Enter: 10 cool, engaging activities that you can use in both in-class and virtual situations.

1. Write What You See/Hear

Materials

• Sound system
  
• Pencil/pen
  
• Paper
  
• Ears

Procedure

1. Tell your students that you are going to play a piece of music (1-2 minutes in length). Their task is to write down any images that come to mind.

2. Encourage them to be as descriptive as possible. The more detail, the better. Tell them this will be fun because there are no wrong answers (isn’t music great?).

3. At the end of the excerpt, ask them to describe the images that the music suggests. Give positive feedback.

4. After they finish sharing (the number of responses you allow is up to you), play the same music again but this time ask them to write, specifically, what they hear in the music that suggested the images they saw the first time. For example: what instruments are they hearing, is the tempo fast or slow, is the music loud or soft, is the texture thick or thin? Again, encourage them to provide as much detail as possible.

5. Discuss responses. You can do this with any music you choose (I tend to use music that is cinematic in nature as it is written specifically to accompany a visual component). Whatever works. I guarantee, this kind of focused listening will open their ears.

Benefits

Kids will begin to see and hear things in the music they weren’t previously aware of and they will begin to understand how composers organize the elements of music to express various emotions and ideas.

2. Guided Listening

Ok, here’s a really simple way to illustrate how composers can take the listener on a musical journey. When I started attending concerts years ago, I would notice everything that was going on visually—the trumpet players changing mutes, the percussionist changing mallets, not to mention the conductor’s antics. Afterward, when someone asked me what I thought of the Beethoven piece, I realized that I couldn’t recall much about it.

At the next concert, I closed my eyes for the duration of each piece and what I noticed was amazing. A whole new world opened up to me! The music was telling a story, painting a picture. The composer was taking me on a journey, leading my ear forward. I heard so much more from then on. That’s what you can do with your students.

Materials

• Sound system
  
• Student ears
  

Procedure

1. Choose any piece you like and play it for your students. A great example of this is Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 From the New World (2nd movement). Just the first minute or two of this piece is sufficient. I’ve heard this hundreds of times and I still get goosebumps every time. It’s amazing to think how many times Dvorak repeats a simple three note motif and still manages to make the music so expressive and lead the ear forward.

2. The important thing is to make sure and tell them to close their eyes as they listen.

3. Fade the music out at an appropriate point.

4. Discuss student responses.

Benefits

Students gain a greater awareness of how composers develop themes.

3. The Word

Music creation is about two things: 1) thinking in sound, and 2) organizing sound. This idea gets kids to do just that. No theory required!

Materials

• Student imagination
  

Procedure

1. Instruct students to close their eyes. Tell them you are going to give them the title of a piece they are going to compose (they don’t really have to compose the piece). Students have to think in sound for 10 seconds as if they were going to.

2. Remind them to notice what they are hearing specifically as they imagine what their composition will sound like (instruments, tempo, volume, texture).

3. The word is TIME.

4. Remind students that the human brain is the most sophisticated computer on the planet yet it’ll only do what we ask of it. So don’t let it be lazy. Push it.

5. After 10 seconds ask students what they heard specifically. They don’t have to answer out loud, just in their head.

6. Repeat the above steps but this time for 15 seconds and the word is JOURNEY.

7. Once more for 20 seconds and the word is STORM.

Benefits

This simple activity illustrates very clearly what composition is really about and when done regularly, will make your students’ creativity muscles strong.

4. Creating Soundscapes

Here is another quick, “no preparation required” activity. Creating soundscapes is a lot of fun.

Materials

• Assorted percussion
  
• Non-musical objects
  
• (or) Music creation apps (for individual music creation)
  

Procedure

1. Assign each student a percussion instrument or auxiliary percussion instrument; snare, bass, cymbals, timpani, shaker, tambourine, cabasa, etc. If there aren’t enough to go around, get creative with traditional instruments. Trumpets can blow air through the horn for ten seconds, then have a cymbal roll for five seconds. None of this needs notation. Just start organizing sound.

