Maschine-itivity: How I found my creativity using a digital sampling device to compose music

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-313
Author(s):  
Jonathan Kladder
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Creative Process ◽  
Contemporary Music ◽  
Music Learning ◽  
Sampling Device ◽  
Digital Sampling ◽  
Informal Music Learning ◽  
Contextual Understanding ◽  
Auto Ethnography

The ubiquity of digital music technology has prompted researchers and scholars to examine how music educators might support music learning that encourages creativity through the use of these mediums. Infusing technology into current curricular offerings offers one avenue in fostering a diversity of music learning experiences for students when teachers are interested in developing creativity in their students. Research examining current practising teachers and their experiences with digital sampling and beat making technology is limited. The purpose of this research was to offer my experiences learning, writing and sharing music using a sampling and beat-making device called the Maschine. This auto-ethnography uses Sawyer’s eight stages of the creative process as the theoretical framework to guide analysis of my creativity. The aims of this research were to: (1) reflect on the creative process involved in making music on a digital sampling and beat-making device; (2) provide a contextual understanding of my challenges and successes along the way; and (3) suggest implications for both current and future music teachers interested in learning to use this type of technology in their music teaching to provide contemporary music making experiences for their students. Results suggest that vernacular and informal music learning strategies were common over the 14-week semester, as YouTube tutorials supported my learning. My creativity occurred in small incremental steps and yielded three completed compositions at the culmination of the project. A conceptual model of the creative process is proposed, outlining the non-linearity of my creative process. Implications for music education are offered in conclusion.

scholarly journals Informal and Participatory Cultures in Music Education

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deanna C. C. Peluso
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Informal Learning ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Contemporary Music ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Music Learning ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Informal Music Learning ◽  
Self Knowledge

Music provides a forum to explore knowledge, creativity, collaboration and expression as a part of the human condition, in which we relate self-identity, self-knowledge and a socio-cultural context for our experiences (Hodges, 2005). Many youth are able to be involved in participatory cultures, where musical learning occurs easily and without formal intervention, through the development of complex technologies that allow interaction and sharing across the world without the limitations of geographical boundaries. Musical activities are a significant part of many young people’s everyday lives, as they are musically encultured from a young age, yet the majority of their musical participation occurs outside of formalized music education (O’Neill, 2005), through informal learning within popular music (Green, 2007). Contemporary music educators are faced with finding ways for youth to strengthen the connections between music education at school and their musical experiences outside the school walls; and I posit that an understanding of participatory and informal music learning practices might help this challenging endeavour.

Finding the “both/and”: Balancing informal and formal music learning

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 441-455
Author(s):  
Juliet Hess
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Informal Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Formal Learning ◽  
Music Learning ◽  
Human Relationships ◽  
Informal Music Learning ◽  
Formal And Informal Learning ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Structured Approach

This article explores the informal and formal learning experiences of 20 activist-musicians. Multiple activist-musicians utilized the informal learning strategies Green identifies. More than half of the participants, however, bemoaned the lack of more formal music education. They noted that they valued informal musical learning practices and also wished that they had experienced more of a balance between formal and informal music learning strategies in their music education. Many of the participants identified as being self-taught. In interviews, they shared ideas about teaching themselves and “figuring things out” musically. They discussed both wanting to move away from theory and needing theory. They further preferred a structured approach to education before moving to a more “free” pedagogy. Ultimately, they noted that the human relationships intrinsic to musicking may transcend the need for “training.” This article concludes by exploring implications of implementing a balance between formal and informal learning for K-12 schooling and teacher education.

Informal music learning, improvisation and teacher education

2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Wright ◽  
Panagiotis Kanellopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Informal Learning ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Music Learning ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Free Improvisation ◽  
Informal Music Learning ◽  
The Social ◽  
Narrative Methodology ◽  
Communicative Context

This paper1 explores firstly the sense in which improvisation might be conceived of as an informal music education process and, secondly, the effects of a course in free improvisation on student teachers' perceptions in relation to themselves as musicians, music as a school subject and children as musicians. The results of a study conducted in two Greek universities are presented. Using a narrative methodology, examples of data from the reflective diaries or learning journals which 91 trainee teachers kept as part of their participation in an improvisation module are presented and discussed. The argument is made that improvisation, as a particular type of informal music learning process, has an important role to play in fostering the qualities required of teachers to work with informal pedagogies in music education. Furthermore, we would suggest that such musical experiences might gradually lead to the development of a critical perspective on both music education theories and practices. Improvisation might emerge as a moment and a practice of rupture with linearity of progress, working against reification of knowledge and glorification of received information. The findings suggest that improvisation might offer a route for creating an intimate, powerful, evolving dialogue between students' identities as learners, their attitudes towards children and their creative potential, and the interrelationships of the notions of expressive technique and culture, thus becoming ‘an act of transcendence’ (Allsup, 1997, p. 81). We propose that the issue of connecting informal learning and improvisation might be resolved by regarding improvisation as an exemplary case of creating a communicative context where most representations/conceptualisations/struggles to solve problems are left implicit. Such experiences for pupils and teachers alike might further extend the social and personal effectiveness of informal learning as music pedagogy.

