I am an independent researcher and instrumental music teacher in a middle school in New Jersey, where I direct the concert bands, jazz ensembles, chamber groups, and improvisation ensembles. My research interests include creativity, democratic practice, and improvisation in music education. More specifically, my work examines what and how students learn during improvisation activities as well as exploring alternate conceptualizations of the traditional school instrumental music program. I hold an Ed.D. and Ed.M. in Music and Music Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and an M.A. and B.A. in Music Education from Montclair State University. Address: Rochelle Park, New Jersey, United States
This paper draws from the current body of research on improvisation, especially improvisation in ... more This paper draws from the current body of research on improvisation, especially improvisation in schools and studies with younger school instrumentalists, and presents a myriad of ways to conceptualize improvisation in the instrumental music classroom. Various studies and methods of teaching improvisation are explored in an effort to provide music educators with different ways to effectively utilize improvisation activities in school settings. Ultimately, teachers are asked to investigate their own understandings of improvisation and what role it may play in their classrooms
This study explored how and what a group of six fifth-grade instrumental music students learned d... more This study explored how and what a group of six fifth-grade instrumental music students learned during group improvisation activities over eight sessions together with the researcher as participant observer. Students' learning was investigated through the lenses of musical fluency and collaborative emergence. Findings related to multiple understandings of students' musical fluency and students' rhythmically driven displays of collaborative emergence. Implications of this study include the ideas that (a) students' musical fluency is individual and personal in nature and improvisation gives students a space to explore these personal decisions; (b) young improvisers can be overwhelmed by free improvisation and may create boundaries to aid their playing; (c) without teacher direction, young improvisers can make pedagogical and music making decisions relevant to their interests; and (d) young improvisers can successfully create a collaborative emergent during group improvisation.
This paper draws from the current body of research on improvisation, especially improvisation in ... more This paper draws from the current body of research on improvisation, especially improvisation in schools and studies with younger school instrumentalists, and presents a myriad of ways to conceptualize improvisation in the instrumental music classroom. Various studies and methods of teaching improvisation are explored in an effort to provide music educators with different ways to effectively utilize improvisation activities in school settings. Ultimately, teachers are asked to investigate their own understandings of improvisation and what role it may play in their classrooms.
This paper draws from the current body of research on improvisation, especially improvisation in ... more This paper draws from the current body of research on improvisation, especially improvisation in schools and studies with younger school instrumentalists, and presents a myriad of ways to conceptualize improvisation in the instrumental music classroom. Various studies and methods of teaching improvisation are explored in an effort to provide music educators with different ways to effectively utilize improvisation activities in school settings. Ultimately, teachers are asked to investigate their own understandings of improvisation and what role it may play in their classrooms
This study explored how and what a group of six fifth-grade instrumental music students learned d... more This study explored how and what a group of six fifth-grade instrumental music students learned during group improvisation activities over eight sessions together with the researcher as participant observer. Students' learning was investigated through the lenses of musical fluency and collaborative emergence. Findings related to multiple understandings of students' musical fluency and students' rhythmically driven displays of collaborative emergence. Implications of this study include the ideas that (a) students' musical fluency is individual and personal in nature and improvisation gives students a space to explore these personal decisions; (b) young improvisers can be overwhelmed by free improvisation and may create boundaries to aid their playing; (c) without teacher direction, young improvisers can make pedagogical and music making decisions relevant to their interests; and (d) young improvisers can successfully create a collaborative emergent during group improvisation.
This paper draws from the current body of research on improvisation, especially improvisation in ... more This paper draws from the current body of research on improvisation, especially improvisation in schools and studies with younger school instrumentalists, and presents a myriad of ways to conceptualize improvisation in the instrumental music classroom. Various studies and methods of teaching improvisation are explored in an effort to provide music educators with different ways to effectively utilize improvisation activities in school settings. Ultimately, teachers are asked to investigate their own understandings of improvisation and what role it may play in their classrooms.
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