Stjepan Hauser and Luka Sulic Turn Michael Jackson’s ‘Smooth Criminal’ Into A Classical Battle - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/25/post_632_n_8

Summary/Review:

The video opens with up-close shots of the cellos that fade in and out. Soon we are thrown into a story of images set in a bar: a woman exhaling the smoke of a cigarette, drinking a glass of wine, and laughing. We see a man in obvious discomfort, with his head down and running his fingers through his hair. As a wine glass falls off the table, the man gets up and runs towards the woman, who is sitting with another man. We see the brief beginnings of a fight as the two men meet and start pushing while the underpinnings of staccato cellos crescendo to accompany the transition into the next scene.

The scene changes to a concert hall and the physical battle becomes a musical one. The two men sit in the centre of the hall, with red chairs strewn around them in a rough circle and face off using their weapon of choice: the cello. What’s interesting is how this is supposed to be a battle, a competition, but these two musicians use similar body positions and movements, including bowing patterns. More importantly, their musical lines are dependent upon one another, making this a seamless dance between the two parties rather than the aggressive battle it is presented as.

As the camera moves from up-close shots of their faces and hands to circling them from a distance, the two performers bring the dynamic of their playing down in unison, only to further emphasize the songs chours played in harmony between the two cellos. We see this connectivity even more as the melody lines begin to overlap one another. Instead of an echo, the repetition of the line encroaches on the previous phrase in an aural representation of the decreasing physical space between the fighters.

The players become more aggressive with the hairs from their bows flying around and their heads bent over the cellos, but the one performer pauses to spin his cello around before continuing, suggesting an element of dance and theatrics. Finally the chorus is repeated in a higher octave, with more intensity, and ends with the performers releasing the tension from the phrase.

The video returns to the bar scene where the performers are physically fighting. Only now the music underscoring their fighting is subdued: an anti-climactic pizzicato, as if the musical performance representing the fight was more interesting then the real fight. When the main theme returns, the performers are back in the hall with one playing the melody and the other a descant over top. The video finally ends at the bar where the woman intervenes and the fights ceases. The woman leaves the bar on her own, not interested in either men due to their behaviour.

Reflection:

So what implications does this type of video have for us as music educators? I think it takes out the idea of “genre” in music; that classical instruments can play non-traditional or pop tunes. Students may see what they do in music class and not make the connection to the music they experience in their own lives. Music that blurs the line of distinction can help educators create meaningful lessons that encourage students to see the value of music appreciation outside of the classroom.

I also think it shows how music can be more than a passive concept of “notes on a page”. Here music, along with pictures, tells a story, and that story can be understood without the limitations of language. This video can open up a whole idea of concepts for music as well as cross-curricular subjects like Media Literacy and Character Education. There are many relationships in this video, between the performers, the woman, and the music itself. It would be interesting to see how students observe, interpret, and connect to these relationships. I think anything we can do as educators to facilitate those connections for our students helps to create enriching, meaningful experiences in our music classrooms.

Music therapy in context: music, meaning and relationship (A Summary)

Summary:
In the text written by Mercédès Pavlicevic, Music Therapy in context: music, meaning and relationship- Chapter 3, Music Therapy and Universals: Between Culture and Compromise, the author explores the meaning of music therapy as a universal and as a cultural specific phenomenon in an attempt to address a basic premise in support of music therapy: “that humans are susceptible to the power of music since it exists in all human beings” (Pavlicevic, 1997). Within this chapter, Pavlicevic explores the application of cultural music in music therapy practice and music therapy in cross-cultural contexts, as well as examining music universals from the perspective of music therapy.

The concept of the ‘universality’ of music is described as music which has existed in all human cultures and continues to do so, whether the cultures are remote, rural, or tribal or whether they are urban or industrial. Pavlicevic states that music is also universal because it exists in all cultures and that all “world” music has traits which transcend culture specificity because they all have a beat, a melody, and most use instruments which are either plucked, beaten, strummed, “blowed” or bowed.

