, and our job is to help them find and tap this rich source of imagi-
nation. I have had students compose music on a wide variety of topics ranging from girl-
friends, lost fathers, favorite artists, to being kicked out of school. The music that comes
from stories in their lives is the most powerful for them and often the most moving for the
listener. Ideas for inspiration will be shared in this chapter before moving to the more “tech-
nical” aspects of composing as presented in later chapters. This is also how I suggest we
approach teaching music composition with children in our classrooms.
Biographies and autobiographies of great artists seem to unanimously report that

successful artistic processes require some technical craft, basic hard work, and inspiration.
Just where the special muse comes from has been contested and debated. Inspiration may
be internal, such as springing from a mood or a memory (e.g., Paul Lansky’s Memory Pages),
come from an external source such as a major historical event (e.g., John Adam’s On the
Transmigration of Souls, inspired by the events of 9/11), a painting (e.g., Morton Feldman’s
Rothko’s Chapel, inspired by Mark Rothko’s paintings), a poem (e.g., Beethoven’s final
movement of his 9th Symphony, inspired by “Ode to Joy”), or even a hobby (e.g., Steve
Reich’s Different Trains I. America: Before the War, inspired by Reich’s interest in train
travel around the time of war). Word jazz artist Ken Nordine was inspired by, and com-
posed music for, forty-four different colors (Colors CD)! Rich musical lessons can stem
from the study of composers’ inspiration and then lead to composition assignments that
come from students’ chosen inspirational events.
There are as many clues as there are artists who have talked about the mystery of in-
spiration. Some believe that you either have it or you don’t, others feel that it is a gift from
God, and yet others draw inspiration from very specific sources (Camphouse, 2002; Har-
vey, 1999). For some, it remains a mystery, as the author of Music and Inspiration points
out:
It is physical, comparable to the act of preparing to sing or play; it is spiritual, akin

to a moment of religious revelation; it is sudden unpredictable, miraculous. It is all
of these things, and yet it is a distinct, coherent experience. Musical inspiration, once
experienced, cannot be confused with any other phenomenon. (Harvey, 1999, p. xiv)
Regardless of whether we verbally articulate what it is, we know that experiencing inspiration
is an important part of being human. Inspiration for music, just as inspiration for living, is
essential to the creative process and a fulfilling life.
Students enter our classrooms with a fire of creative inspiration waiting to be kindled
and stoked in arts classes. Finding and fueling their inspirational muse is the focus of this
chapter. How do we move students forward from simply composing music because it is an
assignment to composing music from an authentic inspiration? In this chapter I present
ideas on inspiration and prompts that might inspire in three sections: “Tapping the Muse,”
“Compositional Identity,” and “What Is Your Commission?” I conclude the chapter with
a section on ideas for how teachers might balance the impulse of inspiration with tech-
nique—that is, the balance of freedom and structure.
Tapping the Muse

We all hope that our students desire, and enjoy, learning about music. How might we also
inspire them to compose their own music? The romanticized view of the most lionized
nineteenth-century composers is that they experienced nothing short of psychological break-

downs while writing their best music. Revolutions, winter melancholy, and lost love were
the inspirations for composers such as Beethoven, Schubert, and Wagner. What “sturm
and drang” could a 12-year-old possibly have that would create the need or desire to com-
pose? Ask them. Although they may not be carrying the same emotional baggage of prod-
igy Frédéric Chopin, every child holds the potential for creative inspiration just waiting to
be tapped. I learned this most poignantly in my work with high-needs adolescent men at
a residential facility in Chicago.1 Their stories and inspirations came from their everyday
lives. Following is an example from one of my students to illustrate this potential.2
Real Inspiration
Myles, at 18 years old, was one of the oldest of my eight students. He would show up to our
weekly class in the same manner: he would hurry in, politely say hello to me, and then
move off to his “studio” (a small bathroom/closet attached to the classroom) and begin
composing on a MIDI synthesizer using a music sequencing program and computer. He
would sing and sing and sing into the microphone, and record over and over until the musi-
cal tracks he had created were to his satisfaction. His songs were about love and the happi-
ness and sadness of times with a girlfriend, or missing his father (whom he had not seen
lately because they didn’t “see eye to eye”). The titles of his compositions reflect his passions
in life: “Dad,” “Weary,” “Break-Up,” “God,” and “Salvation.” He had many things to express
through his music and explained to me he had been simply waiting for an opportunity to
finally record his “songs.”3 When I asked Myles whether he composed before, he replied
that he had composed many songs since he was at least 10 years old. He had carried around
this “music” in a folder—which I discovered was pages and pages of lyrics written on scraps
of paper. It’s just that he never had the opportunity to record them. When I asked if he
could remember the “tune” to any of the lyrics he had written when he was 10, he assured
me that he could.
A powerful discovery that I learned when working with this particular group of
young men was that their muse came from many sources. The rather dire circumstances of
some of their lives naturally prompted inspiration for many of their compositions. How-
ever, the daily soundscapes of these students’—and all students’—lives are pervasive, and
sometimes unconsciously influential, in their music compositions. I discovered, as Burnard
(2000) found, that “fashioning pieces from known melodies and rhythms ‘picked up’ ‘by
ear’ from popular music or instrumental repertoire was a common experience expressed by
many of the children. Not surprisingly, they seemed to store-and-draw ideas from known
and existing pieces” (p. 234). A counselor who had observed the particular group of young
men that I had worked with at the group home offered a particularly poignant insight:
“Their music and lyrics were in this sense, an honest tour of their minds.”
The music our students hear while shopping at Target, playing video games, or on
their ipods clearly influences their compositions. Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” melody was
popular with one young man, whereas the Boyz II Men hit “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye”
influenced another. Although all of our students are not in the same situations as the high-
needs students I have worked with and continue to work with, I have found that for any child,
of any age, finding the muse for inspiration takes little effort if given time and space. A wealth
of music exists within all children—composing provides an opportunity for it to be ex-
pressed. Perhaps nothing is more important or inspiring than giving students this chance
to tell their stories and share their experiences through music composition rather than spend-
ing so much time getting them to sound like composers of the past, or even to sound like us.
Relating to Other Arts
Many of the questions about the relationship between the visual arts and music
posed by earlier modernist artists . . . have stubbornly refused to disappear; on the
contrary, they have continued to occupy the minds of a wide variety of painters,
sculptors and musicians whose styles and tendencies, aesthetic convictions and
political affiliations are otherwise bewilderingly different. (Vergo, 2010, p. 351)
Music’s sister arts provide not only great inspiration for music composition, but also
rich fodder for integrated arts lessons (see, for example, lesson 4F at the end of this chap-
ter) or lessons with teachers of other subjects. It is well documented that many composers
have been inspired by other art forms and vice versa. Two particular books provide rich
examples of music inspired by art (Evans, 2003) and art inspired by music (Vergo, 2010).
Sauer’s Notations 21 (2009) highlights hundreds of beautiful notations that could stand
alone as works of visual art. These resources could provide wonderful inspiration for music
composition or improvisation and collaborations with a visual arts teacher.
It is useful to learn about the prompts that inspire composers by reading liner notes
or transcripts of interviews that describe their inspirational prompts. One source that I
have found particularly helpful for learning about contemporary composers and their com-
positions is a website called DRAM (http://www.dramonline.org/). It is described as “a
scholarly resource of recordings, including CD quality audio, liner notes and essays from
New World, Composers Recordings, . . . and other important labels.”
Gathering ideas about how other composers create and are inspired by other arts pro-
vides endless ideas for potential composition prompts for our students. Earle Brown, a
contemporary of John Cage and active jazz musician and composer, was particularly inter-
ested in visual art and sculptors to inspire his music (Vergo, 2010). Brown’s composition
December 1952 is credited as one of the first graphic scores to be published and presents a
wonderful image for students to ponder as music notation. Though Brown does not spe-
cifically credit Mondrian, it is very similar in ideas to Mondrian’s Composition in Lines. The
score contains thirty short lines of different thickness arranged on a page. The performer
can begin and end at any point and interpret the score in any way. Brown’s own explanation
is fascinating to read and provides an insight that would no doubt interest students:
December1952 specifically is a single page, something like a photograph of a certain

set of relationships of these various horizontal and vertical elements. In my note-
books at this time I have a sketch for a physical object, a three-dimensional box in
which there would be motorized elements, horizontal and vertical, as the elements
in December are on the paper. But the original conception was that it would be a
box which would sit on top of the piano and these things would be motorized, in
different gearings and different speeds and so forth so that the vertical and horizon-
tal elements would actually physically be moving in front of the pianist. The pianist
was to look wherever he chose and to see these elements as they approached each
other, crossed in front of and behind each other, and obscured each other. I had a
real idea that there would be a possibility of the performer playing very spontane-
ously, but still very closely connected to the physical movement of these objects in
this three-dimensional motorized box. This again was somewhat an influence from
Calder: some of Calder’s earliest mobiles were motorized and I was quite influenced
by that and hoped that I could construct a motorized box of elements that also
would continually change their relationships for the sake of the performer and his
various readings of this mechanical mobile. I never did realize this idea, not being
able to get motors and not really being all that interested in constructing it. (Brown,
2008, p. 3)
Moods as Inspiration
How might one compose to sound angry? Happy? Depressed? Sad? Using these prompts
about feelings that all students have is a wonderful way to connect feeling with, and teach
about, concepts in music. Put students in small groups with any types of musical instru-
ments, and give them an emotion (e.g., angry, sad, happy, sleepy, excited, bored) to com-
pose music to. Simply ask them to compose music that both represents the emotion and
is something that they can replicate (encourage them to write notes or draw some kind of
graphic reminders so they can reproduce their music at a later time). A similar exercise is to
provide students with some of the common emoticons they know from their text messaging
world (see figure 4.1). Have them work in groups to come up with a short composition
using any variety of instruments or voices that depicts their assigned emotion. The point
here is to have them think about constructing sounds in such a way as to portray feelings—
from their own perspectives. The groups might perform for one another while other stu-
dents try to guess which feeling inspired the composers. Another variation is to ask students
to compose a piece of music that represents their own moods at different times during a
F I GURE 4 .1 Emoticons for Composition (downloaded from http://www.myemoticons.com/)

particular day. (What is their mood when waking up in the morning? Going to school?
Being in school? Playing at recess? How would they compose music to highlight these
moods?)
I avoid linking sad with minor or happy with major. It is more interesting to see what
students create and talk about when describing their music. After individuals or groups of
students have performed their “emotion” pieces for one another, open the discussion: Why
is it that slow, soft, often arrhythmic and minor pieces suggest a sad aura? Or just the op-
posite for a more “happy” emotion? Does composing sad music make one sad? Does listen-
ing to sad music make one sad?
Listen and compare the traditional and emotionally charged “favorites” such as the
endings to Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture or Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral by Richard
Wagner. Or compare the original Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber (often considered
very emotional music) to DJ artist Tiësto’s remix of this composition (very upbeat). How
does a John Philip Sousa march compare to Morten Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium?
What is it about mariachi and salsa music that makes one want to dance and feel happy?
The point of these activities is to draw attention to the power of music to convey and stir
human emotions—not that there is a right way to compose in order to do so. These discus-
sions should move beyond (or in spite of ) the technical craft, and focus on the gestalt of
what makes music move us. These discussions should not lead to right or wrong answers,
but rather stimulate thought and reflection that will inspire meaningful and emotionally
charged music composition.
Cross-Curricular Fun
Just as other arts and moods can provide inspiration for composition, so can studying other
subjects, such as through connecting themes from units to ideas for composition. Imagine
if students, instead of writing a paper, were given the option to compose music based on a
social studies class unit on slavery? Or perhaps they are given the chance to use their knowl-
edge of poetic forms to compose music for voice. The potential of musical composition as
an alternative route for demonstrating their understanding may be a motivating option for
many students, and linking music composition to the other arts can provide ideal inspira-
tion to do such.
Compositional Identity
“Just as Mozart sounds like Mozart, and Chopin sounds like Chopin, Beatrice sounds like
Beatrice. Each piece is different, but nevertheless, there are features that make it possible to
identify her writing” (Upitis, 1992, p. 96). Researchers have learned that children can de-
velop unique musical styles, when given the chance, very early in their composition experi-
ences (Burnard, 2000; Burnard & Younker, 2004; Hickey, 2009; Stauffer, 2002, 2003; Upitis,
1990, 1992; Younker, 2000, 2006). Each one of us and each of our students has a musical
identity and style as unique as our fingerprints. After only a short time composing, and
given the freedom to develop, the unique compositional identities of our students will
begin to emerge.
By compositional identity I mean the unique personality and musical style that is re-
vealed in a child’s compositions. Identity is linked to inspiration in that it is real, it is emo-
tional, it is personal, and it aids in the expressing of one’s musical voice. It provides the
means for composers to express their deepest, often ineffable, feelings. For some, this is
cathartic. As described previously, the importance of inspiration and identity as prompts
for composition has been reinforced through my experience working with adolescent and
high-needs youth. These students tell their stories through their unique music composi-
tional voices and it is up to the teacher to afford the time and space for their personal nar-
ratives to emerge. Sharing one’s unique identity through music composition is a powerful
outlet for creativity and imagination in music making.
An improvisation exercise that works to highlight one’s musical identity (or present
mood) is to gather around a circle of instruments and ask students to improvise their “per-
sonality” for that day (or their personality in life). A short riff is all that is needed and could
even offer an effective start to every class period in order to gauge the dispositions for that
day. An extension would have students develop these riffs into solo compositions that de-
pict who they are as musician/creators. (See lesson 4A at the end of this chapter for a varia-
tion of this exercise.)
Over a period of time, a personal portfolio of compositions should be collected and
reflected upon in which students begin to describe their unique compositional identity as
it begins to emerge. As students collect and add to their portfolio of compositions (ideally
over several years, if not at least an entire school year), have them write about themselves as
composers, much like composers do when writing their own biographies. When they com-
pile their first CD of their music, have them write their biographies in a way that describes
their musical style. What is their favorite instrumentation to write for? Why? How would
they describe their composition style? Who or what inspired their style? Use examples
from composers’ liner notes or their personal web pages (see the example by Earle Brown
above). This development of composition identity is not only authentic, but it will provide
motivation to continue to compose and develop as a composer.
Once people become aware that music is in themselves and not only in those who
have been selected to become musicians, once they take back to themselves the
musical act in a spirit of delight and self-affirmation, who knows what else they
might insist on reclaiming, and enjoying, of what has been taken from them?
(Christopher Small, in Stevens, 2007, p. iv)
What Is Your Commission?

“I believe that a real composer writes music for no other reason that it pleases him. Those
who compose because they want to please others, and have audiences in mind, are not real
artists” (Schoenberg, 1984, p. 54). While Schoenberg may have had the ideal situation in
mind, we all know that one authentic form of “inspiration” is a commission to compose for
certain ensembles, and by extension, audiences. The inspiration in these cases is bound by
the parameters of the ensemble that will perform the music, the length given for the per-
formance, the deadline date, as well as the audience for whom it is intended. As students
develop their skills and begin to venture into different sorts of repertoire for composition,
discussion about “commission-type” parameters raises students’ awareness about choices
in shaping their music compositions.
Discuss with students what their compositions would sound like if written for the
following audiences:
• A best friend
• A significant other
• Church
• A grandparent
• A funeral
• A baby
• A fancy award ceremony
• MTV
• A radio station
• A commercial
Depending on the audience, decisions about length, volume, tempo, instrumentation,

lyrics, and so forth, need to be carefully made. Composing to “commissions” with an audi-
ence in mind (or trying to sell a product) provides students with inspiration for making
musical and artistic choices. An authentic “commission” would be to assign a music com-
position project that would really be used, such as background music for morning school
announcements, music for playing in the hallway as students move to classes, music for the
lunchroom, and so on.
Balance of Freedom and Structure

How can we strike a balance between allowing students to simply find and follow their
muse and providing rules for structure? This balance between freedom and structure, also
discussed in chapter 2, is one of the biggest issues facing music teachers. When it come to
inspiration, however, freedom must come before structure, which will motivate the desire
to learn about structure in order to express more effectively. Composing in an authentic
manner—one that is inspired by one’s personal voice and inspiration—will invariably lead
to students wanting to learn more technique toward achieving a desired musical end. Pro-
viding such freedom will drive the need to know more.
One’s compositional identity should be reflected upon and honored and probed and
developed from the very beginning of music composition activities. The point of music
composition is not to sound like the teacher, but to sound like oneself. The journey to find
and shape one’s musical voice can last a lifetime. It should not be squelched in the class-
room, but discovered and nurtured through every composition experience.
Music holds great potential to inspire and move all human beings. I maintain a folder
of what I call “beautiful” music on my iPod. It includes a collection of music that creates
goose bumps every time I listen. Selections include Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium;
Gabriel’s Oboe, by Ennio Morricone, from the movie The Mission; the amazing English
horn solo in the Largo movement of Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9; and Danny Boy (the band
version as well as a vocal rendition by John McDermott). I also have a folder of music to
listen to when I need a boost during a run or when I am at the gym. We can all point to
such music, and perhaps as teachers we can help students identify their “goose-bumps”
music. What do students list as their “beautiful” music? What are their “power” songs?
What is on their iPods? Do you know? The answers can provide a window into under-
standing our students as human beings as well as composers. Early in the composition
process, this discussion should take place with students: What inspires you? How can you
organize sounds to capture and convey this very inspiration? These questions will lead to
meaningful compositions and then curiosity for how to compose better.
What I have learned in my work with students and what has subsequently shaped the
curricular structure that I am suggesting here, is that before we approach composition as an
assignment with rules for length, number, and kinds of notes and rhythms, and other tech-
nical issues, we should begin by using inspiration as a way to open the door for students to
compose. What does it take for a teacher to inspire? The inspiration for music composition
in the classroom should be the easiest of teachers’ tasks. Letting go and allowing students
to connect to real-life events and music in their lives will fire inspiration for their music
compositions and provoke students to not only learn more about music, but enjoy using
music composition as a vehicle to express. Students do not need rules yet—they simply
need tools and space and time to create. Although the following sample activities certainly
do not solve the mystery of inspiration, it is my hope that they provide teachers with tools
to allow the creative spirit to unfold.
ACTIVITY 4A: Beginner: Who Are You?
Rationale: It is important to establish early on with students that their unique
selves should also produce a unique compositional self. Students
should compose to tell their stories and give voice to their identities
rather than to sound like how the teacher hopes for them to sound.
This can happen if freedom is given at the beginning of composition
exercises and musical identity is brought to the forefront of the
conversation and discussion.
Level/Type: Beginning composers of any age. Individuals.
Materials: • A wide variety of classroom instruments or voices or found sounds

• Paper and writing tools

• Compose short musical compositions that reflect their personal
identity
Length: One or two class periods
Preparation: Arrange a wide variety of classroom instruments around the room

in “stations.” Each station should contain at least one mallet, one
percussive instrument, and one miscellaneous instrument. As
students come into the classroom, instruct them to find a station
of their choice. Give them time to move around and explore the
different instruments and sound choices.
Procedures: Step 1. After about 5 minutes of exploration on instruments, ask

students: Who are you today? They may provide a variety of answers.
Step 2. Rather than tell me who you are, I would like you to compose
a short piece of music using any of the instruments in your station
that describes who you are today. You may use all or just one of the
instruments at your station as well as your voice. Explore and create,
and when you are finished, write down your composition on the
paper provided in any way so that you can remember it. Give them
permission to move instruments around if it is important to their
composition. (15 minutes)
Step 3. Allow volunteers to share their compositions. Ask them to
explain the choices they made.
Step 4. Put the composition notations into individual folders for
continued work on these “identity” compositions.

