Creativity and Technology

When it comes to the extant literature on the subject of creative thinking, researchers have identified a "creative process" that consists of a number of stages, which vary depending on the source. Our text cites Wallas’ four-fold model of preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification as a standard (Bauer, 2014, p. 49). In this context, the preparatory stage of the creative process involves the acquisition of the basic knowledge necessary to adequately develop a unique creative idea. Tying this into improvisation, for example, this means that one must understand basic aspects of music theory in order to be equipped to create a sensical melodic and/or harmonic progression.

In my own case, while I have had a grasp on music theory for some time, improvisation has been one of the weakest areas of my musical proficiency. To be honest, it is an area in which I have had little experience, which is why I have considered it a weak area. However, since beginning my course of study at the University of Florida, I have been encouraged to venture outside of my comfort zone and engage in all areas of creative musicianship, including improvisation. Last semester, I actually had the opportunity to make improvisation the focus of my final project for a course dealing with the area of creativity in music education. The exercises and process I undertook in completing that project expanded my outlook on improvisation as such and encouraged me to incorporate improvisation into my pedagogy. I even took the opportunity to work improvisation exercises into my curriculum, exploring improvisation with my students as I worked on the project.

Another area of creativity I mentioned above is composition. This week’s course of study had us taking a look at a number of different vehicles for musical notation, including software and web-based approaches. As someone who has “grown up,” as it were, using Finale, I was a bit outside of my comfort zone this week. But I quickly grew fond of both MuseScore and Noteflight, finding their interfaces both intuitive and, in some cases, easier to use than Finale. It was valuable to explore these resources, as they open the door to possibly using these tools with my students in the future. Tools like these would them to engage in creative compositional pursuits. 

A final area we explored this week was the realm of MIDI. As the text explained, MIDI simply stands for "musical instrument digital interface" (Bauer, 2014, p. 26). MIDI is something I have had familiarity with since I was a young child exploring the novelty of the internet. Its application in the realm of music education is manifold. For example, MIDI is used in the compositional software discussed above. It is also featured in sequencer programs, which allow students to explore different musical sounds and patterns and the ways they interact.

Unfortunately, it can be difficult to devote a significant amount of time to the study of creative areas like improvisation and composition in the context of institutional curricula that are predominantly focused on performance and/or mastery of the fundamentals. And even on a pragmatic level, we may find it difficult as instructors to justify spending precious classroom time on improvisation when our students cannot even identify basic rhythms and note names. Still, this program has shown me the importance of incorporating a healthy balance of all of these aspects of musical pedagogy where and when possible. A multi-faceted approach will garner results and a more balanced understanding of musicianship as a whole in the minds of our students.

References

Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing, and responding to music. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.