For my MUED 372 final musicianship project, I had to build my own musical instrument and reflect on the process. For my musicianship project, I decided to build a cajón following these Instructable directions. This building experience was a mixture of fun and frustration. I highly enjoyed the process of learning new skills, such as cutting wood with various saws and using a power drill, but was frustrated because X-Labs did not have the best woodworking tools to make this possible. I ended up finishing my project at home during spring break because my dad has better equipment and it was easier to access that way. One challenge I encountered was the Instructable directions themselves – they were sort of vague and unclear in how to construct the cajón and what materials to purchase. I wish they had a list of specific items they used. I also had difficulty cutting the wood precisely due to limited resources and struggled with drilling the screws into the wood without ruining said material because of a lack of knowledge and patience. From this experience, I learned the importance of patience and asking for help. I wanted to do every step of the process by myself, but what actually worked best was asking my dad to help me understand how to use the tools, demonstrate for me, and then allow me to do the rest. I needed to be patient with measuring precisely so that the finished product would be accurate and easy to put together. I also learned about not being afraid to make mistakes because they can usually be fixed. I drilled an incorrect hole into the wood and thought I would have to buy another piece of wood, but there was actually wood filler to fix the hole! A practical application for teaching in a secondary general music context that I can draw from this project is to providing adequate resources for students to be successful. This may mean inviting a guest who is more knowledgeable on a certain topic to come in and help or having mini-lectures on items that all the students might need to know (ex. how to use a power drill). I appreciated that Jesse allowed us to choose our own instruments to make, but in a secondary general music setting I might have the students choose one of three instrument options so that they have a sense of choice but not to the extent where I cannot help them on the instrument they are making. |
Davina MiawOn this page, I will present videos of my playing, concerts, and original compositions. Archives
November 2019
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