Understanding Learners’ Perspective on Creative Music Making

Creative music making is one of the least studied aspects of music education. This may be partly due to our limited knowledge of the creative process. There is a need to explore and understand the creative process of music making by taking perspective of music students within a particular socio cultural context. Present study aimed to explore and analyze the creative process of music making (making variations in rāga’s contents and/or compositions) by considering the vocal students’ perspective in an institutional setup. 10 vocal students (2 from Diploma, 4 from B. Mus. and 4 from M. Mus.) from two prestigious institutions of UP were interviewed (4 in-person and 6 telephonically). Thematic analysis revealed three themes – causal forces, conscious music making, and natural process of music making. Findings suggest that the particular psychological state, occasion or situation which inspires music students to visualize and forces them to create new music. Two creative processes of music making identified (i.e., conscious and natural) follow different pathways.