Style and Stylistic Composition

 

Stylistic composition - how useful/essential is it? Should it be taught by composers?

 

Is copying (by hand) scores from others a worthy method of learning? Is there time...?

 

Interface between 'free' and 'stylistic' composition.

 

All things to all people? Stylistic variety issues.

 

How do we take students away from notions of style?

 

Can/should "commercial" / "classical"

"pop" / "traditional"

"paper" / "studio"

be taught and learnt together?

 

What are the best ways of teaching popular music composition, and what is the importance of staff notation?

 

How can we help students who want to compose popular music? (When we have little knowledge of contemporary pop?)

 

Do research centred institutions recruit their composition staff based on ambition to achieve REF kudos? How does this impact on teaching "commercial composition" (jazz, pop, film music etc)? If HEFCE informs the REF criteria, is there a willingness in HEFCE to view "commercial composition" as 'research'? If that case can be made, is there room for a paradigm shift about "commercial composition" in the whole system: HEFCE > REF > HEI > staff > content?

 

How do composers with 20+years experience encapsulate their 'research' without prescribing process/understanding/canon? Is this aspect of research-led teaching important?

 

How much do we find ourselves 'undoing' pre-conditioning/attitudes acquired at secondary school? What approach should we take to this?

 

 

Student Skills on Entry - and beyond - and developing them

 

What skills should we expect of students at entry?

 

Do we know enough about what students have done at GCSE and A-level? Do we need to know?

 

Why is it that (some!) applicants with 360 UCAS points (including a qualification with the word 'music' in it) have little or no theory or notation skills?

 

What to do about the general level of ability of incoming 1st year olds? Limited reading ability... Narrow experience... Often unhappy to embrace new ideas.

 

Are we really getting students who need visual aids (scores) in the main?

 

Has the use of sequencers and notation software stopped students from really hearing their music, and using their inner ear?

 

I find music technology students need to be 'sold' the idea of listening; that they just want to 'do' in the software. How can I get students like this to open their ears & expectations for writing & producing?

 

How can we encourage our students to listen to more music, and to listen to music which takes them out of their comfort zone?

 

If a piece of music doesn't communicate to the student should they be required to engage with it?

 

Is 'Open-mindedness' a dimension of personality? (To what degree are we trying to change personality?)

 

Does a student who composes original and communicative music need to be more broad-minded?

 

How do we engage students from diverse backgrounds?

 

Communication issues. Notation, Audio, Software.

 

FD Tech + Pop students

Can they be successfully integrated into Music composition in its broadest sense?

 

How to take from the known to the unknown?

 

'taking the student from the known to the unknown'...

• do we have to adapt to be able to engage students?

• how realistic is this?

• how do we do so?

 

Developing composition from 'A' level background or 'clean slate' policy?

 

Banning technology! [this in reference to morning presentations on initial 1st year teaching]

Does this imply there is a problem with the technology, or a problem with how it is taught? (or, purpose of tuition)? (Rob Godman, University of Hertfordshire)

 

To enable the first year student to identify his or her individual musical voice, should assessment be avoided in year one? Perhaps assessment inhibits the development of the original voice by guiding it towards convention?

 

Year 1 is start of a journey - different beginning. Year 2 + 3 etc already on that path so already have starting points. How can one help them to 'start' in a bigger trajectory sense?

 

How best to draw out the potential of individual students?

 

How do we encourage composers to develop confidence in their own work?

 

 

Teaching and Assessment; using/not using technology; preparation for career

 

Practicalities of large group tuition.

 

What are the pros and cons of asking for submissions as: scores, recordings, performances?

 

How do people help their students 'correct' and 'improve' specific areas of their compositions without imposing their own compositional/musical personality onto them?

 

Why not let the students bring their own examples for study?

 

How to evaluate/marking composition in HE

 

How do you assess composition when you are dealing with a plethora of styles and genres?

 

Should assessment of "popular" music compositions differ from that of "art" music compositions?

 

Assessment of composition in educational institutions can be based on different criteria from that of the outside world. Is this problematic?

(Adam's home-schooled student - 'If I don't like it, who will?' - sounds like Birtwistle!)

 

Assessment -

objective / subjective?

What is a good composition?

 

What makes a composition valid?

(brief, complexity, identity, evaluation...)

 

How can we simplify the assessment of composition?

For instance, are formally assessed appraisals/commentaries really necessary?

 

Formative assessment in composition is a good idea.

Are there problems, however, in view of the 'goal-oriented' concerns of students these days?

 

How do you assess process in a collaboration context? Do you assess collaboration? Where students are still relatively novice practitioners - working with others they have never met - how can collaborative activity prepare + how does it differ from/reflect a professional context?

 

How can assessment criteria be best formulated to

a) provide sufficient clarity for agreement

b) avoid the expectations that students may have of being expected to compose in particular styles?

 

How much importance should we attach to students' feedback?

Are their thoughts and feelings likely to alter as they progress in life?

 

What is the most relevant training at HE level for composers to enter the profession?

(Adam Gorb, RNCM)

 

Where do all the composition students go?

Should we also teach enterprise, business, networking, tax, etc.

 

Why aren't the conservatoires adequately repres[en]ted here?