2. Start a quarter note pulse on the bass drum. Five seconds in, have someone else do a soft cymbal roll. Just keep adding and coming up with creative ideas.

3. Over top of this, kids can hum and winds can click their flute keys. For choirs there are lots of possibilities. In addition to singing, use spoken words, repeating syllables, whispers, finger snaps, and tongue clicks. The key point in this activity is that you are making decisions as a group. Remember, there are no wrong answers. Just have fun taking musical risks. This activity is just layering sounds and experimenting with how they can be combined. After you’ve polished your soundscape, invite someone into your room or call the office on the intercom and play it for them. Kids will be thrilled to have someone listen to them and they will definitely have fun putting the soundscape together. There are a host of fun apps that kids can use to start building soundscapes on their own. SongMaker, Beepbox, BandLab are just a few.

Benefits

Soundscapes are another great way to get kids to start thinking in, and organizing, sound.

5. Film Composition

Using video as a starting point for composition makes it easier for students to form a concept of what they are going to compose (for example, a chase scene will mean more suspense, more intensity, and the composer will choose a faster tempo, thick texture, and louder dynamics, etc.).

Materials

• Film clip (2-3 min.)
  
• Musical instruments
  
• Pen and paper / Music notation app or software
  
• Projector
  
• Sound system
  

Procedure

1. Take a segment of a film with little or no dialogue (remove the sound so students aren’t influenced by the actual composer)

2. Form groups of 3 to 5 students

3. Ask students to create a timing sheet which is a breakdown of what happens in the scene. For example, at 5 seconds in there is a mysterious noise outside. At 10 seconds the camera pans in close up on Granny’s face looking surprised. (You get the point.) This will help students make decisions about where to start and stop music in a scene.

4. Allow students time to discuss the psychology of what is happening in the scene.

5. Allow students to start experimenting with musical ideas.

6. Show your students how to create a graphic score. Create a timeline across the top of a sheet of paper (or computer screen) and the instrumentation along the left side (like a spreadsheet). It can include notation if the student is comfortable with that or just arrows and text as well. Whatever works for your students. Notation is not required. 

7. Designate a conductor and have them put a stop watch on the stand with the graphic score.

8. Project the movie scene on a large screen or wall and set up your ensemble in a U-shape in front of the screen. The conductor’s job is not to conduct time but simply to look at the score and the stopwatch and cue the various entries. This may take several classes but it is worthwhile.

Benefits

Aside from being a lot of fun to create music to film, students will work collaboratively to understand the emotional arc or psychological requirements of the narrative and make decisions as to how music can be constructed to function in a supportive role. They can also practice notating their musical ideas.

Create and Edit Music with SmartMusic’s Notation Tool, Compose!

6. Composers Table Presentation

Because it’s programmatic, film music is a great way to get kids to begin to think about how music is constructed. Asking why a composer made certain choices can help guide student choices in their own compositions. Here’s the task.

Materials

• Computer
  
• Projector
  

Procedure

Students will choose a scene from a movie and answer three questions. They then present to the class with examples from the scene they chose. There really aren’t any wrong answers. Here are the questions.

1. Where does music start and stop in the scene? This gets kids to think about the composer’s rationale. In other words—what is the psychology or emotional intent behind the scene?

2. How does the composer handle music under dialogue? and three…

3. How does the composer use music to heighten the drama: for example

• What instruments are used and…
  
• What types of ideas are used (ex. rhythmic, melodic, harmonic)
  

Student presentations can be anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes. Allow time for

questions and discussions from the class.

Benefits

Students gain insight into the motivation and/or psychology of how composers construct (organize) sound.

Creativity Workouts: Help Students Build the Creative Muscles to Compose

7. Easy Improv for Kids

Kids can have a lot of fun with improvisation if it’s broken down into bite-sized chunks.

Materials

• Computer/device
  
• Instrument
  

Procedure

1. Find a straight ahead rhythm track with a nice, easy groove (Bb or F blues).

2. Choose a very comfortable tempo. Students don’t need to know anything about chords at this point, so just ignore them.

