SO UN D I N G T H E T E A CH IN G
2
Exposition
EX A MI NI NG MU SI C LEA R NI NG EX P ER I ENC ES
F I N D I N G S
Portrait of Students’ Experiences
STUDENT H
An outspoken boy who worked
well in a group setting.
STUDENT G
He took drumming lessons at
a music school for a year.
He took part in the school’s
leadership programme.
He mentioned that he was
always trying something
different to get the
group excited about their
performance. For example,
by including dynamics in their
playing. He added that his
group liked to play loudly.
He found the leadership
experience very exciting,
especially when discussing
and making music decisions
as a group.
He enjoyed the experience of
leading his group in the music
composition tasks.
He took some time coaching
a member on a rhythm he
created. He was very particular
about the members playing the
rhythm correctly. He said certain
members forgot the rhythm
easily so he spent a long time
coaching them.
He found it stressful initially
leading his group as the
members did not pay much
attention to him. At times, he
had to take the instruments away
from them to get their attention
– a strategy that worked for him.
However, once he got along
better with the members, the
subsequent sessions went
much better.
He loved making music but was
not so keen to perform in front
of a large audience as he had
never done it before.
In his reflection, he said that
leaders needed to respect their
members and help them when
they are struggling with their
drumming.
He shared that leaders should
listen to all the members’
opinions before making a
decision on the rhythm that they
are composing together.
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He believed that leaders need to
listen to the ideas of members
and then improve on them, if
possible. While he preferred to
choose the rhythms, he listened
to his group members and
changed some or part of the
rhythms along the way.
Apart from the challenge of
coaching the members, he
admitted that the leadership
task was a bit stressful. He
found it a challenge keeping the
members on task all the time
and managing the noise level
during discussions.
During session four, he had a
good interaction/discussion with
a group member while working
on their rhythm.
He allowed a member to take
charge of the discussion,
give instructions and make
music decisions for the group
as they worked on their
composition.