ü Compose to the prompt “Who are you today?”
ü Notate their composition?
ü Perform and describe their composition?
Extensions and • Repeat this exercise throughout the year (or over several years!). At
Variations: the end of the year, ask students to pick their favorite or most telling
compositions and write about themselves as a developing composer.
• Extend the exercise into a longer composition exercise in which
students compose a “biography” of an important time in their lives.
(This may link nicely to a writing class in which they are writing
vignettes or short autobiographies.)
• Adapt this lesson for other types of classes such as guitar, keyboard,
or computer.
ACTIVITY 4B: Intermediate: Inspired by an Event

Rationale: Many composers have written music that was inspired by an important
event in their lives or in history. Epic historical events are prime
inspiration for expression through music. Events might inspire literal
music representation or abstract, and examples of both lead to
deeper understanding of music as both a representative and abstract
art. Although our memories serve as powerful reminders of past
events, music allows composers to recall through a creative medium.
Children and adults alike can organize musical sound in ways that
are inspired by events, and this is often one of the most accessible
ways to start composing.
Level/Type: Intermediate. Individual or groups.
Materials: • Any variety of instruments or voice

• Compose music in groups to depict a familiar event
• Perform their original music
Length: Two (or more) class periods
Preparation: Select a variety of recordings that illustrate music composed based

on historical or personal events in composers’ lives. The selections
listed in this lesson offer one possible sampling.
Procedures: Introduction. Play excerpts from the following recordings:

1. Charles Ives’s “The Fourth of July,” movement III, from the Holiday
Symphony, which is actually a suite of boyhood recollections of the
Fourth of July, Washington’s Birthday, Decoration Day, and Thanks-
giving (any of these movements would be appropriate).
2. On the Transmigration of Souls, by John Adams (commissioned
by the New York Philharmonic to honor the victims of the 9/11
attacks). An interesting point to discuss is that Adams described
this piece as a “memory space.”
3. Come Out, by Steve Reich. Reich takes a phrase recorded from a
young African American man who was assaulted and hoped to go
to jail for protection. The one phrase “come out to show them” is
looped until it is no longer recognizable.
After listening to these recordings, discuss how it is the composer used
the events to compose their music. How are they different? How did
they use moments from the event to inspire the music? Which are
more representative? Which more abstract? What devices did the
composers use to make the recordings interesting to the listener?
Step 1. Have students work in groups to select an event (recent or past,

local or national) that is of interest to them. (Events could also be
preselected by the teacher or taken from a recent lesson in social
studies or history.)
Step 2. Students work together to compose a piece of music that
illustrates, in either abstract or representative ways, the event they
chose. They should title their music.
Step 3. Groups perform for the class.

ü Select an event that is appropriate and lends itself to an inspired
musical composition?
ü Compose music to their selected event?
ü Perform the original music compositions?
Extensions and • The entire class works on single event composition perhaps in
Variations: conjunction with a social studies or history unit.
• Compose for a school event/celebration such as an anniversary of
the school founding or African American History Month.
• Work with the art teacher to compose music inspired by different
visual artists (see lesson 4F).
Recordings and • Ives, C. (1913). Keeping Score: Ives, Holidays Symphony [Recorded
Other by the San Francisco Symphony] [Audio CD]. San Francisco, CA: San
Resources: Francisco Symphony Studio (2009).
• Adams, J. (2002). On the Transmigration of Souls. [Recorded by the
New York Philharmonic] [Audio CD]. New York: Nonesuch Records
(2004).
• Reich, S. (1966). Come Out. On Steve Reich: Early Works [Audio CD].
New York: Nonesuch Records (1992).
ACTIVITY 4C: Advanced: Memory Pages

Rationale: Paul Lansky’s music “Memory Pages” is described as “a few personal
memories my wife Hannah Mackay and I have had, along with
thoughts about remembering and the passion of time” (from the CD
liner notes). The music is an interesting combination of voice and
computer-generated sounds. The voice tells a story of both Lansky’s
and Mackay’s memories. It is an interesting combination of text and
music woven together. This music will provide a model of how
students can combine text through voice and instrument (computer
or otherwise) to compose music that brings alive a personal memory.
Level/Type: Advanced. Pairs. (Could be done on computer.)
Materials: • A variety of percussion instruments (or computer sequencing

software)

• Create a poetic text that describes a vivid memory from their past
• Compose music that combines the text with percussion instruments
(that either they themselves play or write for others to accompany
them while they read their text).
Length: Two weeks: One class period for an introduction and text writing.
One week for students to work. One or two class periods for
performances.
Preparation: None.
Procedures: Step 1. Play “Memory Pages” (13:05) for the class. Discuss the music
before sharing the background of the piece. Then provide the
information about the music (see Rationale above).
Step 2. Students create a “memory” text that describes a memory from
their childhood past. It should be in poetic style verse (as opposed to
narrative or storytelling) and no longer than two 4-verse stanzas.
Step 3. Students work in pairs to read each others’ texts and offer
comments and suggestions.
Step 4. Students compose a musical piece for percussion instruments
(solo or more) and their “memory” text. The text they write (step 2
above) can be repeated or broken into parts as need be. (The piece
should be notated, but it can be graphic notation.)
Step 5. Students rehearse their “memory pages” (as solo percussion
and voice or for other percussionists).
Step 6. Students perform their music.

ü Create poetic text that describes a memory from their past?
ü Compose music for percussion and voice using the text?
ü Perform as soloists (or with others) their percussion and voice
“memory pages” compositions?
Extensions and • Compose the original memory text for voices only (such as a chorus).
Variations: • Use memory text to inspire an instrumental composition (no voice).
• Take prewritten text (such as a famous poem or speech from history)
and combine with percussion instruments into a music composition.
• Combine spoken words with guitar in a guitar class.
Recordings and • Lansky, P. (1994). Memory Pages. On More Than Idle Chatter [Audio
Other CD]. Bridge Records.
Resources:
ACTIVITY 4D: Technology: Soundscapes

Rationale: Who decides where music begins and noise ends? What frames a
musical composition, if not a notated score? Christopher DeLaurenti
is a Seattle based composer and “phonographer” who raises these
philosophical questions about music as he records places, unedited,
as his musical works. DeLaurenti describes phonographers as “sound
artists, composers, and recordists who improvise live in real-time
with unprocessed field recordings collected around the world” (from
http://www.delaurenti.net/music.htm). These spaces inspire his
thinking as a composer and musician, and also inspire listeners to
think about boundaries of music. In this lesson, students will go
one step further by not only acting as phonographers in recording
sounds from a favorite place, but they will then manipulate them into
a musical composition.
Level/Type: Intermediate/advanced.
Materials: • Digital recording devices for each student (e.g., computer, cell phone,
handheld recorder)
• Computer stations with audio manipulation software (Audacity is a
free, cross-platform software program that would work well for this
assignment)

• Record at least 10 minutes of unedited sound from a place of their
choice
• Using the recording as a base, manipulate the audio file (cut, shorten,
move around, sound effects, etc.) into a music composition
• Provide a paragraph to describe the space they recorded as well as
their intention for the final composition
Length: Two to four classes
Preparation: Students will need some knowledge of an audio editing program.
Procedures: Introduction. (day 1) Listen to selections from Chris DeLaurenti’s CD

Favorite Intermissions and other recent recordings from his website.
Discuss the concept of a “phonographer” and DeLaurenti’s approach
to music composition.
Step 1. (outside of class) Students will record 10 minutes of a sound
space of their choice. Encourage them to find a place that has either
plenty of rich sounds or a variety of interesting sounds. In other
words, think about the sonic space before recording it for the
composition.
Step 2. (day 2) Students work on manipulating their audio file into a

musical composition using an audio editing program. They write a
paragraph describing their original space recording and the thoughts
that went into shaping their final composition.
Step 3. Play student compositions for the class (or have students swap
compositions and perform for one another). Ask the composer to
describe how she organized her composition.

ü Compose a “soundscape” composition using a recording audio file?
ü Describe the technology process and conceptual thoughts behind
the musical soundscape?
Extensions and • More extensive computer software understanding can provide more
Variations: complicated procedures such as overdubbing, inserting, pitch bend
techniques.
• Exchange audio recorded spaces with classmates who would then
manipulate these into a composition.
Recordings and • DeLaurenti, C. (2009). Found Soundscape: C-SPAN Presidential

Other Inauguration, January 20, 2009 [MP3]. Retrieved from http://www
Resources: .and-oar.org/pop_andp34.html.
• DeLaurenti, C. (2010). Favorite Intermission: Music Before and
Between Beethoven, Stravinsky, Holst [Audio CD]. New York: GD
Stereo. Any selection from this work will suffice.
• http://www.delaurenti.net/
ACTIVITY 4E: Ensemble: Exploration Etude

Rationale: A composition teacher I know gives his students “etude” assignments
in order to hone certain composition skills. That is, they are to
compose relatively short exercises designed to focus on only one
or two ideas. The dictionary definition of etude is “a composition
featuring a point of technique but performed because of its artistic
merit.” The point of an etude exercise here is to bring a little more
focus to the exploration of sounds into a music composition that is
inspired by playing around and improvising on one’s instrument (or
voice). This also acquaints students with the musical concept of
etude. (This etude exercise would work well in any of the compo-
nents of the composition curriculum.)
Level/Type: Intermediate. Solo.
Materials: • Musical instrument

• Manuscript paper

• Create a short etude for their instrument (or voice)
• Notate their composition using standard notation so that others are
able to perform it
Length: One to three class periods
Preparation: Examples of short etudes for instruments include “The Elegy for Mippy
II” and “The Waltz for Mippy III for tuba,” both written by Leonard
Bernstein in honor of his brother’s beloved dog. These short pieces
illustrate how a composer writes for the character of the instrument.
There are etudes written for virtually every instrument and voice,
and they present an accessible way for students to think about first
composing for their instrument. This lesson might be introduced in
a full ensemble class, with the assignment for students to work on
the etude outside of class and then share after a period of time. If
students regularly have lessons (in addition to full ensemble), then
this lesson works best during a lesson period.
Procedures: Step 1. (This can be done in a full ensemble as a warm-up activity.)

Improvise around on your instrument until you find some interesting
phrases you like. Play around, and then repeat what you like until
you can remember it. This will become the basis for your etude.
Step 2. After improvising and then repeating and finding some interest-
ing phrases, students will then compose and notate an original etude
for their instrument. The etude should be at least 16 measures.
Step 3. Students notate their etudes and play them. (It is optional to
perform for class or ask others to perform their notations.)

ü Compose a short etude that they can play on their instrument?
ü Notate their etude with enough detail for others to perform it?
Extensions and • Write an etude for an instrument or voice different from your own
Variations: • Compose an etude dedicated to a favorite cartoon character (or pet,
or sports hero, etc.).
• Create a multi-etude composition that includes three or four etudes
that work well together (e.g., fast, slow, dance-like).
Recordings and • Cage, J. (1934). Six Short Inventions for Seven Instruments [Recorded
Other by Manhattan Percussion Ensemble, David Tudor, John Cage, and
Resources: Maro Ajemian]. On The 25-Year Retrospective Concert of the Music
of John Cage [Audio CD]. Mainz, Germany: WERGO (1994).
• Bernstein, L. (1948). Elegy for Mippy II for Solo Trombone and Waltz
for Mippy III for Tuba [Recorded by the New York Philharmonic]. On
Joseph Alessi Plays Bernstein, Peaslee, Rush, Ewazen, et al. [Audio
CD]. BCCS Classics (2006).
(Performances of these two etudes and many others can also be found
on YouTube.)
ACTIVITY 4F: Arts Together Inspire

Rationale: It is not at all unusual to find multiple artists in multiple fields finding
inspiration from each other across the arts. Paintings, sculpture, and
poetry provide wonderful grist for inspiration in composition. This
lesson was inspired by one that my colleague Dr. Janet Barrett and I
did with middle school students. It uses concepts on integrating the
arts from Barrett, McCoy, and Veblen’s (1997) text Sound Ways of
Knowing.
Level/Type: Beginner through advanced. Groups or individual.
Materials: • Selected paintings: “Twittering Machine,” by Paul Klee, and any one
from Morton Feldman, as well as a variety of other art (abstract art
from artists such as Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, Paul Klee, and
Wassily Kandinsky seem to work best for this lesson)
• Selected recordings: (“California Counterpoint,” by Cindy McTee,
“Rothko Chapel,” by Morton Feldman, and any of the tracks from
“Ken Nordine’s Colors,” by Ken Nordine)
• Colors book by Ken Nordine
• GarageBand software, or any instruments if technology is not
available
• Paper and writing tools (or equivalent on a computer)
Length: At least two class periods
Preparation: Prepare the classroom by hanging a variety of abstract paintings

around the room, including the ones mentioned in this lesson.
Discuss with students the kinds of inspirations that artists find from
other artistic venues. Play and discuss the following musical selec-
tions, and show the visual art: “California Counterpoint,” by Cindy
McTee, inspired by Paul Klee’s “Twittering Machine”; “Rothko Chapel,”
inspired by Mark Rothko’s paintings, and Ken Nordine’s “Colors,”
inspired by colors (Nordine created a book and CD of his work,
Colors, which had its creative origin in a marketing campaign for
the Fuller Paint Company).
Procedures: Step 1. Have students walk around the “gallery” to select two or three
of their favorite paintings for “musical” inspiration.
Step 2a (using Garageband). Students write notes to describe their
favorite painting using as many adjectives as possible. They then
compose music using Garageband software to accompany the
painting.
Step 2b (using classroom instruments). Arrange students together in

small groups (two to four) based on favorite paintings. Using the
available instruments, have the group discuss the painting and then
compose music that is inspired by it.
Step 3. Groups perform their compositions for the class and report
on their musical decisions based on the painting they used for
inspiration.

ü Compose music based on ideas inspired by an abstract painting?
ü Describe the musical choices made for the composition?
Extensions and • Create “liner” notes for the compositions.

Variations: • Work with the visual arts teacher and have students compose to
other students’ paintings or have students compose abstract music
to inspire visual arts students’ paintings.
Recordings and • Allposters.com (http://www.allposters.com/) provides access to

Other thousands of great art posters—either via a downloaded image or
Resources: by purchasing a print.
• Feldman, M. (1971). Rothko Chapel [Recorded by California EAR Unit,
William Winant, Deborah Dietrich, and David Abel] [Audio CD]. Tivoli,
NY: New Albion Records (2009).
• McTee, C. (1993). Twittering Machine [Recorded by North Texas Wind
Symphony]. On Tributes [Audio CD]. Boca Raton, FL: Klavier Music
Productions (1995).
• Nordine, K. (1966). Colors [Audio CD]. San Francisco, CA: Asphodel
Records (2000).
• Nordine, K. (2000). Colors. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Children’s Books.
5
Form in Music
The composition must have a beginning, a middle, and an end; and it is up to
the composer to see to it that the listener always has some sense of where he
is in relation to beginning, middle, and end.
A A R O N C O P L A N D , What to Listen for in Music
Big
Elements
Form Unity/Variety
Tension/Release
Balance
Musical
Elements
Pitch
Rhythm
Timbre
Texture
Density
FORM IN M U S I C | 85
Form is the essence of everything. Everything we touch, see, and hear has a form to it. In
music, like most temporal objects, the basic form is beginning, middle, and end. Often
when I introduce the discussion of form in music composition with students, the issue is
not whether a selection of music has a beginning, middle, and end, but whether or not,
as Copland states in the opening quote, the listener knows where he or she is in relation to
these parts. The most effective music uses the beginning to capture a listener’s attention,
the middle to keep a listener interested, and the ending to provide a complete and satisfy-
ing musical experience. So although it might be easy to explain to students that all music
has a beginning, middle, and end, it is more challenging, and ultimately more educational,
to have them compose with the purpose of making these sections musically effective.
At the most fundamental level, understanding form is the ability to differentiate same
and different (repetition and contrast). Beyond repetition and contrast is the idea of devel-
opment—that is, changing and extending what has been established. In successful begin-
nings, middles, and ends in music—as well as in stories, paintings, poetry, and so on—the
concepts of repetition, contrast, and development are utilized effectively. An awareness of
the basic ideas of repetition and contrast in form is innate and has been observed in chil-
dren as young as 3 years old (Barrett, 1996; Flohr, 1985, 2005; McDonald & Simons,
1989; Moorhead & Pond, 1978/1951). And although children easily recognize the func-
tion of beginnings and endings, the idea of middle provides opportunities to help children
learn how to develop musical ideas.
Because form is so ubiquitous and easy for everybody to understand, it presents the
“next step” after inspiration and identity for teaching children to compose. The under-
standing of form through composition also makes a natural connection to other subjects
such as literature, design, theater, film, and even science. This chapter will explore ideas for
getting students to think about composing with effective form in music. We begin with
beginnings and endings, and then move into ways in which the middle part might be filled.
There are no absolute right ways to do this, but hopefully the suggested activities at the
end of the chapter will provide some impetus for further ideas and music composition
activities.
The Skeleton: Beginnings and Endings

Sometimes composers will talk about skeletons as an analogy for form—the skeleton is
fleshed out to complete a music composition. Because skeletons can come in all shapes and
sizes, teachers do not need to get caught up with teaching “real” forms (e.g., rondo, sonata-
allegro form, ternary form) as the only forms. It is easy to forget that the historical forms
we so often teach evolved and were labeled after the music was composed, and not the
other way around. However, the forms we are most familiar with in classical music, such
as rondo, or sonata-allegro form, can be useful skeletons for composing music. For stu-
dents, thinking about form should begin with thinking about how to fill out a skeleton
that makes sense to the listener, or to themselves as composers. So rather than talk about
key, or measures, or riffs, or phrases, or specific forms, it may be more useful to think of the
whole, and then filling in the parts. Composer Timothy Mahr, in explaining his own pro-
cess of music composition offers this description:
I try to establish a thread of connective thought that holds the piece together from
start until finish. I call it the skeleton. At first it might just be a verbal description of
what the piece will be. Then it becomes a flow chart of sorts, with shapes, diagrams,
musical sketching, and a cobweb of lines drawn to show relationships and order.
(Mahr, in Camphouse, 2002, p. 237)
I have found that working with children, beginnings and endings are a logical place
to start when thinking about filling out a skeleton for a music composition.
Once Upon a Time . . .

It never fails that when I open a discussion with the question about what makes a good
beginning to a story or book, one student will inevitably throw out the traditional “Once
upon a time. . . .” This suggestion often prompts laughter that reflects an “Aha! ” moment.
A good beginning makes one wonder what is going to come next. Effective beginnings
in fiction might catch the reader off guard; pose a question; present a problem or mystery;
or simply introduce an important character by carefully describing the character to the
reader.1 Endings, on the other hand, put an end to the mystery, reveal the plot twist (some-
times with a surprise), or finish telling the story of the character introduced at the begin-
ning. I’ve had many conversations with students about beginnings and endings in fiction
and find that even the youngest can articulate why a story beginning and/or ending is
effective or not. The similarities between literature and music beginnings and endings are
quite obvious, and making this connection with students helps to guide the music com-
position process. Even the youngest student can take a simple classroom instrument and
improvise an idea for a “mysterious” musical beginning.
When one begins to listen to some of the great classical music, we find there is no
consistent or concrete “formula” for effective beginnings and endings. Successful begin-
nings in music might surprise the listener with a loud, percussive beginning (e.g., Bee-
thoven’s Symphony No. 7, Allegretto movement, or “O Fortuna” from Carl Orff ’s Carmina
Burana) or present a quiet and mysterious motif that leaves the listener wondering how it
will be answered or what will come next (e.g., Benjamin Britten’s “Dawn” from Four Sea
Interludes from “Peter Grimes” Op. 33a, Gustav Holst’s “Mars” movement from the Planets,
Op. 32, or Hector Berlioz “Marche au Supplice” from Symphonie Fantastique). Percussion-
ist Evelyn Glennie, in her composition titled Entrances (which can be heard on the album
Evelyn Glennie: Her Greatest Hits) really catches the listener off guard as it begins with the
sound of footsteps approaching a microphone followed by the dialogue “Are you ready
Phillip?”
Endings in music provide the resolution or answer to the mystery that was introduced.
Again, these vary in great music just as they do in literature. A discussion of effective, or
not so effective, endings in literature works well to parallel the idea in music. Students talk
passionately about endings that leave them hanging and do not resolve the story. Often
they’ll break into a conversation about a common book they’ve read and agree upon the
madness or brilliance of the way it ended. Music can finish with great force (again, Bee-
thoven’s Symphony No. 7, Allegretto movement) or fade away as quietly as it began (Brit-
ten’s “Dawn” from Four Sea Interludes from “Peter Grimes”). Some endings are the same in
force and volume as their beginnings (e.g., Carl Orff ’s “O Fortuna” from Carmina Burana)
or are the opposite (e.g., compare the soft ostinato beginning of Holst’s “Mars” from The
Planets to the same movement’s bombastic ending). Often some motif or musical idea that
draws the listener’s attention in the introduction is developed and comes to a satisfying
conclusion.
When first approaching composition through form with students, I begin by asking
the simple question stated earlier: What makes a good beginning, middle, and end in a
story? We brainstorm and list the ideas for literature. After a discussion about what makes
a good beginning and ending in fiction or even in a movie, I play short excerpts of musical
beginnings and endings (such as those mentioned above) and ask them to describe the
musical characteristics that seem to make them so effective. Outcomes of these discussions
and exercises get students to understand that beginnings and endings, when done well, are
effective devices in music just as they are in literature. They also learn that beginnings and
endings can be similar or different, and there is really no “correct” method or formula to
compose the ideal beginning and ending.
Another potential discussion to raise awareness of beginnings and endings is to talk
about how, if beginnings and endings in music were different, a listener would know that
they are from the same piece of music. What does a composer do to unite the beginning
and ending? (Some potential answers: bring backs a motif or character, resolves or finishes
an ostinato, resolves tension that was established at the beginning.) After discussion about
the question of linking beginnings and endings and making connections to literature, we
then go about composing beginnings and endings using the same tools we learned about in
the exploration lessons: high/low, fast/slow, loud/soft, short/long, and different timbres.
One parameter that I suggest for composing a beginning and/or ending is a time limit of
10 seconds. (See figure 5.1 as a sample guide for this first composition activity in form.)
There are several different variations and games that can be played when composing
beginnings and endings. Groups of children can be divided and randomly assigned to com-
pose a beginning or ending. The groups, after listening, then guess which was composed
(beginning or ending) and then match beginnings and endings that work well together. A
next task would be for the newly matched beginning and ending students to work together
to create a middle section. Or assign pairs of children to work together—one to compose
a beginning and one to compose a matching ending. To stretch skills even more, limit each
Beginnings…… middles ……ENDINGS
What do you know already? What do you hear? Use the table to think about good beginnings and endings in literature.
What about music? When you have good ideas, then compose a beginning and an ending!
Beginning Middle Ending
Literature: List the characteristics that
contribute to good beginnings, middle and
endings of stories:
Listen: What do you hear that makes these
beginnings and endings effective? List these
musical characteristics:
Compose! Create a beginning and ending
(no more than 10 seconds in length) that use
some of the characteristics you describe
above. Sketch your ideas in the boxes to
help you organize and remember.
FI G U R E 5. 1 Template for “Beginnings and Endings” Composition Activity

