INTEGRATING MUSIC COMPOSITION INTO THE GENERAL MUSIC CLASSROOM

What are the benefits of integrating music composition into the general music classroom?
Juan L. Rivera
University of California, Los Angeles

What are the benefits of integrating music composition into the general music classroom?
All too often, music teachers spend a considerable amount of time rehearsing, studying,
and talking about music of composers from a by gone era. Though it is important to look back on
and learn from these timeless masterpieces, it is also important to let students experience
composing music that is individual and meaningful to him/her. Some teachers might not place
huge emphasis on this area saying that it takes too much time away from other more important
activities in the curriculum, and some might simply ignore this altogether on the false grounds
that it doesnt benefit the student. In contrast, others would say it is essential to expose students
to composition from an early age and that it helps make music more meaningful. So, what are the
benefits of integrating music composition into the general music classroom? In this essay, I will
discuss some of the reason why music composition is essential within the context of the general
music classroom by incorporating various articles that support this claim.

INTEGRATING MUSIC COMPOSITION INTO THE GENERAL MUSIC CLASSROOM

In Lois Veenhoven Guderians article entitled Music improvisation and Composition in

the General Music Curriculum, Guderian strongly advocates for the inclusion of not only music
composition but improvisation into the general music classroom. She talks about how
incorporating compositional activities as a natural outgrowth of course content and instruction
provides students the chance to reinforce understandings and skills learned while allowing them
to develop creative thinking in music. As Guderian writes, I have found that giving my students
of all age levels opportunities to improvise and compose has expanded their development of
skills and understanding in music, added a layer of meaning and depth to their studies and
reinforced and helped them and me in achieving the desired outcomes of instruction as stated in
the curriculum (Guderian, 2012). The article goes further by saying that composing or being
creative helps to develops other areas of cognition like remembering, understanding, exploration
(experimentation), analyzing, evaluating, synthesizing and of course, creating. She also cites
John Deweys research in identifying what he beliefs are the childs four interests: (a) that of
conversation or communication, (b) that of inquiry, (c) that of construction or making things, and
(d) that of artistic expression that should follow as a natural expression and outgrowth of their
experiences (Dewey, 1900/1990). In essence, children do spontaneously create music either in
the playground, at home, or anytime they have the urge to play music. Whether it is through
singing or through the use of instruments, children have natural inclinations to want to create
music. In regards to the issue of time management, this is what the author say about it,
Guderians (2008) and Millers (2004) studies support the idea that even in school settings
where time is limited for general music, the development of musical skills, understanding and
creative thinking in music can be part of an interwoven teaching and learning process and
potentially a way to address all areas of a comprehensive, standards based curriculum (Guderian,

INTEGRATING MUSIC COMPOSITION INTO THE GENERAL MUSIC CLASSROOM

2012) According to the author, it is well beyond reason that the integration of composition or
creative thinking can not only be possible but supplement other areas of music instruction.
Creativity is something children naturally exhibit. From a young age, they show signs of
wanting to explore, experiment, and create music with little to no guidance so it is only natural to
want to nurture that creativity. Steve Giddingss article entitled, Inherent Creativity and the
Road to Happiness: Improvisation and Composition in the Music Classroom discussed this
innate creativity children have within the music classroom setting giving insight into how
students create and explore music. He points out how todays music classroom arent
incorporating enough opportunities for students to be creative and when presented with an
activity to make something, students are unsure what to do. Giddings writes, Just this past year,
I had an activity where they were in groups and each group member was assigned a note from
the doh pentatonic scale, which we had done a lot of work on previously. The only parameters
that I gave them were: your group has to remember how to play it, and you have to end on. Most
of them had no idea what to do and started to learn songs that they knew the melody for already
(Giddings, 2013). In contrast to this, Giddings talks about the observations he made regarding
the process of writing a song he witnessed with one of his class rock band noting the efficiency
and collaborative effort the group made. One of the most interesting topics this article discusses
is what Mihaly Csikszentmihali calls being in a state of Flow (1999). The authors emphasizes
this idea as one of the most important things he likes students to achieve when being creative. He
goes on to add that If you have experienced it, you know what I mean. There is just something
about creating an amazing piece of music, on the spot, that has never been heard beforeThis is
enough of a reason for us to be doing these kinds of activities with our students as much as we
can. The more students can experience flow in this regard, the happier they have the potential to
be (Giddings, 2013).

INTEGRATING MUSIC COMPOSITION INTO THE GENERAL MUSIC CLASSROOM

It isnt enough to integrate music composition into the music classroom, but it is also
about organizing a method of effectively teaching composition in a way that is approachable to
the students. In an article by Alex Ruthmann called, The Composers Workshop, An Approach
to Composing in the Classroom, Ruthmann talks about the many challenges he was faced with
and how he went about structuring his classes and curriculum to make it fun and challenging in a
very cooperative environment. Instead of teaching only about composition centered on the
western classical style, he lets the students compose music that is meaningful to them from the
music they listen to. He also uses technology and software as a way of getting students to hear
their compositions come to life. One of the interesting things from this article is Ruthmann finds
parallels between the approach of writing in the language arts and composing music saying that ,
Musical thinking (thinking in sound) and linguistic thinking (thinking using language phrases
and ideas) are personal creative processes, yet both occur within social and cultural contexts
(Ruthmann, 2015). Here, the author models the process of writing to fit within the context of
music composition. He also borrows and adapts the structure used in a writing workshop to
implement in the music classroom setting. In essence, these workshops consists of these three
core goals designed to engage students collaboratively in organizing and expressing musical
ideas and feelings through sound, listening to and analyzing music, and studying processes of
other composers though listening, analyzing their music as wells as their compositional process.
He also structures these workshops accordingly so that students can hear and play each others
composition as well as offer advice if they have come into problems. Ruthmann also states that,
I take care not to impose ideas or imply that they need to revise their composition, but instead to
provide suggestions that may help them better express their musical talent (Ruthmann, 2015).
In retrospect, there are certainly a lot of good points the different articles presented that
informs us about the benefits of integrating music composition in the music classroom. Not only

INTEGRATING MUSIC COMPOSITION INTO THE GENERAL MUSIC CLASSROOM

does it serve as an outlet for students to explore and create music that they find meaningful and
interesting, it also serves to enhance and improve the performance in other areas of cognitive
development like problem solving, listening, playing etc. Teachers should include activities for
students to be creative as often as their time and curriculum allows in order to help maximize its
benefits.

References
Brady, T. (2008). Creative Music in the Classroom: Linking the Artist and the Educator.
Canadian Music Educator / Musicien Educateur Au Canada, 50(2), 34-37.
Guderian, L. V. (2012). Music Improvisation and Composition in the General Music Curriculum.
General Music Today, 25(3), 6-14. doi:10.1177/1048371311415404
Ruthmann, Alex. (2007). The Composers' Workshop: An Approach to Composing in the
Classroom. Music Educators Journal, 93(4), 3843. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/4127132