This project was based on an innovative initiative from the UK called “Musical Futures” that supports new approaches to the teaching and learning of music in schools. Forty-four Grade 7 students from two instrumental music classes participated in a two-phase project for 10 sessions that took place over several months. In phase one, the students formed friendship groups and worked collaboratively to choose a song that they learned how to play “by ear” without the use of notation or direct instruction. Using a real-world learning approach, the project emulated as closely as possible the real-life learning practices of beginning popular musicians. RYME researchers and Music Teachers Dr. Kevin Bespflug (graduate of SFU’s Arts Education Program) and Stephen Burrage acted as facilitators and resources that the students could tap into to help them learn their song and arrange it for their own combination of band instruments. Student-led research was also encouraged to help the students learn more about their song (e.g., discover different versions and information about the bands and the genre of the song) and the techniques that they needed to learn (e.g., using the internet for playing tips and fingerings or their computers to record different parts of the song). During the sixth session, the groups played their songs for each other and offered each other positive and constructive feedback on their performances. Some of the students also volunteered to play their song at a concert for their parents.
Throughout phase one, the students were asked to record their ideas and inspirations and to think critically about and reflect on the process they were going through to learn their song. In phase two, the students were involved in two inquiry projects designed to deepen their awareness and understanding of informal music learning. Each student wrote an account of “What I did to learn to play a song by ear” followed by a collaborative project that engaged them in thinking about how this learning compares with other ways they learn music and their experiences of working together as a band. The main themes to emerge from their inquiry projects were then used to produce a visual representation (word cloud) of their experiences, which they shared with the other groups. Each group was also involved in a “press conference” activity where their classmates questioned them about their informal learning experiences using a real-life press conference format. This event was used to help the students make further connections with the experiences of popular musicians, to gain critical insights into issues such as authenticity, repetition, dedication, and how the students’ experiences might inform their future music learning activities. Overall, the Musical Futures project helped these students to develop listening and performing skills, to increase their engagement in music education, and to develop leadership skills as the students acted as peer leaders and initiators of the music making, learning, and reflective processes.
Abstract: This article reports on a research-practice collaborative work that combined informal music learning practices and youth-led participatory action research with Grade 7 beginner band students at Southridge School in British Columbia, Canada. Using real-world music learning experiences, inquiry and reflection, we expanded the scope of a Musical Futures project and helped students develop listening and performing skills, increase their engagement in music learning, and develop leadership skills as they acted as initiators of the music making, learning and reflective processes.