Methodology
Sources
The title of this research refers to randomness and surprise. My MA research opens by referencing an article1 on the essence of musical surprises. Musical surprises take on many forms: rhythmic, harmonic, melodic, timbral, and so on. Musical surprises are generally considered to fall under the category of perceptual surprises, characterized2 as frustrating prior expectations.
In the field of cognitive and behavioral science, research has been undertaken into the potential of surprise to stimulate learning:
“Music ranks among the greatest human pleasures. It consistently engages the reward system, and converging evidence implies it exploits predictions to do so. Both prediction confirmations and errors are essential for understanding oneâs environment, and music offers many of each as it manipulates interacting patterns across multiple timescales. Learning models suggest that a balance of these outcomes ⊠optimizes the reduction of uncertainty to rewarding and pleasurable effect.”3
The focus will be on these random elements and their potential to create surprises when introduced into typical jazz improvisation exercises and their impact on learning. One might view these music exercises as an elaborate form of flashcards (for an example of research on the potential of flashcards4 in increasing science vocabulary, see the reference). I also note the use of games in training musical skills. For example, rhythm exercises seem promising, as studies5 point to the importance of using games for rhythmic6 training. It is also worth noting that randomized tests are widely used in research on musical parameters such as pitch and rhythm recognition, as in pitch memory research.7
Every exercise also concludes with a short overview of:
- the main learning objectives
- teaching material used (mostly jazz bass and improvisation methods)
- comments
Technical Aspects
Guidelines used for the exercise creation:
- easy to use
- good-sounding despite mostly using samples
- multitrack8 enabled (mutes for different instruments)
- short loading times
- compatible with mobile and desktop devices
- multiple browser support
- concise in their scope
Here is an example of a flamenco multitrack playback (note: you should see “Channels Playing” and “CPU,” and use the playback and mute buttons):
Technical Details
For a detailed overview of the technical aspects of creating the exercises, please refer to the methodology section of my MA research. All the exercises were created with free tools from the field of music and audio design in computer games (cf. sections on adaptive audio and music in video games).
This methodology continues on the next pages with further sources and methods I used to compile the improvisation exercises, reference a final assignment9 on “How to Teach Improvisation,” and list different music apps.
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Judge, J. (2018). The surprising thing about musical surprise. Analysis (Oxford), 78, 225â234. ↩︎
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Huron, D. B. (2006). Sweet Anticipation: Music and the Psychology of Expectation. MIT Press. Judge, J. (2018, p. 226) ↩︎
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Gold, B. P., Pearce, M. T., Mas-Herrero, E., Dagher, A., & Zatorre, R. J. (2019). Predictability and uncertainty in the pleasure of music: a reward for learning? Journal of Neuroscience, 39, 9397â9409. ↩︎
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Aronin, S., & Haynes-Smith, H. (2013). Increasing Science Vocabulary Using PowerPoint Flash Cards. Science scope (Washington, D.C.), 37, 33â36. ↩︎
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BĂ©gel, V., Loreto, I. D., Seilles, A., & Bella, S. D. (2017). Music Games: Potential Application and Considerations for Rhythmic Training. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00273 ↩︎
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Duffy, S., & Pearce, M. (2018). What makes rhythms hard to perform? An investigation using Steve Reichâs Clapping Music. PLOS ONE, 13, 1â33. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205847 ↩︎
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Schellenberg, E. G., & Trehub, S. E. (2003). Good pitch memory is widespread. Psychological Science, 14, 262â266. ↩︎
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The multitrack feature in a web browser is interesting in itself, but the focus here is on randomness. ↩︎
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From a music pedagogy course at the Luxembourg Conservatory in 2008 (Teacher: Martin Bertemes). ↩︎
