Repertoire. Collaboration with a Professional Composer

Repertoire is viewed as the meat and potatoes of many music classes, and naturally musical compositions can be a gateway to student creativity. Imagine a teacher leading a rehearsal:

Did you hear the way those dissonant chords brought out the emotional pain we all sense upon losing a loved one? That is good composing! I believe the composer put that harmony in there just at the right moment and we should really lean into it, and then back away as it resolves to best communicate the message of this music. (Koops vignette)

This rehearsal comment reflects a teacher connecting with a composer’s ideas to address an aspect of performance that might otherwise have been simply delivered as “Please crescendo and decrescendo.” Whenever teachers work on a piece of music in a rehearsal or engage students in listening and responding to music, a great way for them to set the stage for future composing is by presenting the music from the composer’s perspective. Ruthmann (2007) brilliantly suggests reading books about writer’s workshops to get ideas for teaching composition, and when reading those books to simply substitute “composing” when the author uses “writing” and substitute “listening” when one sees “reading” (p. 43). For example, in chapter 6 of her book on writing workshops, Katie Wood Ray (2002) suggests teachers should “Read Like a Teacher of Writing.” She explains that:

The world is full of writing [composing] that makes us slam on our brakes when we’re reading [listening] and think, Ooo . . . leek at [listen to] that. I need to show that to my students. That’s really good writing [composing] (p. 90) . . . As teachers of writing [composing], over time we develop a sort of general habit of mind that always asks of the well-written texts [compositions] we encounter, “Okay, now how’s this written [composed]?” (p. 93)

Ray’s book as well as other writing workshop books are packed with great ideas like this that can be directly applied to teaching music composition in a school setting. In today’s world, access to diverse music from all styles and cultures is phenomenal, and music teachers should stay active with listening and learning and share what they find to be exciting with their students. As teachers present, listen to, and rehearse repertoire with students, they should do it from the composer’s perspective and consider how that can evoke deeper music-making from their students and inspire further student-created projects.

While any repertoire could lead to composing, some repertoire is particularly great for inspiring students to compose, such as a piece that has variations on a theme, which can lead to students composing new variations or working on a ternary form piece and then having students compose a piece with the same form. The BandQuest⁹ and ChoralQuest¹⁰ pieces from the American Composers Forum offer a free curriculum guide that includes composing or improvising lesson plans directly related to the pieces—though the plans can easily be adapted to any type of music class and are highly recommended.

In contrast to the more standard repertoire in music education, there are some “project pieces” being published that require students and teachers to compose in order to perform the piece. Composer Jodie Blackshaw published 13 moons: A project piece for band in 2018. While targeted at concert bands of any level, it could easily be adapted to orchestras, or any type of instrumental ensemble. The basic materials include a main melody, the scale on which the melody is built, several contrasting melodic exemplars, and a harmony idea. Students then organize the materials and develop them into actual compositions. Similarly, Libby Larsen published Introduction to the moon: A concert piece with eight improvisational sections for symphonic winds, tuned water glasses, and amplified voice in 2005. The work challenges students to improvise and play by ear in response to eight poems about the moon in between nine pre-composed sections.

In addition to traditional ensemble repertoire, students’ favorite music styles, including anything from hip-hop and video game music to EDM (Electronic Dance Music), can be used as a gateway to creativity. Students enjoy the chance to create a cover of their favorite song, and that, in turn, can lead to writing an original song. One of the most fascinating and exciting things about teaching composing and improvising is seeing how students combine various styles of music, whether consciously or not, into unique new works.

Collaboration with a Professional Composer. Imagine a music teacher who experienced a high-level performance-focused experience during her own high school and college years. After starting to teach high school choir, she was invited to have her students be part of a large collaborative concert featuring a guest film composer, who worked with all the participating students on a group composition project. The culminating concert included individual student compositions as well as a world premiere of the collaboration that the composer put together based on the students’ collaborative composition work. As part of the rehearsal process, students participated in circle singing with improvisation as well as working on individual and group compositions. A couple of the individual student compositions were selected and performed on the final concert in addition to the large collaborative work and the overall experience was positive for the entire high school choir. This event opened the door to include more composing projects in the future.

Partnering with a professional composer can be an exciting way to begin composing with students. The ideal situation involves a composer who is willing to work in a collaborative style that opens the door for students to be creative as part of the process, though this can be done in many ways. Some composers will write something for the students and then get feedback from them while other composers might engage with students to come up with musical ideas that are completely the students’ original materials.