Pavlicevic first conceptualizes the discipline of music therapy within the cultural concepts of music/illness/health/healing, and the theoretical discourse of ethnomusicology and social psychology, in order to create a clear understanding of how the concept of music universals relate to music therapists. As a music therapist who is interested in the research and application of the concept of the ‘cultural arts’ in practice, I feel that it is important to approach music therapy from a holistic cultural perspective when working with clients; what might be relevant to your understanding of healing and culture as a therapist, might have another representation to the given population in which you are servicing. For example, she defines cultures today as the following: 1) stable cultures which refer to social class, people who have lived in a particular area for generations, or those who subscribe to a particular religious ritual and 2) temporary cultures, such as migrant workers, people who support a political cause during one time or another in their lives or music therapists who are enthusiastic about research or burnt-out. She says that each of these cultures and sub-cultures are specific, which may be identified by the manner of dressing, or a particular style of music.

For music therapists who use improvisation as part of their practice, Pavlicevic suggests that they familiarise themselves with the music of different cultures. She says this is not as to distinguish between clients who are from different cultures but to rather become more familiar, as music therapists, with the different musical energies that diverse “world” musics possess. The energy is culture-specific in that it may be portrayed by particular musical styles and idioms. Also, the therapist, in an improvisation session, might choose to introduce certain music in order to elicit or trigger a quality that she senses is concealed in the client’s playing.

The application of other musical idioms is also suggested to music therapists, instead of being confined to the western-style norm. In Nordoff and Robins (1971) publication, Pavlicevic references how they express the existence of inherent therapeutic qualities which are generated by the distinctive emotional-melodic characteristics of different “world” musics, such as Latin American, Arabian or Slavonic. They approach this from the concept of archetypes in music which enables us to tap into music that transcends our own culture and geography, because of the natural qualities of these genres.

In closing, Pavlicevic (1997) says that the critical feature of improvisation is not to perfect the use of the introduced “cultural” genre (such as Latin American music) but to rather explore its musical energy and quality, which will propel the client towards a broader, more complex, experience of himself; an applicable statement that should be noted by music therapists who utilize cultural arts in their practice.

Welcome to 2011

Welcome to the Social Psychology of Music Blog for 2011. Contributors to this blog are graduate students at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Music. The blog is moderated by Prof. Lee Bartel.

Musical Creativity: A Teacher Training Perspective

Article Review: “Musical Creativity: A Teacher Training Perspective”
Reference: Cohen, Veronika (2002). Musical Creativity: A Teacher Training Perspective. Creativity and Music Education,Willingham and Sullivan (Editors) Toronto: CMEA Books 218-237.
Summary:
This article is a reflective summary of a course for music students to teach musical creativity. After covering the theoretical groundwork of teaching musical creativity, this course proceeds to explore the pedagogic skills necessary in such setting by pairing the students up in peer teaching and student teaching.
While watching the students in peer and student teaching sessions, the author’s observation focused on the various roles teachers play in their students’ creative process. Creative process awakens and engages a student’s sense of self. It is a delicate proceeding in which teachers have the ability to either inhibit or encourage their students with the slightest gesture or most casual comment.
At the meantime, creative process is not task-oriented, nor is it about efficiency and productivity. Instead, it is based on exposure, exploration, and absorption, which becomes noticeable only in the course of time. Once again, a teacher plays a crucial role in such process and the ability to listen, observe, and act accordingly is indispensable.
Reflections:
Classroom is the starting point of a teacher’s learning process – the more teaching situations I encounter, the more I believe in this thought. Both sides – student and teacher – enter a learning situation with its own personality and background, but the teacher has a guiding hand in identifying the social/psychological aspect of the relationship to shape the pedagogic content of such encounters. While we teachers focus on our teaching materials and tools, we sometimes have little time to contemplate the actual consequences of our teaching. What do we teach, really? What are our students learning from our weekly music lessons? Do musical skills and contents take precedence over personality development? Is there an age limit for personality development, meaning that adult students will be less sensitive to signs of discouragement from teachers? (from my limited experience, adult students are actually more sensitive and personality development is a lifelong process if one wishes and works for it)
Besides exploring the musical world with our students, not getting in their way of learning becomes an increasingly significant task. In essence, we provide an environment of initiation, give guidance and support when appropriate, and take a step back to allow room for our students to grow, as well as for us to observe.

