Laulukirjutamisele ja muusikaproduktsioonile keskenduva gümnaasiumiastme valikaine väljaarendamine: tegevusuuring

Abstract

Although the national curriculum for upper secondary schools states that, among other activities, students are able to play and create music during music lessons, the reality is that currently, our music lessons are mostly music history based. However, multiple studies show that students are interested in active music making and creating, so much so that a lot of young people are currently teaching themselves to write music with digital tools. The aim of this thesis was to create and conduct a songwriting and music production elective course for upper secondary school that would also support the learning outcomes of the music subject in the national curriculum for upper secondary schools. The author of the thesis conducted two cycles of action research in Rakvere State secondary school with the students of G1 study groups – 22 students selected the elective course on the first year and 26 students the second year. All students passed the course and the final project – original self-produced songs – were well-sounding and instrumentally well thought-out regardless of students’ earlier experiences in music. According to students’ feedback, they were overall happy with the course and their own progress, but suggested to bring in producers from different genres as guest lecturers. They also suggested to change the web-based digital audio workstation to a more professional software. Based on the author of the thesis’ experience and the students’ feedback, a list of suggestions for the future was created.