Musical Creativity: Measures and Learning

Herein, we examine the development and measurement of musical creativity. Musical creativity has been valued in what students bring with them and develops as students’ mature, and yet to an educator this development mode remains tacit and phenomological. Past studies of creative musical behaviors encompassed spontaneous behaviors, composition, and improvisation. Musical creativity resides in Children’s early songs which show a sense of ownership with creative experiences, inventive notation, and composition. However, developing musical creativity measurements have lead researchers to examine the relationship between musical creativity and various individual difference variables such as general creativity, music aptitude, and academic achievement. The result has been limited success as the construct of musical creativity remains ill-defined and tenuous. Musical Creativity: Measures and Learning 106 Musical creativity research has been tethered to research focused upon general creativity by the very nature of musical creativity measurement which has been largely dependent upon theories of general creativity. Although studies of musical creativity have evolved significantly since their beginning in the 1970’s, it is thought that more dedicated research and elaboration is still necessary (Hounchell, 1985; Kratus, 1995; Webster, 2003). Even though the word creativity has been used in many different contexts, several writers have suggested that musical creativity needs to be more accurately described. For instance, Hounchell (1985) examined how the term creativity was used in the Music Educators Journal from 1914 to 1970 and reported that it was challenging to find agreement regarding its definition; in fact, Hounchell noted how “the term tends to be used in a casual, unnecessary, and sometimes gratuitous manner. The word creativity is used as an authoritative term to encourage the acceptance of ideas regarding music education” (p. vi). Additionally, Swanwick (1985) discovered that ‘creative’ activities were usually “regarded as art activities or as activities that focus on imagination and compositions that children make by themselves” (p.12). More recently Regelski (2000) suggested creativity is valued for what students bring with them and develops students’ ‘general musicianship [techne, theoria] ... mentally and physically’ (p. 81). In sum creativity remains difficult to define causing some to suggest it is really “imagination successfully manifested in any valued pursuit” (Odena & Welch, 2009, p. 417). Theories of Musical Creativity Vaughan (1973) recommended a developmental sequence of musical creativity. The first stage was acquisitional, in which students acquired images and materials to think with, such as rhythm, melody, and notation. This level might be described as procreative. The second stage is combinational, in which children try to use the basic materials from the acquisitional stage in different contexts. At this stage, divergent thinking emerges within children. The third stage is the developmental level, and it is here Vaughan distinguishes between productivity and creativity. According to Vaughan, “the creative development means not merely increasing productivity but increasing insight, and intuitive feel for the significance of certain relationships and for the expressive possibilities inherent in certain ways of displaying ideas” (p.36). The last level refers to evaluation and is called the Ryan & Kimberley 107 synergistic level. In this stage, the creative product functions within the context of the requirements of society. Webster (2003) provided a comprehensive conceptual model of creative thinking in music. Figure 1.1 illustrates Webster’s model of creative thinking in music. Early versions of the creative thinking model were influenced by Wallas (1926), Guilford (1967), and Gordon (1979). Composition, performance/improvisation, and listening analysis were considered the Product Intentions and the final Creative Products at the top and bottom of the model. In the center of the model is the Thinking Process, which included divergent and convergent thinking (Guilford). The Wallas stages reused connected Divergent and Convergent thinking. Enabling skills and conditions facilitated the Thinking Process. Enabling Skills consist of aptitudes, conceptual understanding, craftsmanship, and aesthetic sensitivity. Enabling Conditions included motivation, subconscious imagery, environment, and personality. When creators start thinking in music, they typically have some intention related to composition, performance/improvisation, or analysis (Product Intention). With the intention established, the creator uses needed skills, which are influenced by conditions, as the thinking process takes place (Enabling Skills and Condition). The creator goes through various stages at the center of the model derived from the Wallas stages, moving between Divergent and Convergent Thinking, and finally reaches the final product (Webster, 1990). Stating that the model has not been empirically verified, Webster (1987a) suggested three types of research needed to validate the model: (a) further development of measures of musical creativity, (b) use of ethnographic techniques, and (c) use of technology as a tool for music creation and measurement. Creative Musical Behaviors Studies of creative musical behaviors encompass spontaneous behaviors, composition, and improvisation. Children in early childhood discover various ways to produce and manipulate sounds. These behaviors indicate one of the earliest stages of creative thinking with music according to (Hickey & Webster, 2001; Moore, 1990). In the past Moorhead and Pond (1978) who observed and documented children’s self-initiated music play in a nursery setting, profiled three children who enrolled in the Pillsbury Foundation School. They observed Carl, who was three Musical Creativity: Measures and Learning 108 years and eight months old, for four months; Roy who was 4 years and two months old for three months; and Jay, who was four years and seven months old for 6 months. The