Kids Compose—Exploring with Ives
In 2024, Kids Compose was invited to be part of programming for the
Charles Ives at 150 Festival: Music, Imagination, and American Culture at
the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Fourth graders in Bloomington
were invited to experience the music of Charles Ives in varied ways. Pre-concert
lesson plans were prepared by Maggie Olivo, Dr. Brent Gault emceed a wonderful
experience for the students at an orchestra concert, and Kids Compose followed
up in fourth grade classrooms, experimenting with compositional ideas in the style
of Ives. ​​​
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The workshops began by exploring how notes sound when played together, explored the composition of chords.
After developing different chords, the fourth graders used the the newly configured chords with a familiar song chosen by the music teacher. They experimented with which ones to play under the familiar melodies resulting in a lot of laughs, but also exploration and ultimately an understanding of how the familiar could be reimagined— tying in lessons learned with their experiences with Ives throughout the Ives Festival.
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The resulting musical experience has been dubbed by Debbi as "Improv-IVES-ing." It was eye-opening and inspiring for everyone involved. One music teacher said after a session, "I feel like I understand Ives so much better." A musician expressed her appreciation of being surrounded by the the blending of sounds and how the children responded. And as two students were leaving at the end of a class, one said to the other, “We were really awesome! That could have been written by Charles Ives himself!”
Experimenting with chords
Demo of the chord with all the notes in a C major scale (right) played during the Kids Compose 20th Anniversary concert. The musicians are playing the same chord, but rotating which instrument plays which note.
We started by having every note of a C major scale played together. The students listened and reflected on how it felt to be immersed in the textures and timbres as they blended together. The responses were incredibly diverse as indicated above.
Students took turns deciding which notes to keep and which to remove, experimenting and exploring sounds and how they make us feel; what ideas they evoked; tension, resolution, and a host of other emotions.
Different chords evoke "sad" and "sadness," while the same chord is both "sad" and "floating"
"Calm" and "calming" chords
Chord designated as evoking a sense of "wonder"—played with musicians rotating which notes to play
