Understanding Creative Musical Agency Through Composition in Secondary Instrumental Ensembles

Abstract

Creative musical activities typically include improvising and composing (Running, 2008) as well as arranging (Piazza & Talbot, 2020). Composition activities have been examined within secondary instrumental ensembles (Hopkins, 2015). The notion of creative agency has been examined philosophically (Kanellopoulos, 2015; Katz-Buonincontro, 2018) and empirically (Muhonen, 2016). However, few, if any, studies have explored creative agency within instrumental music contexts. The purpose of this study was to describe creative musical agency within the context of composition activities in secondary instrumental music settings. Research questions included (1) How do participants (teachers and students) describe the instruction of composition activities to foster creative musical agency? (2) How do participants (teachers and students) describe the social considerations of composition activities in fostering creative musical agency? (3) How do participants (teachers and students) describe the negotiation of power in relation to composition activities to foster creative musical agency? Through a multicase study design (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016), three sites were selected that included secondary instrumental music programs participating in composition activities during the spring 2022 semester. Participants included three secondary instrumental music teachers as well as three to five of their students within each instrumental ensemble. The “cases” were bound by the specific instrumental music program at each site. Data included multiple individual interviews with teacher participants, focus group interviews with student participants at each site, observations of rehearsals and lessons, artifacts (including video recordings of observations, video recordings of final performances of compositional products, and any instructional materials including books or worksheets), and field notes. Data analysis began following data collection at each site. All interviews with teacher and student participants were transcribed and coded, and codes were collapsed into themes. The themes that emerged included the pedagogy of composition activities, the role of power, and individual as well as social aspects of agency development. Findings revealed similarities among teacher participants in how they approached composition activities, including the use of improvisation as a precursor to composition (Thornton, 2013). Teacher participants also shared the intended goal of deeper musical understanding as a result of the composition activity. Each teacher participant approached the role of power differently, from being held primarily by the teacher, to being shared between teacher and students, to being fully transferred to students during the composition activities. The ways in which students flexed against the parameters and the social considerations of classroom environment and collaboration were considered in relation to creative musical agency. A framework for creative musical agency is offered, based on the framework developed by Calabrese Barton and Tan (2010) involving the assertion of identity within figured worlds. Implications for teaching practice and recommendations for future research are presented.