Cultivating Meaningful Personal Learning Networks in an Era of Multimodal and Globalized Music Learning and Education

2020 ◽  
pp. 335-356
Author(s):  
Deanna C. C. Peluso
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Learning Networks ◽  
Online Forums ◽  
Music Learning ◽  
Personal Learning Networks ◽  
Personal Learning ◽  
Informal Music Learning ◽  
Musical Knowledge

A continual ebb and flow of technological progressions provide diverse contexts in which music learning, participation, and education can occur. Youth are deeply immersed within a culture of globalized and multimodal knowledge-sharing, through which music learning occurs within formal, nonformal, and informal contexts, both in the physical and online worlds. These interconnected environments provide learners with a diverse collection of tools and resources that enable them to take charge of their own musical learning. Further, they can connect and share with other learners, educators, and experts through their own digitally mediated personal learning networks (PLNs). In these PLNs, extensive repertoires of formal music education combined with informal music learning practices that provide self-directed forums for musical experiences can enable music learners to flourish and adapt to globalized and diverse contexts. Learners cultivate, in their own personally relevant ways, networks of musical knowledge by drawing on the resources and tools available both on- and offline. By examining PLNs supported by multimodal social media resources as well as online forums for sharing and exploring music knowledge, this chapter presents practical examples and applications to inform music educators and classroom practices.

A Sociological Perspective on Technology and Music Education

2017 ◽  
pp. 344-350
Author(s):  
Ruth Wright
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Music Technology ◽  
Sociological Perspective ◽  
Music Learning ◽  
Sociology Of Music ◽  
Informal Music Learning ◽  
Basil Bernstein

This chapter considers the questions Where is technology within music education? and Who is affected and how? from a perspective drawn from sociology and in particular the sociology of music education. The chapter discusses the emergence of a totally technologized society, akin to the “totally pedagogized society” identified by Basil Bernstein, and consider its implications for music technology and music education. The chapter suggests that many students exist in an educational technotopia that offers great potential within models such as informal music learning for more equitable models of music education.

scholarly journals Intercultural perspectives on formal and informal Music learning

2011 ◽  
pp. 53-66
Author(s):  
David J. Hargreaves
Keyword(s):  
Education Policy ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
International Review ◽  
Music Learning ◽  
Informal Music Learning ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Music Education Policy ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Out Of School

This paper reviews some of the changes and developments that have occurred in music education over the last decade, following Hargreaves and North’s (2001) international review. I describe some recent developments in England, in which change has been very rapid, and in which education has had a high political profile, and then consider the three main issues which emerged from our international review, namely curriculum issues; the aims and objectives of music education; and the relationship between music in and out of school. I go on to describe two theoretical models which were developed as a result of my work with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) in England: these are models of the different opportunities in music education, and of its intended outcomes. The first of these reveals the importance of the differences between formal and informal music learning, both of which can take place inside as well as outside schools. I conclude by reflecting on the power and ubiquity of music in young people’s everyday lives, which mean that music education policy should reflect and capitalize upon this power.

Healing bruises: Identity tensions in a beginning teacher’s use of formal and informal music learning

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Derges Kastner
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Informal Learning ◽  
Teacher Identity ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Music Teacher ◽  
Music Learning ◽  
Informal Music Learning ◽  
Formal And Informal Learning ◽  
School Music ◽  
Definition Of

The purpose of this narrative case study was to describe the developing teacher identity of Nicole Downing, a first-year teacher in the US, in her use of both formal and informal learning processes. As music education continues embracing approaches like informal music learning, it should also reflect on the voices of teachers in the field. Data collection included interviews, observations, and participant writings. Findings revealed that Nicole (a) questioned and eventually accepted her music teacher identity, (b) exhibited a dualism between her use of formal and informal music learning processes, and (c) broadened her community’s definition of school music. Nicole used the metaphor of a bruise to describe how she believed some in her undergraduate studies would judge her interest in popular music and creative musicianship, but as she became a music teacher she had agency to incorporate the informal learning she valued. Nicole exhibited a duality in her use of formal and informal learning processes, which were not integrated in her teaching. Ultimately, she developed a broadened definition of school music that she believed was beneficial for students but perceived negatively by other music teachers. Music teacher education should support teachers’ diverse identities and continue to explore the teaching strategies used in facilitating informal music learning experiences.

Informal Learning and the Creative Process

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gareth Dylan Smith
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Informal Learning ◽  
Creative Process ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Music Learning ◽  
Development Agency

This chapter offers a focused discussion of the interconnected areas of informal learning and musical creative process. It draws together scholarship on musical creativities and music learning from inside and outside of school or other institutional educational contexts, combining these in exploration of learning realization and identity realization. Through the framework of the “four Ps” of creativity, the chapter shows how informal learning both requires and nurtures creativity among individuals and groups. Drawing on scholarship by Lucy Green, Ruth Wright, and other key figures in music education, the chapter concludes by discussing the empowering, democratizing potential of informal learning approaches in schools. Informal learning is an inherently creative phenomenon, with a particular emphasis on and benefits for the development, agency, and empowerment of individuals.

YouTube, fanvids, forums, vlogs and blogs: Informal music learning in a convergent on- and offline music community

2012 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janice Waldron
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Music Learning ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Informal Music Learning ◽  
Music Community ◽  
Online Music

In this paper I examine the music learning and teaching in the Banjo Hangout online music community ( www.banjohangout.org/ ) using cyber ethnographic methods of interview and participant observation conducted entirely through computer-mediated communication, which includes Skype and written narrative texts – forum posts, email, chat room conversations – along with hyperlinks to YouTube and other Internet music-learning resources. The Hangout is an example of an online community based on the pre-existing offline interests of its founding members and it is thus connected to and overlaps with the offline Old Time and Bluegrass music banjo communities. Although I focus on the Banjo Hangout online community, this study also provides peripheral glimpses – embedded in the participants’ narratives – into the offline Old Time and Bluegrass banjo communities of practice. As a cyber ethnographic field study, this research also highlights the epistemological differences between on- and offline community as reflected in music education online narrative qualitative research and research practice.

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