Creative Re-Imagining: Hybrid Spaces in Music Teacher Education
Presentation
Overview
Overview
Description
Creative re-imagining of secondary instrumental classrooms offers new possibilities for music teaching and learning. In the twenty-first century, advancements in technological interfaces and the ubiquity of portable digital technology in smart phones, tablets, and computers has created opportunities for a more diverse range of individuals to create, perform, and disseminate music. Novel imaginations and innovative instrument combinations for music making are now possible in ways never before. Hybrid spaces are conceptualized as a diverse mixture of instruments (digital and acoustic) and individual musical backgrounds: a digital hip-hop artist might collaborate with a classically trained cello or violinist; a DJ, oboist, and trombone player may create original music using sampling technology. These new possibilities offer unique spaces where students merge musical ideas, experiences, and interests. Hybrid spaces offer a common ground, where informally trained musicians are encouraged to work with formally trained musicians in collaborative spaces. In these contexts, exploration, ‘playing around’ and mistake making are permitted, supported or even encouraged. The purpose of this research is to provide examples of hybrid ensembles in music teacher education coursework, explore new possibilities where hybrid ensembles de-label and de-contextualize musical genres or styles, and offer insight into the experiences and perceptions of sophomore music education students who created and covered music in hybrid ensemble settings. Data will be collected through qualitative approaches, situated through a phenomenological framework, where student experiences outline the ways their music was created and learned, illuminating the influences and blurring of musical genres or styles. Implications for the field of music education and suggestions for further research will be provided in conclusion.
