TEACHING / RESEARCH Stephen (Dakiz) Davis has been teaching drum-set, percussion, performance, composition and improvisation for the last 25 years. Since 2006 he has been the primary Drum-set and percussion tutor at Queens University Belfast and completed his PhD in music 2013. He has given clinics alongside some of the worlds leading drummers for example, Paul Clarvis, John Riley, Adam Nussbaum and Paul Wertico.Davis’s years experience of performing and teaching music improvisation in both local and international contexts has provided him with a unique perspective on how music performance skills are best learned and developed. His teaching experience covers a wide spectrum of education environments, including: primary and secondary schools, further education colleges, undergraduate and postgraduate higher education, and independent community music groups.
Through his many connections with professional improvising musicians, as well as through his own musicianship, Davis has developed a significant portfolio of practice-based research. His work as part of the jazz trio Bourne/Davis/Kane has received widespread critical acclaim, including a 4-star review in The Guardian (www.theguardian.com/music/2008/sep/12/jazzreview.bournedaviskane). He has performed and recorded with many jazz legends, including: Anthony Braxton, Django Bates, Evan Parker, Alexander Hawkins, Julian Siegel, Dylan Bates, Annie Whitehead, Ben Castle, Paul Dunmall and Jacqui Dankworth. He is the composer and band leader of Human, which also features Alexander Hawkins (piano), Dylan Bates (violin), Alex Bonney (trumpet). Their releases including ‘Being Human’ (2013) on the celebrated jazz label Babel.
Davis has an effective track record in producing music education resources, as exemplified by his interactive e-book on new forms of graphic notion which was produced as part of his PhD research.
RESEARCH
Title: ‘ GESTURIZATION ’A New Pedagogical System which Encompasses Improvisation, Graphic Notation and Conducting.
Abstract
Music can be taught and performed using means other than conventional notation based learning systems. Graphic notation and improvisation can provide musicians of all levels with ways of creating music that are challenging, engaging and original. The proposed research has the potential to critically transform existing pedagogies with respect to music improvisation and notation. The method I propose to develop is a structured system for facilitators and practitioners . The system includes hand signals, graphic symbols (notation) and improvisation strategies. This encourages musicians to go beyond their existing practices and develops their general musicianship skills within the new notation and musical structures presented. In addition this gives teachers a new methodology that can augment current curriculum and develop their understanding of graphic notation and improvisation in an innovative way.
Aim: My research concentrates on the space between the spontaneity of improvisation and the interpretation of gestural and symbiotic notation. I am proposing an original system that uses graphic signs, new notational practice and innovative improvisation strategies to transmit and exploit sonic information. The system will be designed for use by practitioners, educators and composers with backgrounds in any musical tradition. This approach draws upon the work of other practitioners and educators interested in improvisation and notation such as John Stevens, John Zorn, Brian Irvine, Butch Morris, Simon Rose, Mark Applebaum and Anthony Braxton. Each of these practitioners created different methods of organizing group improvisation that is inclusive of musicians with various abilities.
My research will draw together aspects of these different approaches with my own original concepts to form one system, which, for the first time, will provide a clear codified vocabulary of ideographic signs and gestures.
Research questions:
Can a system of signs (gesturization) be developed to teach improvisation in music in a new way that brings together previous diverse approaches to augment current practice?
Is this new system of signs effective in developing improvisational skills across a wide spectrum of musical interests and abilities?
What standard of improvisation can be achieved through application of the new system of signs?
Background: This research project aims to develop and test this new pedagogical system for teaching improvised music in large ensemble settings, by designing a graphic notation system that would be applicable to instrumentalists and vocalists of a wide range of ability. The new system will then be tested in a program of music workshops/performances and data gathered and analysed. I will test the system within the wider community context of N. Ireland; there will be large creative projects that run throughout the process, which will involve community groups for example in schools, community centers and smaller music schools and FE colleges. My ambition is to form a hybrid group made up of musicians from all the above-mentioned strands, which will become the first Northern Irish contemporary improvised music ensemble that draws together community, universities, music schools, individual practitioners, composers and music producers. Support has already been promised by Moving on Music and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. This new ensemble will perform new works specifically commissioned for them. As ambitious as this sounds it can be backed up with the network I have already developed with these organizations and the groundwork I have laid by my previous creative work in this area. The main research output will be a new pedagogical tool in the form of a new e-book, which will be disseminated among music educators and facilitators.
