C I l

COMPOSITION AND IMPROVISATION

THINKING
CREATIVE
IN MUSIC
Ratherthanfocusingon trainingchildrento be creative,it might be betterfor music
teachersto nurturechildren'sinherentability to think creativelyin music.

S A A S S 5
S w w

~A ~sthe new centurybegins

and we gain more
knowledge about cre-
ative thinking from both
within and outside the
field of music education, it seems
apparentthat encouragingstudents to
apply their growing knowledge of
music in creativeways should be at the
core of philosophyand practice.In this
article, we review some fundamental
notions that will help define creative
thinking in music and place it at the
centerof what music educatorsdo. We
begin by clarifying the term "creative
thinking"and putting it into the per-
spective of music teaching.This is fol- Instrumentalists canbe askedto workin smallgroupsto improvise
shortpassagesovera given
lowed by a section on refininga philos- harmonic chordstructure.
ophy of music teaching that includes
the encouragementof creativethinking
that he or she teaches students to be traits. Much of the researchliterature
in all music activities.
creative,and probablyone would agree on creative people has been compiled
that creative thinking is a desirable from the study of the most creative
WhatIsCreativity? behavior that should be nurtured in people in society, past and present.
The term "creativity" can causecon-
music classrooms. But what does cre- Some common characteristics of a
fusion because it has many possible
ativity mean? One way of understand- creative person include risk taking, a
meanings. One might hear a teacher
say that he or she teaches creativelyor fouring it is to examine its meaning from sense of humor, attraction to ambigu-
different perspectives: person, ity, open-mindedness, a capacity for
process,product, and place. fantasy, and perceptiveness.1 There
Maud Hickeyis assistant ofmusicedu-
professor The Creative Person. When peo- are potentially negative traits associat-
cationandtechnology intheSchoolof Musicat
in Evanston, ple are asked to describe a creative ed with the creative personality as
NorthwesternUniversity Illinois.
person that they know, it is likely that well. These include aloofness, dis-
PeterWebster is professorof musiceducation
they can think of such a person and tractability, compulsiveness, sloppi-
andtechnologyatthesameinstitution.
easily describe his or her creative ness, and rebelliousness.2

JULY 2001 19
 Not all of the traits associatedwith
creative people are conducive to
maintaining quiet, orderlyclassrooms.
In fact, it might be worth noting that
the class troublemaker might also be
the most creativestudent. How might
a teacher deal with this? First of all,
simply being aware of the disruptive
student's creative potential may
change a teacher's behavior toward
that student and, hence, that student's
self-image. The self-fulfilled role of
troublemaker might therefore change
to something more positive and pro-
ductive if a teacher were able to fun-
nel some of the student's energy
toward more creative music-making
tasks and responsibilities. Of course,
all children have the potential for cre-
ative development, and an awareness
of creativepersonal characteristicswill
help teachers to encourage positive
creative personality traits in all stu-
dents. Teachers can promote creative
traits by giving music tasks or assign-
ments that may requiresome risk tak-
ing or even silly behavior. Teachers
should support risk taking and humor
in the classroom (when appropriate,
of course) and model desirable cre-
ative traits for their students.
The creativeprocess
beginswith an idea or
intentionand endswith
a creativeproduct.
The Creative Process. The creative
process can be described as the think-
ing that takes place as a person is plan-
ning to produce a creative product.
Webster's model of creative thinking
20
in music outlines the complex creative
process, which begins with an idea or
intention and ends with a creative
product.3 Along the way, one must
have enabling skills and an enabling
environment to support the process.
At the heart of the Webstermodel is a
four-step creative thinking process
that was first conceived by Graham
Wallas.4 Wallas proposed four stages
of creative thinking-preparation,
incubation, illumination, and verifica-
tion-which are discussedbelow.
Preparation.In this stage, the cre-
ative person begins thinking about
and gathering materials or ideas for
the creative product. Alternatively,he
or she may simply be coming up with
a creative problem to work on at this
point. In music, the creative thinker
begins by asking such questions as
"What do I want to compose?"
"What instrumentsshould I use?"and
"What style shall I incorporate into
my composition?"
