JACQUELINE THOMPSON

hen my nine-year-old was a toddler we would give her a big crayon and watch as she spent hour after hour creating the most beautiful works of art our refrigerator could hold. At the same time I would listen as she composed song after song, humming and singing through the house. I know she's no different from any other child, and yet I continually wonder: How are we teaching our budding nine-year-old composers? Where is their big crayon? 

Young Mozart, while extraordinary in his musical prowess, benefited from extensive theory and harmony studies from his father beginning at a very early age. In short, he had the "tools" to sustain his musical creativity. Similarly, today's nine-year-old artists have tools as well; and while perhaps not studied in line, shape and color, these young artists paint and draw without inhibition. 

Over the years I have sat with small groups of students taking hour after hour of musical dictation: notating their hums, trying to interpret their descriptions of "how it sounds," and making feeble attempts at orchestrating their compositions. 

Recent advances in music technology have begun to make this process more efficient, yet we still have a very long way to go. As of yet we do not possess the metaphorical big crayon that would enable free-notatable musical creativity. There still are too many obstacles. For example, students who audio-tape their musical creations need to be pitch-proficient. If an instrument is used to create music, the student must have at least a minimal proficiency. Ideally, the creative process should fuel the musical skills, thus endowing students with the necessary tools.  

At an elementary school in Waterford, Michigan, we are making these creations happen.  

ur first attempt at "technological creativity" resulted from an opera written, produced and performed by approximately thirty students in our fifth grade. I asked student composers to describe, hum, and finally play (on the keyboard, if possible) original melodies set to their libretto -- while I frantically notated. Then I would spend my nights at home orchestrating their tunes -- only to have these "polished products" repeatedly revised and re-visited by our master composers. I soon decided to use a colleague's software to notate and record the overture, underscores, cross-overs and vocal accompaniments, which were eventually used for the performances.  

Our subsequent year's opera produced the first real steps toward technological composition. Using MIDI software that I had purchased for my own use, my students composed and orchestrated with greater ease, profiting from a more hands-on approach. As a result, we spent less time revising and more time experimenting with different sounds and timbres. What's more, we were able to perform all our accompaniments live with students playing some of the parts on the synthesizer.  

Later that year we took this wonderful technological asset to its full potential. As an "Integrated Thematic School," Waterford Village Elementary had been spending the year focusing on the history of our community, from its Native American origins to the present. Our Spring Performance Demonstration was designed to show the students' knowledge of Waterford's European founders who had settled in the early 1800s. I was responsible for providing the musical culmination of this thematic study. Using the opera project as a framework, teachers, parents and support staff guided students in creating a dramatic musical presentation based on pieces of our community's history. A Peek Into The Past became our first full-scale schoolwide original musical production. All students were involved in the writing of scripts, lyrics and music. Using sequencing software, students created melodies, developed accompaniments and experimented with various voicings and timbres.  

From this type of approach, students accomplished more than the production of a great show; they also gained a greater understanding of music theory -- melody, harmony and form -- through the hands-on creative process that we musicians call "composition." In short, our students gained a way to create music freely; theory study and true musical learning occurred as a byproduct.  

This year our district approved a millage increase that is intended to "launch us into the next century" using new applications of computer technology. Each classroom, including music and art, will soon have the latest in multimedia technology that, in time, will allow all students to realize and utilize their individual learning strengths.