FIGURE 5.2 Sample Visual Blocks for Beginnings, Middles, and Endings Exercise
student to use only two or three tools for composing their beginning or ending (e.g., high/
low, fast/slow, loud/soft).
Another enjoyable activity is to connect visual shapes to beginnings, middles, and
endings. How do random shapes look best when lined up? What do they sound like? Ex-
amine the three boxes in figure 5.2. How would they sound if played in that order? Might
one box make a better beginning than the other? Which one, and why? Which makes the
best beginning? Why? Which makes the best ending or middle, and why? Could you use
the same one for both the beginning and ending? Ask students to compose music to vari-
ous shapes such as those in figure 5.2 or ones they make up. Then have them decide whether
their shapes sound best as a beginning or ending. Though there are virtually no right or
wrong answers to these questions, students will certainly be drawn to think more sensi-
tively when composing a beginning or ending.
Middles
After examining and composing with beginnings and endings, a natural next step is to talk
about “middles.” Fundamental to good middles are the ideas of repetition/contrast (same/
different), and development or change. And here, too, there are clear analogies in litera-
ture, movies, and theater. At the most basic level, composers start with an idea and then do
something with it. Something changes, develops, varies in the middle to keep the listener
interested, and then resolves somehow to form a satisfying ending. An idea in music is a
motif, analogous perhaps to a character in a good novel. “Every composer keeps in mind
the possible metamorphoses of his succession of notes. First he tries to find its essential
nature, and then he tries to find what might be done with it—how that essential nature may
momentarily be changed” (Copland, 1985/1939, p. 25).
Paynter (1992) refers to using musical ideas as “growth points.” This is helpful in get-
ting students to think about making their musical ideas “grow” into something different. I
have discovered that developing or changing initial musical ideas is one of the most diffi-
cult tasks for students to accomplish in the composition process. They are quick to com-
pose an initial gesture and move on, but when asked to think about changing an idea or
developing it to something more, they often need guidance and encouragement. The ability
to actually develop a good idea is perhaps one of the most important skills of a successful,
creative composer.
More structured assignments work best for getting students to think carefully and
patiently about developing their musical ideas. In Sound and Structure, John Paynter (1992)
provides several ideas for prompting composers to develop ideas. One simple assignment is
to mess around with a fragment of music (a familiar tune or somebody’s “beginning”) and
develop it into something different and more interesting. Another composition activity is
to ask students to simply “Compose a short musical idea and do something with it.” How
might one create contrast using the parameters of high//low, soft/loud, fast/slow, short/
long? To be even more structured in the approach, ask students to change just one note in
some way. Then two notes, three notes, and so on. Listening to the minimalist works of
Philip Glass, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and György Ligeti could provide fodder for excellent
discussion about development, or lack thereof, in music over time. The first movement of
Ligeti’s Musica Ricercata explores dynamics and timbres using only one note, until the very
last note of the piece.
The concept of theme and variations provides an excellent tool for learning about
changing musical ideas. (In chapter 3 I introduced the SCAMPER acronym as a device to
aid students’ creations of variations.) Mozart’s 12 Variations on “Ah vous dirai-je maman,”
K.265, (familiar to us as variations on the children’s melody “Twinkle Twinkle Little
Star”), provides an excellent example of a very simple melody that is varied in recognizable
ways in each of the subsequent variations. The basic forms of AABA and rondo also offer
simple ways for getting children to develop, repeat, and contrast ideas, while at the same
time learning about form in music.
In the performance ensemble setting, there are numerous pieces in the literature that
students perform that provide examples of theme and variations, or at least show clear ex-
amples of the composer taking a theme and varying it. These techniques in the ensemble
literature can be used as examples for students to take note of when learning a piece; stu-
dents can then try their own variation on the theme or motif that the composer changed in
the piece that they are performing.
The overall nature of sonata-allegro form, and its many variants, in classical music is
perhaps one of the most familiar and successful forms in music and also provides a nice
template for musical development. Paynter breaks down this “paradigm of some of the great-
est musical forms” into the following simple bullets:
A Classical Structure
• An idea is established at some length.
• It is disturbed, ever so slightly, by something new.
• Development follows, materials move on with greater vigour in a series of short
episodes to a high point of climax.
• This is followed by recapitulation of earlier material, modified to keep the progression
alive.
• Then an extended, controlled relaxing of the tension.
• And finally a brief “reawakening” to emphasise and add strength to the final cadence.
(Paynter, 1992, p. 191)
For more experienced student composers, this guide works well to help them create
and develop their initial musical ideas. For younger students, this “classical form” can be
simplified into simpler terms, such as in the following example:
• Create a short musical idea as a beginning.

• Repeat this idea but add to it and change it slightly. Do this at least three times.
• Add a musical surprise!
• Repeat your first musical idea.
• Add an ending to you music.
When having students compose a multimovement composition (often titled their

“First Symphony”), I use Paynter’s description of classical form for movements 1 and 4 and
then describe movements 2 and 3 as they might appear in a typical symphony (see activity
5F in this chapter for more specifics). I’ve had children as young as 8 as well as adults write
their first symphonies using this framework. They are delightfully surprised upon finishing
a symphony and the mystery of this classical structure begins to be unveiled. It is also a
simple and effective way to begin to understand form and why such forms are effective in
the music we listen to everywhere. Song form is a form most common to many students,
and I often move to song form assignments after this initial symphony assignment.
Conclusion
As the great composer Aaron Copland reminds us, a composer must let the listener know
“where he is in relation to beginning, middle, and end” (1985/1939, p. 31). Working with
the fundamental aspects of form follows the exploration, and then inspiration/identity,
phase for beginning composers. All students can grasp the meaning of beginnings and end-
ings, and as they mature they can work to craft the subtleties that make the most effective
beginnings and endings in music. Form is related to the very important compositional ele-
ment of development—a skill that requires more attention than many of the others. The
consideration of development in form sometimes works best with guided, structured, or
“closed” assignment parameters to compel students to develop initial music gestures.
As suggested earlier, provide a means for students to keep collections of their musical
ideas so that they learn to try them more than once, to come back to ideas and change them
for different musical compositions. This attitude and practice supports a process-based ap-
proach to music composition rather than a strictly product-based approach. Learning about
and experimenting with form is one step of that process.
ACTIVITY 5A: Beginner: Same-Change-Different
Rationale: Playing with same and different is a basic and simple technique that
composers employ. This concept is easy for children to understand
and is probably used in many classes outside of music. This musical
game of “same-change-different” is a fun way for students to become
skilled at creating variations on themes—albeit very simple at the
start.
Level/Type: Beginning. Groups of three or four.
Materials: Bell sets (or any melodic musical instrument such as keyboards)

• Change an existing short musical motive to compose something new
• Compose their own musical motive for others to change
Length: One class period
Preparation: Begin class with the students in a large circle, each with a bell set to
use. They will go around the circle starting with a short (3- or 4-note)
motive that will be passed clockwise around the circle from player to
player. A player receives it, plays it as he or she hears it, and then
changes it by altering either one note or the rhythm. This becomes
the new motive for the next person to change and pass on. Talk
about how composers often take a musical idea and change it. Listen
to Mozart’s 12 Variations on “Ah vous dirai-je maman” (“Twinkle,
Twinkle Little Star” is the theme), and have students draw graphic
pictures to illustrate each variation. (For older children, one might
use the “Greeting Prelude”—a variation on “Happy Birthday” by
Stravinsky.) List the ways that the variations changed the melody
on a class board.
Procedures: Step 1. Assign students into groups of three or four. They are essen-
tially to follow the same procedure as the circle warm-up activity but
within their own group. Provide each group with paper and markers.
Instructions: In your group, come up first with a simple musical idea
that you all can play together. Then as a group work on three dif-
ferent variations of the idea that you can play together. Finish your
composition with the first idea. Draw a picture to represent your
musical idea and its variations (the notation is optional if there is
time).
Step 2. Students practice together on their “theme and variations.”

Step 3. Students will perform for the class, explaining their variations
and the drawings that accompany these.

ü Compose a simple theme in a group?
ü Create three variations to a simple theme?
ü Graphically represent their theme and variations?
Extensions and • This exercise could be used with just rhythm instruments.
Variations: • Have students create variations to simple tunes they are learning in
class.
Recordings and • Mozart, W. A. (c. 1781). 12 Variations on “Ah vous dirai-je maman,”
Other K.265 [Recorded by John Novacek]. On Great Mozart Piano Works
Resources: [Audio CD]. Palatine, IL: Four Winds Entertainment (2000).
• Stravinsky, I. (1955). Greeting Prelude [Recorded by the London
Symphony Orchestra]. On Stravinsky in America [Audio CD]. New
York: RCA Records (1997).
ACTIVITY 5B: Intermediate: Beginnings and Endings and

in Between
Rationale: Everybody understandings the concept of starting and stopping. What
does this sound like in music? What makes a good beginning or
ending in music or in fiction or in a movie? This activity allows for a
variety of options for composing and sensitizes the composers to
crafting “good” beginnings and endings in music. It offers many
options for extensions by examining “middles” in music and thinking
about development or other forms.
Level/Type: Beginning composers of any age. Groups of two or three students.
Materials: • Miscellaneous classroom instruments (or any objects that make

sounds)
• Recordings: choose from a variety of music that offers effective and
different beginnings and endings (see excerpts mentioned earlier in
this chapter). The theme “2001: A Space Odyssey” (also known as
Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30) is a great example
because it begins with one long held-out note. Simple but extremely
effective.

• Describe effective beginnings and endings in music using terms such
as mysterious, unknown, tension, impact (beginnings); complete,
relieved, repeated notes, release (endings)
• Compose short beginning and ending excerpts based on descriptions
Length: One to two class periods
Preparation: Prompt a discussion about beginnings and endings in stories and in

movies. Instructions: Remember the story we just read? How did
it begin? How did it end? How did we know it was over? Was the
beginning good? Why? What did the author do at the beginning to
make it interesting? Composers in music use these same procedures
to create beginnings and endings in music. Write down the character-
istics that describe good story beginnings and endings.
Procedures: Introduction: We are going to listen to music that has very interesting
beginnings and endings. See if you can hear how the composer
makes the musical sounds interesting. Then we will compose musical
beginnings and endings. Play musical excerpts, and have students
describe their listening observations on a worksheet.
Step 1. Listen. Play 5–10 seconds of the beginnings and endings of a

variety of excerpts (see resources listed at end of lesson). Give
students time to write impressions between each excerpt.
Step 2. Discussion. Discuss the excerpts with students. See what they
wrote down for descriptions. Provide excerpts that have different
musical characteristics so that students will not be able to uniformly
pick common musical characteristics (such as “all beginnings are
soft” or “all beginnings are loud”).
Optional discussion: How do we know that the beginning and ending
excerpts belong together? Discussion should lead to the idea that
the composer uses mostly the same instruments in both and often
repeats an idea in both—whether it is a simple rhythm or a complete
motive.
Step 3. Divide the students into groups of two or three. Assign each
group to either compose a beginning and matching ending or assign
each group to compose either a beginning or ending. (Then when
they are finished, others can try to guess which each group com-
posed, and also try to match beginnings and endings that comple-
ment each other.)
Using any combination of your musical instruments, work together to
compose a short beginning [ending]. Think of the characteristics we
came up with to describe good beginnings and endings and try to
include these in your composition. Your beginning and/or ending
should not be longer than 10 seconds. [If composing both a beginning
and an ending: your beginning and ending should share at least one
common feature.] Practice it several times so that you can perform it
for the class.
Step 4. Perform the beginnings and endings (ask performers to place
about 5 seconds of silence in between the beginning and ending if
they are performing both). Discuss as appropriate and time allows
(i.e., have performers explain their compositions; ask audience
members to critique based on the characteristics used to describe
these). Guess the beginnings and endings if this option was used. If
groups composed both a beginning and an ending, discuss how they
were similar.

ü Portray characteristics of effective beginnings and endings in their
original composition?
ü Compose a beginning and ending that contains a common feature
(motif, rhythm, timbre, instrumentation, etc.)?
Extensions and • Match beginnings and endings from different groups. Then have the
Variations: groups work together to create a middle and transitions to connect
the beginning, middle and endings.
• Create multiple sections (such as ABACADA).
• Pair up students to improvise a musical conversation that begins
and then must end. (How do you initiate? How do you indicate the
conversation is ended? Record and analyze for musical structure.)
Recordings and • Beethoven, L. (1811). Symphony No. 7, Allegretto movement, Op. 92.
Other On Bernstein: The Final Concert [Audio CD]. Berlin: Deutsche Gram-
Resources: mophon (1992).
• Berlioz, H. (1855). Marche au supplice from Symphonie fantastique
[Recorded by the San Francisco Symphony]. On Berlioz: Symphonie
fantastique [Audio CD]. New York: RCA (2004).
• Britten, B. (1945). “Dawn” from Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes
[Recorded by the Boston Symphony Orchestra]. On Bernstein: The
Final Concert [Audio CD]. Berlin: Deutsche Grammophon (1992).
• Glennie, E. (1994). Entrances. On Evelyn Glennie: Her Greatest Hits
[Audio CD]. New York: RCA (1998).
• Holst, G. (1916). Mars Movement from the Planets, Op. 32 [Recorded
by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra]. On Holst: The Planets [Audio
CD]. London: Decca (2007).
• Orff, C. (1936). O Fortuna from Carmina Burana [Recorded by the
Cleveland Orchestra & Chorus]. On Orff: Carmina Burana [Audio CD].
New York: Sony (2005 remastered).
• Strauss, R. (1896). 2001: A Space Odyssey (Also sprach Zarathustra)
[Recorded by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra]. On The
Incredible Film Music Box [Audio CD]. New York: Silva Screen Records
(2005).
ACTIVITY 5C: Advanced: Song Form

Rationale: Song form is perhaps the most common form known to students, as it
is prevalent in popular music. Song writing is a valued skill and can
also be therapeutic for adolescent students because they can tell
stories of their own lives. Although there is not one single correct
song form, this lesson will start with the premise that all songs have
some combination of verse and repeating chorus structure.
Level/Type: This lesson assumes that students’ basic chord progression knowledge
is already in place. Students will also need a working knowledge of
an accompaniment instrument: guitar, piano, or mallet instrument.
Materials: • Accompaniment instrument such as piano keyboard, guitar, mallet

instrument, or Autoharp

• Compose a song using a structure from those given
• Notate the lyrics and chord progression of the song
• Perform their song (or teach it to another person to perform)
Length: Three to four class periods
Preparation: Introduce the song form concept by sharing lyrics from various songs
(examples given below). Have students work to figure out the form
of pop songs by writing lyrics to their favorite songs and seeing that
most songs have a verse and repeated chorus structure.
Procedures: Step 1. After “discovering” various song form structures from writing
lyrics to favorite pop songs, show the chart of five possible
structures:
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5
A Verse A Verse A Chorus A Verse A Verse
B Chorus B Chorus B Verse A Verse A Verse
A Verse A Verse A Chorus B Chorus A Verse
B Chorus B Chorus B Verse A Verse A Verse
A Verse C Bridge A Chorus B Chorus
B Chorus B Chorus B Chorus

Step 2. Listen to pop songs that depict some of these different struc-
tures. Have students follow the lyrics as the song is playing, and try
to identify the structure. Examples might include Walking the Dog
by Rufus Thomas (#2 from the chart above); The Times They Are
a-Changin’ by Bob Dylan (#5 from chart above).
Step 3. Have students work in pairs to come up with original lyrics
following one of the structures in the chart.
Step 4. Have students work together to put the lyrics to a melody that
they can remember. Then they add a basic chord progression to their
melody (one student might sing, while the other accompanies either
on guitar, piano, or mallet instrument).
Step 5. Students share songs with class.

ü Compose and perform song following one of the five form options?
ü Compose and perform a song with basic chord accompaniment?
Extensions and • Students could work with a program such as Band-in-a-Box or

Variations: GarageBand to create accompaniments to their songs.
Recordings and • Dylan, B. (1963). The Times They Are a-Changin’. On Bob Dylan’s
Other Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 [Audio CD]. New York: Sony Music Entertainment
Resources: (2000).
• Thomas, R. (1963). Walking the Dog. On Garfield: The Movie [Audio
CD]. New York: Rhino/Rykodisc (2004).
ACTIVITY 5D: Technology: Building Blocks

Rationale: The proliferation of new (inexpensive and sometimes free) technology
software has opened up wonderful possibilities for creating music.
“Looping” software such as GarageBand allows users to combine
loops of premade music excerpts that makes them sound like they
belong together. If one does not have access to Apple computers and
GarageBand, the free online program Soundation (http:// soundation
.com/) provides a platform for looping compositions. One could also
use the free sound editing program Audacity by uploading preexist-
ing loops for students to manipulate. The idea in this assignment is
to provide music building blocks for students to manipulate in order
to compose a composition of a desired form. In the following
exercise, a simple introduction, AABA middle, and ending are
required; however, the technology is such that teachers could
work in any form.
Level/Type: Beginning–intermediate. Individual or groups.
Materials: • Computer with music looping or sound editing software (e.g.,

GarageBand)
• Headphones

• Select and combine preexisting sound loops to compose music in
AABA form (or another form designated by the teacher).
Preparation: The software should be preorganized with a limited number of pre-

existing musical “blocks” from which students can choose (these can
be any length and any style). Students at this point should under-
stand the basics of dragging and dropping music blocks onto
multiple tracks.
Procedures: Introduction: Provide students with the instructions to work out an

original piece of music that has an introduction, AABA form in the
middle, and an ending. Give them the choices of the limited sets
of musical blocks so that they have to make strategic decisions for
putting these in an order. Encourage them to add dynamics to the
music before finishing (e.g., fade out for ending).
Step 1. Students work on creating their music.
Step 2. If there is time, students perform their music for their
classmates.

ü Compose music, using preexisting musical blocks, into a form that
has an introduction, AABA middle, and ending?
ü Manipulate the software to add expressive elements to the music?
Extensions and • Have students create musical blocks of their own and trade with
Variations: others to compose an original composition.
• Break up several preexisting digital song files into sound blocks and
have students remix the blocks into a new and original composition.
ACTIVITY 5E: Ensemble: SCAMPER

Rationale: One way to really understand a music composition is to begin to
understand the techniques a composer used to create the compo-
sition. In a performance ensemble, this way of understanding can
enhance a student’s musical experience as a performer. Composing
short excerpts using the technique of the composer is even better
and perhaps the easiest form to understand and then try this out in
an ensemble setting is theme and variations. In Rejouissance by
James Curnow, the theme from “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” is
manipulated and varied in several ways, sometimes it is hard to even
recognize. Using the SCAMPER technique (see below), have students
mess with this same theme and come up with ways to vary it. See if
any of them had the same idea that Curnow did. Even though the
following lesson is linked to one particular composition, the ideas
can easily be transferred to any ensemble composition that uses
theme and variations.
Level/Type: Beginning composer/intermediate-level concert band.
Materials: • Rejouissance for concert band by James Curnow

• Score paper, manuscript paper, and pencils

• Write a variation on the theme from Rejouissance
• Describe the variation technique they used to vary the theme
• Identify places in Rejouissance where the composer varied the theme.
Length: One concert season
Preparation: When first reading Rejouissance, provide the band with a brief explana-
tion of the techniques that Curnow uses: that is to vary in several
ways the theme from “A Mighty Fortress.”
Procedures: Step 1. Hand out copies of the “Mighty Fortress” theme to all members
of the band, and use it as a warm-up so students can become
familiar with the theme (see figure 5.D.1):
Step 2. Provide manuscript paper to students with the instructions to

vary the theme using one of the “SCAMPER” possibilities (see figure
3.1 for the SCAMPER chart). The resulting variation should be written
clearly in standard notation, and they should be able to perform it.
Step 3. Collect compositions, and use them as sight-reading warm-ups

on rehearsal days. Discuss the variations and the techniques stu-
dents used.

