Creativity

Ok, here is the first video-blog. This is a little long. The others will be shorter.

Creativity - What is it?

CREATIVITY
What is creativity?
I see creative thinking in music as focusing on output. The output may be a composition, performance, new technique, etc.

I believe that a successful exercise in musical creativity is built upon the student’s knowledge of musical concepts. The exercise should push the limits the student’s abilities in use of these concepts providing a certain degree of unknown. If I refer to Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development the student needs be near the upper boarder of this zone. A student must be taxed, but not to the point of frustration. Likewise, if the exercise is below the student’s abilities the student will become bored and trivialize the exercise. Being on this upper end of the zone will provide the student with novel ideas and sense of discovery.


How can we measure it?
Internal evaluation is the most important aspect of measuring creativity. The creator needs to be aware of his/her own personal standards and evaluate their work with respect to these standards. The student must learn to articulate their own personal evaluation.

Students evaluating work that is situated in the upper end of the zone of proximal development will be able to do so based on novel thought and discovery as well as aesthetic value.

An external evaluation of the student’s work can be based upon a combination of the student’s own evaluation and criteria set down by the teacher. Setting down these criteria can be difficult and subjective.

Online vs. Offline?
Compare a student that is web-enabled versus a student that is not web-enabled. Is there a difference in their ability to be creative? The student that is web-enabled does have more access to novel concepts/content/ideas. The student that is not web-enable has access only to concepts/content/ideas found in their surroundings and non-internet-based media. Can this make the web-enabled student more creative? Can a person’s exposure to novel ideas make them more likely to create novel ideas?

Intrinsic Motivation to Learn

Intrinsic Motivation to Learn
According to principle number 8 – Intrinsic motivation to learn, “The learner's creativity, higher order thinking, and natural curiosity all contribute to motivation to learn. Intrinsic motivation is stimulated by tasks of optimal novelty and difficulty, relevant to personal interests, and providing for personal choice and control.” AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION. http://www.apa.org/ed/lcp2/lcp14.html

My goal here is to stimulate the students’ creativity, higher order thinking, and natural curiosity. This will be done through sample-base musical composition.

Sample-Based Music and Sonar Home Studio
Home Studio is a piece of software that allows a user to create and edit music with a near infinite amount of creative flexibility. Home Studio can be used to create what is called “sample-based” music. Sample-based music is composed of many small sound clips or samples which are combined and manipulated to produce a piece of music. For the most part, sample based musicians do not actually create the samples themselves but rather select prerecorded samples from a library. A typical library would have thousands of sound samples providing the composer with countless sonic possibilities for their compositions. Home Studio is the software used to combine and manipulate the samples into a piece of music.

Sample-based music is a very easy medium in which to compose. To compose compelling music a student does not need an intimate knowledge of music notation nor be proficient on a musical instrument. Sample based music is very visual. It allows the composer to place sounds in a piece of music much like building blocks. The texture and form of the music can be clearly seen on the computer screen as well as be heard. This is an excellent method for introducing composition to students who possess little knowledge of the elements of music.

All students enrolled in Experiencing Music 2200 are provided with Sonar Home Studio and a library of sound samples. Throughout the course the students will use Home Studio as a lab in which they can experiment with the music they are studying. Students will be encouraged to use the sample library to compose their own music as well as music related to the genres being studied. Due to the high audio quality of the samples the students’ compositions will be of the same audio quality as the music they are listening to on their radios. The students will experience a rich audio experience in even the simplest of composition.

Intrinsic Motivation to Learn
As stated above, sample-based music is a very easy medium in which to compose. This will give the students an expectation that they can “succeed.” As well, because this medium required little knowledge of the elements of music nor an ability to play music it is appropriate to the students’ current abilities. Sample-based music gives the students the tools and skills to easily create music in styles which they listen to on a daily basis. This fact makes these endeavors interesting and personally relevant to the students.

Implementation Plan
Over the next two weeks I will do the following
- Introduce the students to Sonar Home Studio and the concept of sample-based music creation.
- Design activities which will encourage them to become familiar with the functionality of the software and the ease of its use.
- Provide them with opportunities to create music which is interesting and relevant to them.
- Create an environment where creativity is celebrated and not judged.
- Create a means for the students to exchange ideas both cognitive and musical.
- Provide encouragement and assistance for the students as they create.