It was the British music education guru John Paynter in his 1970 book Sound and Silence who first popularised the notion that all children could be composers. Before this, learning music was arguably characterised by barriers: you couldn't really play or sing until you'd acquired the necessary skills, and you were even less likely to be given the chance to compose.
Paynter saw things differently. If young people had ability on an instrument or voice, great – but those who didn't could still listen, respond, make sounds of their own and contribute to group compositions. These might be texturally abstract and separate from formal music theory, but – crucially – they would encourage pupils’ individual musical personalities to emerge. We see the legacy of this in today's national curriculum, which stipulates that Key Stage 1 children should ‘experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music.’
Now, the charity Sound and Music has published new research into how composing is taught in schools (read more in this issue's news pages, or access the research in full at www.soundandmusic.org/projects/can-compose-national-music-educators-survey). Sadly, it concludes that there are ‘serious structural deficiencies in how young people are taught to compose their own music,’ observing that children start out equally confident in composing and performing but ‘over time their confidence swings increasingly towards performing.’ This is partly because ‘many educators lack sufficient support and training in how to teach composing.’
MT readers may well identify with the sentiment that teaching composition can be a challenge. Nevertheless, we need to rise to that challenge. Many students have an urge to compose, especially in genres where performers typically write their own material. And for those who aspire to careers in creating music, we owe it to them to support this. That's why Sound and Music's research is a timely reminder of the role and importance of composing in music education.
