Teaching Composition: strategies and possible pitfalls

I have been teaching composition for about 30 years and still find it both challenging and frustrating at times. When I was studying music as an undergraduate, teaching composition was often avoided and the practice discouraged. At Manchester University in the late 1970s, there was an underground composition class run by the composer Geoff Poole for composers, which was not allowed to be on the official timetable. Students weren't allowed to compose their own music as part of the course until they had learnt how to copy (usually badly) the 'masters' in harmony and counterpoint classes. Fortunately this approach is no longer prevalent, and composition is usually offered on undergraduate music courses and also at 'A' level and GCSE.
    So what should we teach when we teach composition? I get the impression that this is a problem for many music teachers - and the ubiquity of the Sibelius notation programme appears to have made this worse (composition as unthinking and 'unhearing' note input - who cares what it sounds like as long as it looks like music). So where should we start in teaching composition?
    It seems to me (on the evidence of first year Undergraduates) that the experience of composition teaching at pre-HE level is quite patchy, so it makes sense to build up some foundations first. Isolating and exploring individual musical elements such as texture, rhythm, line and harmony. It is easier to deal with these elements on their own rather than in a complex combination. One then examines these elements through analysis of suitable musical examples to see how these compositions have been put together using these fundamental features. Practical compositional exercises can then be set to allow students to explore the specific element to gain an understanding of its nature, and how to use it. For example, we would look at Varese's Ionisation for percussion ensemble to see how rhythm can be used for compositional discourse, and how the composer develops his rhythmic cells. Therefore this method of teaching composition is underpinned by the use of analysis of relevant models, and practical exercises/compositions. These student works would be played for further discussion and feedback from the whole class.
    Once these fundamentals have been examined, one can move into more complex or sophisticated areas of music through analysing specific techniques/features of contemporary music such as Farbenmusik, minimalist music and the use of systems in music. Alongside this study one would also examine more general topics such as larger scale structural models, development of material and more advanced harmony. It is important for students to be exposed to a range of good contemporary music and to see how it was put together (obviously this is often speculative). The genre of popular music, which is becoming increasingly prevalent in HE, has similar considerations although the specific elements and materials are clearly different. It is useful to use models from a range of sources, and in a range of styles.
    What cannot be taught, however, is imagination and invention - although one can encourage it when it has been recognised (rather than stamped on).We must be careful when teaching composition (and indeed other music subjects) that we allow students to make mistakes and take risks in their work. In composition (and performance) the 'safe' approach is rarely the best one. We need to recognise and nurture the sparks of imagination, and encourage students more, and criticise less. Composing is a real challenge even for experienced practitioners (I think only active composers should teach composition in HE because of this) so we should treat student composers considerately, and beware of crushing their confidence. Alongside this approach, however, we also need to teach our students to be self critical - to teach them the tools they need so they can be independent from their teachers.

A Second Visit to Oldenburg University

I was invited back to Oldenburg University's music department at the end of October 2012 for a week on the Erasmus scheme to do some further observation and teaching. The second visit was useful as you notice different things on a return, and I also went to different classes. The music department at Oldenburg is focused on training teachers, and students can either do a BA over 3 years, or the Masters over 5 years which you need to do to become a teacher. The course structure is still a little hazy for me but seems to have some compulsory modules (such as theory etc) and the rest are optional and decided by individual tutors. Students can take a module or course without being assessed in it - indeed you might have a whole class who are not being assessed. The class sizes I saw were mostly quite small - say 5-15 - but the theory one was more like 25. This time I observed a clear focus on developing aural skills, and most of the classes I saw were very practical and quite demanding. In the Solfege class you had to do the hand signs as well as sing. I also observed an excellent class focused on how to  train young singers which also including dance and movement.
     Other classes included Katzenmusik (Cat's music) taught by a professional percussionist which was excellent, covering issues of form, texture, timbre, improvisation, and aesthetics. The class I saw was using wine glasses and glass bowls to create an orchestra of glass, and creating simple scores to control the semi-improvised music. The theory class I saw was very inspiring and taught with great enthusiasm and verve. It was quite a traditional approach but the students clearly got a lot from the session. The teaching materials were very clear and logical.
    My own teaching was composition-focused, although I also talked about Ligeti and Bartok and their relationship. I tried to take quite a practical approach with my teaching and get students to try out compositional ideas in the class - I got the impression that this wasn't usually the case in composition teaching here. I also presented a colloquium on my own composition and played part of my Saxophone Quartet. I had also composed Eleven Haiku after Cage for piano specifically for the Colloquium which was well played by Roberto Reale. It was quite interesting to interact with the general public and one of the audience suggested that my music was not very good to relax to (I had to agree). This prompted a more general discussion of the nature and function of contemporary music and how to understand it. It seems to me that one can only develop an understanding of any music through deep, thoughtful and repeated listening - and having an open mind to new ideas.
    My other observations of the week are that the tutors here seem to have more freedom over what and how they teach in their modules - there appears to be less of the obsessive QA culture here (although I may have had a false impression). There is also less of the sense that tutors are aware of the overall structure of the course and how everything fits together. I also noticed that they had just appointed 3 new lecturers which suggests funding here is pretty good in comparison to the situation in the UK.