3. Instruct students (on the first time through) to just play the tonic note, concert Bb, two whole notes tied (each note is 8 beats long). This is really simple, anyone can do it!

4. The second time through, instruct students to play just two eighth notes with a swing feel followed by 7 beats rest, still using only one pitch, Bb concert.

5. Third time through, two 8ths, 2 short quarter notes, and 5 beats rest). Again, all on concert Bb.

6. When they feel comfortable, students can begin to improvise and mix up the rhythms.

7. Students can then play the track many times and start to add other notes from the Blues scale (or other scales).

Let this process take as long as necessary for kids to feel comfortable.

Benefits

What a great way to ease into improv and work on scales!

8. Pocket Guitar

Speaking of play-along, why not turn playing tests into play-along tests. This can help ease students’  performance anxiety significantly. My friend Mike is a band director and an excellent guitarist. For playing tests, he opens up his Pocket Guitar app and comps playing a rhythm to accompany each student while they play their scale.

Materials

• Computer/device
  
• Sound system
  

Procedure

1. Connect your device to the music room audio system.

2. If you’re not a guitarist, how about playing the piano, or using a rhythm track. You can discover thousands of professional backing tracks in SmartMusic’s vast repertoire library, in all keys and styles. Find some way to change things up and get outside of the box.

3. Count students in and watch them go!

4. If you are in a virtual situation, simply record your accompaniment and drop it in your shared drive. Kids can even record their playing test at home and drop it back into the drive for you to evaluate.

Benefits

Reducing or eliminating the anxiety of playing tests, as we know, results in a much better performance and helps to build confidence.

Use SmartMusic’s Reference Recordings With Your Students

9. Sneak Previews

Every once in a while, invite another class in to listen to your students perform. It doesn’t have to be an entire, polished work. Just something in progress.

Materials

• Your students
  

Procedure

Simply nab the next person walking past your room. Ask them the following, “Hey, wanna hear eight bars of ‘Bang Zoom?’”

Benefits

Kids love to perform and sometimes the best progress is made in front of a live audience. Kids get super excited to show what they can do. ‘Nuff said!

10. Creating Cool Ideas

Have you ever taken things that are unrelated and put them together in a new way? That’s the creative process and that’s how we put ideas together. Let me explain.

Remember idea #7, Easy Imrov? I created that by taking an idea from a concert band piece I taught a beginner class years ago called “Fidgets.” It was very simple, but it worked and the kids loved it. I took the rhythms from that piece and combined them with a rhythm track I found on YouTube, and in my notation software wrote out the blues scale and some variations on the rhythms from “Fidgets.”

Out of these four unrelated things came a new, cool idea that you can use! I want to illustrate that you aren’t limited to teaching kids just one idea (in this case, improv). You can use this process any time you wish to create your own cool ideas to teach literally anything. I’m sure you already do. So look around. What’s in your classroom, your home, your computer, the internet? Search through your past experiences and see what you can creatively recombine to use in a way that enhances the experience of your students and, ultimately, you.

Isn’t it exciting to know that there are so many possibilities? The sky’s the limit… VIRTUALLY!

Well, that’s it for now. Ten engaging, cool ideas that work. And there are so many more just waiting for you to create. So get to creating and start sharing your cool ideas!

The post 10 Engaging Activities for In-Person and Virtual Classrooms appeared first on SmartMusic.

“I couldn’t be a composer. I’m just not a creative person. It’s difficult to come up with good ideas!” Have you ever engaged in this kind of negative self-talk? I have. Many times! Thankfully, none of these statements are true. The fact is that everyone on the planet is highly creative. Creativity is what defines us as humans. If you’ve ever had to solve a problem, and we all have, then you’ve engaged in the creative process. If you’ve ever taken unrelated things and put them together to make something new, you’ve engaged in the creative process. I want to assure you that you are, indeed, very creative.

