Written version of RIME paper (GCID) for MER, Exeter 2007
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interrelationships, or what I have in the past referred to as ‘inherent musical
meanings’ (e.g. Green 1997, 2005 or 2006).
So often in music education we shut out cultural connotations or delineations
concerning music’s wider contexts and uses, as not being a part of the ‘proper’ lesson
and not involving a direct engagement with the sonic properties of music: ‘No you
can’t skid on your knees - you need to hold the guitar properly; no you can’t cut out
paper men - you’re supposed to be playing your instruments; no you can’t dance -
you need to learn musical skills’. But by encouraging free play of the imagination for
pupils to express themselves in relation to the music’s delineations, I would suggest,
we are also opening the door into the music’s sonic properties and their relationships
as well. This may be particularly the case for pupils who have difficulty with
academic work, or who come across as disaffected in school.
Connor: ‘You’re becoming a musician I suppose’: getting to grips with music’s sonic
properties
Now I want to consider the issue from the opposite angle - that is, the sonic properties
of music and their interrelationships. In a different school, Connor was vocal on how
meaningless and generally unpleasant he had found the curriculum in the year before
the project: ‘I used to hate, dreading coming to music...’. He was described by his
Head of Music as ‘really tough’ and an example of a ‘problem kid’ from a ‘nightmare
class’. Her view of his whole group’s work was negative. She described them as the
‘strong personality group’ and the ‘cool’ group, who ‘got the least amount done’ and
had ‘nothing to show at the end’ of the lesson. She believed that Connor was largely
responsible for this, and after the second lesson he was excluded from class. But his
group-members said they couldn’t work properly without his leadership, and begged
for him to be allowed back in. This wish was granted on condition of good behaviour.
Here is a field note taken by Abigail, the project’s Research Officer in the lesson
following that:
Spent about 15 minutes with Connor’s group. They were on task the whole
time. Connor is very much leading this group. Initially they were all practicing
their riffs separately (but along to the CD so sort-of together), and there was a