How to Encourage Creative Expression in the Music Classroom ~ And Why You Should

Our students face a variety of stresses throughout their days. Between social pressures, peer conflicts, and busy schedules, students are managing a variety of physical, mental, and emotional challenges on a daily basis. Additionally, some students come to your music class for their last period of the day when they might be tired. Or maybe they are riled up after recess or a conflict with another student in the hallway. Every day looks different, and you can always tell when the energy in your class is low or when students are agitated. Teachers are often trying to build into their lesson plans some form of relaxation or enjoyment to offset some of the stresses that all students face. When students are calm and focussed, they are set up to learn.  

Music classrooms are unique environments offering access to excellent stressbusters: percussion instruments! Students can release some of their stress as they beat on a drum or shake a tambourine.  Meanwhile, free time for creative expression gives your students more than stress reduction. In fact, improvisation offers so many benefits to your students that it is worth setting aside time on a regular basis for creative expression. 

Benefits of Improvisation in the Music Classroom

Stress Reduction 

Touched on above, stress reduction is an outcome of creative expression. When students express themselves freely on drums, they can release pent up emotions, whether fear, anxiety, anger, or sadness. Students get in touch with their feelings, letting out the negative emotions while building up the positive.

A Boost of Happiness

A natural outcome of creative expression is a boost of happiness. Using percussion instruments to improvise, your students will feel good about expressing themselves. When you allow your students some time to play drums freely, you are in essence giving them the time and space to experience joy.

Self-Expression 

Improvisation and self-expression are synonymous. Give a student a percussion instrument and some free time to play it, and you’ve just set them up to express themselves. Self-expression is a form of self-discovery and personal growth. 

Confidence 

Students expressing themselves on drums in the classroom are given an opportunity to be heard and received by others.  When students feel heard by their peers, they feel that what they express matters. The experience of expressing and feeling heard boosts the confidence of your students. 

Community

Students who feel heard by their peers become aware that they are important members of the class. When students play a percussion instrument freely within a larger group setting, they are expressing their uniqueness while part of a whole. Free expression within a community allows for a feeling of acceptance. Freestyle drumming is a symbolic way to reveal how the individual fits into a community.  

Teamwork 

In addition to growing a sense of community, improvisation within a drum circle, for example, develops co-operation. When students take turns expressing themselves, they are engaged in teamwork. The very act of taking turns involves patience, listening, and a show of respect for one another. When students take turns sharing their own creativity in a drum circle, they are taking part in harmonious communication. 

Imagination

Improvisation on a percussion instrument allows the mind to expand and explore freely. As your students express themselves creatively, they will be practicing their ability to imagine. The development of a strong imagination is beneficial to a well-rounded musician.  Additionally, the regular practice of creative expression has transferable benefits to other areas of students’ lives. 

How To Help Students Express Themselves Freely Through Percussion

For older students

 

Drum Circle Idea 1- Each student takes a turn improvising over a group ostinato 

Once you establish a simple ostinato beat for all students in the circle to play, let each student take a turn improvising over the beat. You can use a variety of percussion instruments, including djembes, bongos, frame drums, and shakers. You can even create a drum circle using buckets and sticks. Offer your bucket ensemble 10 minutes of drum circle improv time before they begin their Bucket Music lesson. 

Drum Circle Idea 2 - All students improvise at the same time 

Once you, as the leader, establish an ostinato pattern that you play throughout, signal to each student, one at a time, to join in and improvise on top of your rhythm and the previously introduced student rhythm. This kind of improvisation really builds. Once you get to the last student, allow all the students to continue improvising for the amount of time you feel comfortable. Teach them a signal and cadence rhythm so you can all end at the same time. The key is to encourage your students to play in time with the pulse and tempo you set at the beginning. It’s also okay if the group’s rhythm naturally speeds up or slows down. 

For younger students

 

Follow the Leader, Percussion Style

Play a rhythm on a percussion instrument and have all your students mimic your rhythm in a call-and-response exchange for a minute. Let students take turns being the leader who calls out rhythms for the other students to copy. 

Hot Maraca 

Play a favourite song for your students. Instead of a potato, pass a maraca or other small shaker around a circle. When you turn the music off, the person holding the maraca can shake out their own rhythm until you turn the music back on and they pass the maraca again.