Authenticity
Recently I have been looking at identity and compositional voice. In particular what this means in relation to how this can be nurtured through teaching and learning. Composers and songwriters have musical thumbprints and identities which make their music recognisable, even if a particular piece of music is unfamiliar. This applies across musical genres and styles. It could be a particular melodic shape, harmonic progression, chord voicing, or in a more modern context, a particular aspect of music production that can help to establish a sound. Again, linking back to a previous blog post, our 'habitus' plays an important and contributing factor to the development of our compositional voice and identity. Even in young composers starting out, there will be particular musical thumbprints which help to identify their 'sound.' That is not to say this will not grow and develop, but it is an important factor for a teacher working with learners to take into account.
In his book 'Out of our Minds - Learning to be Creative' Sir Ken Robinson states:
“The two touchstones of personal growth are individuality and authenticity.”
In my view, composing music is an ideal mode of expression to contribute to a young person's personal growth. The importance of building a learner centred environment in which to create music should not be underestimated. It will reflect the stage at which the young person has reached in their learning and understanding of the compositional process, but also provide a real sense of agency for their own learning.
As a creative process, composing music provides one of the most important opportunities in education to promote the development of individuality in young people. Reflecting back on how 'habitus' has a bearing on the development of the individual, but also through opening up opportunities for young people to express their own identity. Finding the best starting point, or way in to composition is important. When working with a whole class, many teachers find overarching themes work well to provide a hook through which individual or small group responses can be developed. The teacher input and expertise then provides scope for structured conversations to help learners tease out what they want to achieve and help them to fulfil their own ideas. Some learners will need minimum guidance, others will need more carefully structured feedback.
Authenticity is an interesting construct when describing composition activities, but one which is key to unlocking individuality. If by authenticity we are describing originality then the question has to be asked, original to who? I often find that learners I work with lock into a chord sequence based around chords 1, 4, 5 & 6. In many ways, why wouldn't they? A lot of the music they listen to use these chords. Does this make it unoriginal? Or, is it original to the young person using these chords? Maybe basing their work around these chords provides scope for developing melody, or building grooves and beats. Maybe it provides a starting point and can be teased out and developed as the composition grows. Maybe it is how they develop these chords next that allows their ideas for a piece of music to be realised. Composing should be a journey of discovery and learning what your compositional voice sounds like. Think of how many songs or pieces of music are based on chords 1, 4, 5 & 6, and how entirely different each of those pieces of music are. However, to me, authenticity is about being honest. It is being honest and true to yourself about the music that you are writing. If I composed a piece of music in the style of Mozart, that would not be authentic....er, but it was for Mozart! Squaring that circle in a class environment can be challenging. One pupil might be in to Hip Hop, one might be into EDM. Maybe someone likes acoustic singer/songwriters, maybe another listens to film music, or folk music. Is there any reason that we can't structure lessons to provide opportunities for individuals to explore the music they are familiar with, or that they express an interest in writing? The vast majority of composition is based around exploring personal expression or a personal response to an event, why would we not want young people to experience this?
