Dr. Wright Guest Response

ACTIVITY:

• we broke off into groups of 4 to 6 and created covers of various songs (of our choice) using an instrument that was not our main instrument
• had 40ish minutes to practice and compose these covers before performing them to the clas
• ideas was that it builds on students’ musical interests outside of school

CONCEPT: Musical Features

• a music program that engages all students
• provides a relevance connection between experiences in and outside of school
• students are empowered by having control over the direction of their own learning
• students learn about music by exploring it and becoming musicians
• majority of the music is learned orally
• creates music learning experiences students can take forward into future study and their own lives
  
  

MY OPINION:
    I found the activity to be very effective. There are multiple educational aspects at play when a group is creating. Group work is always like an adventure with your team on shuffle, and everyone needs to learn how to behave respectfully in that type of situation. Understanding that everyone’s background and experiences are different was vital in this activity—as we needed a song that most/all of us knew relatively well. In a classroom, I’m very sure there would be more time for the compositional and practice time.
    It was fascinating to hear how different each groups’ piece was. Generally, some aspects were the same as the original version of the song, but many were drastically different.