ABSTRACT
There is no single established pedagogy for teaching composition in Australia. In fact, despite the establishment of an Australian curriculum, composition requirements for students studying music in the final school years vary widely in Australia's states and territories. This chapter reviews the ways teaching music creation is thought about in Australia, at least to the extent that it is described and required in Australia's many syllabi. It then draws on two examples of leading Australian composition educators working in very different settings: first, Richard Gill, a well-known figure in Australian music and music education for decades, with video data provided of hours of his teaching children, as well as his own books and interviews. Second, Michael creatives. It seems that there are, perhaps surprisingly, many more pedagogical similarities than differences between these two educators, with both using a models-based pedagogy. The findings are not generalizable, since the requirements and use of composition, production, or songwriting are different in every state and territory in Australia.
