What We Learned from the Process of Recreating a Song

Last Wednesday, Teacher Candidates in the Junior/Intermediate Music class sorted themselves into groups based on friendships or interest in a particular style of music and worked for one session to recreate a song to present to the class.  They were encouraged to use their voices and any of the varied instruments available in the music room.

At the end of their performances they took a few moments to write a reflection about the process of collaborating in a group to do this task.  I usually give them a hard time about their reflections and the need to think more deeply and specifically, but after this work they had lots of worthwhile things to say.

Here are just some of their wonderful statements about their work:

• it really brought out the complexity of the music
• really made me appreciate all of the layers and textures that make up a song
• made us deconstruct songs to their skeletons and rebuild them back up one instrument at a time
• a challenging activity that requires thought and critical listening skills
• made me appreciate all that goes into creating music
• made us listen in a different way than "casually listening"
• felt like we were dissecting a frog - we dissected the song
• the song choice was definitely an important part of the activity
• when we thought we were finished, we realized we had to refine our song even more
• then I heard 4 more notes in the glockenspiel section that we decided to incorporate
• having one individual keeping the beat was important
• the song grew and changed as we spent more time rehearsing
• my respect for songwriters and all performers has greatly increased
• each performance was so unique
• helped me to face performance anxiety
• showed us how creative we all are
• working collaboratively was a complex task
• working collaboratively takes patience
• in the end you can really be proud
• an amazing experience 
• fun yet frustrating
• creative differences make for a creative masterpiece

Here's a link to our sharing wall to see our group work:

http://padlet.com/wall/yec2zmjz7