ü Compose one variation to the theme “A Mighty Fortress” from
Rejouissance using a SCAMPER technique?
ü Articulate the technique used to create their variation?
ü Write their variation in standard notation clearly enough that they
or any other performer can read and perform it?
Extensions and • Provide students with access to the full score for Rejouissance, and
Variations: ask them to find at least one place in the score where the theme is
varied. Highlight the different variation techniques that Curnow used,
and then have the students create their own in a similar manner.
• Highlight student variations at an “informance” concert of
Rejouissance—linking specific variations by students that are similar
to style in variations Curnow uses in the music.
Recordings and • Curnow, J. (1987). Rejouissance Concert Band Music. Winona, MN: Hal
Other Leonard.
Resources:
ACTIVITY 5F: Multimovement Composition

Rationale: The purpose of this assignment is to bring together many small ideas
for students to compose their first multimovement (sometimes I call
it their first symphony) composition. This brings form up to a “meta
level,” such that now the composers need to think not only about
form for a single movement or piece, but how form overall can link
several movements together. This works for composers of any age,
but it is best as a culminating activity when students have pro-
gressed through and tried many other types of composition
activities.
Level/Type: All levels after some experience with other composition activities.
Materials: Any musical instruments or technology
Length: Several days
Procedures: Listen to a variety of classical multimovement symphonies with

students to share with them the sense of how each movement is
structured (in a very global sense) as well as how the movements
seem to fit together. Instructions: Create a “Sound Symphony” that
follows the movement forms and descriptions below. Think of a
unifying element to tie the entire four movements together. This
can be anything ( e.g., a theme, a motif, a key, a rhythm, a story).
Whatever unifying device you use, it should help to make your
multimovement composition sound like the four movements belong
together. Include descriptions/thoughts/reflections for each move-
ment. Describe the “unifying” device that you used to tie your four
movements together. Turn in your reflective comments with your
assignment.
• Movement I: Follow a “Classical” structure. (See the description of a
“Classical” structure earlier in this chapter).
• Movement II: Slow and soft (e.g., a pretty melody with chords or just
slow and mysterious sounds)
• Movement III: Quick and light, dance-like
• Movement IV: Much like first movement “Classical” structure but with
a “twist” for a grand ending!—build to a loud ending

ü Compose a multimovement composition following the forms/
structure outlined for each movement?
ü Use and articulate their use of a unifying device that ties the
symphony together?
ü Describe their musical choices for each movement?
Extensions and This multimovement composition can be notated, if that is the goal, for
Variations: a standard ensemble, or created using technology. The variations as
to the kind of ensemble or performance medium that it is composed
for are limitless.
6
Musical Elements
Composing music is one of the most painless and stimulating ways of
learning to understand how music works.
J. H O W A R D , Learning to Compose
Big
Elements
Form Unity/Variety
Tension/Release
Balance
Musical
Elements
Pitch
Rhythm
Timbre
Texture
Density
What are you going to teach today? Teach it through music composition! Although learn-
ing about the traditional musical elements is considered a basic part of any music educa-
tion, having students learn about the musical elements through composing is perhaps the
most successful way to teach and to assess whether they’ve learned. In this chapter, I will
examine the more technical details of composing—that is, composing with more parame-
ters in order to develop technical facility with the “parts” of music. Whereas the begin-
ning of the suggested composition curriculum in this book starts with fewer parameters
and more exploration, this phase moves to specific, more “rule-bound” composition activi-
ties in order to learn about the parts that make the whole. The goal with these activities is
to learn more about the techniques of composition through learning about the musical
elements.
But first, a brief note about “musical elements.” I use the phrase musical elements to
talk about the different parts of music. Oftentimes we take for granted that the musical ele-
ments are the five commonly learned in elementary school: melody, harmony, rhythm, tex-
ture, and timbre (or some similar combination). Aside from the fact that these “musical
elements” come in different variations, I would suggest that the ones we tend to use in
“school music” are not ubiquitous to all music. For instance, melody is a subcategory of
pitch, and though all music has some element of pitch, much of the of the world’s music
does not contain a melody (at least when we think of melodies in the Western European
tradition). Harmony implies a chord structure or system, whereas pitch, when aligned verti-
cally, is the same thing—whether harmonious or not. In an intriguing article, Rob Cutietta
challenges music educators to think about describing musical elements in the way music is
perceived rather than the way they have typically been using them. He specifically suggests
using words such as motion, energy, flow, fabric, and color as alternatives to the musical ele-
ments (Cutietta, 1993). It doesn’t necessarily matter how the musical elements are broken
down, or what they are called, only that teachers are sensitive to the fact that some of the
element labels are unique to only certain traditions of music. Although a word such as
melody is useful when teaching within certain musical traditions, I feel it is more useful to
use musical element labels that work for all music when composing. For this chapter I will
use the following list of terms as the musical elements, along with some of the traditional
ones we use:
• Pitch: single or in combination (harmony)

• Rhythm: timing and duration (including articulation)
• Timbre: sound “colors”
• Texture: pitches combined in various ways and articulations
• Density: thickness or thinness of sounds, volume
As mentioned previously, rather than starting with specifics, it is better to begin in

exploration and later move into the details, such as will be presented in this chapter. One
outcome of the exploration stage is to create a “need to know” disposition in students that
M U S I C A L E L E M E N T S | 107
will create curiosity for more technical learning. However there is a myth (often manifest
in the fear of composing too early) that students need the technical before the exploration,
that students need rules first before they can compose.
An example of the apprehension of composing before learning the technical details
is illustrated through a conversation I had with an elementary music teacher. Jeannie had
graciously agreed to let one of my college students present a composition lesson to her
second-grade music class. When my student told Jeannie that her lesson would involve
having the children compose beginnings and endings to melodies using bell sets, Jeannie
cautioned, “But the children haven’t learned their scales yet, nor do they understand time
signatures.” (They had not composed music before either.) The lesson that my student
wanted to teach sounded much too complicated to Jeannie, when, in fact, the student
teacher was simply going to introduce the idea of beginning melodic gestures (going up)
and ending melodic gestures (going down). The lesson was uncomplicated and took only
20 minutes. After a brief introduction that involved modeling pitches going up and then
going down, children, paired together with bell sets, took turns to create a beginning (some-
thing that goes up) and an ending (notes that go down) to make their short melody. The
young students not only understood the assignment without having prior knowledge of
scales or time signatures, but they enjoyed it and it resulted in a basic conceptual under-
standing of up and down in music, as well as beginnings and endings. This foundation will
aid students when they do begin to learn more specifically the role of key signatures in music.
The lesson involved no wrong notes, no strict key or time signature, just an early in-
troduction to a concept that gave students the power to immediately create and at the same
time demonstrate a basic understanding. (An unintended outcome of the lesson became
obvious when some children needed to ask which way on the bell sets made notes go
higher.) As students progress through lessons about scales and time signatures in subse-
quent years, then the lesson on beginnings and endings can be repeated but with more
technical terms and parameters. And so it should go through an upward spiral of learning
about music through composing; there is no need to wait until some of the so-called basics
are learned first.
A great myth about music composition is that one must learn technical rules before
doing any “real” music composition. On the contrary, the most powerful learning will
occur when children are allowed to create in order to learn the rules. The musical elements
of pitch, rhythm, timbre, texture, and density provide the perfect scaffolding to learn about
the craft of music through music composition.
Composing to learn about music can apply as easily to a performance ensemble class-
room as it does to a general music classroom. In the ensemble classroom, use the music
that is being performed as the stimulus for a composition activity. Students will learn
more about the music they are performing as a result. Examine musical scores for potential
composing/teaching opportunities related to melody, rhythm, harmony, timbre, or tex-
ture. When doing an analysis of a score, ask, “What about each of the music elements
might lend itself to a composition activity?” and “What compositional technique did the
composer use that might be easy for my students to try?” The answers to these questions
may provide ideas for simple composition exercises in a performance ensemble.
A Composition Exercise for the Band

An example of a composition activity on melody writing that I have used in a band setting
was inspired by the melody to John Paulson’s Epinicion (1975). Epinicion is a level 5 band
composition that uses one theme repeatedly throughout. Behind the haunting theme is a
growing cacophony of aleatoric sounds that build to a loud climax. The ending is a poi-
gnant, soft, and fading repetition of the main theme, played by piccolo and alto clarinet.
Paulson uses mostly tritones and half steps to formulate this theme (see figure 6.1). A com-
position assignment for students in the ensemble, as they are rehearsing this work, is to
write a melody using only 2 intervals. Two rules would follow: (1) make the melody ap-
proximately the same length as the theme in Epinicion, and (2) be able to play it on your
instrument. (This can be taken further by composing an entire band piece in the style of
Epinicion. The process for doing this is outlined in activity 7E in chapter 7.)
This relatively simple lesson takes very little time away from rehearsal and provides
students not only with the opportunity to learn some basic music theory (intervals) but
also to exercise creative thinking through melody writing while gaining knowledge about
the music they are rehearsing and will ultimately perform. Even if one composition activity
per year (such as this simple example) were to take place in an ensemble setting, students
would benefit.
When composing around the musical elements, there are two caveats to keep in
mind. First, there is no music that exists with only one of the musical elements—the ele-
ments are artificial concepts that we use in order to be able to talk about and dissect music.
In other words, a melody doesn’t exist without rhythm and timbre, rhythm also contains
timbre, harmony implies texture and density and pitch, texture combines melody, harmony
and rhythm, and so on. Too often we get caught teaching concepts in music (the parts) and
forget that these parts always intertwine into an aesthetic whole. Second, it is important to
remember that any “technical” composition activities should continuously be supple-
mented with varied and rich musical listening in order to continuously expose students to
the vast variety of music as it exists with all of the musical elements combined—in other
words, do not sacrifice the richness of music while getting into details and techniques.
In the remainder of this chapter I offer composition ideas for several of the music ele-
ments, first by discussing the conceptual basis of each element, and then providing a sample
of composition activities that one might use when teaching about the elements.
-2 -2 TT -2
TT
-2 -2
FIGURE 6 .1 Main Theme from Epinicion

Pitch
In the most basic scientific explanation, pitches in music are the frequencies of vibration
that we hear. In Western music traditions, pitch is organized around 12 major and 12
minor scales, and a coherent series of pitches in a row is called a melody. When pitches are
arranged vertically, and within the system of scales, it is called harmony. Following are
some examples of learning about melody and harmony through music composition.
Melody
I present the following definition for melody when working with students:
A melody is a series of musical notes that are memorable and sound like they belong
together. A home tone in the melody makes it sound final.
This basic definition can eventually lead to the more technical concepts of tonic,
dominant, and the other more complicated harmonic implications that are in place for a
“good” melody.1 I have found this definition to work well with even the youngest of stu-
dents, and it provides a basis for all the other concepts one might teach about melody as
students’ sophistication grows through music classes, lessons, and experience. Other con-
cepts to be learned about melody include the ideas that melodies have contour (up and
down) and often contain a variety of steps, leaps, and repeated notes. Altering any of these
can have a profound effect on a melody. Questions to trigger experimentation with melody
building with students might include the following: What if a melody was made of only
leaps? Only steps? Only repeated notes? What is the best combination of these? All melo-
dies have rhythm and some melodies are symmetrical—that is, they are balanced into equal
phrases.
With each of the melodic concepts described above one can imagine any number of
simple composition exercises for students to learn about the concept being taught. (Activ-
ity 6A at the end of this chapter provides an example of one of the first melody assignments
that I give to students.) Following are a few other ideas for teaching composition around
the basic concepts of melody. Remember, there are as many possibilities for melody com-
position as there are concepts to be taught about melody!
Playing with Contour

One can imagine several variations of creating melodies with contours in mind. For in-
stance, a student might try to match a classmate’s composed melody with another melody
of a similar contour. Teachers can provide a melody for students to draw the contour, or
have students draw a contour from which others are to compose. It is important to remem-
ber that for first-time attempts, there are no right or wrong notes—it is about simply intro-
ducing the idea of contour and seeing whether students understand the concept by being
able to put together a series of notes to match a visual or aural contour. As students get
more sophisticated in their melody writ-

ing, then they might experiment with
tonic-dominant-tonic relationships within
the melody. The following exercise has
students create melodies that follow a
contour.
1. Create a relatively simple and short

melody on a bell set (or keyboard)
that uses one of the 4 contours shown
in figure 6.2.
2. Practice your melody several times so
that you can remember it.
FI G U R E 6. 2 Contours for Melody Composition
3. Prepare to perform your melody for
class.
4. Classmates will listen to your performance and try to determine which contour you
chose for your melody.
Guaranteed to Sound Good

The following exercise results in a pretty “good” sounding melody—it is cohesive and
forms a nice, symmetrical 8-measure melody. A springboard from this exercise would be to
teach about tonic/dominant relationships in a melody; or have students change the rhythm
slightly to hear the effect this has.
1. In a treble clef staff, create a simple 2-measure melody (use only eighth, quarter, and/or
half notes). You may include rests.
2. In the next 2 measures (measures 3–4), use the same rhythm of the first melody, but use
different notes.
3. Repeat step 2 for measures 5–6 and 7–8. Make sure that the last note in the entire
8-measure melody is the same as the first note of the song.
Harmony
Harmony happens when two or more pitches sound at the same time. It is common to view
harmony as something that accompanies (or is secondary) to a melody. The most com-
monly taught concept of harmony lies within the Western musical canon: that is, music
basically moves from a tonic through a subdominant, eventually a dominant, and, at some
point, back to a tonic. There are, of course, several music texts that outline the rules that
one must follow in order to create and understand this “common practice” harmony. It is
not uncommon in our traditional university musical training to drill the rules of proper
harmony writing, sometimes devoid of sound, and often to the detriment of exploration.
Perhaps it is because of this training that the thought of teaching about harmony to young
children—especially through composition—seems very advanced. Yet if we go back to the
idea that harmony is simply two or more pitches sounding at the same time, we can teach
anybody about music harmony through composition, even the very youngest children.
Which two notes sound good together? Which do not? How does a chord sound com-
pared to a cluster (never mind which chord or which cluster)? Once again, in composition,
we need to forget the “rules” and begin by allowing students to explore and discover the
sounds that different harmonies produce.
When introducing the concept of chordal harmony to young students, I first explore
the sounds of clusters and consonant triads. For students who understand notation, I begin
by showing on a staff how a 3-note chord is built (all lines, or all spaces). Every note has a
possibility of at least creating three different chords. For example, an A could be the bottom
of an A chord, the 3rd of an F chord, or the fifth of a D chord. With each example, I play
the chord on the piano (notation should always be accompanied with sound). Then we
might explore several chordal possibilities before sending students off to figure out “good-
sounding” chord progressions on barred instruments or keyboards. The following is an ex-
ample of a first composition assignment I give that introduces concepts in chordal harmony.
“Beautiful Chords”
At this point the students understand that a chord contains three simultaneous notes that
are separated by a note.
• Materials: mallet instruments or keyboards; manuscript paper and pencil.

• Students work in pairs (if on a mallet instrument, then one student has one mallet and
the other student has two mallets).
• Procedure:
1. Explore a variety of chords on your instrument.
2. Find a series of 6 chords in a row that sound good.
3. Carefully notate these chords.
4. Practice playing these chords in a slow, steady manner.
5. Be prepared to play your “Beautiful Chord” sequence for class.
There are, of course, several variations for this assignment: repeat chords, roll chords, ar-
peggiate chords, trade notations and play each others’ chord sequences, and so on.
A next step might be to add a melodic line to the chord sequence. One exercise that
works very well for melody building on top of a chord progression is to follow a simple
rule: when building a melody over chord tones, the first note of each measure should be
one of the chord tones on that beat. Limit the rhythm to quarter notes and eighth notes,
and the result is often a nice melody accompanied by a whole note chord sequence. (See
activity 6D as an exercise for adding melodies to existing harmonies.)
A “backward” approach to this, and a nice way to segue from melody writing to har-
mony writing, is to begin with a melody that students have written, and then add harmony.
This is illustrated in the following lesson.
Add Harmony to Your Melody
• Materials: keyboard or mallet instruments; manuscript paper and pencil.