So why do we think we’re not? Our creativity muscles are out of shape. If you were going to be a bodybuilder you wouldn’t expect to be able to lift heavy weights after just one workout at the gym. You have to workout daily and you wouldn’t even see any noticeable results for a long time. Well, if you want strong creativity muscles you have to workout daily and being out of “creative shape” doesn’t make us feel too confident.

Ideas are Cheap

In a previous article I quoted Merlin Mann who said, “Ideas are cheap. Making them into something awesome is super hard!” I believe what Merlin is saying is that creative ideas are plentiful (not that they don’t have value) but developing them into a work of art takes a lot more time and effort. I agree with Merlin. I’m often surprised at the amount of ideas I have when starting a new piece. This may seem hard to believe because we tend to judge our ideas too soon.

Perhaps we think we have to compose a piece perfectly from start to finish the first time. When we try this approach we often (always?) second guess ourselves and this can lead to a belief that we are not creative. There is a point in the creative process where we do need to evaluate our ideas but that point is not during the initial brainstorming stage. We simply need to generate as many ideas as possible without judgement. Just get them all out on the table. Only then can we sit back and start to prioritize and evaluate. More on this later.

Theory is Not Music Creation

Perhaps you’ve thought, I can’t compose music, I don’t know enough theory. Theory is important and if you are going to get serious about composition, you’ll have to engage with it eventually. Let me tell you, theory is not the same thing as music creation. I repeat, theory is not the same thing as music creation. Music creation (composition) is about two things: 1) thinking in sound and 2) organizing sound. That’s it! This is what every composer does on a daily basis so it makes sense that if you want to get good at composition, to build strong creativity muscles, you have to workout daily. Enter Creativity Workouts.

Teaching Tip: Try these Creative Workouts as class assignments using SmartMusic’s Compose app!

Creativity Workout #1 – Write What You See/Hear

So, this is Creativity Workout #1. Whatever you are listening to, do two things: 1) Note what images the music is evoking in your mind and/or what emotional or physiological changes you are experiencing and 2) Listen again (multiple times if necessary) and note what, specifically, you are hearing. What instruments do you hear, e.g., brass, strings, etc. How did the composer increase or decrease the intensity level? Is the tempo fast or slow (did it change? If so, when?), are the dynamics loud or soft (did they change?), is the texture (layering of instruments) thick or thin (did it change? When, how?)? 

Constantly asking these questions about the music you are hearing will teach you a great deal about how composers organize sound and, pretty soon, you will begin to use these tools yourself.

Music Can Change Your State

Have you ever listened to a piece of music and noticed that it changed your emotional and/or physiological state? You were feeling normal and then, while listening, you felt sad or happy, or perhaps your pulse increased, you started tapping your foot, or you had a rush of goosebumps because of a beautiful harmony. As a kid, this happened to me frequently. Still does! I heard a lot of great classical and big band recordings as a kid. Every time my state would change, I would think, “How do composers know how to organize those ink spots on the page” so that they affect me like this. I started trying to figure out what I was hearing. I did this so often that it just became a habit. When we do this regularly, an interesting thing happens. We build up a musical cause-and-effect library in our mind. To get this sound, put these instrumental colours together. To elicit this emotion, try this harmony, etc. We have all done this but how often do we pay attention to it. This is why Creativity Workout No. 1 is so important. Listen, analyze, imitate!

Creativity Workout #2 – Thinking in Sound

If you were paid one million dollars (now there’s motivation!) to compose a piece of music with the title TIME by next week, no doubt you could do it, but what would it sound like? Close your eyes and for 10 seconds, think in sound. What, specifically, you are hearing, e.g., strings, winds, percussion? Describe the tempo, dynamics, and texture. Did any of these elements change?

If so, when?

