My 'Mixed Bag' arrangement of Somebody That I Used To Know is comprised of simple melodic, harmonic and rhythmic elements which combine to create a full sounding class arrangement (please see link below, which features an audio file of the complete arrangement!) One particular pedagogical advantage of these simple elements is that it provided me, as the arranger, with the opportunity for differentiation which is especially important in a stage 4/5 music classroom context as students often demonstrate a wide range of musical abilities, interests and experiences. To adapt to these variations in student ability, I differentiated within the arrangement in the following ways:
-Providing many modes of learning: For example, I have provided bass/guitar notation as well as tablature, piano, guitar and ukulele chord diagrams in addition to notation and drum grids as well as drum notation. In addition to this, I strongly drew on informal learning pedagogies, particularly Lucy Green's Popular Music pedagogy whereby aural learning is utilised to learn a popular song. To provide students with the opportunity to learn the arrangement through a popular music approach, with the guitar, vocal, ukulele and piano resources, I have included links to audio recordings such as YouTube recordings and instrument specific tutorials (when teaching this arrangement, will encourage all students to engage in aural learning, specifically through attentive and enactive listening in order to perform the piece stylistically accurate). The orff component of the arrangement lends itself to enactive listening especially as the body percussion patterns which are intended to be transferred to pitched and unpitched percussion are simple enough to be learnt by rote.
Furthermore, the guitar and piano video tutorials that I have created as a supplementary resource for the arrangement also enables a 'flipped classroom' approach whereby students have the opportunity to learn their part at home, maximising enjoyment and progress in the classroom through student team work and collaboration.
-Taking into account the range of instruments and abilities of beginner/advanced players: After being given the opportunity to workshop my arrangement in class, I learnt that for beginner clarinet players, it is difficult to play above the break (Bb in the middle of the treble stave). To compensate for this, I have created an easy clarinet part (Bb) for both the melody and harmony part. Additionally, creating a low and high melody and harmony for instruments in C, Bb, Eb and F empowers students to choose the score which best suits their instrument range and ability.
Within many components of the arrangement, a consequence of differentiation is that one instrument has a wide array of parts to learn. For example, through differentiating for the guitar part, guitarists in the class have the opportunity to learn the melody (in C), strum chords using a lead sheet using either open chords or barre chords and/or learn the specifically arranged guitar part which features arpeggiated/broken chords, block chords and the opportunity to improvise using the C Pentatonic scale in various positions on the fretboard. This diversity within the arrangement not only allows students to choose a part/s that they will be successful in learning, but it also creates greater interest as each class (with unique student abilities) will lead to a different performance outcome!
Improvisation!
It was important to me within my arrangement that I create a 'safe zone' for improvisation.
My guitar tutorial (labelled 'Guitar Tutorial 2') addresses improvisation in a broader sense, using the guitar as an example. I mention to students in this video that they will use a specific set of notes (which contributes to this 'safe zone' as parameters in improvisation creates a positive space for students). Using this specific set of notes, I provide a simple improvisation and demonstrate where I sourced that musical idea. This arrangement is innovative as it provides the opportunity to explore improvisation further. For example, Hickey (2009) states a basic level of improvisation consists of 'hesitation or interruption in the beat between the question and the answer' whereas students with proficient and advanced levels of improvisation are able to 'follow the question with no hesitation or interruption in the beat' (Hickey, 2009, p. 11). The clear parameters and demonstrations of improvisation that I have provided in the supplementary resources provides students with the opportunity to become confident improvisers.
Orff!
"The answers were always the same: it’s up to you to devise your own methods based on the materials." (Gill, 2004, p. 4) In this text Richard Gill reveals the notion that the Orff levels taught in the USA allowed the teacher to prescribe a system of teaching that was appropriate to his/her students rather than their age or desired musical outcome. In my mixed bag arrangement however, I have prioritised a clear musical outcome of performing the arrangement as a class as I've differentiated to ensure that it is appropriate and engaging for stage 4/5 classes of various ability. Additionally, as it is a popular piece of music, it aligns to student's culture hence leading to musical meaning and connecting to student's interests.
Link to Mixed Bag Arrangement of Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye:
A link to this arrangement is also available on my twitter page:
Reference List:
Gill, R. (2004). Orff Schulwerk Levels Courses: The Pedagogy. Musicworks: Journal of the Australian Council of Orff Schulwerk, 9(1), 4–7.
Hickey, M. (2009). Freeing Improvisation in School Music. Musicworks: Journal of the Australian Council of Orff Schulwerk, 14(1), 13–21.