Innovation in music education

More than just one of the subjects that all students in the Music program at UCundinamarca must study, Word Music It is a space where creativity, innovation, research and practice enable future teachers to be professionally trained.

“The World Music group was born in 2015 out of the need to explore and interpret musical genres belonging to cultures outside the Cundinamarca context; from there, spaces for fusion, creation, and musical research are fostered,” explained Maestro Óscar Alejandro Beltrán, leader of World Music.

Word Music is a music laboratory where students must go through six levels, between the fifth and tenth semesters of training, to obtain their degree as music teachers.

“This space is designed for students to play their instruments and step outside their comfort zone. Joining the group begins the research process, followed by arrangements, rehearsals, and finally performances, all under my supervision,” Beltrán added.

Maestro Oscar has led this group for five years. The young people are under his direction, and in every performance and every research project, he puts his love for music into it. He says that around 70 students have gone through this process and considers these types of exercises to be proposals for educational innovation.

“We are used to talking about innovation only when it comes to technology, but here we talk about it because it is another way of teaching, of training future teachers. We have many genres, there is traditional folk music (carranga), Colombian music, boleros, tropical music and many more proposed by each student,” the teacher pointed out.

Learning levels

The educational innovation process proposed by the teacher comprises six levels in which the students' talent emerges and they learn to interpret in a better way.

“The classes and the learning process are individual until they get here because they learn to work in a group with more instruments; they must know what and when to play.”.

The levels are developed as follows:

Levels 1 and 2: These are fifth and sixth semester students. Research is conducted on each proposed instrument and genre, and students also work on their own performance and adapting to other students who play different types of instruments.

Levels 3 and 4: These are seventh and eighth semester students who are beginning to make arrangements. They are responsible for what they will perform in the group and must follow instructions to improve each time and advance to the next level.

Level 5 and 6: These are ninth and tenth semester students; after going through all the previous processes, they should now focus on adapting and creating musical themes.

Word Music in the pandemic

At the beginning of the course, the group's performances were live, starting in institutional settings such as the auditoriums of the University of Cundinamarca. Later, they gained recognition at events for foundations, prisons, the Serenata por Cundinamarca festival, cultural centers, partner universities, and others. However, with the arrival of the pandemic, things changed.

Maestro Óscar explains that the arrival of the pandemic was an opportunity to rethink the educational process, to make music differently, to teach, and to go further. “We found gaps in technological skills, and that helped both students and teachers to grow.”.

During this time the teacher has ensured that the students learn to perform well and handle technological tools appropriately to get the most out of them and to be more critical of their listening skills.

Discover a sample of Word Music's work:

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