Let’s try another one. This time let’s do 20 seconds (and 2 million?) and the title is “JOURNEY.” Close your eyes, think in sound. Ask yourself the same questions: What are you hearing (instrumental colours, tempo, dynamics, texture)? Ok, one more, 30 seconds (3 million? Ok let’s not get greedy). Close your eyes and think in sound. Again, theory is important but (you guessed it) it’s not the same as music creation. The study of theory, harmony, counterpoint, and orchestration is essential, just as learning the alphabet and the rules of grammar was when you were young, but doing creativity workouts daily is just as critical in your journey as a composer.

Creativity Workout #3 – Melodic Contour

When we speak in a monotone (every word on the same pitch) it gets boring and difficult to listen to. The same with melodies. To be interesting, to engage the listener, the melody needs to have an interesting shape, one that leads the listener forward. This isn’t theory but rather, a simple technique you can put in your composer toolbox. Whether you sit at the piano or are capturing your thoughts on manuscript, try writing a melody every day. It doesn’t matter if it’s two bars or thirty-two. Just write regularly and pay attention to the melodic contour. Experiment! Take some musical risks. Are you listening daily as well? Sigh! So much to do, so little time!

Creativity Workout #4 – Repetition and Variation

Did you know that human beings are pattern recognition experts. Have you ever walked into a room and had the feeling you’ve been there before. Or perhaps, an unexpected aroma reminds you of someone you once knew. No different in music. Your ear is constantly aware of musical ideas (motifs, rhythms, harmonies, timbres) you’ve previously heard. If every measure of the melody was exactly the same, it would be boring. If every measure was completely different from every other, it would be confusing and eventually we would lose interest. So, how do composers know how much to repeat an idea and when to change it up? Composers are constantly working to find a balance between repetition and variation and a classic example is the opening movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. Listen to how many times the Master uses that four-note motif and when, and how, he varies it to keep things interesting. The balance between repetition and variation cannot be taught but you can learn it by just actively listening (A LOT!!). The great thing is, you can find this relationship in pretty much every piece ever written. Incidentally, things like sequence, elongation, and diminution are also musical devices (tools) to listen for. 

Take one of your themes or any other musical element (rhythm, harmony, texture) of a piece you are working on and experiment with an eye to the balance between repetition and variation. Try moving things around. How does using a sequence, elongation, or diminution change the balance. These tools shouldn’t be used indiscriminately but always with the goal of making a piece musical and expressive.

Creativity Workout #5 – Resolving Vision

“Creativity is the process of resolving vision.”

—Kourosh Dini

Much of the angst or fear of composing can stem from an unclear vision. What is your piece about? What’s the inspiration? This is the part of the creative process where we begin to organize sound. It’s difficult to organize sound if your vision or concept of the work isn’t clear and you will experience more stress than you’d like. The blank page can induce a great deal of fear but it doesn’t need to stay blank for very long. Poems, pictures, and stories can help because they often provide a lot of vivid imagery (remember workout #1, write what you see?). The practice of connecting images to sound is a great help in clarifying vision. Thinking in sound (workout #2) gets much easier the more we do this.

Mind Maps

Mind mapping is a great way to work towards clarifying your vision. Remember, ideas are plentiful so just start generating them and don’t worry if they aren’t perfect. As I said earlier, we often try to write a piece perfectly from start to finish and in the process wind up with a lot of discarded ideas crumpled up in our mental waste paper basket. It is so much easier to not evaluate ideas in the initial stages of music creation. Just capture each one and wait for your brain to offer up the next idea. Start with a word or concept that you feel the piece “could” be about. Write it down. That will make you think of a related word. Connect them with a line. It’s important to actually do this with paper and pencil.

Play the word association game. Even if you aren’t sure the words are connected, just write them down. Remember, do not evaluate. It doesn’t matter if the words aren’t music related (though you may eventually be quite surprised at the number of words you write that are). Just keep writing them down and when it seems there aren’t any more ideas flowing, then you can look at your list and decide which to focus on. The point is that evaluation comes later, after you are finished brainstorming. If you tell your brain that every idea it offers you isn’t “perfect” it will stop generating them. Professor Gerard Puccio, Professor at the International Center for Studies in Creativity at Buffalo State University, tells us that “It’s only after we exhaust that which is familiar to us, do we start to really generate novel and unusual options.” Makes sense! Your mind map should literally look messy because of the sheer number of ideas your brain has generated. The more options you have, the better your choices will be. So, see what’s inside the box first, then when you’ve seen everything there, see what’s outside of it.

