ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses musical creativity from a particular angle rooted in the playful musical activity of young children. It starts with a small scenario of a three-year-old’s improvised singing which then surfaces at points throughout the chapter. This approach is adopted because a focus on young children prompts careful thinking about fundamental ideas of what it is to improvise, to make music and to be musically inventive. Unless underlying concepts are given careful consideration, it is all too easy for educational practice to proceed with fixed assumptions that are likely to curtail children from being musically excited, engaged, imaginative and achieving. The first part of the chapter exploring conceptual issues paves the way for the main section that discusses evolving ideas about the development of musical creativity during the 50 years since the publication of Sound and Silence. This section maps out and discusses the main developments, highlighting the issues and emphases that have characterised different phases of music education theory. Although presenting information from research and theorising, the chapter remains mindful of the educator’s role and the constant negotiation between insights from research and theory, and the day-to-day reality of working with a class full of individual, diverse children making their own musical decisions.