Incubation. The incubation stage
often occurs when a person steps
away from the creative problem, as
this stage is an important time for the
brain to do its work. Even when there
is no active thought given to creative
plans, ideas are being mixed about
and assimilated in the subconscious
during this stage. In terms of music
teaching, this important "think time"
should be encouraged, and teachers
should provide opportunities for stu-
dents to be away from their creative
tasks at times, as well as plenty of
time to revisit and revise projects that
requirecreativethinking.
Illumination. Often described as
the "aha!" effect, the illumination
stage is that stage in which a great
idea suddenly comes to mind. This
may happen while an individual is
working on a creativeproject or while
he or she is away from the project. In
music, this might be the moment
when the perfect melody suddenly
pops into mind. Music students
should keep manuscript journals or
computer scrapbooksin order to keep
track of the illuminating and often
surprisingmusical ideas that appear.
Verification. In the final stage of
creativethinking, one brings the ideas
together and tries out the creative
product. For a composer, this may
MUSIC
mean putting the final touches on the
manuscript and hearing a full run-
through of a composition for the first
time, whether it is played by a full
orchestra, a room full of students
using classroominstruments, or a syn-
thesizer. The creator should then be
given opportunities to continue edit-
ing the work until he or she is fully
satisfied.After initially verifying a cre-
ative idea, the creator might reenter
the beginning, or preparation, stage
and work through the four thinking
stages again to continue revising the
creative product. Young students
often reach the verification stage pre-
maturely and may not want to go
back and think about revision or con-
tinued work on a project. It is impor-
tant for the music teacher to encour-
age and facilitate more careful and
thoughtful approaches to creative
musical growth in the classroom.
riginalitywithout
intentorvaluedoesnot
makea
necessarily
productcreative.
Research studies of creative think-
ing in music have shown consistently
that, when confronted with creative
tasks, most creativechildren feel com-
fortable exploring many options of
sounds before closure.5 Opportunities
for sound exploration, manipulation,
organization through composition,
and even time for simple playing
around with sounds should be made
available in the classroom in order to
nurture creative musical thinking
processes.Activities that involve brain-
storming solutions to musical prob-
lems (such as creating several endings
for the beginning of a musical phrase)
EDUCATORS JOURNAL
and do not require one single right child's musical composition or Creative at theCoreof
Thinking
answer should also be offered to stim- improvisation may sound original MusicTeaching
ulate musical creative-thinking only because of his or her uninten- Understandingthe four "Ps"of cre-
processes. tional or random musical explo- ativity is a good starting point for
rations. The creator of a musical building one's awarenessof developing
product must have an intent or plan. creative activities for the music class-
By encouraging reflective thoughts room. More fundamental, however, is
from the student composer and offer- utilizing creative thinking as a perva-
ing opportunities for revision, teach- sive component ofa music-teaching
ers can help develop intentionality in philosophy. In this section, we discuss
Buildingskillssuchas a student. A unique composition
must also be valued or aesthetically
how one might approach creative
thinking as a fundamentalaspect of all
playingnotesaccurately, pleasing in order to be considered
creative. Is the composition pleasur-
music teaching.
Thinking in Sound. An essential
in tune,withproper able to the listener? Is it aesthetically principle of music teaching and learn-
technique, andwith pleasing or interesting?
The combination of original musi-
ing is related to thinking in sound.
Creative thinking in sound can occur
goodtonequalityis cal ideas arrangedin such a way that when a teacher asks students to imag-
they are also interesting or pleasing to ine sound as a key to all music activi-
centraltogood the listener makes a musical composi- ties. What is so exciting about this very
instrumentalmusic tion or improvisation creative. Teach-
ers can use this as a way to guide their
simple idea is that, in creating experi-
ences for students that encourage
education. feedback to their students' musical thinking in sound, teachers ask them
creations. Finally, it is helpful to to exercise cognitive abilities that are
remember that a creative musical central to music as art. By imagining
product is best produced in situations different sounds or sound structures
where there are no right or wrong and remembering them over time as
answers. Therefore, teachers should they are applied to listening, perform-
allow ample opportunities for students ing, composing, or improvising, stu-
The Creative Product. Perhapsthe to createwith as few externalpressures dents experiencemusic personally.
