A Reflective Lens: Music Pedagogical Research to Transform Practice | Page 29

A Reflective Lens:
Music Pedagogical Research to Transform Practice

Justifying Musical Decisions
In Lesson Three when students performed their first
composition activity, I questioned my students’ musical
decisions from “why this percussion instrument” to “why
this rhythm pattern”, then posing some reflection questions
so that they were able to learn by reflecting and therefore,
improve their performance.
Group 1’s performance was neatly conducted by Student
B, but I realised that it was quite short with everyone
starting and ending in unison after just a few bars of music.
So I posed the group a question, “What do you think you
can do for the introduction?” To my surprise, Student A
replied, “Bordun play first.” However, I did not want to stop
there but probed further by asking, “Why do you think the
bordun should start first?” She then replied, “So that it can
control the beat first.” From her response, I gathered that
she understood the rationale behind the decision made.
I also asked the group, “What should come in after the
bordun?” and Student B replied, “percussion instrument
playing rhythmic ostinato.” They also explained that they
would improve their performance by coming in one at a
time, but Student B would still conduct by giving the signal
for each part to come in.
Notation of Group Composition
I asked my students to come up with a score of their
composition and some of them surprised me by writing
down the notation. They were only given a drawing block
to draw their score on and were required to submit it by the
end of the day. Some groups wrote simple stick notations
and some went further to write in staff notation. This showed
their musical understanding throughout the five lessons.

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