• This lesson is most successful when students work in pairs.
• Procedure:
1. Write a simple 4-measure melody using standard notation (or start with an existing
simple melody).
2. Use only whole, half, quarter, or eighth notes and rests in your melody.
3. In each measure, draw the three possible chords that would fit with the first note of
the melody in that measure. Sketch these chord possibilities below in an accompani-
ment staff.
4. Explore your melody with each of the 3 chord options.
5. Decide upon the best chord option for each measure, and circle it.
6. Now fill in the accompaniment staff with your chords.
Two logical steps that might follow this exercise are to arpeggiate the chords or
make an interesting rhythm with the chord tones. This exercise really requires explora-
tion and careful listening in order to find the best sounds and chord sequences. Often-
times the chord sequences and melodies that follow end up using the “rules” of Western
tonal harmony and then provide a jumping-off point for teaching the theory behind the
sound.
Computer notation software works especially well when teaching harmony because
students receive immediate aural feedback when they move chords and notes around.
There are now free web-based programs or inexpensive notation software that does not
require MIDI keyboards. An example of such an exercise is to provide students with a
template using notation software that has a melody line and a piano accompaniment line.
Provide any 5 different chords at the start. The object is for students to copy and paste these
chords into an 8-measure sequence that already has a simple melody. The exercise is more
fully described in activity 6D.
All of the exercises described here teach students, through their own creative and
aesthetic decision making, about “rules” of harmony and chord structure. Interestingly, I
have realized that most students eventually end these creative harmony exercises on a tonic.
From this kind of aural discovery, I then teach about the concept of tonic, dominant, lead-
ing chords, and so forth. Regardless of medium, the point of introducing the concept of
harmony through composing is to get students to learn by using their ears. From that point
we can teach them all the rules they need (or care) to know.
Rhythm
Virtually any rhythmic concept that is being taught can be turned into a composition
exercise for deeper learning, as well as fun. Introducing 6/8 time? Make up a composition
exercise that requires 6/8 time. When creating composition exercises to teach about a con-
cept, keep the exercises short and simple, related to the concept, and include clear directions
and parameters. If an assignment is too complex, the concept may become less focused.
The following exercise could be used with students who are learning about 6/8 time shortly
after it has been introduced (this would also work well with students in a beginning instru-
mental program when they first stumble on 6/8 time in their method books).
6/8 March Composition
• Materials: rhythm sticks; manuscript paper—with only one staff line and 4 measures
demarcated; pencil.
• Procedure:
1. Compose a 4-measure rhythm in 6/8 time.
2. Use only quarter, eighth, and dotted quarter notes, and each at least one time.
3. Make your rhythm sound like a march.
4. Notate your rhythm on the paper provided.
5. Practice your rhythm on your rhythm sticks, and be prepared to play your rhythm
for class.
A variation is for students to trade their rhythm marches with one another and perform
them for the class, hence emphasizing the need for good notation and reading skills.
Many would agree that the pop music culture within recent years has evolved to a
more rhythmic than melodic focus. Rap and hip-hop music seem ubiquitous on students’
iPods. Why not take advantage of this? Composing rap tunes and “beats” are obvious
places to begin. As teachers we may feel a little “out of it” when it comes to knowing how
to teach this, which makes for a perfect reason to have students teach us. With composi-
tion exercises centered around looped rhythmic beats, one can still teach all of the concepts
about rhythm that would be taught through any other genre: fast/slow, steady beat, short/
long, time signature, duple/triple, simple/compound, and so on. Whereas in a traditional
method of teaching music, one might teach rhythmic concepts isolated from context, or
connected to music that does not connect to students’ lives, having students compose in a
style they understand (such as hip-hop beats) will reinforce the concepts in a potentially
more powerful and lasting way.
Beats
As I’ve grown to learn more about “beats” in hip-hop, I have acquired real respect for the
composers who create them. A “beat,” I have learned, is a small unit (often with melodic as
well as rhythmic elements) that is looped repeatedly to form the basis for a hip-hop or rap
piece.2 I have observed young people sit for hours at a computer station working out their
“beats” with careful precision and concentration. They proudly share their beats with each
other and trade beats for composition foundations. Working with students in urban set-
tings, I have learned that they are extremely meticulous when trying to mix just the right
beat to go with a rap lyric they created. Students’ ability to discriminate between the subtle
differences in hip-hop beats never ceases to amaze me. Whereas one “beat” might sound
as good as, or even the same as another to me, these students will not be satisfied until the
exact bass drum sound (for instance) is found.
I have also learned that although some students prefer writing lyrics instead of beats,
others consider themselves beat artists and not rappers (lyric writers). There is a culture of
“beat artists” out there, and there are hundreds of websites where one can download beats
for music making or manipulation. The students I have worked with know well, and can
discriminate among, thousands of different beats. We would be foolish to ignore this ex-
pertise when it comes to teaching rhythmic concepts.
The Apple software program GarageBand and its Windows-equivalent Acid provide
hundreds of premade beats and rhythmic/harmonic loops. Using these programs, students
can paste loops together to create a composition. Although this might take the originality
out of creating their own loops, it still provides a “drawing board” for their compositional
imagination and a stepping stone to creating their own beats. Teachers can use these pro-
grams and then highlight the rhythmic concepts to be taught that exist in the materials
being used to compose.
An example of a composition exercise in the rap genre would be to have students,
working alone or in small groups, compose a variety of rhythmic beats. Parameters could
be given in order to reinforce a concept, or, after the beats are composed, the concepts used
could be highlighted and then explained (e.g., duple and triple meters, or half-, quarter-,
eighth-, and sixteenth-note divisions). Beats from different students or groups could be
combined to create one large composition (a lesson in form enters here). Add lyrics, and
eventually an entire piece composed in song form, created with a variety of beats, results as
a collaborative process between several students. Although a variety of computer software
programs make beat composing really fun, no fancy equipment is necessarily needed be-
cause rhythm beats can be made with any object that makes noise.
Ideas for rhythm composition exercises are, of course, endless. Variations can include
individual, pairs, groups of students; types of instruments; sharing and trading composi-
tions; performing composition, and so on. What is the goal? If it is to teach a rhythmic
concept and enhance understanding of this concept, then have students compose to learn
the concept. Learning standard music notation (and creating the need to know standard
music notation) also works well within simple rhythmic composition exercises.
Timbre
Timbre is to music what aroma is to food and color is to painting. It is the taste of music
and perhaps the one element in music that encompasses all others. Timbre contributes a
visceral experience to the aural in music that makes each listening experience unique. It can
be as pure as a boy soprano or as heavy and dense as a full orchestra chord held out at a
fortissimo level. Timbre is also the very first musical element that young babies (and babies
in utero) can differentiate (McDonald & Simons, 1989).
Students should be made aware of the fine and sublime timbre possibilities of the
sounds they create. Urge students to think sensitively about their timbre choices—even if
it is as simple as thinking about the way they hold a mallet to strike the bar of a xylophone
(there are infinite and subtle possible timbral variations in this choice). Continually asking
students to think about their timbre choices will enhance their experience as musicians
and composers.
In order to emphasize the importance of timbre through composition assignments,
occasionally ask students to change just one sound in one of their compositions. What
sound might they change, and how, in order to make a drastic difference in the effect of the
composition? What sound could they substitute to make a less obvious change?
Music composition software offers a large and varied palette of timbres for students
to explore and manipulate. Computer technology now puts hundreds of authentic and
rich sounds at users’ fingertips. One of the first assignments I give when working with stu-
dents in a computer composition class is to have them spend a long period of time explor-
ing all of the different timbres available to them, and then choose their favorite ten. This
“forced” exploration gets them to listen to a wide range of sounds before settling too
quickly on a favorite. With so many timbre options, such as in a program like GarageBand,
giving such direction will guide students to listen more carefully and discriminately. I find
that students are often pleasantly surprised when they stumble upon sounds they have
never heard. This same exercise could be done with a variety of different mallets on a mallet
instrument. Which ones make the most interesting timbre? What if you use a different
end of the mallet to make a sound? What if the mallet strikes a different place on the bar?
Introducing the world of the subtleties of timbre, and the simplicity in controlling and
changing timbre, provides a wonderful “ear-opening” experience for students. This takes
time and patience, and I would say should be made deliberate in almost all music composi-
tion activities.
Texture
Texture is the combining of sounds to produce an interesting “fabric.” In its most basic
sense, texture in music can be described as thick or thin, homophonic, monophonic, or
polyphonic. The graphics in figure 6.3 are ones that I use to help illustrate these concepts.
Monophony:
Homophony:
Polyphony:
FIGURE 6 .3 Iconic Representation of Textures
Fabric analogies for texture provide a rich catalyst for composition assignments (as
well as have rich potential for integrated art projects). Provide samples of fabric, ranging
from a white cotton sheet to coarse and patterned burlap and ask students, using what-
ever instruments are available, to compose music that matches the texture of one of the
fabrics. Explore the meaning of thick and thin texture by listening to a variety of musical
recordings—and match these to the fabrics as well.
A more “rule-bound” composition assignment intended to teach a concept within
texture could revolve around composing music that is polyphonic (e.g., a simple recorder
or flute duet). Pair students on bell sets (or band/orchestra instruments or voices), and ask
them to compose a duet in which each part is independent from every other. The parts
should wind around one another, sound independent, and also sound good together. A
follow-up assignment to this would be to compose a duet in which one part is the main
part and the second is more an accompaniment. Ask more advanced students to use stan-
dard notation to notate their compositions; less advanced students will simply draw a
graphic representation. One “rule” for such an assignment should be that it sounds good
to the composer. Students should justify why they enjoy their composition, and more
advanced students might be required to use technical musical terms for this justification.
As students compose aesthetically interesting compositions, they can retrospectively learn
about the harmonic rules they’ve used to see why they sound the way they do.
Of course, texture, like the other elements, can be combined with any of the other ele-
ments, though texture and pitch work best together when learning about these concepts.
Density
Ethnomusicologist Bruno Nettl wrote an oft-cited essay on musical improvisation in
which he attempts to articulate a method for comparing improvisations from all cultures
using a universal framework (Nettl, 1974). “Density” is one of the descriptors he uses and
defines it as how close together or far apart familiar “points of reference” fall in a given
model. He writes:
In comparing various types of models, we find that those of jazz are relatively dense,
those of Persian music, of medium density, and those of an Arabic taqsim or an
Indian alap, relatively lacking in density. Figure bass, and Baroque music in which a
soloist improvises ornamentation, are perhaps the densest models of all. (Nettl,
1974, p. 13)
I think of Nettl’s description as defining a horizontal density: the frequency of recurring

events or familiar markers over time. We can also imagine density on a vertical level—that
is how many pitches are being played simultaneously. On the horizontal axis density is re-
lated to the intensity of music and on the vertical axis, density is related to sheer force and
volume (essentially, more is louder). Density combines all of the elements described above.
The frequency of changes (in chords or rhythms or melodies) as well as the thinness or
thickness of the texture or simultaneous events provides the feeling of density for the lis-
tener. I’m not certain that composers plan a priori their decisions about density in a com-
position, but these decisions likely come into play as they plan more globally for the overall
effect or impact of a composition.
At the most basic level, students should be aware of, and make choices about, the
dynamics of their music. As they compose more, then decisions about the effect of density
on the affective impact of a composition should also be part of the discussion.
Conclusion
In this chapter I have offered thoughts and ideas for teaching music composition through
the musical elements of pitch (including melody and harmony), rhythm, timbre, texture,
and density. Exercises geared around the musical elements should be presented after stu-
dents have explored and listened and experimented with free-form composition as sug-
gested in the curriculum sequence model. The composition assignments that go hand in
hand with teaching the musical elements tend to be more parameter driven, or rule-bound,
in order to teach about the musical elements than those in earlier chapters. The composi-
tion activities that accompany any music lesson in which a concept is being learned are as
open to possibilities as one’s imagination. Having students discover a concept first, through
their own aural and aesthetic manipulation via composition, will make the conceptual un-
derstanding of that concept much more meaningful and musical. Remember: What are
you teaching today? Compose it!
ACTIVITY 6A: Beginner: Compose a Melody
Rationale: The concept of melody, although simple to most of us, is an interesting
one to present to young children, and though one might assume that
beginners understand the term, my experience shows me that this
is far from true. There is no better way to decide if a learner “gets”
melody than asking him or her to compose a simple one. One can
explore melody in many ways, but the following lesson is one of the
first that I use to have children experiment with the composition of
a melody. I do not believe in restricting time signature, length, key
signature, or any other parameters to begin with. This assignment
works beautifully as a springboard for more “parameter-driven”
melody assignments later.
Level/Type: Beginning composers of any age.
Materials: • Any melody capable instrument (e.g., recorder or tone bells); for this
lesson, a 1.5-octave simple bell set for each child

• Compose a short melody for a bell set
• Notate their original melody
• Perform their original melody
Preparation: Introduce the concept of melody by pointing out melodies sung or

performed in class—refer often to the definition of a melody (pre-
sented earlier). Use familiar melodies such as “Happy Birthday” or
themes from TV shows as examples, and refer to the last note as
the “home tone,” or the note that makes the melody feel final.
Procedures: Step 1. Provide each student with a bell set (this could also work with
pairs of students).
Step 2. Hand out paper and pencil for notation.
Step 3. Give out or display the following directions:
• Use “C” as your “home note.”
• Play around with the bells to make up a melody you like that uses the
home note during the melody and ends on the home note.
• Memorize your melody, and give it a title. Write it down on paper
(standard or graphic notation) to help you remember it.
• Practice your melody so you can play it for class.

ü Compose a melody that uses only one note in succession at a time?
ü End their melody on C as their home note?
ü Perform their melody more than one time the same way?
ü Notate their melody to help them remember it?
Extensions and • Students decide on their home tone (rather than C).
Variations: • Work in pairs, with one student (or both) coming up with words to go
with the melody.
• Students use a simple poem and create a melody to go with it (either
sung or on bells).
• Students exchange melodies and teach one another their melody
based on their notations.
ACTIVITY 6B: Intermediate: Applause! Graphic Notation

Rationale: There are many instances when standard notation simply does not
suffice for getting across the intention of a composer. In fact, graphic
notation sometimes works better than the traditional. Being precise
with graphic notation is not easy, yet preciseness is the key for
successful communication between composer and performer. In this
project, students will use graphic notation in order to convey musical
meaning in a creative and exploratory way, as well as to think about
ways in which the musical elements can be combined. Composer
Bernard Rands composed a wonderful series of contemporary music
for young players that utilizes graphic notation* in this manner.
Another score, Burst of Applause by Vito Mason, also presents a
model example of a graphic score with precise timing, rhythm,
volume and tessitura effects. Burst of Applause is for clapping hands
using a variety of techniques to change sounds, range, dynamics,
and so on. These scores can serve as examples for students in this
project.
Level/Type: Intermediate. Group or individual.
Materials: • Examples of professional scores with graphic notation

• Score paper (9 × 14 plain paper) and pencil
• Access to miscellaneous instruments (optional) or just use of hands/
body percussion

• Create a composition for an ensemble of four to eight members
using precise graphic notation and lasting at least 30 seconds
• Provide notation parameters for pitch, rhythm, timbre, texture, and
density throughout the composition
Length: One class period for introduction. At least a week for students to
compose (either at school or as homework). Two or three class
periods for composers to rehearse and then perform their music
compositions.
Preparation: Familiarize students with scores such as Sound Patterns 1 by Bernard

Rands or Burst of Applause by Vito Mason or any score that uses
graphic notation. Note the very precise information regarding pitch,
rhythm, textures, and so on.
Procedures: Step 1. Have students decide upon an ensemble and instruments for
which to write. They should choose between four and eight members
and decide on the voices or instruments used based on the options
and performers that are available (i.e., Who will perform? Do they
feel comfortable using their voices? Should they only clap? Are there
classroom instruments available?).
Step 2. Instructions: Write a composition for four to eight performers
that lasts at least 30 seconds. Explore ways to manipulate and notate
pitch, rhythm, timbre, texture, and density. Provide in your score
clear graphic notation to indicate performance specifications. Include
directions for timing, dynamics, styles, range, and any other per-
formance details in order to realize your composition through a
performance.
Step 3. Give student composers the opportunity to work with their
ensemble members to teach them the composition and to rehearse it.
Step 4. Perform compositions in class or on a composition recital.

ü Compose a composition for four to eight members that is at least
30 seconds long?
ü Notate their composition using graphic notation and clearly
indicating performance instructions for pitch, rhythm, timbre,
texture, and density?
ü Teach their composition to an ensemble that results in a satisfactory
performance?
Extensions and • Limit the composition to only clapping or to only words/voices.

Variations: • Compose for a full ensemble such as a band, orchestra or choir using
graphic notation.
Recordings and • Any music score that uses graphic notation (such as those in Bernard
Other Rands’s music for young players series).
Resources: • Mason, V. (1972). Burst of Applause. Bryn Mawr, PA: Theodore Presser
(out of print).
*Examples of Rands’s scores include Agenda (1970) and Per Esempio (1969) for youth orchestra; Sound
Patterns 1 (1967) for voices and hands; Sound Patterns 2 (1967) for voices, percussion, and miscellaneous
instruments; Sound Patterns 3 (1969) for voices; and Sound Patterns 4 (1969) for miscellaneous instrumental
groups. All scores are under the copyright of European American Music distributors.
ACTIVITY 6C: Advanced: Adding Harmony to Melodies

Rationale: This assignment takes the ideas presented in activity 6D and extends
it to writing for a large ensemble. Here students are pushed to take
ideas from a melody they write, add some harmonic components,
and then arrange it for a chorus. Prerequisites would include ad-
vanced knowledge of voice ranges and advanced standard notation
knowledge. This would work as a wonderful assignment for a
student who has been composing and shows a real interest to
advance by composing for a performing ensemble such as a choir.
There are no specific guidelines to follow except to allow the student
time to try out ideas throughout the process.
Level/Type: Advanced. Individual.
Materials: Manuscript paper or notation software

• Compose a simple melody with lyrics and harmony
• Arrange the melody for an SATB choir
Length: One semester (or more)
Preparation: A student who undertakes this project should have had some basic
theory as well as experience in composing.
Procedures: Step 1. Have the student sketch a melody with lyrics and then add
simple chord tones to accompany it (See activity 6D).
Step 2. Write the melody for the soprano section.
Step 3. Divide the chord tones into notes and passing notes for the
alto, tenor, and bass sections.
Step 4. If desirable, pass the melody to different sections (arrange as
desired).
Step 5. Write an appropriate introduction and ending.

ü Compose and notate music with lyrics for an SATB choir?
Extensions and • This assignment could be extended to arranging for band or

Variations: orchestra.
• Students could add a piano accompaniment to a choral composition.
Recordings and • Ostrander, A. E., and Wilson, D. (1986). Contemporary Choral

Other Arranging. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Resources:
ACTIVITY 6D: Technology: Chord Fun

Rationale: If given a palette of chords from which to choose, how would students
order them in a way that sounds best to them? This is the idea of
“Chord Fun.” Using a basic software notation program students are
given chord choices and then asked to put them in an order that
sounds good to them. They then add a melody on top of this
progression. After this exercise students can learn about basic chord
function and see how their ears led them to a dominant-tonic ending
(or not). The idea is for the theory to come after the aural exercise so
that students may manipulate the sounds before learning the rules.
Level/Type: Beginning composers of any age.
Materials: • Computer stations equipped with notation software

• Notation software template set up for solo with piano accompani-
ment and with 5 given chords.

• Arrange 5 given chords into a progression over 8 measures.
• Add a melody to the chords in which the first note of each measure
is one of the chord tones.
• Defend their chord progression choices.
Length: Two class periods
Preparation: Previous to this lesson students should have a basic understanding of

the concept of consonant “chords” (three notes at a time, every other
note). They should also have some familiarity with a music notation
software program. Prepare a notation template using a music
notation software program in which the staff includes a melody line
with piano accompaniment. Arrange 5 chords in the first 5 measures
of the piano accompaniment (these chords should include at least
the I, IV, and V chords in the key, and two other random chords),
followed by 8 empty measures.
Procedures: Step 1. Students work at their individual computer stations to complete

the following assignment for the Chord Fun template:
• Copy and paste the given chords to fill out 8 measures.
• Each chord should be used at least once.
• Next add a simple melody to go with the chords in the melody staff.
• The first beat of every measure should be a chord tone. Use only
quarter, half, and eighth notes or rests for the melody.
Step 2. Upon completion, have students either share aloud, or write a

paragraph describing why they put the chords in the order that they
did.

ü Use all 5 given chords at least once over 8 measures?
ü Create a melody above the chord tones in which the first beat of
every measure is one of the chord tones?
ü Create a melody that uses only quarter, half, and eighth notes and
rests?
ü Describe their reasons for their chord progression order?
Extensions and • Students break up the chord tones into an arpeggiated

Variations: accompaniment.
• Students add a B section and then paste their beginning section to
create an ABA composition.
• Students create a duet line to go with the melody.
ACTIVITY 6E: Ensemble: Melody Writing for an Instrument

Rationale: Why not have students begin writing simple melodies as soon as they
begin on an instrument? As soon as students learn 3 notes, they
can begin writing original melodies for their instruments. With each
new note (or rhythm or time signature or key signature, etc.), have
students write a new composition. Their original composition can
serve as one of the exercises to be practiced in place of one or two
lines in their method books. Students not only get excited about
writing their own practice tunes, but they will practice them much
more than those in a book. A sense of pride and identity as a
composer will develop from this beginning stage of learning an
instrument. Weekly composition exercises will also strengthen music
reading skills.
Level/Type: Beginning instrumentalists of any age.
Materials: • Wind, percussion, or string instrument

• Staff manuscript paper and pencil

• Compose a melody for their instrument using the notes that they
know
• Perform their melody
Length: Repeated throughout a lesson year
Preparation: Students will need a basic introduction to manuscript paper. Give

students an opportunity to practice writing the clef for their instru-
ment, time signatures, and notes on the manuscript paper.
Procedures: The following instructions might accompany a melody writing exercise

for beginning instrumentalist:
Step 1. Create a simple 4-measure melody for your instrument by
following these steps. Use only quarter notes and half notes.
Step 2. Play around on your instrument trying to find ideas for a simple
melody using E ♭, F, G, and B ♭ (your first 4 notes!).
Step 3. Notate your melody on the manuscript paper provided.
Step 4. Practice your melody so that you can perform it.
It is always important to include the last step whereby students can
actually play what they write so they do not write anything too
outlandish.

ü Notate an original melody with the given notes and rhythms?
ü Perform their melody?
Extensions and • Students write a solo for the teacher (giving them more notes and
Variations: rhythms to choose from).
• Student melodies are performed by the class or ensemble on a
weekly basis (good sight-reading exercise).
• Students write melodies for one another.
ACTIVITY 6F: Sound Textures

Rationale: This lesson uses a visual to inspire composing around “thick” or “thin”
density of textures. Texture and density in music is sometimes best
learned through interdisciplinary lessons. Music from the minimalist
composer Morton Feldman provides a wonderful example of how a
composer uses a painting to inspire his music. In the case of the
Mark Rothko paintings that inspired Feldman, we are provided with
an almost “nontexture” example of music, which is in contrast to his
music inspired by a complex pattern in a Persian rug. This lesson
opens up options of exploring texture and density through patterns
and feeling of cloth and rugs.
Level/Type: Beginning or intermediate composers of any age.
Materials: • Any large variety of classroom and/or nontraditional instruments

• A variety of textiles, cloths, blankets, or rugs that each have different
and varied textures and patterns

• Compose minimalist music inspired by a textile
• Describe how their musical choices mimic the texture and density of
the stimulus
• Describe their music using texture and density terms such as thick,
thin, homophony, monophony and/or polyphony
• Perform their composition
Length: One to two class periods
Preparation: Introduce the concept of minimalism in music by playing Clapping

Music by Steve Reich. The layering and entrances of hand claps in
this recording create a polyphony, but in a very minimalist style. Play
Crippled Symmetry by Morton Feldman as an example of minimalist
music inspired by a Turkish rug. (More history of minimalism in
music and the time period could extend this lesson into several
days.) Discuss the texture of the minimalist music (if need be,
introduce the terms monophony, homophony, and polyphony in this
description; ideally students would have learned these terms
previous to this lesson.) Discuss whether the density of the music
examples is either thick or thin, and how the music causes this
illusion.
Procedures: Step 1. Create groups of three or four students to work together.

Step 2. Each group decides (or is assigned) to compose music to a
textile provided by the teacher.
Step 3. Groups gather appropriate instruments and begin composing

their music composition. The composition should last at least
2 minutes.
Step 4. Upon completion, groups perform music for one another (if
they do not know which textile inspired each others’ compositions,
at this point the class could guess).
Step 5. The composers write a paragraph describing the texture of
their composition using words such as thick, thin, homophony,
polyphony, and monophony. In addition, they defend their use of
sounds and how the sounds relate to the textile that inspired their
composition.

