Music Productions

Sound Reflections focuses and organises the music student by allowing them to note all the tasks and ideas that are often forgotten or lost in practical musical activities. It encourages regular and critical thinking about music activities, leading to a deeper understanding.

Reflective journal and diary combined

Included in the book is space for writing about instrumental activities, practice, homework, progress reports, and critical self-analysis. Sound Reflections is a way of keeping organised, focusing on individual learning progress, and having a dialogue with students in a private and reflective way. For classroom and band music programs there are pages designed for occasional reflection about Performing (presenting, realising and demonstrating), Creating (composing, arranging and improvisation), and Music Research (musicology assignments, analysis and sociology projects). Each of these provides space for thoughtful writing and criticism of these kinds of musical activity. These questions are meant as a guide only and serve as a checklist and method of reflective thinking that we hope will become a habit for the young critical music student.

Monitoring and assessment tool

For teachers and parents, Sound Reflections can be used to record the instrumental and/or classroom progress of the student and provide for assessment-feedback through progress reports. Students can then read back over their experiences and write a summary to which the teacher/parent may respond. Answers to the Performing, Creating, and Research reflection questions can help illuminate the students understanding of their music study; and when reviewed by a teacher, lead toward more informed feedback and assessment. This can be used as a method of assessing the critical and aesthetic development of the student and serves as valuable feedback on all of the music experiences of the student.

Assists thinking and learning

Sound Reflections is a 'notebook with an attitude' and does encourage students to collect all their musical thoughts in the one space. Sound Reflections helps students to think about the music they are making and the music they have made and to be critical and reflective of all music; it also provides a bridge between all the musical activities and people in a student's life that are so often separate and seemingly unrelated.

Aspects of music

The aspects of music (often called elements or dimensions) are outlined in a section towards the back of Sound Reflections (p.30). This section will help student to think about how music is constructed, will aid familiarisation with the aspects of music, and will provide words and concepts that aid writing about music in Sound Reflections.

Music Talk

The Music Talk section is a glossary of musical terms. It can be used to clarify the meaning of musical terms as they arise in reading or conversation. It can be browsed through to expand musical vocabulary, which increases the range and accuracy of comments made about music in Sound Reflections. Space is included for students to add their own terms and definitions.

When we first began to use Sound Reflections in our ensembles and classrooms we found that we simply did not have the time to stop our activity and talk and write about what we had done. The activity was fun and engaging and the students were motivated to be involved, and we felt that to stop and write or talk about our music was a let down and took away from the precious little time we had to make music anyway. Surprisingly, it was students that told us in interviews that the times that they gained the best understanding and meaning from music activity was when we had made the time to reflect and discuss our music making. Students also valued the skill of being able to do this as one which enabled them to respond to music in an enhanced way, and with a richer understanding and meaning. Consequently, we restructured our approach to how we used our time so that reflection was not an additional activity but an integral part of the learning environment.

In the classroom

• Reflection can be something that is done at the end of a unit of work in performing, composing, or researching-where students evaluate and reflect on each activity.
• Combine a presentation session with reflection, where students present some music made in class whilst others reflect and criticise it.
• Reflection can be set as a homework exercise, keeping a journal of activity.
• Reflection tasks can be used as an evaluation tool to examine how well a student understands musical ideas.
• Collect reflection recorder at the end of each term to get extra insight into student development and to provide feedback via the Progress Report.

In the ensemble

• Set reflection as a regular homework/practice task.
• Have a five-minute reflection/journal session at the end of each rehearsal.
• Set Performance Reports as homework after each concert.
• Encourage verbal reflection; both as an ensemble and in small groups about the music made and discuss ways in which problems might be solved.

In the instrumental studio

• Teacher and students use it to communicate and record what needs to be done for practice.
• Students record problems in the classroom or ensembles to remind them to ask their studio teachers.
• Use the book to communicate with parents or other teachers. The Lesson Notes section only requires brief notes and notation; it is a reminder 'music jotter'.
• Collect Sound Reflections from the students each term to assist in report writing and to provide feedback via the Progress Report pages.

Lesson Notes

This section can be used for you or your teacher to write comments, practice suggestions and notated instructions during your instrumental lessons or music classes. This will help you to remember what to practise between lessons, the set homework activities, and to keep a record of your progress and all the things you learn.

Progress Report

Use the Progress Report at the end of each term to think back over the progress you have made as a musician. In this report write down the music you have studied, scales and exercises you have mastered, performances you have given, compositions you have written, projects completed and exams you have undertaken. Comment on the things that have improved in your playing, and the things which require more work. You can also write down important advice your teacher has given. Give the Progress Report to your teacher to read, so they can comment and help you further.

Performing Report

Use the Performing Report whenever you observe, or participate in, a performance or presentation of music. This section will help you to listen critically to a musical presentation. Performing can encompass singing, playing an instrument, presentation of computer sequences and recordings in public, sound installations, and music as part of theatre, film or multimedia viewing. Reflecting on a presentation or performance involves judging it both as a whole and also analysing its parts.

Use the Performing Report checklist to comment quickly about your impressions during the performance, by circling the level of achievement in each listed category. After the performance complete the rest of the report. When we criticise a performance we can do it subjectively, that is how we feel about a performance, and objectively which describes the musical aspects of performance. Ideally we should reflect both subjectively, commenting on our feeling about the music, and objectively, by looking deeper and analysing why it has an 'effect' on us.

Creating Report

You should complete a Creating Report after each creative task. Creative tasks can include writing songs, arranging music, making soundscapes, or any other composing task. In the Creating Report it is important to fill in all the sections. All creative work begins with an idea. This 'idea' is then developed using techniques, tools and processes. The music is then organised into an arranged structure or form.

Any of the aspects of music can be varied to develop a piece of music. For example, a simple 5-note guitar riff may be developed simply by repeating it. Its dynamic and timbre may be developed by adding a saxophone in unison. It may be developed texturally by adding harmony in the form of chords played by a synthesizer. What is important is that any of the aspects of music can be used to develop ideas and can also be considered when talking about music and how it is created.

Research Report

A Research Report should be filled out after completing each music assignment or project. It is important to fill in each section of the Research Report. It will help you to consider each aspect of your research assignments and projects. Topics for a music project can be very broad and may examine recordings, scores, musicians, and instruments from various cultures and times. When thinking about music projects it is useful to consider how the information was gathered as well as the final product. In this way you learn about the topic as well as how to more effectively gather information for future projects.