Keitha Clark
- Instruments acoustiques
- 13 à 18 ans
- Intergénérationnel
1.5 hours of class time ( 2 sessions) // 2-6 hours of individual creation time
- Éducation
- Diversité
Exploring First Nations Ways of Knowing, Doing and Being Through Composition
description
This collaborative project took place in the spring of 2022 with Dennis Shorty and members of the Fiddleheads, a youth fiddle ensemble in Whitehorse. The project focused on finding ways to integrate a local First Nations stories and musical experiences into private lessons and ensemble music classes.
ABOUT THE PEOPLE :
Private Fiddle Teacher Keitha Clark :
Keitha Clark lives and teaches in Whitehorse, Yukon, on the traditional territory of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council. Her students range in age from 7–15, and her practice focuses on connecting communities and cultures through fiddling. Keitha has a a private studio with 25 students in Whitehorse and has also founded fiddle programs in Teslin and Haines Junction. She is currently working on her Masters of Education with a focus on how to improve arts programming delivery in remote northern communities.
Elder Dennis Shorty :
Dennis is a Kaska musician, artist and knowledge keeper from the community of Ross River, Yukon. His music is written in the Kaska Dena language and celebrates the land, animals, respect, ancestors and traditions. Dennis and his partner, Jennifer Fröhling, perform as Dena Zagi. They have played venues in Canada and Germany, and their album, Gucho Hin, was nominated for both an Indigenous Music Award and a Canadian Folk Music Award.
ABOUT THE PROJECT (FROM KEITHA):
I have worked with Dennis and Jenny for several years. I first met them at a community BBQ while teaching fiddle at the school in Ross River, and we ended up jamming in their garage that evening (super fun!). I went on to be part of their band and played at various festivals and community gatherings in the Yukon with them.
This project grew out of a commission I received to arrange a version of Dennis’ song, Gucho Hin (Ancestor’s Song), for the All City Band (with The Fiddleheads) for their spring 2022 concert. This was a large ensemble arrangement for 60 musicians with 25 different instrumental parts. (The All City Band successfully applied for funding from the Yukon Government to cover fees for Dennis and Jenny, the commission, travel costs, venue and recording.)
Check out the video clip of the All City Band/Fiddleheads performing Gucho Hin.
This composition project was developed out of a desire to create additional opportunities for students to explore and respond to Dennis” story.
EXPLORING FIRST NATIONS WAYS OF KNOWING, DOING AND BEING THROUGH COMPOSITION
Project Goals
- Create a short, original composition that responds to the experiences, stories and culture Dennis Shorty shares in this learning video.
- Reflect and engage with different cultures using non-Eurocentric ways of knowing, doing and being.
- Exploring how you can use the elements of music to express your own ideas and emotions, as well as reflect the ideas and emotions of others.
Project Stages
Stage One – Collaborative Brainstorming (via Zoom – 45 minutes)
Students gathered on Zoom to watch Dennis” learning video, discuss the main themes and ideas, and explore how they wanted to connect those ideas to their own creative response using the elements of music.
Stage Two – Independent Composition Development (2–4 hours per student)
Students used the basic elements of music (pitch, rhythm, timbre, temp, dynamics, etc.) to convey their ideas. Examples include using ascending scale fragments to convey the mountain pass Dennis’ family would climb ; using pizzicato to convey Dennis’ Grandma picking berries ; incorporating minor scales and bars with extra beats to convey the uncertainty and sadness of Dennis being taken away to residential school.
(See below to view and download the Creative Parameters Handout used in this project.)
Stage Three – Instructor Feedback/ Recording Prep (1 hour)
Students worked in Garage Band to record and arrange their compositions independently. (We were honoured to have Dennis and Jenny create a special traditional drum track for the students to work with as they were writing as well.)
Once students had a first draft completed, they emailed Keitha the audio for feedback. Students then had two days to make the final adjustments on their compositions and clarify their arrangements.
Stage Four- Recording the compositions (15–30 minutes)
For the video, students were asked to introduce themselves and their topic, the landscape or experience they were writing about, thank Dennis for sharing his story, include an explanation of how they used the elements of music to express their ideas and briefly describe how this project changed how they think about music.
Stage Five – Student Feedback (30 minutes)
After watching each other’s performances, students were asked to provide feedback to their peers. (Because the project was mostly online, students created written feedback on Padlet for this.)
Feedback criteria included :
- A compliment- Be specific, did you like how they used a certain scale, dynamic, rhythm etc. to convey their idea, or a unique perspective they brought to their tune idea ?
- A comment on a way that they referenced Dennis’s story or idea- What did you like about the way that they did this ? Is there anything you would like to see more of ?
- A question – What kind of question would encourage the composer to take their work to the next level ? Examples include : What would you change about your piece if you were writing this again ? What was your favourite part about this project ? Has this project changed how you view music ?
Conclusion
I loved doing this project with the fiddlers ! They created work that showed a lot of listening and learning ; both about the stories and experiences Dennis shared, and for how to find meaningful ways to reflect and respond to those experiences through music.
It was also amazing working with Dennis and Jenny for this project ! I was honoured to have this opportunity, and grateful to Dennis and Jenny for their willingness to share their music and stories with our community.
Below are three examples of what the fiddlers composed and reflections on their learning :
Thoughts
Here are a few thoughts about this project and why composition is an important part of creating cultural understanding (view video here).
Transcription :
I thought this project was really successful because the kids are really engaged in the work, and we were able to reflect Dennis” stories and experience in really meaningful ways. I think one of the most powerful things we can develop as musicians is the ability not just to create but to listen in a real deep and meaningful way. I think the kids were able to do this with this project, and show true listening to Dennis” stories and then show a real meaningful response by how they approached writing their tunes and what they reflected in their pieces.
To me that was the most satisfying part of the project, getting to see them develop those listening skills and then be able to respond with their own creative voices to what Dennis’ stories and experiences were. I think that’s such a gift of the creative process : to be able to give young musicians the chance to listen to experiences and stories from different cultures and find ways to meaningfully respond to those with the musical skills they have and that they can develop through these projects.
“In a way the world is a huge composition – a huge musical composition that’s going on all the time, without a beginning and presumably without an ending. We are the composers of this huge miraculous composition that’s going on around us and we can improve it, or we can destroy it. We can add more noises, or we can add more beautiful sounds. It’s all up to us.” (R. Murray Schafer in Listen (2009), a documentary film.)
lire la suite +