6 ways to make time for creativity: #6 repertoire requests

Pop requests are particularly useful for creative teaching

Many students want to learn music they already know, particularly pop songs. This is a great opportunity to include some creativity in lessons.

Writing an arrangement is a fantastic way to learn music theory and compositional technique, and it is particularly effective when your student analyses various different arrangements of the same piece.

It’s also great for student motivation. They are given a sense of ownership over a song they already love. It’s really powerful.

Here’s my method when a student requests a song:

1. Ask them to find their three favourite arrangements of the song on YouTube (this will probably be homework)

2. Discuss the different arrangements. What do they like? What’s less appealing?

3. Ask them to buy a lead sheet and teach them the underlying structure of the song using the leadsheet

4. Discuss which parts of their favourite arrangements they might like to incorporate into their version, ask them to buy the sheet music, and then incorporate the relevant sections into their own arrangement

5. Encourage them to make their own creative adaptations. These might include:

   1. adding a fill

   2. altering the accompaniment pattern

   3. reharmonising

   4. adding harmony to the melody

I call this approach the Magpie Method. It’s super effective because it shows students the variety of options available to them.

If your students want to take it further and really improve their arranging skills, there are a variety of resources out there including:

• Puzzle Play by Forrest Kinney

• Fake Book Fundamentals by Holly J McCann

• Wicked Keys: Lead Sheet 101 by James Baker

• Piano By Ear by Lucinda Mackworth Young

Here are a couple of my articles which explore the Kinney and Mackworth-Young books:

How to get started with Forrest Kinney's resources

Piano by Ear by Lucinda Mackworth-Young

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Have I missed something?

That’s the end of my series on making time for creativity, but maybe I’ve missed something? Do you have tips for your fellow teachers for how to start integrating creavity into their lessons? Please leave a comment under the post!