Continuing my research into the use of games in music education, I found this:
Custodero, L. (2002). Seeking challenge, finding skill: Flow experience in music education. Arts Education and Policy Review, 103(3), 3–9.
The best music education happens in states of flow, as described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: the feeling of energized focus brought on by total absorption in an activity. Flow is more or less synonymous with happiness. So how do you bring about a state of flow? The key is to balance challenge and ability. Too much challenge for your abilities, and you’re anxious. Too little challenge and you’re bored. In between lies the delightful state of flow.
The best learning happens in flow states. This is especially true in music, which exists to bring about flow in both performers and listeners. Custodero lists the factors in a music learning environment that promote flow:
- Feedback is immediate and contributes to a balance between skill and challenge.
- Action and awareness merge, completely occupying your attention.
- You attain a state of deep concentration.
- You have some control over what you’re doing, and the freedom to generate possibilities.
- Your self-consciousness disappears.
Flow is also most likely if you’re in a supportive social environment, and if you have opportunities for personal action that have some impact.
How do you tell if students are experiencing flow? Custodero lists three telltale behaviors:
- Anticipation—you predict what’s going to happen, develop and test hypotheses, and generally act as an agent in your own learning.
- Expansion—you move beyond the artificial boundaries of the lesson and express your own creativity.
- Extension—you continue to engage with the material after the structured lesson is over.
Flow-promoting activities are culturally authentic—think familiar songs, as opposed to dry exercises. Flow is also most likely when students can act on their own ideas, and when there is enough uninterrupted time to get fully immersed. Finally, flow usually requires physical movement. Sitting at a desk is not optimal; you want to be on your feet.
How do you get flow to happen on a practical basis? I have two recommended exercises from my own experiences as both a student and a teacher.
The group chant: Turn out the lights in the room and/or have everyone close their eyes. The teacher takes a deep breath and sings a long, sustained note of any pitch. The students join in with their own notes, held as long as possible, on whatever pitch they feel makes sense. For eastern mystical flavor, everyone can sing “om,” or if that’s too off-putting, “ahhh” works fine. Doing this for five or ten minutes at the beginning of a class does wonders for getting everyone into the right head space.
The one note groove: Set up a rhythm. It could be a sampled drum loop, a drum machine pattern or a human drummer, anything with some life (i.e. not a metronome.) The tempo should be slow to medium. Pick a note, or chord. Everyone improvises to the beat using that one note or chord. Improvisation should be mostly repeated patterns, iterated slowly over time, but whatever people are feeling is fine. Beginners can stick to simple long notes on each downbeat or something similar; more advanced musicians can play or sing more complex patterns. See how long everyone can keep the groove going.
That sounds super fun. Will have to try it.
I smiled when I read this – I’ve been mining the concept of flow recently and find the whole construct fascinating. I think the promotion of the idea can benefit human beings across the board and have re-positioned the music2work2 brand to reflect that.
Here’s a variation on a group chant that was great fun working in energy circles (although it might not work so well in-doors!) It was called the Ma or Mah chant – the M in front of the ahhh is a subtle addition that makes a significant difference.
Whereas in the standard chant you stay on the sustained note -in a Mah chant you ascend up the scale, increasing volume the higher up you go; a good analogy is the orchestra at the end of A Day in the Life.
The group leader starts at a low pitch and volume and everyone joins in – replicating that pitch and volume as closely as possible – every time the leader has to take a breath they up the pitch a semi-tone and add a little more energy to their output; the group follows.
Of course people are using different breath timings so there’s overlap and the sound is continuous – some members will want to rush through the tones and increase volume quickly, so it’s the group leaders job to keep people relatively together – eye contact and non-verbal cues help a lot.
As the pitch rises there is a definite and tangible raising of energy in the group and the urgency to move faster up the pitch becomes stronger and more insistent. Eventually the higher up the register you go the group takes over and there is a frantic, joyous and exultant rush which peaks at everyone’s highest volume and pitch – the effect is astonishing. People are grinning like lunatics and filled with the closeness and energy of the group – it’s one of my favorite things to do!
We’ve done it in large groups of 30 or 40 people before and the energy is amazing – we lso used to do it with the kids in the car – it’s hysterical especially if you’re peaking when you’re stopped at a light and the cars in the people in the adjacent cars are wondering what the hell is going on. Like most things – the longer you can stretch it out and more controlled the ascension – the more powerful the energy rush at the end.
One final point – we always had a rule that you needed to match the time spent on the Mah with silence afterwards – just to re-balance you. So – if it took 2 minutes to reach peak – then everyone would sit or stand in silence for two minutes afterward – to reflect. It’s a lot of fun but yes – probably not one for inside ;-)