Mel Bay's Creative Keyboard® Webzine | Misha Stefanuk - Teaching Composition

Teaching Composition

In teaching composition in the twenty-first century, the question of the subject matter is wide open to different approaches. I see the main purpose of my teaching as developing a student's artistic personality rather than giving specific instructions. In the case of contemporary music, there are many possibilities for the application of a composer's music and for employment. Most of these require an enormous level of a composer's aesthetic, artistic and technological flexibility. I myself have had to write music that ranges from completely notated symphonic scores to improvised, folk and aleatory music, and much more in between. Another important requirement for a composer today is the ability to work fast, and that requires being somewhat familiar with as many musical genres as possible. So, ideally I should teach my students how to write anything, and do it fast and efficient.

Traditionally, teaching composition is heavily based on studying theory. A composition student takes counterpoint and harmony first, then starts with harmonizing and writing polyphonic inventions and fugues. The two possible exceptions that come to mind would be Bach and Mozart, both of whom started composing far before they knew what they were doing, which makes me believe that even in the classical realm composing could happen before theory. I generally teach that way. The class is divided into listening and analyzing what the students have written, and listening and analyzing some other music, either my choice or their choice. Classical, popular and folk music are the main applications for a composer's work. So, I consider touching each one of these subjects in my teaching, so that students may be equally prepared to address either application.

I don't believe there is an inappropriate music to teach. I believe that a person's creativity should be always respected in any shape it presents itself. There is obviously age appropriateness involved in teaching children, especially with the texts of songs. But I do not consider any music to be inappropriate. I have my favorites, and I would be more passionate talking about them, but I would not discriminate against something I might not like as much.

If I have to plan only a single semester (which I rarely have to do,) I would try to incorporate different genres of American music, and also different technologies that create musical material. It is very important to teach a fundamental understanding of the different ways of making music from composing and performing to improvising, as well as random or aleatoric music. I would make a list of American music, very similar to our text book's, divide the sixteen week semester into sections on Native American, old church music, African American music, opera, American classical music, Tin Pan Alley and musical theater, jazz, rock, pop, contemporary popular music and contemporary classical music.

I consider the students' openness to different kinds of music, and their ability to participate in it a very important sign of the teacher's success.

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