Göran Folkestad

Formal and informal learning situations or practices vs formal and informal ways of learning

During the last decade there has been an awakening interest in considering not only formalised learning situations within institutional settings, but also all the various forms of informal musical learning practices outside schools. Informal musical learning outside institutional settings has been shown to contribute to important knowledge and aspects of music education. In this article, I will examine research studies which in different ways focus on formal and informal learning situations and practices or formal and informal ways of learning. I will consider the relationship between music education as praxis (music pedagogy) and as research, and the relationship between these two facets of music education and the surrounding society. I will identify four different ways of using and defining formal and informal learning, respectively, either explicitly or implicitly, each one focusing on different aspects of learning: (i) the situation, (ii) learning style, (iii) ownership, and (iv) intentionality. Formal – informal should not be regarded as a dichotomy, but rather as the two poles of a continuum; in most learning situations, both these aspects of learning are in various degrees present and interacting. Music education researchers, in order to contribute to the attainment of a multiplicity of learning styles and a cultural diversity in music education, need to focus not only on the formal and informal musical learning in Western societies and cultures, but also to include the full global range of musical learning in popular, world and indigenous music in their studies.

Compositional Strategies in Computer-Based Music-Making

Recent technological developments and the increasing impact of the media mean that listening to music and creative music making constitutes a major and integrated part of many young peoples lives. The aim of the present article is to describe the process of computer-based composition, and how this is perceived by young composers. This paper describes a three-year empirical study of 129 computer-based compositions by 15 to 16-year-olds. Computer MIDI-fti.es were system- atically collected covering the sequence of the creation processes step by step; interviews were carried out with each of the participants; and observations were made of their work. All the participants succeeded in creating music, and in the subsequent analysis, six qualitatively different ways of creating music were identified which could be divided into two main categories: HORIZONTAL and VERTICAL. These categories, devised by the authors in this context, refer to compositional strategies, not to structures in the music itself. In the horizontal categories composition and arranging are separate processes, whereas in the vertical categories composition and arranging are one integrated process.

Here, there and everywhere - music education research in a globalised world

Most research in music education has so far dealt with music training in institutional settings, such as schools, and is accordingly based, either implicitly or explicitly, on the assumption that musical learning results from a sequenced, methodical exposure to music teaching within a formal setting. However, in order to realise and understand the multidimensional character of music teaching, musical learning should be considered in a much broader and wider context. During the last decade there has been an awakening interest in considering not only the formalised learning situations within institutional settings, but also all various forms of learning that goes on in informal musical learning practices outside schools. The study of informal musical learning outside institutional settings has actually proved to contribute to important knowledge and aspects of music education. The aim of this presentation is twofold: (i) to give a ‘view from the bridge’ about current and potential directions in music education research and practice, and (ii) to illuminate this issue by presenting some current and recent work. I will do this by focusing on two main themes: (i) different aspects of formal and informal learning situations or practices, and formal and informal ways of learning, respectively and (ii) the developing of research methods exemplified by the main results of a meta analysis of qualitative studies on music creativity and composition. By way of introduction, I will start by presenting the definition of the field of research in music education from which I operate. This also involves a view of the relationship between music education as a field of praxis (music pedagogy) and as a field of research, and the relationship between these two facets of music education and the surrounding society.

Children's practice of computer-based composition

Todays children live in a world where music in all its different forms has become a significant factor in their everyday life. This article describes a 2-year empirical study of nine 8-year-old Swedish children creating music with synthesiser and computer software. The aim of the study is to describe and clarify the creative processes of computer-based composition. The tasks given to the children were framed as invitations to create music to different pictures. Computer MIDI-files were systematically collected covering the sequence of the composition processes step by step: observations were made of their work; and interviews were carried out with each of the participants. In the analysis, five variations of the practise of composing were identified, each with a different object in the foreground of the activity: (i) the synthesiser and computer; (ii) personal fantasies and emotions; (iii) the playing of the instrument; (iv) the music itself; and (v) the task. The findings of the present study also give evidence that young children are able to create music with form and structure.

Young People's Music in the Digital Age: A study of computer based creative music making

Recent technological developments and the increasing impact of the media mean that listening to music and creative music making constitute a major and integrated part of many young peoples lives. The aim of the present article is to describe the process of computer-based composition, and how this is perceived by young composers. This paper describes a three-year empirical study of 129 computer-based compositions by 15-16 year-olds. Computer MIDI-files were systematically collected covering the sequence of the composition processes step by step: interviews were carried out with each of the participants, and observations were made of their work. All the participants succeeded in composing music and in the subsequent analysis, six qualitatively different ways of creating music were identified which could be divided into two main categories, HORIZONTAL and VERTICAL. These categories, devised by the authors in this context, refer to compositional strategies, not to structures in the music itself. In the horizontal categories composition and arranging are separate processes, whereas in the vertical categories composition and arranging are one integrated process. Some of the differences between these strategies, as well as the musics character, were found to be related to gender.

Music, informal learning and the school: a new classroom pedagogy

This book reports on a research project conducted between 2002 and 2006 in the UK by Lucy Green and her team. It involved, altogether, 21 secondary schools, 32 classroom teachers and over 1500 pupils. The rationale of the project was to implement informal learning strategies into the formal teaching in music classroom contexts. The design of the project was structured in seven stages: the pupils would choose their own music, copy it by ear, and use instruments of their own choice that is, traditional music classroom instruments since no computers with compositional software and internet facilities were available (Stages 1 and 3); apply the methods of the first stage on a pre-selected piece of music (Stage 2); compose music of their own using their own methods (Stage 4); make a composition based on a ‘musical model’ (Stage 5); and apply the methods found in the earlier stages to the learning of classical music (Stages 6 and 7). However, all these stages were not carried out in all schools, and the central features of the project reside in Stage 1, which contains the core of the approach. Accordingly, the majority of the presentation of the results and the discussions are devoted to that first stage. Initially, Green presents five characteristics of informal musical learning identified in her previous book, How Popular Musicians Learn (2001), which thereafter run all through the book, and on which the methodology of the project is based: (i) ‘informal learning always starts with music which the learners choose for themselves’; (ii) ‘the main method of skill-acquisition . . .involves copying recordings by ear’; (iii) ‘informal learning takes place alone or alongside friends, through self-directed learning, peer-directed learning and group learning’; (iv) ‘skills and knowledge . . .tend to be assimilated in haphazard, idiosyncratic and holistic ways, starting with ‘‘whole’’, ‘‘real-world’’ pieces of music’; (v) ‘informal approaches usually involve a deep integration of listening, performing, improvising and composing throughout the learning process’ (10). These characteristics might still be described as the core of informal musical learning, even though the descriptions derive from research on popular musicians who learned to play their instruments 10 30 years ago, and who worked in what nowadays might be described as ‘traditional’ ways compared with many of today’s young musicians who learn to play and compose by means of computers and music technology. So maybe the second characteristic needs some revision as it might be argued that among today’s young musicians the main method of learning is not only copying recordings by ear, but also that features of the Web 2.0 technology, tabs found on internet websites, performances on, for example, YouTube, and instruction videos are gradually becoming just as common and important when learning how to play. However, it goes without saying that the most significant difference between in and outof-school situations is as present in this project as in all school activities: deciding not to Music Education Research Vol. 10, No. 4, December 2008, 499 503