ü Create a 2-minute composition that reflects texture and density in a
given textile?
ü Describe their music using texture and density terms?
Extensions and • Students create their own artwork or textile to inspire a composition.
Variations: • Work with the visual art teacher to venture into other artworks that
might inspire minimalist type of composing, such as those by
Jackson Pollock or M. C. Escher.
• Students work individually or in pairs using computer software such
as GarageBand to compose their music.
Recordings and • Feldman, M. (1970, 1978). Rothko Chapel 3 & Why Patterns [Re-
Other corded by the California EAR Unit]. On Rothko Chapel [Audio CD].
Resources: Tivoli, NY: New Albion Records (2009).
• Feldman, M. (1983). Crippled Symmetry Region A [Recorded by the
California Ear Unit]. On Crippled Symmetry (Disc 1) [Audio CD]. New
Rochelle, NY: Bridge Records (1999).
• Reich, S. (1966). Clapping Music. On Steve Reich: Early Works [Audio
CD]. New York: Nonesuch Records (1992).
• Rothko paintings
7
Big Elements
The creative person is able to transform the sea of irrelevancy in which he
finds himself into a vision of order and beauty, or he sees how a tiny fragment
of seeming cosmic futility collides and coincides with a piece of obviousness.
S I LVA N O A R I E T I , Creativity
Big
Elements
Form Unity/Variety
Tension/Release
Balance
Musical
Elements
Pitch
Rhythm
Timbre
Texture
Density
What is on your iPod right now? What are your top two favorite music selections of all
times? Listen to these carefully, and try to figure out what it is that makes them favorites.
What is it about great music that makes it interesting? What makes us want to listen again
and again and again to our favorite selections? One can follow all sorts of guidelines to
create beautifully arranged chord patterns; one can easily put a string of notes together to
make a simple melody; in fact, it is not difficult at all to create a collage of random sounds
from virtually any sound-making tool in our midst. But what is it that makes the very best
music of our time (or the favorite music on our iPods) create such a lasting impact? Why
are listeners drawn to some music and not others? What makes some music last through
the ages, while others are one hit wonders? Although these questions are not easy to an-
swer, they make for wonderful discussion prompts with children and adults who are inter-
ested in composing music. The answers to these questions should guide the composition
process.
This chapter, and the final point in the five-stage curriculum model, is about that
which makes music interesting. I call these the “big elements,” and they are (a) unity and
variety, (b) tension and release, and (c) balance. Consider the “big elements” as the key to
composing music that makes it more than just an exercise in combining pitches. Before
delving into the specific thoughts about these three areas, I begin this chapter by examining
what makes music good, overall, and how we might bring this discussion into our class-
rooms in order to make students not only more conscientious and broad consumers of
music, but also better composers. Then I discuss more specific ideas for getting students
to think about the three big elements in classroom composition projects.
What Makes Music “Good”?

Sociologists, cognitive psychologists, and behavioral psychologists might offer different
answers to the question of how music moves us. Certainly the social circumstance and ritu-
als and ceremonies and rules of listening all play into the overall impact of music, as Chris-
topher Small so eloquently reminds readers in Musicking (1998).
Music is so very powerful, and often in the rush to “teach” it, we sometimes forget to
simply enjoy its overall effect. How is it that the music is so powerful as to tug at hearts and
souls? And how can teachers make this point in music classrooms? It is this section of the
composition curriculum that highlights the big elements—the elements that make music
interesting. The concepts of unity and variety, tension and release, and balance are useful
tools to make compositions more interesting than ordinary.
Aesthetician and psychologist Leonard Meyer spent a lifetime exploring this very
question of how it is that music moves us, and offers a theory that I use with students when
approaching the question at this point in the curriculum. His landmark text, Emotion and
Meaning in Music (1961) is a remarkable tome that works to answer many of the questions
posed above. When having a discussion about “good music” with students, I break down
Meyer’s theory into the following (albeit extremely simplified) four points:
B I G E L E M E N T S | 131
1. Listeners know one (and occasionally more) syntactical style of music. They can sense
the patterns inherent in a familiar style.
2. Listeners have expectations about music. For instance, in Western tonal music they
expect pitches and rhythms to provide interest and variety yet sound cohesive and uni-
fied, often centered around a tonal center.
3. Composers usually write music that follows the expected musical patterns. An expec-
tancy is set up, and then a tendency is fulfilled.
4. Emotion or affect is aroused when a tendency is arrested or inhibited. Composers play
with the speed with which tendencies are fulfilled.
Tension and release, unity and variety, and balance are those elements that play with
the expectation and release that listeners experience in music. Using these big elements as
a starting point can aid students in thinking about composing music that affects their
listeners.
An Activity
I often begin this unit by focusing on the great melodies of all times. We brainstorm a list
of melodies that students know and remember. Invariably the list includes such great tunes
as “Amazing Grace” and “Over the Rainbow,” as well as something from the latest top hit
(which I likely do not know). I offer up the very simple melody from the Largo movement
of Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 in E Minor as well as some old TV theme songs that the
entire class may be familiar with as examples of effective melodies. With older students I
plunk some of these out on the piano and we listen and analyze the structure: What note
do they start and end on? How wide is the overall interval span? Are there repeated notes?
What kinds of steps, leaps, contour? Are there any patterns common among all of them?
With younger students I provide a handout with the notation of some very simple and
common melodies such as “Frère Jacques,” “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” and “Happy
Birthday.” The next step is to divide the students into small groups with the assignment
that they come up with a list of four “rules” that apply to all good melodies (or at least the
ones we deem as good in the discussion leading up to this). In other words, what rules are
common among melodies that, if we were to follow, would allow us to compose our own
good and memorable melodies?
The remarkable outcome to this exercise is that students will invariably come up
with four rules that are not only similar among themselves, but also contain some of the
same features from Meyer’s principles (listed above). Some common discoveries include
the following: the clever avoidance of tonic to set up expectation for a resolution, a balance
between steps and leaps and repeated notes, a balanced contour, and often a downward
motion at the end.
We continue this exercise by unpacking music that is harmonically and rhythmically
interesting as well. How do chords move? What are the commonalities? What rhythms
work well in a certain selection? Why? By doing this, it is easy to see Meyer’s principles
come alive before our ears and eyes. It is after these discovery exercises that I share Meyer’s
principles with students and we begin to delve into ways in which we could do this in
music. We then play with the ideas of unity and variety, tension and release, and balance
in music. These big elements help bring awareness to how music affects the listener.
The big elements in music are also quite evident in other arts areas. In fact they lend
themselves to very rich possibilities for integrated arts lessons and coteaching with related
arts teachers. In the paragraphs that follow, I offer some brief thoughts about each of these
big elements and include ideas for combining lessons with other arts areas.
Unity and Variety

“Same and different” is one of the early concepts we teach children, not only in music class,
but also in most other subjects. The fundamental concept of same and different fits with
Meyer’s points 1 and 2 above: all listeners are familiar with at least one style of music, yet
need variety in this style to stay interested. This also follows the principles outlined in
music preference literature (e.g., Hargreaves, 1984; Miller, 1992). That is, if listeners hear
something they are not familiar with, they may not like it at first, but repeated listenings
will raise their preference level. The more that a listener becomes familiar with complex
music, the more likely he or she is likely to enjoy it. However, too much of the same thing
also works against us: listeners become bored and lose interest in music that is too much
the same or has been listened to too often. The balance between sameness and difference
is a remarkable, yet relatively simple, tool that composers can use to affect listeners.
In music, ideas related to “unity and variety” can lead to many composing and impro-
vising activities, as well as moments for teaching same and different. Theme and variation
is the most obvious form that exemplifies unity and variety. Any theme that students are
working with, be it in the band class or in a general music text, can easily be composed into
variations. An example of a simple improvisation exercise is to sit students in a circle and
have a lead student improvise a short theme. Each student around the circle then impro-
vises a variation to the theme. This can be done with similar instruments (e.g., all barred
xylophones) or very different instruments (a random variety of barred instruments and
percussive instruments) or even voices. It is a great activity not only for improvising while
learning about unity and variety, but also for ear training.
Unity and variety are concepts that are apparent in visual art and therefore work well
for integrated lessons with visual art and music. Visual artists work to achieve the same/
different balance just as musical composers do. There are many rich lesson possibilities that
could come out of pairing visual art and music around this theme of unity and variety.
Tension and Release

One of my favorite moments in music that illustrates a composer playing with tension
and release in music comes at the end of the Largo section of Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9
in E Minor. The beautiful melody comes back at the end of this movement after a middle
section of very different and animated musical themes. When the melody finally comes
back, played by an English horn solo, Dvorak “teases” the listener by introducing the be-
ginning of the melody, but interrupts it with a long pause. And finally it finishes with a
satisfying conclusion. There are many similar examples in music that teachers and students
can find and analyze whereby they sense the buildup of tension and then a release by the
composer. Dissonance, consonance, repetition, pauses, and changes are all tools that com-
posers use to play with the emotional tension and release that affect listeners.
Related areas that work well to illustrate the concept of tension and release are litera-
ture and movies. What is it, exactly, in a movie, or story, that causes tension buildup? What
is it about a story that makes it difficult to put a book down or makes one desperate to turn
the page? In movies, it is often the underlying soundtrack that contributes to feelings of
tension. The brilliance of any composer, movie writer, or author is in his or her ability to
perfectly balance the tension and let the listener (or reader or observer) feel this release at
just the right moment. Use improvisation activities to illustrate tension and release. Have
one group of students build up a tension with instruments or voices and another to resolve
the tension that was built. Doing it and feeling it through improvised activities are ways
to illustrate the feelings and may help students to purposefully and skillfully utilize tension
and release methods in their compositions.
Balance
When I first bring up the idea of balance to students, they think I mean stereo balance, that
is, just the right amount of bass and treble, or left-to-right speaker proportions. Balance is
probably the most abstract idea to teach, but the simplest to feel and understand. Balance
happens when there is just the right amount of unity and variety, or tension and release, to
make the listener appreciate the music. A balanced musical moment keeps the listener
coming back for more. One way to begin with this concept is to play a variety of four or five
successful musical compositions. Ask students to listen and write down their thoughts
about why the music feels balanced to them (or why it does not). Share and discuss the
answers in order to bring the class to a clarification about balance in effective music. As in
Meyer’s fourth principle from above, in a well-balanced composition, the composer fulfills
a tendency with just the right amount of speed.
What is balance in artwork? It happens when we look at a painting and feel that the
right amount of color or shapes are spread strategically and artfully across the canvas.
Working with visual art or architecture can help to make this concept clear, but it is one
that will take time in the classroom to make sense. Visit it, discuss it, compose balanced and
unbalanced music, and keep coming back to it to encourage students to continually think
about balance in their own compositions.
What makes music interesting? This is the basic question when thinking about com-
posing or improvising. Keep this question in mind when having students compose. Ask
them, and discuss why they like the music they like in terms of the big elements of unity
and balance, tension and release, and balance. These are the tools we can use to encourage
students to begin composing music that is interesting.
ACTIVITY 7A: Beginner: Theme and Variation
Rationale: Introduce the idea of unity and variety in music through the concept
of theme and variation. Although music might include some that is
same, and some that is different, the parts sound like they belong
together. How might we compose same/different in a manner that
sound like they belong together?
Level/Type: Beginning composers in an elementary music classroom.
Materials: A variety of barred and percussive classroom instruments

• Compose 15-second sections of music as a variety (different) to a
given theme
• Notate their compositions using nontraditional notation
Length: Two class sessions: one class for group work and one for performances
Preparation: Begin by reviewing the concept of same and different in music by

going over previous lessons when these concepts were taught. Play
renditions of music that are the “same” but different: for example,
the very many different renditions of the “The Star Spangled Banner”
is one clear example. Note that the composer makes the music sound
as if belongs together even when the theme is changed.
Procedures: Step 1. Have children sit in a circle holding a variety of musical

instruments. The teacher plays from her instrument a short theme
(6–8 notes). Each person around the circle is then to follow with
something different, but sounding like it belongs. Continue this
around the circle until the end.
Step 2. Divide students into groups of three to four. In their groups,
students are to compose a composition that follows a “same/
different/same” form. They are to first create a “theme” that they
play together as a group. Then they compose a “different” section
that sounds different yet still belongs. They finish their composition
with the theme.
Step 3. Have students illustrate, in nontraditional notation, their
composition using markers on large paper. The notation will be a
visual reinforcement of the same/different/same form.
Step 4. Each group performs their composition for the class.

ü Compose a composition with 3 sections (same/different/same) that
sound like they belong together?
ü Draw nontraditional notation to illustrate their musical composition
form?
Extensions and • Have all of the students use the same theme and compose different
Variations: sections. Compare to see which sound the most cohesive with the
theme. String together a number of different sections to create a
longer composition.
ACTIVITY 7B: Intermediate: Perform My Artwork

Rationale: A method to help students begin to understand the abstract ideas of
unity/variety, tension/release, and balance is to have them attempt
to create visual representations of these ideas first. The following
exercise can be modified in several ways for any number of different
classroom configurations. It is a fun exercise and can also help to
point to the potential for connection between what we visualize and
what we hear through music.
Level/Type: Any.
Materials: • A variety of musical instruments (classroom instruments or band/

orchestra instruments)
• Large (poster-size) paper
• A variety of colored markers or crayons

• Create a visual representation of unity/variety, tension/release, or
balance
• Interpret a visual representation (drawn by other students) of unity/
variety, tension/release, or balance by using it as a musical score to
create and perform an original musical composition
Length: One to two class sessions (depending on the time of a class, one
period may be taken for the visual part of this exercise and the
second period for the performance)
Preparation: Precede this exercise with an introduction to the concept of unity/

variety, tension/release, and balance. Discuss the concepts in class,
and listen to musical examples that help to illustrate these terms.
Procedures: Step 1. Divide the students into groups of three or four. Hand each
group a large piece of paper with either U/V (unity/variety), T/R
(tension/release), or B (balance) written in pencil in small print in the
corner. After each group is aware of their designated element, have
them erase the letters and not let the other groups know what they
have.
Step 2. Students work in their groups to create a visual representation
of their assigned element. They should discuss and plan first and
sketch out ideas on scrap paper before creating their poster-size
rendition. Their visual representation has no parameters: it is what
comes to their minds when they think of the big elements they are
given.
Step 3. After the groups are finished with their drawings, collect them
and randomly redistribute them to other groups. The groups are now
to use the drawing as a musical score. They should work together
to choose musical instruments (if classroom instruments) and to
compose a musical composition that uses the pictures as their
“score” inspiration.
Step 4. Each group performs their composition for the class, with the
“score” (visual representation) posted so all can see. At this point
students in the class (as well as the group of performers) try to guess
which of the three elements the visual scores was trying to repre-
sent: unity/variety, tension/release, or balance. Respondents should
defend their choices to lead to a discussion of why they believe what
might be represented.
Step 5. The original “artists” of the drawing will reveal the element they
drew and describe their choices for their drawing.

ü Visually illustrate one of the three “big idea” (unity/variety, tension/
release, balance) elements?
ü Create a musical composition inspired by a graphic “score”?
ü Discuss and defend reasons for seeing or hearing unity/variety,
tension/release, or balance in a score or original composition?
Extensions and • Begin by first having a group of students compose a musical compo-
Variations: sition that depicts one of the three elements (unity/variety, tension/
release, or balance), and then ask another group of students to
create the visual depiction of the music, still trying to guess what
the designation is.
• Work with the visual arts teacher to compose music and correspond-
ing visual representations of the three big elements of unity/variety,
tension/release, and balance.
• Compose music that contains only tension, or only variety, or no
balance.
ACTIVITY 7C: Advanced: More with Less: Minimalism

Rationale: What happens when a composer uses as little material as possible?
This question, and the ensuing exercise to compose in a minimalist
manner, forces students to be economical in their choices yet think
of ways they can use unity/variety, tension/release, and balance in
their compositions. Minimalist composers of the twentieth century
provide great examples of constraint and patience in building tension
and then release in their music.
Level/Type: Secondary school students or students with previous composing

experience.
Materials: • Any instrument

• Paper and writing tool

• Compose a minimalist-style composition for either an ensemble or
solo piano
• Notate their composition so that others can perform it
Length: One week
Preparation: Learn about the history of minimalist composers, such as Steve Reich,
Philip Glass, Morton Feldman, and Terry Riley, and listen to their
music. Here are some recommended listening pieces:
• Movement I “Sosenuto—Misurato—Prestissimo” of György Ligeti’s
Musica Ricercata (in this movement Ligeti uses only one pitch—D—
in multiple ways until ending on the last note of A)
• “Crippled Symmetry Region A,” by Morton Feldman
• Two Pages, by Philip Glass
• Music for 18 Musicians, by Steve Reich
• In C, by Terry Riley
Procedures: Step 1. Students should be familiar with concepts and techniques of

minimalist composers. Have them choose one of the following to
create their music composition:
• Work with 3 pitches in a composition that lasts at least 3 minutes.
Make changes gradually (imperceptibly, if possible) over time. OR
• Use 4 different chords in a composition that lasts at least 3 minutes.
Make changes gradually (imperceptibly, if possible) over time.
Step 2. Notate the composition for an appropriate performer (either
piano or an ensemble).

ü Compose music using a limited pitch set in a minimalist style?
ü Notate their composition for an accurate performance?
Extensions and • Ideas for extending minimalist composing are endless—variable by

Variations: ensemble or choice of timbre or limited rhythms.
Recordings and • Feldman, M. (1983). Crippled Symmetry Region A [Recorded by the

Other California Ear Unit]. On Crippled Symmetry (Disc 1) [Audio CD]. New
Resources: Rochelle, NY: Bridge Records (1999).
• Glass, P. (1969). Two pages. On Glass: Two Pages; Contrary Motion;
Music in Fifths; Music in Similar Motion [Audio CD]. New York:
Nonesuch Records (1994).
• Ligeti, G. (1953). Musica ricercata No. 1: Sosenuto—Misurato—
Prestissimo [Recorded by Pierre-Laurent Aimard]. On Ligeti: Études,
musica ricercata [Audio CD]. New York: Sony Classical (1997).
• Reich, S. (1976). Music for 18 Musicians [Audio CD]. New York:
Nonesuch Records (1998).
• Riley, T. (1964). In C [Recorded by Margaret Hassell]. On Terry Riley in
C [Audio CD]. New York: Sony Classics (2009).
ACTIVITY 7D: Technology: Ostinato

Rationale: The following exercise, built around the concept of an ostinato pattern,
helps to illustrate all three of the big elements of unity/variety,
tension/release, and balance. It works well using a computer
sequencing program, but could easily be adapted for classroom
instrument use.
Level/Type: Upper level elementary or older.
Materials: • Computer with music sequencing software connected to a MIDI

keyboard
• Headphones

• Compose music utilizing an ostinato pattern following given
specifications
Length: One class session
Preparation: Provide the template in figure 7.1 for students to follow in layering
their ostinato composition.
Procedure: Provide the following instructions: Create a musical composition with

an ostinato accompaniment as the unifying device. Your composition
should follow the form illustrated below for your musical tracks:
• Consider creating your ostinato as the base of your composition first,
followed by the other sections.
• Carefully choose the track timbres to complement the others and
work together as a cohesive composition.

