Interlude IV: Ways to Teach Composing

Composing teaching in schools can look and sound very different depending on various circumstances, such as the age, ability, and interests of the students, the tradition of composing in a country's music education system and their curriculum, as well as the musical background, confidence, and experiences of the teacher, not including the infrastructure, technology, and resources available to the teacher in the classroom. Also relevant is the question of who is teaching composing, as a professional composer coming into a school and conducting a time-limited composing project might teach very differently from a generalist classroom teacher. This interlude will take a closer look at the variety of approaches, methods, and practices used to teach composition in music education and how diverse pedagogies have been developed over time.