Mindmap often. I do this with every new piece. I highly recommend it!

Coda

Reflection

I do need to mention that reflection is an essential part of the creative process. Yes, composers think in, and organize, sound but if they don’t have an opinion about that sound, then it just won’t be a work with any authenticity or artistic honesty. So experiment, create, and reflect. It’s a constant cycle until you come to a point where you know the piece is done.

Final Measures

Well, that’s about it for now. Five very effective workouts that, if done regularly, will help your creativity muscles to get in great shape. To recap, they are 1) write what you see and hear 2) think in sound 3) write melodies daily 4) experiment with the balance between repetition and variation balance and 5) mind map regularly to help resolve your vision. Remember, regular workouts are vital to the creative health of students AND teachers so be a great role model. Encourage kids to do creativity workouts regularly. We do scale warmups, why not creativity warmups as well? Don’t stop!

You’ll soon be on fire! Keep it going. These workouts will prove beneficial even in your non-music life. Hey wait a sec…there’s no such thing!

The post Creativity Workouts: Helping Students Build the Creative Muscles to Compose appeared first on SmartMusic.

—Jerry Goldsmith

Fear—we are all familiar with it. Even composers like Jerry Goldsmith, one of Hollywood’s greatest, fell prey to it. The good news is there are ways to get past fear and into that “flow state”[1]; that place where we lose track of time because we are in the zone, great ideas seem to flow easily, and our mental and physical performance is at its peak. Alpha waves, theta waves, gamma spikes, brainstorms, call them what you will, but in this state we are unstoppable.

The question is, how can we access this state more easily, and further, as music educators, how can we help foster an environment rich in opportunities for kids to achieve this optimal creative state? This article offers ten very doable strategies which address these questions. Now that’s a bargain!

Ok, let’s get at it.

Says Andy Puddicome of Headspace, “We don’t have to try to be creative. Creativity is an innate aspect of mind. It’s always with us. It’s just that sometimes it’s obscured.” If this is true, if creativity is innate, then it follows that it cannot be taught. That’s it, end of article. Thanks for reading.

Wait… 

Well, maybe it can’t be taught, but what if it can be nurtured? Is it possible to create an environment where creativity can flourish? You know it is! More on this in a bit. For now, the major obstacle to being creative is stress. Stress (caused by fear, distractions, and anxiety) is enemy number one preventing us from tapping into our flow state.

Tip #1: Relax, take a few deep breaths of fresh air. Mindfulness is key to being creative. Be present for the task at hand, whatever that is. An undistracted mind will get in the zone much faster.

“Creativity is the process of resolving vision.” This brilliant statement by Dr. Kourosh Dini is so simple, yet so powerful, it really doesn’t need any more explanation. When was the last time you asked your students what their vision was? This works for solo performance preparation and yes, even in an ensemble rehearsal. The composer has a vision but is it necessarily the same vision you or your students have? I am not saying we should ignore the composer’s intent, but music is multivalent, it can have different meanings for each of us. Even asking about the composer’s vision is a great question. If your students don’t know, ask what they think it could have been. In any case, asking this question frequently can kick start a process where your students habitually think in these terms.

Tip #2: Talk to your students about vision. There is a much greater chance of resolving a vision that is clear.

I’ve mentioned the creative process and just so we’re all on the same page, let me give you a really brief overview. Every creative project starts with a concept or idea. The stages we move through are concept, experimentation, reflection, revision, developing ideas, rinse and repeat. At least this is how I see it. Reflection is an integral component of creativity. That’s why music (read “the creative process”) is so crucial to life on this planet; it fosters reflection which leads to creative problem solving.

Tip #3: Encourage kids to be good brainstormers and reflective people.

