Transcript Songwriting PPT

Approaches to Teaching
Songwriting
Conventional approaches
to songwriting can be:
Based around developing pupils’
understanding of various musical
elements
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Too linear and deterministic
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Full of stereotypes and assumptions
Gabriella Cilmi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGZ__i_m
7Ic
For songwriters:
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Content is personal, experiential and
autobiographical
They look for simple forms of expression
The songwriting process is unpredictable but
needs to be understood
Importance of metaphor and image
Environmental influences and context
Conciseness (stories in miniature)
Follow your instincts
Song-writing becomes a therapy for the writer
and listener
Traditional approaches place
the:
Technical before the expressive
 Simple before the complex
 Artificial before the authentic
 Unified model before the diverse
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Patricia Shehan Campbell:
Songs, called 'childsongs', that children
invent or refashion from earlier music
materials and that they preserve in
their transmission to other children
may often consist of greater musical
complexities and more diverse texts
than those found in the numerous
collections of songs that adults have
prescribed for children. (Campbell
1998, p.191)
Lucy Green: things that need
redefining:
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Developing listening and aural skills
Acquiring instrumental skills
Linking to pupils’ notions of value
Expanding friendship, taste and peerdirected learning
Systematic or haphazard progression and
experimentation
Changing assessment strategies and
definitions of success
Your Task …
• Write your own song
• As you do, reflect on the following three
questions:
• What areas of musical knowledge, skills or
understanding do I need to do this well?
• Which of these can be generate through links
to other curriculum areas?
• What style of pedagogy do I need to develop
to do this type of teaching well?
Possible ways forward:
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Start with the creative practice, i.e. find a songwriter
and talk to them about their work;
Explore the context first, then consider the musical
processes and skills;
Be creative and imaginative in your choice of
materials, resources, instruments, technologies;
Resist the urge to conform. Things can be done
differently;
Build on pupils' interests but don't fall into the trap of
thinking that they know it all or that they'll be
interested in just doing 'their thing' for too long.
What does ‘creativity’ mean in
this task?
• Is it about convergent or divergent
thinking?
• What consequences does it have for the
constraints or freedoms that curriculum
tasks need?
• How will influence the way I plan for
learning to take place in my classroom?