Coposition in Choral Settings

This is a chapter about providing students with an entree into composing choral music through exercises and projects that will help them to think deeply about what they have to say to the world as creative choral musicians. These projects are informed by the creative processes described by current choral composers and by my pedagogical explorations into teaching composition with my choirs.

I frame this chapter through the lens of social and emotional learning (SEL), which has become a focus during the past few years. It is common for experienced teachers to pay little attention to new educational trends, amending the language we present to administrators for show, or to “tack on” the new trend as an addendum (whole language learning, reading across the curriculum come to mind) to our core curricula. There are research studies demonstrating that simply singing in a choir can have positive social and emotional benefits (Dingle et al., 2012; Ros-Morente et al., 2019). We also help students to manage stage fright, cope with disappointment, learn repertoire from diverse social and cultural groups, learn to communicate through music and gesture, and develop leadership skills in choir.

However, as music education pedagogues Scott Edgar (2019) and Wendy Hart Higdon (2017) wrote, music teachers should consider SEL pedagogical ideas more deeply because social and emotional learning is fundamental to our curricular goals. Scott Edgar (2019) wrote that SEL is not “one more thing” we should add to our teaching but that teaching for SEL is “the” thing central to learning to make music. We in choral music often claim to teach creativity and enable students’ personal expression in school. The American Choral Directors Association advocacy statements (ACDA, 2020) include statements like “The arts, with their strong emphasis on team-building and self-reflection are supremely suited to re-ignite students’ interest in learning through collaboration, while simultaneously fostering creativity, critical thinking, and communication.”

Michele Kaschub (2015) wrote that we must teach musical intelligence (the ability to interpret composer intentions and personal interpretations or choral scores) because, as she wrote, “empathy, creativity and artistry are key components in the work of choral musicians” (p. 16-17). I argue further that teaching choral composing processes can provide yet deeper and more meaningful self- and social-awareness skills, self-management, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making skills (CASEL, n.d.) as well as creative musical intelligence. Here are some ways that teaching students some composing skills may help students:

- Self-awareness includes the ability to recognize one’s emotions and express them in a positive way, recognizing and expressing one’s thoughts and values, and then understanding how one’s emotions, thoughts, and values can influence one’s behavior. Students who learn to express a text through music think deeply about the text and reflect on their own response to it, discussing ideas with classmates.

- Self-management involves the ability to regulate one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors to work toward goals. Composing exercises help students to interpret the ideas and emotions that arise from engaging with texts into musical gestures, gaining a positive outlet for those ideas and emotions. Composing also involves setting independent goals for conveying one’s intent for a text, then working toward those goals.

- Social awareness involves the ability to notice and understand other people’s emotions, taking others’ perspectives, and empathizing with others. Students will find that their interpretations and creative ideas will differ from their classmates and so learn about their classmates’ perspectives. Their discussions and work to learn to sing each other’s work can lead to greater empathy.

- Relationship skills involve the ability to communicate, listen, cooperate, resist inappropriate social pressures, negotiate conflict, and seek and offer help to others. Composing conversations engage students in collaboration.

- Responsible decision-making involves making constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions. While composing activities might not involve students in direct discussions about ethical decision-making, choosing and interpreting texts may involve them in those conversations. Composing also gives students a constructive outlet for their ideas and emotions.

Curricular change is difficult. It means rethinking what we do well in light of what we might achieve with adaptation. Estelle Jorgensen (2010) wrote that we should not change our music curricula for change’s sake alone. Instead, we should critically reflect on our past and ways that our field can improve. She believes we can have an important impact on students’ lives, writing: “We are in a position to imbue lived life with imaginative thought and practice and nourish the hearts, minds, souls, and bodies of young and old alike” (p. 23).

Dominick DiOrio (2016) wrote that “Composition can and should be taught to all students in K-12 schools, and it can and should be taught by you to your young singers through their experience in the school chorus” (p. 15). He argued that all choral students should experience composing to help them see that composers are not special individuals gifted by higher powers and that composing is valuable for helping students to develop their minds, writing “Our brains are formed and molded by our imaginations. Composing is crucial to this development, to say nothing of the power of music to provide meaning, depth, and enrichment to one’s life” (p. 16).

Choral composers like Libby Larsen (2007), David Childs (2007), James Mulholland (2007), Kirk Mecham (2007), and Randall Stroope (2007) believe that students should learn harmony, counterpoint, and musical forms in order to learn to compose. Libby Larsen (2007) wrote that she recommends young composers should practice ear training and rhythmic dictation to be able to hear intervals and rhythms, advocating that they practice taking dictation with everyday sounds, like birdsong, car engines, speeches, and appliances (p. 54). Rene Clausen (2007) and James Mulholland (2007), additionally, recommend that novice composers learn about the voice and its capabilities, including vocal ranges and timbre on vowels and consonants. Teaching composition as part of the choral curriculum can help teachers to create a comprehensive music curriculum to involving music theory and vocal pedagogy as well as choral and performance skills.