Once, while guest conducting one of my own pieces, a question popped into my head. Why didn’t I use a different slurring pattern on the woodwind passage we were woodshedding? I asked the winds what they thought. “Would it be better to have slurred this passage another way?” Blank stares abounded. Had no one ever asked their opinion? I had them try the passage again and asked the rest of the band to listen and be prepared to give an opinion. Afterward a few hands went up, simply, I believe, because there was an expectation that they were “supposed” to answer. We tried it again and even more hands went up. Now they really had something to say. Their opinion muscles were coming to life after a long period of dormancy.

Initially, they thought I was looking for “the correct answer” but as more students began to respond, it became clear that there wasn’t one. The lesson here is that kids have opinions too, and if we never give them the opportunity to express them, they will never get better at thinking in more creative ways.

I read about one band director who had a “10 second rule.” Every time he stopped his band, he gave himself only 10 seconds to explain something. He actually used a stopwatch! After 10 seconds, no matter what he was saying, he picked up the baton and started conducting. While I agree that too much director-chat can make for an inefficient and boring rehearsal, I wondered where the opportunity was in a rehearsal where kids don’t get to reflect and express their opinion on the music they are playing. We all have opinions and they are formed by hundreds and hundreds of past musical experiences. Kids need to learn in an environment where they are encouraged to have opinions. Reflection is an integral part of the creative process.

Tip #4: Stop every now and then to ask your students what they think. The question can be specific (what other ways could this passage have been slurred) or open ended (what images or ideas does this music evoke). This will get kids in the habit of thinking outside the box.

Ok, where is this box we’ve heard so much about and what does it really mean to get outside of it? 

Quite simply, it’s the ability to engage in divergent thinking; to go beyond the obvious. How do we do this? To be able to get outside the box, you have to first figure out what’s inside the box. Professor Gerard Puccio, Professor at the International Center for Studies in Creativity at Buffalo State University, tells us that “It’s only after we exhaust that which is familiar to us, do we start to really generate novel and unusual options.” Makes sense! The more options we have, the better our choices will be.

Tip #5: Don’t always go outside first. Often it really helps to figure out what’s inside the box before you are able to generate ideas that are outside of it.

Regular exercise! Just like pro athletes, artists need to exercise their creative muscles daily. So, give your students opportunities each day to enter into the creative process. This isn’t as daunting as it may seem (tons of theory not required). It could be as simple as “describe in words, what a piece called ‘Sunrise’ would sound like.” Easy, peasy! And anyway, thinking in sound is fun.

There are plenty of opportunities in whatever we do; band, choir, orchestra, music history, theory, composition, improv, and MIDI classes.

One way to empower students to exercise their creative muscles is to get them to push beyond just one solution. For every musical problem there is more than one solution, so don’t stop short. Ask your students, “How else can you solve this musical problem?” Or, “How would your favorite composer solve it?” 

By the way, isn’t this a great skill for any problem (non-musical ones included)? You’re asking students to not only get outside the box, you’re challenging them to get outside their own brain.

Tip #6: Create opportunities daily for students to do a “creativity workout.” Hold them to a higher standard. Your motto could be, “We don’t allow one-solution problems in this town!”

Quoting composer John Cacavas on the idea that we all have an inner artistic sense, “Each day is different and your capacity for learning and expression will grow. Every time you browse through a score, hear a recording, see a movie, or attend a concert, your artistic self will absorb that which impresses you and will add to your experience.”[2]

The idea that we have an artistic self that we must nurture regularly is exciting and at the same time, humbling.

Tip #7: Keep growing through exposure to great music in whatever form: concerts, films, performance, score reading, and conducting. Also, provide lots of opportunities for your students to grow through exposure to all of these activities.

“Ideas are cheap. Making them into something awesome is super hard.”

—Merlin Mann 

I believe what Merlin is really saying is that creative ideas come easily—not that they don’t have value—but developing them into a work of art takes a lot more time and effort. This gets into the realm of artistry and, though an extension of the creative process, it is a whole other conversation.

