Encouraging Young Student Composers 

originally published in the journal of the Associated Manitoba Arts Festival  2008  

©  Maryanne Rumancik 

please contact the author for reprint
permission

In my experience young children are often intrigued with the idea of composing their own music.  Quite often they will come to a piano lesson with a piece that they have "composed."  These pieces are often improvisations which they have not yet written down.  At times their ideas can be more complicated than what they can notate or the ideas are not finalized.  As teachers and parents, how do we help such students with their projects?  Does one need to be a composer to help them?  Is it worth taking valuable lesson time to notate an idea for our little Mozarts?  These are all legitimate questions. 

My own approach has been to allow the student to play their improvisation for me followed by a discussion about what inspired them and how they developed their ideas. If they are able to, I ask them to try to notate their ideas with pencil and paper for the following week.  If students are not able to write down their ideas I will have them play for me while I write it down.

The following week we will go over the notation and I will suggest corrections as needed.  It is helpful to link this process to repertoire that they are studying or a score that is in my library.  While this process of notation is often a break from any rudiments or theory that the students are studying, I try to relate the composition project back to their regular work.  At this point we aren't discussing the merits of their idea or its content but trying to get their unedited thoughts on paper.

Once most of their idea has been notated, we can talk about form with the simplest being ABA.  They will be familiar with this form, even in a simple twelve measure piece, from their piano repertoire.  We can also discuss ways that they might develop a contrasting middle section based on material from the opening.  Again it is helpful to refer to repertoire that they are already familiar with,  moving from the familiar to the unknown.  If they have a title or story to go with the music then that will help to develop a contrasting middle section.  Suggestions can be given and even demonstrated at the piano but in the end I let the student make the final choice, which they are happy to do.  The closing section may be a repeat of the opening section, or it may be shortened or modified in some way. 

During the entire process it is important for the student and teacher to take turns playing what is notated and have the student critique whether or not they like things so far.  By having the teacher play the music the student can listen to determine if the score agrees with what they "hear" in their head.  Even young beginners have a good idea of what they want and this process helps to develop their inner ear.  Details such as dynamics, tempo, a title, the composers name, phrasing, articulations and copyright notice also need to be included on the score.  As a teacher I see my role as guiding their ideas, helping them to see options but not imposing my own ideas on their work.

The process is compete when the student agrees that the piece is finished and it has been performed.  Students beam with happiness and a sense of accomplishment when they have the opportunity to have their pieces publicly performed.  Parents are often surprised and pleased with what their child accomplishes.  Performance can be during a studio recital, at school, at church, a family gathering or at a more formal event.  Older students may wish to transfer the pencil score into the computer and there are a variety of programs available for this.

For me, composition is a synthesis of a variety of musical elements.  Therefore, it is worth taking time during a few lessons to work on these projects with students. It brings together notation, music history, form, analysis, score study, aural skills and performance goals, to name a few.  In a short amount of time one can expose students to a wide variety of musical topics and tie them together via their project.  Hopefully, it will also help them to understand why they need to study subjects like technique, rudiments, theory and harmony.

Many fine teachers, who do not compose, have encouraged students to write.  By giving expression to the students ideas we validate their creativity.  As teachers and performers we have spent years studying music theory, analysis, history and performed a variety of repertoire.  We therefore have some knowledge to assist these students even if we do not consider ourselves composers.  It is not easy to know if the little composer sitting in front of us will be a Mozart in the future, however, even little Wolfgang had the support of his family with his earliest compositions.