A Reflective Lens: Music Pedagogical Research to Transform Practice | Page 47

A Reflective Lens:
Music Pedagogical Research to Transform Practice

Clear statements of their learning experiences existed
within most of their reflection journals. As the members
reflected upon their ideas, they not only understood the
content, but also gained experience and developed deeper
understanding of themselves. Thus, we agreed there was
potential for developing greater awareness in their learning
processes through the use of reflective practice.
Listening Experiences
We observed that with the change of an ensemble setting
through the introduction of new guitar instrumentation, it
resulted in members examining and articulating the different
tonality and pitch produced by these new instruments:

Crisp and soothing sopranos, complimented
by the booming and mellow Guitarron meant a
bigger diversity in terms of sound. It gives more
energy to the music we play due to the different
ranges... these new parts make the piece
sound very nice and appealing to the audience
because of the range of the sound…
[Journal 03, 25 July 2014]

On another level, we also managed to make use of the
members’ reflective dialogues to further validate the above
comments. The following entry allowed us to consider that
the members were now more aware of how these different
sounds complement each other in the ensemble:

…it’s like re-energised, this whole ensemble was reborn with new sound.
Because it was just all the same instruments but now we have deeper
bass and much richer substance. So now it’s more, it’s different, it’s fun,
it’s energising to hear more sound, more lively music instead of the same
old guitar.
[Reflective Dialogue 03, 25 July 2014]
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