Musical Messages: Children as Creators, Composers and Critics.

"Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent."

- Victor Hugo

"His voice lacks the range of tonal colour necessary to make it consistently interesting", a critic writes of Mr Tanner's first official public performance, destroying his musical confidence irrevocably.

Fortunately, as Roy, Baker and Hamilton (2012) emphasise, a musical environment within the classroom must foster exploration, creation, collaboration, performance and reflection without fear of failure. Students should be stimulated through play and curiosity in a "community of practice characterised by expression and communication through music" (p. 126). As we saw in an earlier reference to the song Mrs Bunny, children arrive at school with extensive previous exposure to music (for me it was all about ABBA!): from the resourceful use of kitchen equipment to nursery rhymes; from Play School episodes to professional performers such as Justine Clarke.

A dedicated music corner can be a valuable addition to a classroom.

As Shehan Campbell (2005) suggests, "to open the door for young people's entrance into ever deeper listening", a teacher guides students to  a "sharpened" musical awareness including its acoustic, social and cultural foundations (p. 33). A conscious and connecting act, listening is differentiated from simply hearing. As the intentional organisation of both sound and silence, from advertising jingle to national anthem music is a messenger: creating mood, shaping ritual, celebrating occasion and inspiring action.

The Australian Curriculum states that for students "active participation in music fosters understanding of other times, places, cultures and contexts" (ACARA, 2015). Indeed, music not only serves as a springboard to new learning experiences but also stretches the imagination to find deeper understandings of our social, cultural and historical selves - as well as the identities of others. This ongoing dialogue of making and responding reflects an important link between aural, visual and kinaesthetic art forms.

Tom explores the character Dickon in a study of The Secret Garden (Hodgson Burnett, 1911), hoping to attract some animals with the "strange low little call" (p. 87) of his wooden pipe!

Incorporating pitch, rhythm, dynamics, harmony, texture, tempo, timbre and form, the inclusion of music in classroom learning and practice relies more on teacher confidence and commitment than sophisticated expertise. Last summer, for example, at short notice my friend Gillian Howell organised  a 'Seventies Stovetop Orchestra' on the Arts Centre lawns in Melbourne. The multi-talented, intergenerational audience had become composers and performers in no time! A similar transformation is exemplified here as Howell improvises with migrant children in 2012:

Further Questions...

How to include highly able musicians?
How to redirect enthusiasm or exuberance when listening and silence are necessary?

Vikki

References:

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (2015). The Australian Curriculum. Retrieved from www.australiancurriculum.edu.au

Hodgson Burnett, F. (2013). The Secret Garden. London, England: Folio Society. (Original work published in 1911).
  
Roy, D., Baker, W. & Hamilton, A. (2012). Teaching the arts: Early childhood and primary education. Port Melbourne, VIC: Cambridge University Press.

Shehan Campbell, P. (2005). Deep listening to the musical world. Music Educators Journal, 92(1), 30-38.