In the Words of Composer-Educators

Composer-educators already exist and their voices, though few in number, should be heard. Featured in this section are the thoughts shared in personal communication (January 26, 2022) by Saigelyn (a second-year teacher in an elementary general music and beginning band position in Vermont), Jonathan and Katie (seniors completing their student teaching internships), Blaine (a junior), and Michael (a sophomore). Saigelyn earned a music education degree with an applied area emphasis in composition; the other four interviewees are in various stages of earning their undergraduate degrees as MUE/Comp students at the University of Southern Maine.

Question 1: What advice would you give to college music education professors concerning how composition is represented within the totality of their music teacher preparation programs? How should composition be addressed in MUE?

Saigelyn: The full compositional experience should be addressed and presented in all music teacher preparation programs, including opportunities to compose, to workshop those compositions, to receive feedback, and to perform those compositions in concerts.

Jonathan: Composition is the process of creating meaningful and emotional products that can be shared and developed. Understanding how that happens creates better music and better musicians. Composition can be included in nearly every lesson. It doesn’t take much effort to bring it in and doing so makes learning to teach more personal.

Katie: Composition should be viewed as equal to vocal and instrumental concentrations. In composition, students [are still judged on their performance skills and] may be seen as “behind” in comparison to vocalists or instrumentalists. This is because they most likely haven’t had ensembles or composition specific classes/lessons in a K-12 setting to refine their skills. Composers shouldn’t be required to show proficiency on an instrument or voice to be accepted into a program. It is unfair to expect composers to be performance-proficient while not expecting vocalists or instrumentalists to be composition-proficient.

Blaine: The most important part of teaching composition is to instill in pre-service teachers that all composition is valid. Composition should be held to the same level of appreciation as the other important aspects of music. Singing, playing, composing, improvising, and listening are of equal value. Teachers should find ways to incorporate composition into all aspects of their class as a way to connect students to the things they listen to and perform all the time. These experiences help students establish a personal and meaningful connection to the art.

Question 2: What advice would you give to young composers who want to teach music, as they shop for college programs?

Saigelyn: Reach out to students in the programs you find. Ask if it’s a program that you can help shape into what works for you—all composers are different and might want/need different, unique qualities in a program. Ask if the professors are people who are open to different genres, and what specializations they might have. Ask about the community and support of peers in the music program; those will likely be the people who perform the music you write. Professors that help lift up their composition students and create opportunities for them to hear and share their music are the professors who set examples for how you can help your own students later on.

Blaine: Any program that offers a music education degree with a concentration in composition values the importance of the medium. Finding schools that are as invested in the thing that you love as much as you are should be a priority for every student.

Michael: When visiting schools, meet with the music education professors and ask if you’d be able to teach composition-based activities or lessons as well as maybe write pieces for when you are peer teaching. Being a composer, you bring an insightful angle to dissecting the components of music. You have the ability to teach people why the music achieves its ability to speak to human emotions.

Question 3: What composition opportunities do you provide or hope to provide (if you are a pre-service teacher) to your students?

Saigelyn: In addition to projects with my elementary band students and general music classes, I’m facilitating a student-led Composition Club. It was started by two of my band students who put up signs all around the school and got 11 other students to join. They meet after school and I’ve made it clear that I’m there to help only when needed. The instigators are taking on a leadership role and I’m excited to see what kinds of compositions they create. Their goal is to make recordings to share during our school-wide “pack time,” a school-community SEL-based morning meeting that happens twice a week.

Katie: I hope to provide group composition opportunities in my ensembles as well as to teach a songwriting/composition class. Many songwriting classes require students to write lyrics which may discourage instrumentalists from enrolling in the course. I believe offering composition as an option would encourage more students to explore creating music.

Jonathan: I regularly include composition in my classes. I like to start every day with active listening exercises, and I want my students to be able to create their parts just as well as they can perform them.

Michael: I hope to provide ways for students to build their connection with music by finding activities that allow them to grow their musicality, to share what music speaks to them, and to develop their compositional voice. I will facilitate listening activities where students dissect the pieces they like and share what musical components they believe make the piece effective in communicating its feeling or meaning. Students can then take the components they like and use them as starting points for creating their own compositions.

Question 4: Are there any other thoughts about composition in music education (or other thoughts) that you would like to share?

Saigelyn: Speaking as a composer, composition gives me a sense of control. It helps me understand myself and have compassion for others. It also helps me feel accomplished and empowered, and gets me excited and joyful about teaching, music, the people around me, and life in general. I write music because I truly can’t imagine my life without it. I want every child to have the opportunity to discover that for themselves.

Blaine: I can’t wait to give my students the opportunity to feel the way I feel when I start a new project or finally finish a massive work.

Michael: Composition can be a way to expand one’s musicality and ability to make musical connections. It can allow an individual to have a deeper, more personal understanding of music’ potential to enliven a feeling or idea. I believe there is value in teaching people how to conceptualize and assign meaning to the components of a piece of music. It is valuable to be able to assign a feeling, no matter how deep or broad, to a sorrowful Chopin melody or to understand why Coldplay adds more dense textures and increases their dynamic level during an Instrumental break. The questions I want my students to be able to answer are, “What is being communicated?” and “How is it being communicated?” If a student is able conceptualize a feeling, action, or idea from certain musical components when listening to, performing, and composing music, then they will be able to effectively communicate the music they imagine.

References: Allsup, R. (2013). The compositional turn in music education: From closed forms to open texts. In Kaschub, M., & Smith, J. (Eds), Composing our future: Preparing music educators to teach composition, (pp. 57-70). Oxford University Press.

Ballantyne, J., Kerchner, J. L., & Arostegui, J. L. (2012). Developing music teacher identities: An international multi-site study. International Journal of Music Education, 30(3), 211-226.

Beal, S. J., & Crockett, L. J. (2010). Adolescents’ occupational and educational aspirations and expectations: Links to high school activities and adult educational attainment. Developmental psychology, 46(1), 258.

Bennett, D. (2013). The use of learner-generated drawings in the development of music students’ teacher identities. International Journal of Music Education, 31(1), 53-67.

Berkley, R. (2001). Why is teaching composing so challenging? A survey of classroom observation and teachers’ opinions. British Journal of Music Education, 18(2), 119-138.

Bernard, R. (2004). Striking a chord: Elementary general music teachers’ expressions of their identities as musician-teachers (Doctoral dissertation). Retrievedfrom Proquest Dissertations and Theses. (Publication No. AAT 3134467).