ABSTRACT
The prescribed secondary school music curriculum in Kenya exposes learners to rules of form, what makes a “good” melody, harmonizing a tune, note grouping, voice leading, chord progressions, and the tonal and rhythmic demands of lyrics. These rules can occupy teaching time at the expense of cultivating spontaneity and freedom of exploration in music composition toward the creation of a work of art through structures and media of his or her choice. Using data drawn from seven Kenyan secondary schools as cases (using two teachers and five students), this chapter interrogates teaching and learning composition in the Kenyan secondary school through concepts and experiences analyzed against the backdrop of a cultural notion of music teaching.
