Creative learning and 'original' music performance

(John Rink – Cambridge)

Project overview | Project narrative | Workshops | Questionnaire | Fieldwork | Outputs

Project narrative

The two part-time Research Fellows on this project, Karen Wise and Mirjam James, started work in May 2010 and July 2010 respectively, working closely with Project Director John Rink. The initial work involved planning meetings within the project team and with key colleagues at the two partner institutions – Helena Gaunt (Guildhall School of Music & Drama) and Aaron Williamon (Royal College of Music). Karen Wise carried out a survey of relevant literature, covering such topics as theories of creativity, the teaching and learning of creativity (particularly within music education), music performance teaching, music performance and expression, and creativity and performance in other areas such as drama.

The first project workshop was held in September 2010, with twenty-nine delegates representing twelve institutions from four different countries. It was designed to open debate and dialogue among people working in diverse areas relevant to the project, including professional performers, conservatoire-based and freelance performance teachers, and researchers in music (classical and non-classical), along with colleagues from other fields who have an interest in creativity. Further details of this workshop are available here.

The two Research Fellows, with input from John Rink, designed and gained ethical approval for the first questionnaire study in Summer 2010. A pilot version of the questionnaire was distributed to members of the European Union Baroque Orchestra, after which the definitive version was launched during Induction Week at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in September 2010. Completed forms were collected from 415 music students at GSM&D, including undergraduates in all years and new postgraduates. The questionnaire investigated students' ideas about creativity and their views about the teaching and learning of musical skills and abilities relevant to creative/original performance, within the context of the many skills that might be considered important to performing musicians. See here for additional information.

At the same time, the foundations were laid for the first phase of fieldwork in the two participating institutions. Meetings were held between the project team and relevant heads of department, all of whom were enthusiastic about the project and keen to assist in recruiting teachers for observational work. It was gratifying to hear the conservatoire colleagues' views on the potential practical benefits of the project; one spoke in particular of the need for conservatoire-based teachers to think more rigorously and extensively about how an original 'voice' can be developed on the part of students about to enter highly competitive, indeed cut-throat professional performance careers, while another said that the project would allow staff to confer about what they themselves do individually and to share 'good practice' in terms of developing creative approaches on the parts of their students.

Based on these initial encounters, it was decided to use the first year of fieldwork as an exploratory phase to test different approaches, including focus groups and the observation of one-to-one lessons with video-recall interviews (for all of which ethical approval was obtained from the participating institutions). The outcomes would then serve as the basis of the second phase of fieldwork in 2011–12. The fact that the two fieldwork years are sequentially conceived in this way has practical advantages (not least in terms of establishing contacts and developing working methods at the participating institutions) along with benefits in terms of research outcomes. Further information about the first phase of fieldwork can be found here.

At the second project workshop, which was held on 21 September 2011, the results of the first year of fieldwork were presented to other members of the CMPCP team and the sixteen invited participants, most of whom were practitioners who had taken part in one or more elements of the project to date. Considerable feedback was gained on plans for the ongoing research, especially with regard to the difficult problem of studying assessment mechanisms and the judgements of creative and/or original work that underpin them whether explicitly or implicitly. The slides shown at the workshop can be seen here.