most widely used, basic definition of a or parametersas possible.6
creative product is something that is The Creative Place. The fourth
both original (unique) and valuableor perspective from which to examine
pleasing. It is important to note that creativity is "place,"and it is perhaps
* u-
the terms "original"and "valuable"are the one in which teachers have the
relativeto the social context and group most control. "Place"for teachers is,
from which a product emerges. A of course, their own music class-
musical composition or improvisation rooms. A classroom that encourages
is creative when compared to what rather than squelches creative think-
others have created in that specific ing is one that is psychologically safe,
An essentialprinciple
of
time and place, whether it is the world contains many rich sound sources for musicteaching and
of classicalcomposers of the twentieth frequent and engaged exploration,
century, a third-grade classroom in a and promotes an atmosphere of risk learningis relatedto
Chicago suburban school, or the taking (allowing for failure). During
streets of Calcutta in the eighth cen- the preschool years, children should thinkingin sound.
tury. When a student produces a cre- be provided with an environment rich
ative musical product that is unique in musical materials and should be
among his or her classmates-either in exposed to a variety of musical songs
that classroom for that one period of and styles. As students become older,
the day, or for that age-groupover sev- they begin to desire the "how"of cre-
eral years-listeners can recognize the ative composition. They need to
creative wonder of that product. know how to build a chord, how to
Teachersshould encouragestudents to combine timbres to create a certain Music teachers should not miss an
try original or unique musical ideas musical effect, and so forth. During opportunity to encourage students to
when they are working on creative this time, the "place"must still be rich imagine sound. By asking students to
products. in exploration and arrays of sounds, improvise or compose in a general
Originality without intent or and the teacher'sguidance with tools music class or to listen to music in a
value, however, does not necessarily for composition and improvisation new way during a high school music
make a product creative. Often a becomes more crucial.7 class, a teacher can begin to see evi-

JULY 2001 21

for Exploring
Resources
Creative Thinking
Eberle, Bob. Scamper:Gamesfor Imagination Development.Waco,
TX: PrufrockPress, 1996.
Paynter, John. Sound and Structure.Cambridge, UK: Cambridge
UniversityPress, 1992.
Von Oech, Roger.A Kickin the Seat of the Pants:Using YourExplorer,
Artist, Judge, and Warriorto Be More Creative.New York: Harper
Collins, 1986.
Von Oech, Roger.A Whackon the Side of the Head: How YouCan Be
More Creative.New York:WarnerBooks, 1998.
dence of students' divergent and con-
vergent thinking in sound. Posing
questions in rehearsalsuch as, "What
would it sound like if the tubas played
the melody rather than the flutes?"or
"Can yua imagine this played in the
style of a rock band?"engagesstudents
at a much higher level of musical
thinking. Listeningin a new way could
be encouraged,for example, by asking
students to become more aware of
sounds around them or "found"
sounds as having musical possibilities.
This kind of creativemusical thinking
is not possible through teacher-cen-
tered activities, which rarely elicit a
personalmusic product.
Aesthetic Decision Making. Ask-
ing students to imagine and manipu-
late sounds in both divergent and
convergent ways should naturallylead
to aesthetic decision making. What is
meant here is the kind of decision-
making process that is involved as one
considers, for instance, how to frame
a harmonic accompaniment in the
context of a newly composed melody,
how to extend an improvisation by
using a motive heard earlier by a fel-
low improviser, whether to start a
ritard at measure fifteen or in the
middle of the next measure, or what
to think regardinga complex passage
in the Berlioz SymphonieFantastique
during a second or third listening in
order to determine just how its
orchestral color is achieved. These
kinds of decision-making processes
need to be experienced many times
22
and practicedwith the expert guidance
of music educators.