ü Compose an ostinato composition using the form outlined above?
Extensions and • Create a class folder of rhythmic ostinatos. Have students choose
Variations: one another’s ostinatos as a basis for their compositions.
• Create a multimovement composition by piecing together several
different ostinato sections composed in the form described in the
above lesson.
Track: TRACK Beginning Middle End
1 1 Ostinato soft & growing Ostinato continues through this section Brief Ostinato
growing gradually to a forte dynamic level. (use the Surprise! softly
paste or looping feature of the software) fades
away.
2 2 Add any musical material to build variety on top of the
3 3 ostinato and interest (i.e. melodies, accompaniments,
4 4 tone clusters, chords)
10 5 Optional ostinato or other rhythmic patterns added for
(perc.) variety or interest
FI G U R E 7. 1 Ostinato Template
ACTIVITY 7E: Ensemble: Aleatoric Music

Rationale: There is a growing repertoire of new music and music that includes
aleatoric (improvisatory) devices for large group ensembles (i.e.,
band, orchestra, or choir). This kind of music is ideal for introducing
the music composition and improvisation in a large ensemble class.
Though the following assignment pertains to a specific piece for
concert band, it can easily be adapted to any ensemble, providing
that the music contains some aleatoric writing. Epinicion contains a
simple, yet haunting, melody that repeats several times with a new
background of aleatoric sounds coming from the ensemble upon
each repetition. (See figure 6.1 for the melody).
Level/Type: Intermediate- or advanced-level concert band broken into four student

work groups.
Materials: • Epinicion by John Paulson (Neil A. Kjos Music)

• Score paper, manuscript paper, and pencils

• Compose a section background to the theme in Epinicion using
aleatoric techniques
• Notate their compositions for individual ensemble parts
Length: One marking period
Preparation: Describe the background of Epinicion for the students: “An epinicion
is an ancient song of victory the Greeks would sing as they walked
through the battlefield sorting the wounded from the dead” (ex-
cerpted from the music score).
The music was written toward the end of the Vietnam War and ex-
presses Paulson’s bitterness toward the war. He uses one haunting
theme to represent the chant and the aleatoric sounds for the sounds
of the battlefield.
Discuss with the ensemble how the use of aleatoric music is appropri-
ate and effective for developing the mood of the piece. The calm and
eerie melody represents the “release,” whereas the aleatoric sounds
that build provide tension. The ending of the music also provides a
wonderful example of release.
Procedures: Step 1. Divide the band into groups of four or five students. Give each
group copies of a section of the score that covers one iteration of the
theme. (There are eight iterations.)
Step 2. Each group should re-compose the background to their section

using the following guidelines: Work as a group to compose a new
background to the theme in this section by re-creating the mood
and scoring using different winds and/or different effects. That is,
if it has a thin texture and is soft, then keep a thin texture and soft
dynamics but compose new techniques and for different instruments
if you want. Do not write for instruments that are playing the theme.
One group member should notate the entire section on score paper
and include instructions, if needed, for band members to read. Other
group members should notate the individual parts and include
needed instructions on the manuscript paper provided.
Step 3. Hand out the newly composed section parts and perform
Epinicion with the new background sections composed by groups.
Discuss the effects of each of the new background section and how
they are different or the same as Paulson’s.
Optional: vote for the best sections for each theme iteration to perform
on a concert.

ü Compose effective (similar texture and style to those in the com-
position) aleatoric parts for background sections to the theme in
Epinicion?
ü Adequately notate and include instructions for their music in order
for ensemble sections to read and perform?
Extensions and Paulson uses mostly tritones and half steps to formulate this melody.
Variations: The melody is repeated several times throughout the piece—each
time with a different timbre (section of the band). Have students
write a melody using only 2 or 3 intervals. Choose one for the band
to play, and add background aleatoric sections, effectively rewriting
Epinicion using the same techniques as the composer, John Paulson.
Recordings and Aleatoric music for instrumental ensembles:

Other • Adler, S. (1978). A Little Bit of . . . Space . . . Time for String Orches-
Resources: tra (Grade 3). Boca Raton, FL: Ludwig Music.
• Broege, T. (1980). Streets and Inroads: Fantasy for Winds and
Percussion (Grade 2). Brooklyn, NY: Manhattan Beach Music.
• Bukvich, D. (1986) Dinosaurs (Grade 3). Oshkosh, WI: Phoebus.
• Duffy, T. C. (1990). Snakes (Grade 2). Boca Raton, FL: Ludwig Music.
• Hodkinson, S. (1972). A Contemporary Primer for Band (Vols. 1 & 2).
King of Prussia, PA: Theodore Presser.
• Mahr, T. (1992). Daydream (Grade 3). San Diego, CA: Neil A. Kjos
Music.
• Oliveros, P. (1997). Four Meditations for Orchestra (Grade 4).
Kingston, NY: Deep Listening Institute
• Paulson, J. (1975). Epinicion (Grade 5). San Diego, CA: Neil A. Kjos
Music.
• Sweeney, M. (1994). Ancient Voices (Grade 1). Milwaukee, WI: Hal
Leonard.
ACTIVITY 7F: Movie Soundtrack

Rationale: Much of our students’ experiences with music contain a visual compo-
nent. With the advent of MTV in the 1980s all the way to the current
proliferation of do-it-yourself YouTube videos, a great deal of popular
music today is experienced with a visual accompaniment. Music
also plays a crucial role in movies. It certainly adds interest, and
its absence can add tension. Including a soundtrack to a movie, by
adding and then manipulating the “big elements” of sound in a movie
track, is a great way for students to think about altering the overall
experience of sound and visuals.
Level/Type: Intermediate/advanced.
Materials: • Computer and software (e.g., GarageBand or QuickTime) to edit

movies and sound.

• Add music to a short video clip in two different ways: one to create
tension, and the other to create humor
Length: One week
Preparation: Students should have knowledge of the software they will use to add
music to a video clip. Either the teacher can prepare several premade
short (30 seconds or less) and innocuous video clips or students can
come up with their own. The video clips should be neutral enough
so that the addition of music infuses a more obvious feeling to the
video. Video clips of walking down a hallway at school, driving down
the road, or an animal running about are examples of the type of
video that would work best.
Procedures: Step 1. View and discuss several examples of video clips in which
music plays a crucial role in setting the mood or feeling. There are
countless examples available from YouTube(http://www.youtube.
com). Ask: How is it that the music composer utilizes tension and
release, unity and variety, or balance to create the effect in the
video?
Step 2. Provide students with a premade 30-second (or less) video clip
(or have them provide their own) and give the following instructions:
• Compose and add music to this video clip that makes it build a
feeling of tension and fright. Save it as “Fright Video.”
• Compose and add music to the same video clip that creates a feeling
of humor to the visual. Save it as “Humor Video.”
Step 3. Have students play their video clips for the class, and have
classmates guess which clip (fright or humor) is being played.
Discuss the compositional and musical devices used to evoke the
emotion.

ü Compose music for, and add music to, a video clip in order to build
tension in the video clip?
ü Compose music for, and add music to, a video clip in order to create
humor in the video clip?
Extensions and • Students film an “advertisement” for a product, and then add music
Variations: to the clip to sell the product.
• Students create music for a portion of a pre-existing movie scene.
Compare their music to the original music in the scene.
• Students create music using classroom instruments to accompany a
video clip.
8
Composition at the Core

of School Music
Music is, for young children, primarily the discovery of sound.
G. M O O R H E A D AND D . P O N D , Music for Young Children
In his book Love, Justice, and Education: John Dewey and the Utopians, William Schubert
(2009) riffs on a little-known article by John Dewey (2006/1933)1 that envisions what
schools would be like in an imaginary, “Utopian” land. Dewey’s utopian vision holds
promise that “the teaching-learning environments that would bring greatest growth are
not schools as we know them” (Schubert, 2009, p. 82), and both Schubert, in his contem-
porary take on Dewey’s article, and Dewey himself imagine schools from this “Utopian”
viewpoint—one in which the reader must think beyond the constraints and everyday lo-
gistics that seem to burden today’s schools.
It is with the spirit of imagining what music education might be like in a Utopia that
I begin this chapter. It is not a variation on Dewey’s particular ideas per se (though I’m cer-
tain the idea of a composition-focused curriculum would fit nicely into Dewey’s Utopian
school), but my own thoughts on an ideal, utopian, music curriculum, in which composi-
tion and improvisation form the core of all music teaching and learning. In this imagined
“Music Utopia Elementary School” (MUES), the main repertoire to be learned and per-
formed is created by the children. This repertoire leads to performance, and informs listen-
ing and analysis, and naturally connects to music already written (what some might call the
classics). In MUES, creative music making is at the center from which all other music mak-
ing and learning radiate.
After describing some learning vignettes in MUES, I offer ideas about organizing a
curriculum infused with composition and improvisation activities. I conclude the chapter
with some final thoughts about why it is imperative that we focus our music teaching on
composition and improvisation, rather than simply view these as add-on activities as they
exist now.
Music Utopia Elementary School

Imagine creativity at the core rather than the periphery of music education. The focus on
the end, the concert, does not need to suffer, but is likely to flourish, and the process for
getting there will be more creative, intrinsically motivating, and richer than one could pos-
sibly imagine. The scenarios that follow provide glimpses into classrooms where examples
of composition and improvisations are taking place. They are little snapshots in time, but
hopefully offer ideas for how a teacher might teach music with creative music making
at the center. The ideas for these activities come from a mixture of my experiences either
observing exceptional music teachers composing and improvising with children in class-
rooms, or projects that I have tried myself.
MUES could be anywhere really. The size of the school or the makeup of children in
the classrooms does not matter so much as the energy and dedication to creative music
teaching embodied by the music teacher. The music teacher at MUES, Mr. Grainger, is in
his mid-40s and entering his fifth year of teaching at MUES, with complete confidence in
this approach and curriculum. He had experimented with his creative music ideas for years
previous to joining the MUES faculty, and had a repetition for doing so. For this reason he
was hired at MUES, because the administrators were hoping to infuse more creative activi-
ties throughout their school curriculum—and especially in the arts. Creativity matters as
much as the so-called basic skills to the teachers and administrators of MUES, and they see
that the music and art classes, above all other classes, are the places where students’ motiva-
tion toward learning and creative thinking can flourish. The administrators at MUES real-
ize that creativity in the arts provides a healthy balance to the sometimes stressful testing
in subjects such as math and reading.
Most of Mr. Grainger’s music classes begin with 3 minutes of “free play” as children
enter the room. They know the routine and the rules (no louder than mf on any instru-
ment, and listen first before joining in) as they improvise on a variety of instruments that
often morphs into an organized “jam session.” Sometimes Mr. Grainger provides a focus
for the improvisation session with a word on the board or a visual cue projected on the
wall. Once the improvisation comes to a natural end, Mr. Grainger launches into the lesson
topic of the day.
The following “musical montages” take you into each grade classroom for a brief
glimpse of music lessons at MUES. The lessons come from various points in the conceptual
curriculum model introduced earlier in this book.
First Grade: Musical Elements—Texture

Mr. Grainger’s room is full of colorful images and patterns. For his first-grade students, he
hangs posters of black-and-white M. C. Escher images, colored Mondrian square patterns,
cloths of various thickness and intricate patterns, as well as computer-generated tessella-
tions that were created by students in the fifth grade. The students have been learning about
patterns and texture in visual art as well as math, and in this particular music lesson Mr.
COMPOSITION AT T H E CORE OF S C H O O L M U S I C | 149
Grainger hopes to inspire a music composition that will reflect their understanding thus
far about patterns in all areas of life.
The students are directed in their opening jam session to improvise on Escher’s
Woodcut II, Strip 3, which is hanging in the front of the room. An interesting and overlap-
ping steady rhythmic pattern emerges, established by some children playing hand drums.
Children on mallet instruments join the rhythm by improvising in a seemingly random
cacophony of sounds. The music slowly fades and ends, and the children sit quietly as Mr.
Grainger speaks softly: “Ooooh, I noticed the way your music faded away to a peaceful
end.” He points to Escher’s Woodcut II, Strip 3, and asks “So, what do you think of this
drawing?” Discussion ensues about the different kinds of birds in the image (some with
eyes, some without, some with a pattern behind them). “Those of you with mallet instru-
ments go into the corner and create a pattern that represents the left side of the image,
those with hand drums, create a pattern for the middle part of the image, and those with
rhythm sticks, create a pattern for the right-hand side of the image.”
As the children begin to work, Mr. Grainger walks around, briefly and gently remind-
ing the students that a pattern is a short musical idea that repeats. With 10 minutes left in
class, he gathers the children back to the center of the room and asks them to share their
patterns. “Now, just as Mr. Escher’s print has different patterns but is one picture, how can
we put these sound patterns together to make them sound like one music composition?.”
He skillfully directs the questions and answers from the students. “I notice that your group
was playing a fast pattern, and the middle group was quite slow pattern. Who is willing
to adjust to make them fit together?” Hands fly in the air, as do suggestions for change. In
the end, the children compromise and Mr. Grainger conducts a quick composition made
up three sections: one for each section of the drawing. He records it and dismisses the
children with the promise that they will hear it again. (Many of the recordings that Mr.
Grainger makes in his class get uploaded to his website for parents and students to hear,
and some are played over the loudspeaker for hallway movement or to introduce the an-
nouncements for the day.) He will likely give this recording to the visual arts and math
teachers who are also teaching about patterns. The art teacher may be inspired to create
artwork for a CD cover.
For 5 weeks the children will delve into concepts of repeated patterns and concepts
of texture in music. As they create interesting patterns on various instruments, they draw
notations on index cards to help them remember, and they drop these into a “pattern box”
placed at the front of the room. At times they will pull out various patterns and experiment
with layering them together, either horizontally or vertically, or both, and experiment with
thick and thin textures while also recalling the patterns. The children will also begin to
listen for patterns in the beats of rap music, as well as in classical music (two of Mr.
Grainger’s favorites for these lessons are Gustav Holst’s “Mars” movement from The Plan-
ets and Steve Reich’s Clapping Music). In the meantime, the art students are learning about
pattern (repetition, lines, shapes, colors) and texture (smooth, rough, bright, dull) in their
art classes.
After the 5-week unit, all of the first-grade students will perform a concert of their
“Pattern Music” while the art students display patterns and textures on the walls for a
monthly MUES assembly.
Second Grade: Musical Elements—Melody

“Good morning, good morning! (sol-mi-do, sol-mi-do)” Mr. Grainger sings in a sweet
falsetto as the children settle in after their free improvisation time. They respond auto-
matically replicating his melodic “Good morning, good morning!” “Watchya doin’ today
Molly (do-re-mi-sol-mi-sol)?” After just a tiny hesitation Molly sings back, “Riding my
bike after school, yay-a-yay,” and the class kindly giggles at her improvisation. Molly contin-
ues the game as the children gather into their circle on the music rug, singing to Jack:
“Watcha doin’ today Jack?” Hands begin to rise, hoping that Jack will sing his response and
call on them. Jack sing/raps “Going to the market gonna get me a game yo yo yo yo.” And
they continue around the circle until everybody has a chance to improvise a little melody.
Some sing, some chant, and some rap. The students are deep into their unit on melody,
learning that it is what we label any short series of notes that sound like they belong
together. The challenge is to improvise a melody with their voice and also to keep track of
melodies they improvise—specifically remembering the ones they really like. Mr. Grainger
asks them to make notes or notations on the melodies they like in a music composition
notebook.
Today the goal is to make up a catchy melody with accompaniment to a selection of
silly poems from the book Fun Limericks for Children by Debbie Gorton. Mr. Grainger
will limit their melody to do-re-mi-sol notes that he has set up on bell sets that are scattered
around the room. Students will use the bell sets to aid in the creation of their melodies and
will work in pairs to do so. They have been working on using these particular solfège pat-
terns and pitch matching since the beginning of the year, and this exercise will give Mr.
Grainger a chance to assess not only their singing skills but their conceptual understanding
of melody as well.
The children break into pairs—each with a different limerick from the book and a
bell set. Mr. Grainger provides the following simple instructions on a check-off sheet:
☐ Work with your partner to sing the limerick.

☐ Use do-re-mi-sol pitches.
☐ Use your bell set to help you.
☐ Memorize your melody and lyric.
☐ Write it down to help you remember.
At the end of class, they come back and perform for each other. Mr. Grainger records
all of their melodies on his computer and later files them into their digital “process-folios.”
For students who will stay at the elementary school for the entire 5 years, this provides a
record of their growth over time. He also uses the files often at parent visitation days to
show parents what the children are composing and how they are progressing.
The following week, children will begin combining limericks and also substituting
some of their own words. Some will be in charge of accompaniment parts, using Boom-
whackers and hand drums. The ultimate goal is to create a “class song” that will be com-
posed of at least three verses and chorus. Ms. Peterson, a second-grade classroom teacher, is
working with rhyming in her classes and will integrate the lessons by working on rhyming
with the lyrics during her teaching time. The students will compose the melody as a group
and then slowly shape it into a song that describes their class. As they develop their class
song, Mr. Grainger skillfully weaves in concepts from lessons on repetition, rhythm, and
even harmony. This is a yearlong project, and every year second-grade students look for-
ward to composing their class song. They bring it back (often refined) to perform at their
fifth-grade graduation concert.
Third Grade: Form and Timbre

The start of today’s class is filled with an amazing variety of sounds as twenty third-grade
students are scurrying about the room trying different instruments to find the perfect
sound. Today they are beginning the process of organizing sounds for the annual third-
grade show they are writing with their classroom teacher, Mrs. Johnson. The story, which
they created, is about a small child who gets lost on the way home from school and stum-
bles into a magical kingdom where children are in charge and adults must listen to them.
It is a very funny story, and the children love it.
In art class they will create the colorful scenery and paintings that provide the visual
background. In music class on this day, they are beginning to create the sounds to go with
the story. “What about this for the door opening, Mr. Grainger?” Sarah asks as she sweeps
her hands through a wind chime. “Remember to work this out with your teammates, Sarah.
But my honest opinion? I think it’s pretty cool,” Mr. Grainger responds. Sarah brings her
idea over to teammates Josh and Nathan, and they continue working on finding the perfect
magical door sound. Their team is in charge of the introduction and beginning scene. Mr.
Grainger has arranged teams of three and four students to be in charge of different sections
of the story. He is using this opportunity to teach about form and timbre in music. After
plotting the sound effects for each scene, students will begin to shape them into a form that
makes sense for the particular scene. They will make decisions about, repetition, begin-
nings and endings, as well as dynamics. They will also have to carefully notate the timing
for these musical backgrounds to integrate them with the text of the play.
The sounds coming from the music room are cacophonous and, some might say, noisy.
Yet the students are intensely focused in their teams with clear goals as they prepare for the
upcoming show. At MUES the teachers do not purchase or reuse a prepackaged musical for
their annual production; rather, they work together to create something original and inte-
grate the lessons in all of the classes to teach about the concepts they are learning.
Fourth Grade: Form and Timbre

It is spring of the fourth-grade year, and the children are learning about the food chain and
food web in their science units. Mr. Grainger has cleverly thought of a way to integrate
music composition into the science lessons that will help the students understand concepts
associated with the food chain. During these weeks, he posts colorful images of plants and
animals as well as words like autotrophs and heterotrophs around the room. Words such as
wooden, metallic, dark, bright, sharp, dull, hollow, thumpy, scratchy, and papery also hang
on the wall in different colors, sizes, and shapes as reminders for the students to consider
different timbres when composing. Mr. Grainger uses this unit as a time to teach timbre,
theme and variation, and development. Students are prompted often to think about how
sounds would or would not match up with the musical ideas they are composing. The stu-
dents have worked to match timbre types to various plant and animal types and have spent
several lessons exploring ways to create the “sound” of a plant or animal. This project also
requires the students to write using rich adjectives to describe their musical ideas.
“All right, class,” Mr. Grainger says while clapping to get students’ attention from
around the room. “What have you decided? Will it be food chain or food web?” They had
been discussing various possibilities for theme, variation, and development, and listening to
examples of both. The Variations on a Theme by Rossini by Chopin was of particular interest
because Chopin used another composer’s theme. This prompted Mr. Grainger to also play
Brahms’s Variations on a Theme by Haydn for Piano. “Even back then,” Mr. Grainger chuck-
led, “composers did covers of others’ music. If other composers recreate a theme, then are
they moving the music along the food chain?”
“Half of us are going to compose food web music, and the other half will compose
food chain music,” announces Betsy. Her classmates nod in agreement. “Don’t forget to use
the food web picture as your musical score,” Mr. Grainger reminds them. They break into
groups and begin their work: looking over the “score” and then selecting instruments with
timbres that seem to work for them.
Mr. Grainger is anxious to have them perform their music in science class. He will
assess their connections to the scores as well as their understanding of development and/or
theme and variation that the compositions should show.
Fifth Grade: Big Elements—Interdisciplinary Connections

