How to promote flow in music students
Continuing my research into the use of games in music education, I found this:
Custodero, L. (2002). Seeking challenge, finding skill: Flow experience in music education. Arts Education and Policy Review, 103(3), 3–9.
The best music education happens in states of flow, as described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: the feeling of energized focus brought on by total absorption in an activity. Flow is more or less synonymous with happiness. So how do you bring about a state of flow? The key is to balance challenge and ability. Too much challenge for your abilities, and you're anxious. Too little challenge and you're bored. In between lies the delightful state of flow.
The best learning happens in flow states. This is especially true in music, which exists to bring about flow in both performers and listeners. Custodero lists the factors in a music learning environment that promote flow:
Feedback is immediate and contributes to a balance between skill and challenge.
Action and awareness merge, completely occupying your attention.
You attain a state of deep concentration.
You have some control over what you're doing, and the freedom to generate possibilities.
Your self-consciousness disappears.
Flow is also most likely if you’re in a supportive social environment, and if you have opportunities for personal action that have some impact.
How do you tell if students are experiencing flow? Custodero lists three telltale behaviors:
Anticipation—you predict what's going to happen, develop and test hypotheses, and generally act as an agent in your own learning.
Expansion—you move beyond the artificial boundaries of the lesson and express your own creativity.
Extension—you continue to engage with the material after the structured lesson is over.
Flow-promoting activities are culturally authentic—think familiar songs, as opposed to dry exercises. Flow is also most likely when students can act on their own ideas, and when there is enough uninterrupted time to get fully immersed. Finally, flow usually requires physical movement. Sitting at a desk is not optimal; you want to be on your feet.
How do you get flow to happen on a practical basis? I have two recommended exercises from my own experiences as both a student and a teacher.
The group chant: Turn out the lights in the room and/or have everyone close their eyes. The teacher takes a deep breath and sings a long, sustained note of any pitch. The students join in with their own notes, held as long as possible, on whatever pitch they feel makes sense. For eastern mystical flavor, everyone can sing "om," or if that's too off-putting, "ahhh" works fine. Doing this for five or ten minutes at the beginning of a class does wonders for getting everyone into the right head space.
The one note groove: Set up a rhythm. It could be a sampled drum loop, a drum machine pattern or a human drummer, anything with some life (i.e. not a metronome.) The tempo should be slow to medium. Pick a note, or chord. Everyone improvises to the beat using that one note or chord. Improvisation should be mostly repeated patterns, iterated slowly over time, but whatever people are feeling is fine. Beginners can stick to simple long notes on each downbeat or something similar; more advanced musicians can play or sing more complex patterns. See how long everyone can keep the groove going.