Music students of all levels and in
all settings are infrequently asked to
make aesthetic judgments or con-
tribute their opinions about such
judgments. In the press of time, it
seems most expedient for teachers to
focus less on student involvement in
this part of music making and more
on telling students how to play, listen,
compose, and improvise. The ironic
truth is that if at least some time were
devoted to asking students to think in
sound and make aesthetic decisions,
the resultant learning about music
would be so much more powerful that
far less time would be requiredin sub-
sequent rehearsalsand classes to reach
musical goals.
An additional payoff for aesthetic
decision making is the opportunity it
affords for teaching music affect. Of
all the instructionalproblems in music
teaching, perhaps the most challeng-
ing and least researchedis the ability
to teach how music cognitively
engages the intellect and the emotions
in such profound ways. By embedding
aesthetic decision making into the
body of regular teaching strategies,
especially within the context of cre-
ative activity, teachers can maximize
the opportunities to help students dis-
cover feeling in music. By creating
their own music or musical interpreta-
tion, students can sense the power and
meaning in music that are beyond the
notes themselves.
MUSIC
Merging Skill Building with Cre-
ative Activities. In refining a philoso-
phy of music education with creative
thinking in music as a core element,
teachersshould combine skill building
with creative thinking. For example,
when teaching a group of fourth-grade
trumpet students, it might be tempt-
ing to reserveany creativeexploration
of sound until the students have
learned music fundamentals. As a
result,weeks of instructionaltime may
pass before any request is made to
compose a simple melody with newly
learned notes or to preparetwo differ-
ent interpretationsof a piece of music
in the instruction book. A full semes-
ter might pass before consideration is
given to asking students to work in
small groups to improvise a short pas-
sage over a given harmonic chord
structure.Yearsmight pass before stu-
dents are asked to listen to different
recordings of a trumpet performance
and to discuss what they are hearing
from multiple perspectives.
It seems far more logical to embed
creative thinking activities as part of
skill building. The literature clearly
shows that if learningis to be effective,
it must be experiencedactively and in
context.8 Building skills such as play-
ing notes accurately, in tune, with
proper technique, and with good tone
quality is central to good instrumental
music education. But to have no way
of regularly applying those skills in
personal music making that involves
composition, improvisation, and
active listening is similar to teaching
sailing from a textbook and videotape
without ever learning to tack with the
wind in one's face. (The Resourcesfor
Exploring Creative Thinking sidebar
lists some sources for improving cre-
ative thought processesthrough imag-
ining and brainstorming techniques.
Although not all of the exercises are
written for music education, they can
be easily adapted to a music class-
room.)
The implications that come from
merging creative thinking activities
into regularinstruction are quite pro-
found. A major shift in thinking
about what music teaching is and
how it should be structured may be
necessary for some. For example, the
notion that creative activities will be
EDUCATORS JOURNAL
reservedfor the month of Februaryor
June because that is when it is sched-
uled in the curriculumwill need to be
changed. Perhapsmore time will need
to be devoted to performing fewer
musical works in favor of developing a
deeper, more profound understanding
of the works chosen. It could also
mean that public performancesor par-
ent-conference nights are made richer
by students'music performances.
Assessment. If teachers work to
embed these ideas into their philoso-
phy of music teaching and into their
curriculumstructures,it stands to rea-
son that changes are required in how
students are evaluated. Much debate
exists about authentic assessment and
the move away from standardized
paper-and-penciltests. What emerges
from these discussions is an awareness
that there is no one best way to evalu-
ate the complex processes of music
learning.Certainlythis is true for con-
sidering how best to evaluate creative
thinking activities.
Traditionally,music educatorshave
viewed the products of music making
as an important indicator of success.
For example, ratingsat festivalson the
quality of group performanceare con-
sidered a logical indicator of quality.
Similarly,individual performance rat-
ings at solo and ensemble events indi-
cate individualsuccess. Paper-and-pen-
cil examination of musical knowledge
is another way for teachers to under-
stand students' grasp of knowledge.
These sorts of evaluation mechanisms
are important and can function mean-
ingfully within a philosophy that
endorsescreativethinking in music.
What these more traditional
approachesdo not measurewell, how-
ever, is progress toward goals implied
by thinking in sound, aesthetic deci-
sion making, and the merger of skills
with creative application. Perhaps a
better way to capture the more com-
plex approachthat is suggestedhere is
to explore the evaluation of process
together with product and to do so
with a wide varietyof assessmenttools.
