Individual composers in a group situation

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In looking at how young people interact in group setting when composing and also from a teacher's perspective in order to deliver and support composition activities with young people, it is important to develop an awareness of what the composition process looks like.

In Why and How to Teach Music Composition (Hickey 2003), Jackie Wiggins addresses this very question in Chapter seven entitled "A Frame for Understanding Children's Compositional Processes."

In this chapter, Wiggins outlines a frame(not a model or framework) suggesting a process for student composition drawn from years of experience as both a teacher and researcher.

The frame is cyclic and he feels that true learning and development in composition takes place from young people using and building upon their experiences by taking what they have learned from one composition project and applying it to the next. Wiggins scrutinizes the process from both an individual composer's perspective as well as from a collaborative composition standpoint. It is interesting to note that for Wiggins, the starting points are often the same in as much as whether individual or group, young composers will often work on their own before bringing their ideas to the group, She does, however, make this distinction:

"When composing alone, children work from their own understanding of the nature of the music they are creating, reflecting their intent; when collaborating they work from a shared understanding of the work in progress."

Reflecting on this, it is important that when working as part of a group, young people when working as part of a group to develop a shared vision of what they are hoping to achieve. This to me, as a first step is also a time consuming step. Time can pass without what is perceived to be not much happening. However, establishing within a group setting how the composition project is to be approached helps to focus the group and establish a shared vision.

Through capturing a range of audio and videotaped interactions with young people starting out on the journey to compose a piece of music, Wiggins is convinced that students 'conceive musical material before they play it.' This idea of students being able to ‘audiate,’(Kaschub & Smith 2009) is a concept which allows learners to transfer pre conceived musical material from inside their head to an instrument/voice/notated form. Wiggins also does not acknowledge the notion of experimentation as forming part of the composition process. She describes this as 'pre-composing.'

I would have to take issue with both these points in my own experience. I think experimenting is an important if not essential part of the composing process. While I can acknowledge that in some cases, pupils may have a sound or mood they are trying to capture. In order to do this, however, they are going to have to experiment. Once they have found their initial idea, often experimentation plays a role in moving the piece of music along. If pupils are presented with an unfamiliar context in which to compose, this will also require time and space to find the correct sound world to work in.

I also feel in Wiggins model that the role of listening and reflecting are vital components which are missing. While there is, organize, revise, refine and evaluate, outlined in the frame, reflection in the composition process is ongoing, and it is this which drives the revision of ideas.