3.2 How to spot musical potential: music leaders
Music leaders have many different approaches to delivering classes and sessions, ranging from standing up in front of the class and teaching/delivering to the group (Traffic Lights), right through to initiating a provocation and then assisting and observing the group as they respond to that stimulus (Roundabouts). Ideally the music leader would use a combination of these approaches (and others) over a series of sessions.
When working with groups the Traffic Light approach can be understood by a non-participant observer who might only be present for a short time with the group, or through watching film footage of that group. When the music leader asks the group a question s/he will expect a series of answers from individuals that the whole group will also hear. Likewise, when the music leader sets up a musical starting point (a call and response rhythm game/song, or an ostinato that the whole group joins in with) everyone in the room should be aware of the process and - in theory - also be able to observe the rest of the group and note their contributions and performance. To the observer the teacher/leader can be considered the traffic lights. S/he is controlling the group, asking them to start (green) and stop (red) and get ready (amber).
Roundabout leading is much less clear to a non-participant observer, or from film footage. There may be many different things going on in the room at the same time, or there may be multiple conversations and several people/groups trying musical ideas out simultaneously. It is likely that the room will appear dynamic and fluid and be filled with many individuals engaging in creative and exploratory play. However, just as when analysing road roundabouts from the air, it is very difficult to clearly describe what is going on, as individuals and small groups are making autonomous decisions.
In this study a key component was the use of video footage to analyse the sessions and we noted that when using Roundabout leading it is very difficult to observe individuals in detail even when using multiple cameras. By contrast Traffic Light leading can result in clear understanding, even with just one camera, if positioned carefully.
It should be made very clear that this is NOT an advocation of Traffic Light over Roundabout leading - far from it. They both have uses and it may well be that as a music leader your approach is primarily as a Roundabout leader. However, for this study, it became clear that when we led exercises that divided the full group into smaller groups (to create a short call-and-response song for instance) or when the session became engagingly fluid and several conversations relating to the issue emerged and were not stifled (by the Traffic Light approach) it was hard to analyse in detail what was taking place.
As we were only leading one, or at most two, sessions we discovered that the most useful clear results could be generally obtained by using the Traffic Light approach.
Outside Observation
Many music leaders do not get an opportunity to look at the groups they work with regularly, in an objective way. One of the aims of this work was that the regular music leader would observe the sessions being led by Hugh and then, at the end, take part in a discussion about the session.
Some of the observations made by the regular music leader after observing their group while not leading it were very revealing, ranging from; ‘I’ve never noticed that person before,’ to ‘I thought I usually led creative sessions until today’ and ‘I never thought my group would join in with that kind of song.’ We encouraged the regular music leaders to take advantage of this outside observation opportunity to look at their groups in a different way and to:
- think about the materials they used
- look at the individuals in their groups in a new light, and also
- think about what they are offering both internally and externally to the young people they regularly see in a musical context.