Accompaniment Skills and Improvisation for Music Educator 2Laajuus (5 cr)

Objective

The student can produce sounding score and accompaniment through playing by ear, or by reducing, embellishing or transposing the written chord symbols and notation in the context of their pedagogical practices. The student is capable of practising appropriately and ergonomically, and is able to comprehend quickly the musical contents essential for professional musicians.

The student can express and produce harmonies polyphonically and appropriately during teaching and rehearsals, thus advancing the learner’s learning process.

The student is competent in implementing various improvisation exercises which train interaction skills such as reaction speed, observational abilities and controlling of musical time. The student can utilize improvisation to develop musical memory, rapidity of musical thinking, musical visualization and sense of drama. The student is able to use different elements and phenomena of music in improvisation and teaching.

Content

Surveying the needs of a group. Based on the student’s specialization in pop/jazz or classical music, the production of accompaniment in various styles for the purposes of teaching music from the score, chord symbols or by ear. Perceiving and implementation of harmony. Understanding improvisation and rhythmic elements. Composing accompaniments. Versatile improvisation exercises and techniques in different styles according to specialization.

Qualifications

The student can produce sounding score and accompaniment through playing by ear, or by reducing, embellishing or transposing the written chord symbols and notation in the context of their pedagogical practices. The student is able to produce the most common harmonic phenomena with a harmony instrument. The student is capable of practising appropriately and ergonomically.

The student is familiar with producing sounding score through playing by ear, or by reducing, embellishing or transposing the written chord symbols and notation. The student is capable of practising appropriately and able to express and produce harmonies in styles that have clear accompaniment patterns.

The student knows how to utilize different musical elements and phenomena in improvisation and teaching.

Assessment criteria, approved/failed

The student is able to identify their own strengths and developmental goals and work diligently towards their learning objectives. The student is able to arrange more advanced accompaniments using various techniques. The student is able to harmonize and improvise with appropriate rhythms of a given style. The student is able to improvise alone and with various ensembles and use improvisational techniques in their pedagogical work. The student is able to produce a variety of improvisational exercises and techniques in various styles both to support their own development and for pedagogical purposes.