In the fifth-grade year, the students compose music for, and compile, an entire CD. It is
truly interdisciplinary in that it is based on, and inspired by famous artworks as well as
their own art, and they write their biographies and liner notes for the CDs. Mrs. Andrews,
the language arts teacher, helps them write their biographies and liner notes that describe
their music, and Mr. Toma, the art teacher, has been guiding the students to carefully select
a portfolio of artworks to inspire their music, as well as to design their CD cover.
Today the students are broken into three groups: some of the students are in the art
room finishing up the art for the CD cover; another group is working in the computer lab
typing their liner notes; and the third group is in the music room, using the recording
equipment to record some of their original compositions.
Keira has been intrigued by the stillness of Mark Rothko’s paintings, and even more
so by Morton Feldman’s music compositions that were inspired by Rothko’s artwork (on
Feldman’s CD Rothko’s Chapel). She composed a piece of music she titled “Calm,” for five
players on Alto Orff instruments. This was inspired by a particular painting by Rothko
titled Orange and Yellow. Her music, like the painting, is seemingly static as the players
move through a progression of very slow moving sustained chords. Mr. Grainger had just
been teaching about “tension and release” in music class, and as he was watching her re-
hearse her classmates, he commented: “Oh Keira, you are showing such patience with this!
The tension becomes almost unbearable with the slow chords. Do you want to do anything
to release the tension?” Keira thought a bit as she recalled the lesson they completed during
the week on ostinato as a tension builder. “No, I don’t think so, Mr. Grainger. But I do
think I need to add some dynamics to build up and then fade away at the end.” She asked
her players to mark their scores with some dynamic markings before they commenced with
their final run-through before recording.
Fifth grade is also the year that students can elect to join the band or orchestra. Here
students will apply their developing composition skills as they compose the songs they will
perform on their first concert in December. The band and orchestra teacher, Ms. Carmody,
enjoys the enthusiasm that the students bring toward improvising and composing songs
when they join one of the ensembles. The first few weeks of band and orchestra are focused
on learning the physical techniques of holding and manipulating the instruments as well as
developing good tone quality. The students learn by ear, and as they add new notes to their
repertoire, they compose simple songs, either individually or as an ensemble. Ms. Carmody
will not introduce written repertoire or books until after the fundamental physical tech-
niques and tone qualities are solid.
Imagine
Imagine a year of music moving in the direction of the “Music Utopia Elementary School,”
as described above: class begins with improvisation, continues with the concept(s) of the
day, and then students compose or improvise around the concept to be learned. School
concerts include a mixture of compositions composed by the students as well as the usual
repertoire performed in elementary school. As students learn to improvise and compose,
their understanding of and appreciation for already composed music will only deepen.
Imagine collaborating with the language arts teacher and the visual arts teacher on
creating an original “musical story,” complete with visual artwork, to be performed for par-
ents in the spring. The approach to the curriculum is organic, with lessons stemming from
questions and opportunities based on students’ interest and natural evolution in composi-
tion. What happens when you bang two pieces of wood together compared to pieces of
metal? Which sounds do you prefer, and why? Compose a song of ugly sounds. Compose
a song of beautiful sounds. Compose a song of sounds that move from beautiful to ugly. It
should have a steady beat as well as be in a triple feel. Work with a partner to create music
that contrasts meters and sounds. What happens to the feeling of the music when the time
changes? How might you notate it? Are there easier ways? What happens to the develop-
ment of clean and clear tonal and rhythmic patterns?
Although the vignettes of music learning at MUES might seem extreme, they were
inspired by real music teachers I have seen work this magic in their classrooms. I hope that
they spark ideas for lessons that put creative musical thinking and doing at the center of
learning in order to engage deeper musical thought from students. Composition, improvi-
sation, and creative exploration activities lead to qualitatively deeper understandings than
“re-creating” music. Although the norm is to teach students the “outside-in” version of
music (that is, we give them the musical things they are supposed to learn), students who
compose experience an “inside-out” view of music. In this organic and creative approach to
curriculum, there is less focus on teaching the facts and bits of the (somewhat contrived)
elements of melody, rhythm, texture, harmony, with careful sequencing of sol-la before
ti-do (for instance), than there is on simply making music in a joyful manner, and teaching
about the music after it is composed. It means starting from the whole that is made up and
imagined by children, then dissecting and analyzing that organic whole into parts, and then
moving out to the whole again.
The Spiral Approach

“A curriculum as it develops should revisit these basic ideas repeatedly, building upon them
until the student has grasped the full formal apparatus that goes with them” (Bruner, 1960,
p. 13). Jerome Bruner profoundly affected education and curriculum when he introduced
the concept that children can learn any subject at any age as long as it is presented in terms
that are relevant and meaningful to them. Whereas the previous chapters in this book pro-
vide a variety of possible composition and improvisation activities, Bruner’s spiral curricu-
lum model provides a potential structure from which to enact them. A spiral curriculum
approach with music creativity included in the core, as diagrammed in figure 8.1, centers
around music listening, performing, composing, and improvising. Mr. Grainger, the ficti-
tious teacher at MUES, would use a spiral curriculum in which he touches on concepts
each year and “grows” them by revisiting them at a deeper and more complex level as chil-
dren develop. The means by which these are taught in the creative approach to music are
through improvisation and composition. These creative activities form the core of the cur-
riculum and help to form the other concepts we teach in music, such as the context of
music, the musical elements, and music history.
Creativity at the Core of School Music

—In composition, to produce is first of all to take pleasure in the production
of differences. (Attali, 1985, p. 142)
Children come to school with years of musical experience under their belts. However,
sometimes we approach students as if they do not “know” music and it is our job, as teacher,
Time: Level of understanding & sophistication of creative product and process
Perform
Compose
se
Listen
rovi
Imp
Context Melody
Timbre Rhythm
Harmony Texture
FIGURE 8 .1 A Spiral Approach to Creative Teaching and Learning
to teach them music. We forget that their home environments are likely full of rich and
complex musical sounds, and have been since they were born. We also forget they have the
ability to make their own music, just as they can make up stories and paint pictures. Stu-
dents come to school full of music: musical ideas, musical rhythms, musical facts, musical
love, and musical experiences. And their knowledge of music might be richer now than
ever before in history because of the ubiquitous digital music players and other sound
sources that provide immediate and constant access to music.
Not only do students come to school with extensive musical backgrounds, but we
also know from research that children can compose and enjoy doing so.2 There does not
seem to be a consistent “how-to” formula, and in fact many teachers have learned that a
student-centered and emergent approach to the process of teaching composition is the
most satisfying. Learning to allow students’ unique voices and identities to emerge seems
the most important skill a teacher can possess.
An important part of the equation is the teacher, who must have the disposition to
teach in an evolving and organic manner. The ability to improvise in the moment, allowing
student ideas to emerge and shape the learning experience, is important for successful com-
position teaching (Bolden, 2009; Gould, 2006; Ruthmann, 2008). “Just as there is no one
right way to compose, there is no one right way to teach or evaluate compositions. Instead,
both the teacher and the composer must approach composition as a problem-solving exer-
cise” (Younker, 2003, p. 237). In order to implement a curriculum with creative musical
activities at the core, a teacher must be flexible and skillful. He or she must have the ability
to gently “manage” a class while at the same time provide space for musical chaos. It be-
comes an artful balance between freedom and control. And music teachers must be able to
think imaginatively in order to teach from a curriculum in which the “repertoire” comes
from the students.
The core of all music teaching should come from the creative essence of music. It
begins by organizing the curriculum with the end goals in mind, but must follow a map
through the unknown territories that composition and improvisation will bring.
Artistry
Finally, and perhaps most important, we must not forget the importance of artistry in
making music. It is easy and fun to create an “anything goes” attitude in creative music
making, with final compositions deemed successful simply because they are finished. Al-
though wild experimentation and silly-sounding compositions are appropriate at times, we
must keep a thread of our focus on developing aesthetic sensitivity and a sense of artistry in
our students. Reimer (1989) presents a set of criteria for making quality judgments about
a work of art: craftsmanship, sensitivity, imagination, and authenticity. Craftsmanship in-
volves the ability to put materials of art together in a way that creates expressiveness in the
product. Sensitivity becomes manifest through the depth of feeling that is inherent in the
music. Imagination reveals a refreshing originality in the artwork. And authenticity relates
to the “genuineness of the artist’s interaction with his materials” (p. 138). If we keep these
in mind as goals when teaching music composition, and share these criteria with our stu-
dents, then we will develop students who are not only musically creative, but critical, artis-
tic, and sensitive musical thinkers as well. Just as we strive for artistry in performance, we
should also strive for developing artistry through music composition. Reaching artistry,
just as achieving any goal of merit, takes work, persistence, patience, and much practice.
Music composition requires this and more, at the same time it provides an outlet for chil-
dren that will offer them rewards beyond the norm.
I hope that the activities and ideas outlined in this book help teachers to realize that
composing and improvising in the classroom is not nearly as difficult as they might have
been led to believe. Composing is simply organizing sound and silence in feelingful ways.
Standard notation is not a prerequisite, and sounds do not have to fit neatly into a steady
4-beat pattern. Try out the activities presented in this book, and begin to trust the natural
creative impulses of the students. Build a repertoire of composition and improvisation

techniques and activities, and develop them further each year. Once we have opened up
our ears to the vast possibilities of what music is and can be, then the options for composi-
tion and improvisation in the classroom are infinite. And the musical experiences for the
students will be enriched beyond our imagination.
Notes
C H A P TER 1
1. Performing other’s music as a separate act from composing or improvising is new in our Western culture. For
historical overviews on this phenomenon, see Pressing (1988), Attali (1985), and Small (1998). Outside of
the Western canon, it is not unusual at all for creation and music making to be a singular act.
2. The students I refer to throughout this book are those whom I have taught over the years and include children
in K–12 settings as well as preservice and in-service teachers.
3. Chapter 3 provides specific listening and exploration activities to help stimulate this discussion toward a
definition.
4. Composing well or in a creative manner is an altogether different, yet important issue that I will discuss later.
5. This motivation toward exploration and process over product by young children may explain why, in my
own work and that of Stauffer (2002, 2003), I have found that younger children are more reluctant to revise
their final musical composition than older and more experienced student composers. Webster (2003) pro-
vides ideas for encouraging revision processes with younger composers.
C H A P TER 2
1. An activity is intrinsically motivated when self-initiated or taken on for personal satisfaction; extrinsic moti-
vation drives one to complete an activity because of a tangible reward given by another person.
2. Table 2.1 provides a very simplified and gross generalization of a very complicated topic. The personality of
the teacher, the students, and the cultural and social context of the classroom all provide confounding vari-
ables to this complex area of motivation and creativity. This simplification, however, provides a place to start
when thinking about the types of composition assignments and parameters teachers give. At the very least, if
we continually find ourselves in the “same box,” then we are doing a disservice to the types of learners who
prefer, and might be motivated by, a different style. For a more recent review of the research on motivation
and creativity see Ryan and Deci (2000).
3. Perhaps the best source dedicated to this issue is Can I Play You My Song? by Rena Upitis (1992). Upitis
outlines the research on learners’ natural development of notation understanding and writing. Upitis also
offers practical ideas for collecting and understanding children’s music notations, as well as advice for moving
children naturally toward an understanding of standard notation through music composition. For teachers
or researchers interested in this topic, the Upitis book is highly recommended.
4. Seymour Papert coined the terms “letteracy” and “letterate” to define the traditional ways one is able to read
and write. He defines the terms literacy and literate to mean more holistic “ways of knowing” in a domain.
“Becoming literate means thinking differently than one did previously, seeing the world differently, and this
suggests that there are many different literacies” (Papert, 1993, p. 10).
5. Both notation and sequencing software allow a user to record, play back, and print music with or without
the aid of a MIDI synthesizer. The main purpose of notation software is for printing music, whereas the main
160 | N O T E S
purpose of sequencing software is for recording music. Now it is not uncommon for software programs to
provide both features.
6. One could present a compelling argument here for the use of computer technology taking over the need to
learn to write standard notation.
7. Amabile coined the phrase “consensual assessment” through her studies that used this technique for rating
visual artwork (see Amabile, 1979, 1996; Hennessy & Amabile, 1988).
8. Alfie Kohn’s (1993) book Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise, and
Other Bribes presents a comprehensive and fascinating review of research on this topic.
9. Lessons from a Child (1983) was Calkins’s first and most influential book on the teaching of writing to chil-
dren. Subsequent books, such as The Art of Teaching Writing (1994) and One to One: The Art of Conferring
with Young Writers (Calkins, Harman, & White, 2005), provide invaluable insights into guiding the creative
working process of children with ideas that work equally well with creative music writing.
C H A P TER 3
1. A recording that really forces thought on this question is music played by elephants on the audio CD Thai
Elephant Orchestra.
2. Ideas for these journals are described in more detail in lesson 3F.
3. The Eberle (1996) book contains several visual imagination exercises that would adapt well to musical
imagination.
C H A P TER 4
1. This particular facility was a group home for young men who were identified as “high-needs” and, for a vari-
ety of reasons ranging from absent parents to safety, were not able to live in their own homes.
2. For more information about my work with these particular students, see Hickey (2009).
3. The term “songs” was most often used to depict music with lyrics. However, depending on the circumstance
and the student, “song” was also interchangeably used with “music” and “beats.”
C H A P TER 5
1. In the literature on writing (or teaching to write) fiction, the beginning is often called a lead. For suggestions
on writing good leads, see http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/lessonplans/instructor/power.htm.
C H A P TER 6
1. When I use the term “good” here, I mean to describe a melody or music that follows all of the proper rules in
the Western tonal tradition and seems to be appealing to audiences (it stands the test of time).
2. The term beat is pervasive in the culture of some of the urban students I teach. They will often use it in place
of the term music. To them, composing music means writing beats.
C H A P TER 8
1. The article in the edited book was first published in the New York Times, April 23, 1933, education section,
p. 7, from an address by Dewey on April 21, 1933, at the “Conference on the Educational Status of the Four-
and Five-Year-Old Child,” Teachers College, Columbia University. See Dewey (2008/1933).
2. See Hickey (2012) for a review of recent research on teaching music composition to children.
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Index
Adams, John, 55, 74–75 form, 38, 45, 46, 90– 91, 94, 99, 101–102, 104, 120
Amabile, Teresa, 10, 18, 26, 160 harmony, 111, 122–123
assessment, 5, 9, 14–18, 26–28, 30–32 identity and inspiration, 38, 64, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80
Attali, Jacques, 154, 159 in an ensemble, 57, 80, 110, 125, 142
integrated arts, 82, 136
Bamberger, Jean, 21 intermediate, 52, 56, 74, 80, 94, 120, 136
Barrett, Janet, 82 melody, 110, 118, 123
Barrett, Margaret, 13, 85 minimalism, 126, 138
Beethoven, Ludwig, 43, 64–65, 79, 86–87 rhythm, 113, 140
beginnings and endings, 85–89, 91, 116 (see also SCAMPER, 101–102
composition exercises) song form, 97
comparison to literature, 86 technology, 56, 78, 99, 123, 140
effective, 87 texture, 116, 127–128
Bernstein, Leonard, 42, 53, 80–81 theme and variations, 92–93, 134–135
big elements, 39, 130–133 (see also composition timbre, 115
exercises) compositional identity, 68–69, 71
Braxton, Anthony, 55 consensual assessment, 27, 160
Brinkman, David, 10, 27 Copland, Aaron, 42–44, 60, 85, 89, 91
Brown, Earle, 51, 66–67, 69 creative musical thinking, 8, 10–11, 154
Bruner, Jerome, 154 creativity
Burnard, Pamela, 18, 65, 68 assessment of, 30–32
general, 10–11, 15–20, 148
Cage, John, 7, 54, 66, 81 person, 9–10
Calkins, Lucy, 27–28, 35, 160 process, 7–11, 16, 28, 64
classical form (see composition exercises) product, 8–9
composing in ensembles, 33–34, 90 Csikszentmihalyi, Mihalyi, 10, 35
composition commission, as inspiration, 54, 70 Cutietta, Rob, 106
composition curriculum structure, 36
composition exercises Davidson, Lyle, 21
advanced, 54, 76, 96, 122, 138 Davies, Carol, 13
beginner, 49, 72, 82, 92, 118, 134 Davis, Gary, 9
beginnings and endings, 94–96 December 1952 by Earle Brown, 51, 66
big elements, 134–146 Definitions
classical form, 91 creativity, 8
commission as inspiration, 54, 70 density, 106
explore, 38, 49, 52, 54, 56–57 harmony, 110
168 | I N D E X
Definitions (continued) National Standards for Music Education, 5

music, 41 Nettl, Bruno, 116–117
music composition, 41 Nordine, Ken, 64, 82–83
texture, 106, 115 notation, 20–24, 33, 66, 114, 159 (see also graphic and
timbre, 106, 115 nontraditional notation)
DeLaurenti, Christopher, 78–79
DeLorenzo, Lisa, 16 Oliveros, Pauline, 44–45, 54–55, 144
Dewey, John, 147
Dillon, J. T., 10 Papert, Seymour, 24, 159
Dunn, Robert, 44 Partch, Harry, 51, 55
Paynter, John, 6, 35, 89–91
endings in music (see beginnings and endings) Piirto, Jane, 8
Epinicion, by John Paulson, 108, 142–144 Pond, Donald, 13, 16, 47–48, 85
Pressing, Jeff, 159
Feldman, Morton, 64, 82–83, 127–128, 138–139 problem-finding, 10
Flohr, John, 47, 85
form in music, 84–91 Rands, Bernard, 120–121
free improvisation in ensembles, 57 Reese, Sam, 27–28
freedom and structure, balance of, 70–71 Reich, Steve, 64, 74–75, 90, 127–128, 138–139, 149
Reimer, Bennett, 6, 156
Gardner, Howard, 9 Riley, Terry, 90, 138–139
Getzels, John, 10, 35 Rothko, Mark, 64, 82–83, 127–128, 152–153
Glass, Philip, 90, 138–139 Runco, Mark, 10, 12
Glennie, Evelyn, 51, 60, 86, 96 Ruthmann, S. Alex, 156
Gould, Elizabeth, 156
graphic and nontraditional notation, 54–55, 66, 120–121 Sawyer, R. Keith, 20
SCAMPER technique, 45–46 (see also composition
Hargreaves, David, 132 exercises)
Hennessey, Beth, 26 Schafer, R. Murray, 6, 45
Hickey, Maud, 6, 10, 16, 27–28, 68 Schubert, William, 147
high-needs students, working with, 65–66, 69 Scripp, Larry, 21
hip-hop beats, 113–114 song form (see composition exercises)
Simonton, Dean Keith, 9
identity and inspiration, 63–71 (see also composition Small, Christopher, 69, 130
exercises) Smith, Janice, 6
integrated arts, 66, 132 (see also composition exercises) spiral curriculum, 154–155
Ives, Charles, 75 Stauffer, Sandra, 68, 159
Sternberg, Robert, 10
Kaschub, Michele, 6, 19
Kerchner, Jody, 44 technology, 24–25, 115 (see also composition
lessons)
Lansky, Paul, 43, 64, 76–77 tension and release, 35, 130–133, 153
Ligeti, György, 90, 138–139
listening journals, 45, 59–60 Upitis, Rena, 13, 21, 27, 68, 159
Lowenfeld, Victor, 13, 26
visual art,
M.C. Escher, 128, 148–149 analogy to music composition, 4–5, 13, 26–29,
MacDonald, Raymond, 19 132–133
Marsh, Kathryn, 13, 47 creativity 18,
Miell, Dorothy, 19 inspiration for composition, 66, 82–83, 136–137
Meyer, Leonard, 130–133
minimalism, 90 (see also composition exercises) Wakefield, John, 10
models of the creative process, 10 Wallas, Graham, 10
Moorhead, Gladys, 13, 16, 47–48, 85 Webster, Peter, 10,
Music Utopia Elementary School (MUES), 147–153 Wiggins, Jackie, 19
musical elements, 25, 28, 30, 35, 43, 106–117 (see also
composition exercises) Younker, Betty Anne, 18, 68, 156

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Published in the United States of America by

© Oxford University Press 2012

You must not circulate this work in any other form

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

Beginning Art Class Scenario

The Need for Materials

Creative Thinking in Music

a range of technically difficult etudes on an instrument, creative thinking in music involves

Composing for “Real”

Play with sound Compose satisfying Compose socially

FIGURE 1.1 Continuum of Compositional Experiences

Composition Settings and Parameters

Open versus Closed Composition Assignments

Closed Assignment Parameters: Open

FIGURE 2.1 Open and Closed Assignment Continuum

Reward Closed (Informed) Task Open Task

Low External Reward Low creativity High creativity

Group and Individual Approaches

Begin with Students’ Notations

using whatever system—graphic, numeric, alphabetic, and so forth—is most meaningful

Using Ears Rather than Eyes

A New Music Literacy

• Positive feedback should be specific to the composition or composition process, rather

As mentioned previously, a combination of specific components with more general

Components: Needs work Terrific!

FIGUR E 2. 3 Rubric Sample

Some General Assessment Guidelines

• provide authentic and powerful ways to assess student knowledge;

HARMONIC ANALYSIS: • Compose shape of melody

RHYTHMIC ANALYSIS: Ensemble OTHER?

FIGURE 2.4 Compositional Analysis of Ensemble Literature

TABLE 2.2 Potential Music Composition Prompts

• Compose a musical scenery to depict a place (real or imaginary).

A Composition Curriculum Structure

1. Define, Listen, and Explore

Deﬁne, Listen and Explore: Chapter 3

Define, Listen & Explore

FIGURE 2 .5 Composition Curriculum Structure

Composition Prompts: Inspiration and Identity: Chapter 4

Musical Elements: Chapter 6

Big Elements: Chapter 7

Suggestions for Organization of Composition Activities

TABLE 2.3 Lesson Activities by Chapter

Beginner Found sound Who are Same-change- Compose a Theme and

Deﬁne, Listen, and Explore

Define, Listen & Explore

Any sound can be a material used in music making. If a sound is conceived of

Music is organized patterns of sounds and silences, created by a human composer, to

Lesson: What Is Music? What Is Music Composition?

place? Are they loud? Soft ?” and so forth.