Objectives: The proposed research is targeted at the teaching of improvisation/graphic notation. I believe a radical re-orientation of the role of the teacher within music improvisation is needed, and by supporting this research Leverhulme would be enabling the creation of an important new pedagogical system. The present format for teaching improvisation/graphic notation fails to understand the medium. There needs to be a strong understandable structure that teachers can use in various settings. The approach I would like to research would include different methods of teaching that would draw on embodied learning, autodidactic learning, flow theory and holism. I created an e-book during my PhD research, which explained specific techniques and performance methods for composers and musicians. This new research I am proposing would draw on the already existing work I have carried out but would be a new venture on a different scale with different goals. The difference comparably with my PhD work is, this is a new pedagogical system for teaching improvisation and encompasses all instruments rather than a specific technical study. My historical studies show that there is a need for a pedagogical system for graphic notation and the system I am proposing would also address this need. The graphic notation methods would be part of the new system as a whole.
The research will entail a partnership with Moving on Music, the premier new music presenters in Belfast. I have previously collaborated with Moving on Music on a number of projects, as outlined in my CV. They are committed to helping me connect my research with community groups through their education links (secondary school’s, community groups etc.).
Community Engagement and Impact
Who will this research benefit?
In addition to the substantial numbers of university, FE college and school musicians, I believe this research has potential benefits in the wider community. The project outline refers to various community groups within the process of the work and there is potential for a longer-term legacy arising from the research. The hybrid group for instance would have a throughput of community inclusion after the main research program and would hopefully inspire musicians to start their own groups or branch of into other areas of the arts. Dr. Simon Rose a practitioner and educator himself explains:
The engagement with free improvisation encourages young people to work in co‐operation, in balance with ‘thinking for them’. As such improvisation may be viewed as a desirable and a necessary part of the educational process. Developing students’ self‐reliance in the teaching and learning setting has far reaching implications, across the curriculum and further a field and a process that implicitly contributes to this by means of self‐expression is desirable. (Simon Rose, 2008)
The nature of this research means inclusion for disability groups; both I myself and researchers at Queens University Belfast, have existing working partnerships with organisations such as the Drake Music Project Northern Ireland.
Methodology: I will be designing a new graphic notation system based on my PhD research, which will be brought together in an interactive e-book. The new e-book will enable musicians and teachers to be able to understand improvisation, composition and performance practice in a holistic way. The e-book I developed as part of my PhD (submitted as part of this application) will be used as a blueprint for the new e-book.
As a key part of the program there will be a several new works commissioned each year, including those from other composers as well as myself using the new system. Composers working within different disciplines (Jazz, Electronica, Classical, Folk etc.) will be invited to contribute.
The project will include weekly rehearsals of the two proposed ensembles with the Universities as well as concentrated projects involving community groups and schools working with the ensembles. The outcome would give an opportunity for a touring, the production of an e-book, research papers and video/audio recordings. It is my intention that the research will provide facilitators with an original pedagogical system that includes new directing skills, improvisation and graphic notation.
(Project timeline)
Year 1 - Research and Development
- Creating the notation (that will be easily understood and can be used by differing groups of musicians.)
- Starting a new community based ensemble and setting up weekly rehearsal to develop the notation/gestures.
- Collating research from visiting various conferences/performances and writing a paper.
- Recording the group’s progress.
- Find composers interesting in working with the new notation.
Year 2 - Design and Interaction
- Collaborating with a graphic designer on the e-book and finalising the notation.
- Forming a hybrid group made up of community musicians and music students from the University.
- Targeting festivals and other performance platforms for the groups to test resultant music.
- Interviewing the musicians to gain an understanding of the new notations pros and cons.
- Perform new works by different composers.
Year 3 - Research Output
- Publishing articles for specific journals and the e-book.
- Recording seeking labels to publish the music.
- Performances at larger venue/touring.
Outcomes: The main research output will be a new pedagogical tool in the form of a new e-book, which will be disseminated among music educators and facilitators.
As this research will be mainly practice based I will also submit new compositions and recordings to the record labels that currently publish my work, such as Babel Label, Edition Records and Creative Resources. I will also submit articles to relevant peer-reviewed journals, including About Performance, the British Journal of Music Education, Critical Studies in Improvisation and Point of Departure. I will target various international music festivals for presenting the new work, including the London Jazz Festival, Brilliant Corners Festival Belfast and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.
This research could change how improvisation in music curricula is currently delivered. If successful the new system could be used as a new teaching model and the research papers and articles would provide new insights into the findings and shed new light on improvisation and education. The music recordings produced would be used to show how the system could produce new interesting music from a different perspective in terms of pedagogy.
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