For now, I believe creative ideas do come easily. I’m often surprised by how many ideas I have when starting a new piece. The reason we may find this hard to believe is that we judge our ideas too soon; we second guess ourselves and this can lead to a belief that we are not creative which can lead to giving up.

There is a point in the creative process where we do need to evaluate but that point is not during the initial stages. We simply need to generate as many ideas as possible without judgement. Just get them all out on the table. Only then can we sit back and start to prioritize and evaluate.

Tip #8: Encourage kids to trust their instincts and have fun brainstorming. Ideas are plentiful if we suspend our judgment initially.

One way to get kids to start thinking creatively is to have them engage in directed listening which helps them focus on why good music is so cool. Here’s a quick activity that doesn’t require anything more than paper and pencil (and an audio source).

• Step 1: Play one minute of your favorite piece of music. Don’t tell the students what it is or who wrote it. Simply have them write words which describe whatever images come to mind while listening. 
• Step 2: Stop the music and ask for feedback. “What did you hear, what images were evoked?”
• Step 3: Then play it again and this time ask them to write down what the composer did to     achieve this effect (e.g., brass, violins pizzicato, fast tempo, thick orchestration, etc.). This will help students to start thinking in sound. Film music works well because it is music written for a visual medium and often very easy to deconstruct.

Whenever I’ve done this, students will inevitably approach me the next week and say that they notice the music in films so much more. We all learn by observation and imitation. This is exactly how we learned to speak. At first we just imitate, but eventually with enough practice we begin to express our own ideas.

Tip #9: Provide kids with opportunities to direct their listening.

During an episode of MasterChef Canada, I heard Alvin Leung offer sage advice to a contestant whose dish was overly complex. Alvin remarked that, “complexity and innovation are not necessarily the same.” I was blown away by this simple, yet universal truth. Often, the best ideas are the simplest ones.

Tip #10: Keep it simple!

Well, that’s it for now. Ten simple tips that work right out of the box. Come on, you’re a musician and a music educator. You live and breathe creativity. You problem-solve daily and model it to your students. 

We should not waste the wonderful gift of creativity. John Philip Sousa once wrote that “The world has a soul, a spirit that is hungry for beauty and inspiration.” Steven Pressfield suggests that we should offer our creative gifts to the world. As he states in his book The War of Art, “Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It’s a gift to the world and every being in it. Don’t cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you’ve got.”[3] Inspiring!

One final thought. I remind you of Goldsmith’s statement which began this article and suggest it relates to teaching as well as composing, “Sometimes it’s easy and sometimes it ain’t so easy.” Either way, you’ve got this.

Suggested Reading 

Colvin, Geoff. Talent is Overrated. 2008. Penguin Random House.

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. 1990. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper and Row.

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. 1997. Finding Flow. The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life. New York: Basic Books.

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. 1996. Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention. New York: Harper Perennial.

Mann, Merlin. http://www.43folders.com/about (“43 folders” addresses the issue of finding the time and attention to do your best creative work)

Pressfield, Steven. 2002. The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles. New York: Black Irish Entertainment.

Robinson, Ken. 2001. Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative. Capstone.

Robinson, Ken. 2009. The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything. New York: Viking Press.

Robinson, Ken. 2013. Finding Your Element: How to Discover Your Talents and Passions and Transform Your Life. New York: Viking Press.

Robinson, Ken. 2015. Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That’s Transforming Education. New York: Viking.

Puccio, Gerrard. Creative Thinker’s Toolkit. https:// www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/the-creative-thinker- s-toolkit.html

Sousa, John Philip. “Why the World Needs Bands.” Instrumentalist (April 1991): 32-36.

[1] “Flow state” is a term coined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his book Finding Flow.

[2] Cacavas, John. 1975. Music Arranging and Orchestration. Miami: Belwin-Mills.

[3] Pressfield, Steven. 2002. The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles. New York: Black Irish Entertainment.

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