A Reflective Lens: Music Pedagogical Research to Transform Practice | Page 127

A Reflective Lens:
Music Pedagogical Research to Transform Practice

Phases

Behaviour of Serene and Joy

Term 3

Serene usually hummed the song and would manage to play a few bars of the
song. She would then practise a few times before playing it together with Joy.
On the other hand, Joy would try to make sense of the song by hitting a few
notes on the keyboard to get the tu ne she had in her head. She got it after
a few tries and then combined her playing with Serene. This was the usual
process for both in learning their songs.
The song choice took a toll on their friendship on 7 August 2014, where Joy
was visibly upset when Serene continued to play her songs instead of the
song that they were supposed to present for Teachers’ Day. It was a day of
tension between the two girls.
Even a week before their performance, the two girls were still undecided on
the song they were to play. Serene was very concerned when they had to
perform in front of their class. She was urging Joy to play properly.

Performance
Day

The two girls were ready to present their song. When they did their dry run
before the performance, I was pleasantly surprised that they wanted to play a
song that most of their friends did not know. I also discovered that they did
not learn it from a YouTube video. Serene played the bass and Joy handled
the melody. Although there were some breaks in between the song, they
completed it with encouragement from their classmates.

Additionally, I interviewed the girls and recorded their
responses to the questions, which are summarised here:
i. What was your main criterion when you formed your
friendship group?
The girls did not know each other before entering the
school. They admitted that they were seated near each
other in the classroom when they were informed about
the music activity. It was mere coincidence that led
them to form their friendship group.

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