Creativity

1.    Using the “Jazz Philharmonic” text, students in 6^th grade orchestra will learn the song “Groovin’ for the First Time” and develop the ability to improvise a simple jazz solo over a blues progression. The text includes several warmup activities that walk students through the D dorian scale and call and response rhythmic echoes to introduce a swing beat. Students will practice melody, called the “head”, and learn the jazz combo tradition of head-solos-head. Students will also use the warmup activities to introduce the scale and rhythm patterns best suited to “Groovin’ for the First Time.” Learning to improvise within the tradition of jazz and using a limited set of pitches and rhythm patterns may promote better creativity than simply trying to “make things up.” In the past, students have felt comfortable improvising using these restrictions. Some students do end up straying outside the guidelines and that behavior is encouraged. All attempts as creative improvisation are applauded in an effort to encourage creativity; students that are corrected in their improvisations are often not sure what they did wrong and give up trying. The song and warmup patterns are taught over the course of a week and students have opportunities are various points to try improvisation. Some students try early on in the process while others take longer. All students feel comfortable in a “mass improvisation” moment where they are not afraid of peer judgement. Conformity in that case is a strong deterrent to creativity and much work must be done to encourage students to try.

2.    6^th grade orchestra students will compose a 12 bar blues melody using the D dorian scale. Related to the activity above, students will continue their learning by composing a melody. Similar to their improvised melody, students will choose rhythmic and melodic patterns to create a musical product. Students who may struggle with improvising a melody in the moment may find more success in this activity. Students who worry about peer judgement may also prefer composing since they do not need to perform in front of their peers. My own experience has been that composing a melody using a particular set of rules such as a 12 bar blues with the dorian mode will help develop the ability to improvise. Composing gives students a chance to think through and edit their ideas in a way improvising does not. Students will complete their composed melody using Noteflight, a web based program. This gives students a chance to hear their composition during the process and make edits based on aural feedback. Students will submit their finished product and willing students will perform their composed melodies over the chords of “Grooovin’ for the First Time.”

3.     Students in 5^th grade orchestra will improvise a “call and response” rhythm pattern using open strings. Students have rehearsed “call and response” rhythm patterns since their very first lessons. The teacher plays a one measure rhythm on an open string while the students echo that rhythm back. The first attempts are plucked on an individual string, but students in 5^th grade can repeat rhythm patterns with the bow on up to three open strings. Students also have experience echoing patterns that use the first finger, but their success in not as high. Once students are comfortable with the “call and response” activity, they are encouraged to take on the role of teacher. Students choose a rhythm pattern, often one they have heard the teacher play, and the class echoes back. Prior experience with this as the responders has given students a variety of rhythmic ideas from which to choose. Some students may also improvise a more complex rhythm, but the pattern must not exceed four beats. If the pattern is too long, it presents an opportunity to reinforce beat and counting. Not all students want to take on the role of teacher by themselves so students are given the option to teach with a partner. However, they must decide beforehand what rhythm they will play for clarity’s sake. This activity will take place over the course of many weeks with only one or two students taking on the role of teacher per day. Repetition gives less confident students an opportunity to think about their options and perhaps choose a pattern played by a peer that they liked.

4.    Creativity is a combination on convergent and divergent thinking and, as such, it does not always need to be something entirely original. 7^th and 8^th grade orchestra student have been playing long enough to know bowing directions and the value of particular bowings (down bows on string beats, up bows on pickups, up bow crescendo, etc.). As an anticipatory set, students will be reminded of the relative strengths and weaknesses of bow directions and complete an example as a group. Students will then be given a short bowing “problem” that has more than one solution. Students must think creatively to develop a solution and defend their solution with why they picked their bowing. This assignment demonstrates the student’s fluency, flexibility, and originality in regards to orchestra bowing.

5.    Students may also be creative in their interpretation of a musical passage. To that end, 7^th and 8^th grade students will be given an eight bar phrase written for their instrument with no expressive markings included. The students will play through their excerpt to learn the notes and rhythms and then decide on a particular semi-programmatic interpretation. Student may choose from a list of possible moods or scenes. They may also choose their own for the purpose of interpretation. Students will then practice their phrase using dynamics, tempo, and other expressive qualities to interpret the music effectively. Students will record their excerpt in a practice room with a verbal description of the mood or scene and a performance of the phrase for later teacher evaluation. Students will be expected to demonstrate an ability to make effective expressive decisions and rationalize their decision.