Cooking and modeling music: an innovative intervention to enhance the learning of musical analysis

Abstract

This article gives an account of an innovative intervention carried out during 2018, in the subject Composition Analysis, of a university degree in Music Education. A subject of this characteristics is usually seen as abstract and somewhat arid, therefore making more difficult for students to be motivated to embark on a deep reflective process. To improve the learning process, a strategy was devised that would materialize musical analysis. The innovation consisted in making the students understand how the different works of Western music are structured by comparing their internal organization with the structure of other languages and constructions, such as those of some foods and graphic designs. The students had to cook, draw or model different structures, making an analogy with the different musical forms studied. The article presents students’ experiences, the way they experienced musical analysis, how they made analogies with other types of languages and their reflections on this innovation. It also shows how this process helped to improve their academic results, attendance to the course and their appreciations regarding Composition Analysis.