Engaging With Adolescent Musicians: Lessons In Song Writing, Cooperation And The Power of Original Music

Abstract

This article reports a research project that explored the links between original music making, cooperative learning and sociomusical relationships. Our focus in this article is the cooperative learning strategies that emerged from the study and attendant issues such as power sharing, relationships, identity construction and cooperative musical processes. In particular we highlight the role that positive interdependence, the development of a sub cultural identity and original music making have in the formation of a personal musical aesthetic. The participants were twenty-one students from Year Eight to Year Twelve from a rural government secondary college who formed a self-titled group called Jungle Express. This group of 13 to 18 year-olds composed and performed their own fusion of contemporary and popular styles, producing a particular, context driven and immediate sound. The students identified closely with each other in a musical and social sense, as well as with the three staff members who were associated with the group. Through written narratives, interviews and rehearsal recordings the students explored their notions of cooperative learning, power sharing, relationships, identity construction and song writing. Jungle Express provided insight into the possibilities of cooperative music making which honours the experiences of the individual while contributing to the development of a long-term identity. The musical product whilst reflective of both the group membership and the environment, was ultimately concerned with the meaning-making journey of the individual. The findings of this study provide a reflection point on current practice in secondary music classrooms and performing ensembles.