musical instruments used at the Pillsbury Foundation School were chosen for simplicity, variety, intrinsic worth, and adaptability for the children, including world music instruments such as drums, gongs, cymbals, flat bronze bells, and sarongs. Other instruments included piano, toy piano, marimba, guitar, ukulele, violin, maracas, and sand blocks. The researchers reported deep, broad and thick descriptive observations of the children, including the natural and intuitive behaviors the three children demonstrated. The three children explored instruments differently and later produced music different from the music of other children. However, each child was interested in the others’ playing. Their continued interest and deep satisfaction in making music became a kind of communication in their group. Their experimentation gradually became more purposive and controlled and produced music with simple pattern and form. The children showed abilities to express their ideas and feelings in spontaneous music making. The researchers emphasized that instrumental music making could be an integral part of a music program, because the interaction with instruments encourages natural vocal expressions and rhythmic movement (Moorhead & Pond, 1978). Influenced by the methodological model of the Pillsbury studies, Cohen (1980) also conducted long-term observations on kindergarten children’s selfinitiated music making using instruments. She chose two children for two case studies (one child played mongo drum, the other plated piano). From these two case studies, she categorized three phases of music making: exploration; practice, or effect towards mastery; and production of musical gestures. Cohen argued that kinesthetic gestures are the fundamental factor of young children’s music making on instruments. Young (2003) investigated preschoolers’ spontaneous musical interaction with percussion instruments. The subjects were 95 children from three nurseries. The xylophone was selected as the focus instrument of this study. The children’s activity in the music area was recorded on videotape, and the video data were reviewed and transcribed. Based on an analysis of the observational data, Young found three structural characteristics of children’s music making. Children usually extend their ideas by repeating, clustering, and chaining. A steady striking on bars of the xylophone with both hands was observed frequently. This repetitive playing continued for a while and could often be found among children who played alone. Clustering indicates a single action that was repeated in a musical grouping. Young Ryan & Kimberley 109 commented that it was difficult to recognize clustering in children’s musical performance, however, some children showed a characteristic number of repetitions as the evidence of clustering. For example, a few children presented groups of 6 or 7 notes, such as pitches that seemed to come from the melody “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” The last feature that children showed was chaining. After making different kinds of clustering, children started to group a few clusters into longer chains. Young claimed these three strategies were similar to the manner in which adult musicians compose music. Other researchers have investigated spontaneous vocalizations as a specific kind of creative musical behavior that occurs among other spontaneous behaviors in the free play of children (Moog, 1976; Mang, 2005). In an analysis of the singing of 2to 4-year-old children, Moog (1976) categorized three spontaneous song forms: imaginative, narrative, and potpourri songs. Imaginative songs were not related to a known song, and were performed by humming or singing a syllable. Narrative songs had characteristics of stories, a series of nonsense words, or resembled learned songs, but were not intended for an audience of specific listeners. Potpourri songs included learned songs, words, melodies, and original improvisations. Suggesting that observations of a young child’s early songs can help understanding of early childhood musical creativity encoded in vocal behaviors, Mang (2005) investigated early songs of 6 children between the ages of 2 and 4 in a longitudinal study. Each subject was visited every 4 to 6 months over 42 months to record vocal development, including singing favourite songs and child-adult interactions. Three judges’ analyzed subjects’ singing responses, resulting in three categories: learned song, performance, self-generated songs, or other novel forms of vocalization. The children at age level 2-3 demonstrated primarily self-generated song that appeared to stem from fragments of learned songs of combine fragments of learned songs and improvised songs. They usually began singing a learned song with a single syllable or nonsense words. When they forgot the words of a learned song, they typically failed to recall the melody. The diatonic melody and metric rhythm appeared more typically of the learned songs than self-generated songs. At age level 3-4, there was a remarkable increase in the number of learned sings. The children at age level 3-4 showed correct melodic and rhythmic pattern performance. Although a sense of tonality appeared at the beginning of a song, the children often moved through several modulations within a song. However, they seemed to be influenced by the words of song; when only the words were forgotten, the entire song was often Musical Creativity: Measures and Learning 110 forgotten. The self-generated songs at age level 3-4 consisted of integrated narration, adaptation of learned song, improvised movements, playing musical instruments, or features of singing games. Based on the observations of children’s vocalization, Mang (2005) confirmed that words of songs and a sense of tonality are the greatest challenge to young children and that young children use learned songs as referents for creating selfgenerated songs, supporting the hypothesis that interaction with the environment may abstract or distort novel sensory input into existing categories. Therefore the children’s early songs show a sense of ownership with creative experiences.