Student-maintainedfolders of tasks
that result from creative, project-cen-
tered learningare useful for document-
ing growth in creative-thinkingtasks.
These portfolios of achievement need
not be large and unmanageable, but
JULY 2001
focused and embedded in instruction.
In a fourth-grade trumpet class, for
example, each student's traditional
method book could be merged with a
simple blank manuscriptnotebook. As
lessons develop from the first day of
class, small compositions can be writ-
ten in the notebook based on the notes
learned.Students can write short com-
ments reflectingon how these compo-
sitions have changed from month to
month. It takes little imagination to
see how this might be extended to
include improvisationtasks and reflec-
tions on focused listening. Teachers
can use these documents as part of a
scheme to evaluate progresswith stu-
dent and parent involvement. Rating
scales in the form of rubrics can be
useful in such a context to evaluate
progressboth in terms of process and
product.9
Creative-thinking
activitiesmaybe
challengingto measure,
buttheirmeasurementis
notimpossible.
certainly
The evaluation scheme that one
chooses to use for this kind of teaching
should be flexible, and it should cap-
ture what is valued in the philosophy. (New
Creative-thinking activities may be
challengingto measure,but their mea-
surement is certainly not impossible.
The key is to include them as an inte-
gralpart of the teachingprocess.
Conclusion
We are all born with the ability to 26-33; and Maud Hickey and RachelWhit-
think, act, and live creatively.Releasing comb, "WritingRubricsfor the Music Class-
creativitycan occur in venues such as room," Music EducatorsJournal 85, no. 6
music composition and improvisation (May 1999): 26-32. ?
as well as listening, movement, and
performance. Nurturing creative
thinking in sound should be a core
tenet of one's personal music-teaching
philosophy. Keeping the four "Ps"in
mind-person, process, product, and
place-teachers can encourage, stimu-
late, and release much more musical
creativethinking in their classrooms.
Notes
1. GaryA. Davis, Creativityis Forever,4th
ed. (Dubuque,IA: Kendall/HuntPublishing,
1998).
2. Ibid.
3. PeterWebster,"Creativityas Creative
Thinking,"MusicEducators Journal76, no. 9
(May 1990): 22-28.
4. GrahamWallas, TheArt of Thought
(New York:Harcourt,Braceand Company,
1926).
5. Gladys Moorheadand Donald Pond,
Musicof YoungChildren(SantaBarbara,CA:
PillsburyFoundation,1942);John Kratus,"A
Time Analysisof the CompositionalProcesses
Used by Children, Ages Seven to Eleven,"
Journalof Research in MusicEducation37, no.
1 (1989): 5-20; John Kratus,"Characteriza-
tion of the CompositionalStrategiesUsed by
Childrento Compose a Melody,"Canadian
Journal of Researchin Music Education33
(1991): 95-103; LisaC. DeLorenzo,"AField
Study of Sixth-Grade Students' Creative
Music Problem-SolvingProcesses,Journalof
Research in MusicEducation37, no. 3 (1989):
188-200; Ray Levi, "Investigatingthe Cre-
ativity Process:The Role of RegularMusic
CompositionExperiencesfor the Elementary
Child,"Journalof CreativeBehavior25, no. 2
(1991): 123-36.
6. For an excellentdiscussionconcerning
parametersinvolvedin creativethinking,see
JackieWiggins, "TeacherControl and Cre-
ativity,"Music EducatorsJournal 85, no. 6
(March,1999):30-35, 44.
7. Howard Gardner, Art, Mind, and
Brain: A CognitiveApproachto Creativity
York: BasicBooks, 1982).
8. D. C. Phillipsand J. F. Soltis,Perspec-
tiveson Learning,3rd ed. (New York:Teach-
ersCollegePress,1998).
9. For articleson developingassessment
rubrics for music, see Maud Hickey, "Assess-
ment Rubricsfor MusicComposition,"Music
Educators Journal85, no. 4 (anuary 1999):
23