Group music composing strategies: A case study within a rock band

Abstract

This paper reports on the compositional processes of an Italian rock band whilst composing a new piece over seven group composing sessions. The band members were videotaped during the group composing sessions in their rehearsal room. A qualitative analysis of the video recordings was performed using the Constant Comparative Method. In the analysis, 59 different behaviours emerged, which were subsequently reduced into 13 categories. When analysing the categories, five themes (activities) were defined. The five activities were: context definition, experimenting, constructing, playing and evaluating. The activities were employed as a coding technique for time coding the videotaped data, which revealed the time percentages spent by the musicians in each of the group composing activities. Results from the joint qualitative and percentage time analysis indicate the importance of the strategies adopted by the musicians during group composing. The results are discussed by taking into account the impact of the processes employed in a group composing setting as well as suggestions for future research. The implication for music education involves the possibility to apply approaches based on the development of cognitive processes rather than the product of collaborative composing activities.

Music Regulators in Two String Quartets: A Comparison of Communicative Behaviors between Low- and High-Stress Performance Conditions

“…For both ensembles, one polished run-through of a set program in a typical rehearsal space and the concert performance of the same program were video recorded. The video recordings were shot in ecological conditions: that is, the rehearsals and concerts were authentic situations ( Biasutti, 2012 , 2015a , b ) rather than artificial experimental tasks. The context was a European master class on string chamber music, which was attended by both ensembles.…”

Pedagogical applications of cognitive research on musical improvisation

“… Lehmann and Kopiez (2010) demonstrate that it is very difficult to discern through listening whether recorded music is freely improvised or performed according to a score. In addition, there are relationships between improvisation and composition: improvisation can act as a stimulus to the composition process when composers use improvisation to experiment with new content, and they then select the most interesting material for the music piece ( Biasutti, 2012 ). Improvisation can offer fresh ideas to work on and can provide a touch of originality to a composition.…”

An activity theory analysis of the relationship between student identity and the assessment of group composing at school

“…The model is derived from earlier research into group composing in garage bands (Thorpe, 2008) and informed by the work of Fautley (2005Fautley ( , 2010, Webster (1990Webster ( , 2002, Guildford, (1950), and Wallas (1926). Consistent with other research into group music making in contemporary styles (for example Biasutti, 2012;Campbell, 1995;Green, 2002Green, , 2008Jaffurs, 2004), group composing usually begins with a 'messy' phase when group composers jam together, looking for ideas upon which to base their composition (Thorpe, 2015). While this may look to an outside observer like the same activity as social jamming, the object is quite different.…”