Finding the Music 'Within': An Instructional Model for Composing with Children

Article Review: “Finding the Music ‘Within’: An Instructional Model for Composing with Children”
Reference: Morin, Francine (2002). Finding the Music ‘Within’: An Instructional Model for Composing with Children. Creativity and Music Education, Willingham & Sullivan (Editors) CMEA Books 152-178.
Summary:
Concerned with most music teachers’ lack of knowledge and experience in teaching creative composition at public school classrooms, the author endeavours to bridge the gap by providing a theoretical framework of the creative process, a general guideline for preparing lesson plans, and a sample lesson plan outlining the content, skill, structure, performance, and evaluation of such pedagogic project.
Reflections:
Since parallels between music and language learning have been observed by educators and pedagogues alike, this instructional model for creative composition is based on the innate ability of music to communicate. While students receive information about the structural components – rhythm, harmony, and structure – of music in their education, it only makes sense if they use these components for constructing and communicating personal expressions. When we learn a language, we not only learn to read, remember, and understand, but we also use the language to speak and express our feelings.
As the author points out the importance of establishing a safe classroom environment for experimenting, risk-taking, and making mistakes in creative composition, refraining from imposing teacher’s aesthetic value on the students is a demanding, but significant task. Is it possible to imagine a babbling toddler receiving “language lessons” with strict supervision over the content and pronunciation? How long will its enthusiasm for sound experiments last? When the need to conform to someone else’s value overrides the pleasure of playing and exploring, the goal and essence of creativity is lost.
I remember how I felt when I started learning a second language as a teenager in a foreign country. The fear of making mistakes was overwhelming. When I had the impression of not making myself understandable, I felt mortified and became reluctant to speak. Is it not similar to the inhibition a classically trained musician feels when asked to improvise? The high ideals of performance, combined with lack of exposure, often bring forth silent panic.
As I am learning to improvise and compose with my students, this aspect of music creativity reminds me of what we want to do with music education. Are teachers the guarantors of musical productivity – regular daily practice, performances, and a checklist of books each student has to finish by the end of every year – or human beings who are able to listen, observe, and guide the students’ development in their musical vocabulary? The desire to speak increases with the knowledge that someone will listen. Shall we give ourselves and our students the chance to be their creative selves? We can start with listening.

Mozart's Women: his family, his friends, his music

Book Review: Mozart’s Women - his family, his friends, his music
Author: Jane Glover. New York: Harper Perennial, 2007.
Summary:
As its title reveals, this book provides a social, psychological, and musical account of the families and friends of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Divided into four sections, Mozart’s Women describes Mozart’s birth family, his own family and in-law’s, the interwoven connection between his personal and musical lives, and what happened to these people after Mozart’s death.
As soon as the extraordinary talents of their two children, Nannerl and Wolfgang, manifested themselves, Leopold and Maria Anna Mozart traveled all over Europe to parade these children’s abilities, establish influential connections, and seek opportunities to elevate their family’s social status.
As Mozart stepped into adulthood, his music continued to play a central part in his emotional, social, and creative lives. His encounters with other musicians not only brought artistic inspiration to his compositions, but also provided him with a supportive social network to help him obtain independence from his domineering father and build his own family.
Throughout his life, Mozart’s personal and musical sides interacted without interruption. His emotional relationships stimulated his compositions and his creative outputs altered the lives of those around him. His sister, sisters-in-law, and friends were dedicatees, performers, and champions of Mozart’s music and left their marks in history as such.
Reflections:
Instead of focusing on the creative genius of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, this book reconstructs the lives of Mozart’s families and friends and invites us readers to take a journey back in time. Rather than describing the man and his artistic triumph, this narrative gives us an idea of how Mozart came to be what he was and more importantly, the impact of his existence on his immediate families and friends.
Originally, my impression of Mozart the man was someone who expired from overwork and exhaustion. After reading this book, the issue of whether talent is a blessing or a curse – for the man of talent and his family – surfaced again. Is talent an individual AND family investment? Where is the boundary between balance and excess and who is to set it? How can siblings handle the phenomenon of genius in the same family? Parents like Leopold Mozart have been and will always be around. As music teachers and eventual parents, we are responsible for choosing the part we want – or not want – to play in such situations.
For me, this book brought up another issue: creativity despite obstacles, against the odds, and as a personality trait. Since it implies resourcefulness, the ability to solve problems, stepping outside the box, and coming up with the unthought-of, it can be applied to all fields of our life. We can be creative not only in composing music, but also teaching, playing, and listening to music. More than by category, label, and format, this attribute can also be identified by its impact on the quality of our daily life.

