What do you mean? Developing a ‘model of the aesthetic dialogue’ in collaborative music making

This article explores a teaching method wherein undergraduate music performance students were given the task of making music in four different modes: (1) Nashville mode, (2) DAW mode, (3) track-for-topline mode and (4) topline-for-track mode. Thematic analysis of qualitative interviews highlights four domains influencing quality and efficiency of negotiation of musical ideas: (1) what the environment affords, (2) students’ ability to show or explain, (3) students’ taste and preferences and (4) students’ comfort sharing opinions. Based on these findings, we develop a model of aesthetic dialogue, understood as negotiation of musical ideas within a group. We argue that aesthetic dialogue is dynamic and constantly negotiated and that the model provides a framework suitable to address a range of issues relevant to students wanting to progress as co-writers. This model is proposed as a starting point for addressing collaborative music making and dialogues from student, teacher and curriculum perspectives.