Musical Communication

Musical Communication

Miell, MacDonald, Hargreaves

The article ‘How do people communicate using music?’ by Hargreaves, MacDonald and Miell, provided me with the opportunity to examine the different musical experiences and concerts I have participated in, and the messages I have received . Furthermore, it also allowed me to explore exactly what aspect of the event; the musical material, the performers or the composer acted as the vehicle to deliver the musical meaning intended.

Musical meaning is an enormous area of study, and again, of particular interest to me in my independent research. Hargreaves, MacDonald and Miell state “Music is a fundamental channel of communication: it provides a means by which people can share emotions, intentions, and meaning. Music can exert powerful physical and behavioural effects, can produce deep and profound emotions within us, and can be used to generate infinitely subtle variations of expressiveness by skilled composers and performers, such that highly complex informational structures and contents can be communicated extremely rapidly between people.” (Hargreaves et. al., 1) I have been exploring the ways in which music can act as not only the platform, but the vehicle for social change, through the identity created by a unifying element like music, and through the powerful communication that music provides. The incredible might of music as a powerful political force has been seen in movements such as the Civil Rights Movement, the movement in Estonia fighting against the Soviet occupation become known as the Singing Revolution. It is also seen in the Music of Resistance-a new six part documentary series which depicts stories of musician fighting repression. It is an incredible set of stories from people fighting for justice and for freedom in all areas of the world and “they are all talented but for them ‘making it’ is not about diamonds and sports cars-it is about radical political change.” One of the most incredible stories tells the story of a nomadic tribe in the southern Sahara; “Once a group of rebel soldiers, training alongside Colonel Gadaffi in Libya, after years of struggle and violence Tinariwen decided to lay down their guns and fight with a different weapon- music.” I find the notion of using music as a weapon absolutely incredible. I find this movement similar to the movement in Estonia in which the Estonian nationals fought for their freedom and their independence through the medium of song alone, with no weapons. It is incredible to think of the communication that occurs through the music alone. In Estonia for instance, the music performed were Estonian national songs. Even as an outsider, listening to the incredible effect of an entire nation singing the powerful nationalistic patriotic songs I was moved tremendously. I did not understand the language, and I was not a part of the struggle. I was not personally invested in the movement, but by the time I heard the singing of 20,000 people, the message reached me, and I was deeply affected. That was one of the first times that I pondered the notion of musical communication through the medium itself. Of course, the effect was felt due to the various factors at play. When I became aware of the movement, it was through the documentary entitled ‘The Singing Revolution’ in which, naturally, the Estonian side is presented, and the material is presented in a very emotional way. However, I really feel that even if I had seen only the singing, I would have been touched, and the message would have been conveyed. I feel that one of the most powerful genres of music is nationalistic, patriotic music. It is composed in a way to evoke emotion, and instill a feeling of unity and pride in all its listeners. Music, especially in terms of nationalism and freedom, under the right circumstances offers the medium for political, social and emotional communication.

http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/general/2009/02/20092213401464360.html