The Principle of Infinite Variation
Understanding the Principle of Infinite Variation can empower you as a creative and artistic teacher. Basically, it is a way to view the arts that allows parents, teachers, and children to come up with their own artistic actions or expand on existing activities.
Let's take keeping the beat as an example. We can keep the beat by clapping our hands. Think about what is involved in clapping hands. First, we are moving our hands. Second, we are bringing our hands together. Third, we are making a sound. Fourth, our hands are coming together at a specific angle. Fifth, we are making a sound that has a specific volume or loudness. You might be able to think of more categories, but five should work.
Let's take keeping the beat as an example. We can keep the beat by clapping our hands. Think about what is involved in clapping hands. First, we are moving our hands. Second, we are bringing our hands together. Third, we are making a sound. Fourth, our hands are coming together at a specific angle. Fifth, we are making a sound that has a specific volume or loudness. You might be able to think of more categories, but five should work.
Take the second and third categories. Can you make a sound by bringing other body parts together (hand to shoulder, hand to knee)? How many ways can you think of to make a sound with hands and parts of the body? What about hands and objects? How about clapping hands with a neighbor? Take the first category. What other body parts could we move to the beat. How many ways could you think of to move the head, arms, feet, etc.? Mixing in the third category, how could we move body parts to make sounds or to not make sounds? Bring in the fifth category and we can explore different volumes of sound. Think of the fourth category, the angle of the hands. In just that simple action of clapping, how much variation can we find? What if we just clapped two or three fingers together? Fingers to palm? One finger to one finger to make very little or no sound? Could you vary the angle of the fingers? One finger flat on the palm feels and looks different from one finger perpendicular to the palm.
By combining the various categories in novel ways, it should not be difficult to see that the possibilities for keeping the beat are endless. We could also add rhythm sticks, props, or musical instruments. We could develop beat patterns that have more than one action or motion (snap, clap, snap, clap). Beat patterns could be hand-clapping games or basic folk or line dances (or Zumba).
By combining the various categories in novel ways, it should not be difficult to see that the possibilities for keeping the beat are endless. We could also add rhythm sticks, props, or musical instruments. We could develop beat patterns that have more than one action or motion (snap, clap, snap, clap). Beat patterns could be hand-clapping games or basic folk or line dances (or Zumba).
Here are the principles, then.
1. Think of one way to do something artistic, like keeping the beat.
2. Analyze that action to identify its elements or categories.
3. Think of new ways to do this action, changing what happens in each category and recombining categories. If you can think of four ways to do each category and you have four categories, that should give you 24 possible things to do. However, you can probably think of more than four variations and maybe more than four categories.
1. Think of one way to do something artistic, like keeping the beat.
2. Analyze that action to identify its elements or categories.
3. Think of new ways to do this action, changing what happens in each category and recombining categories. If you can think of four ways to do each category and you have four categories, that should give you 24 possible things to do. However, you can probably think of more than four variations and maybe more than four categories.
To further illustrate the Principle of Infinite Variation, let's see if it can apply to something from drama: developing a voice for a puppet.
What categories are involved in a voice?
1. Tone quality or timbre (raspy, nasal, airy, clear, light, heavy)
2. Pitch (high, low, middle, up and down, flat)
3. Mood (angry, whiney, somber, excited, timid)
4. Tempo (fast, slow, getting faster, getting slower, mixed tempos)
5. Volume (loud, soft, getting louder, getting softer, mixed volumes)
Five categories with five elements each should yield how many possibilities? Of course, the voice is only one element of puppetry. Combined with other elements, the possibilities are endless...
What categories are involved in a voice?
1. Tone quality or timbre (raspy, nasal, airy, clear, light, heavy)
2. Pitch (high, low, middle, up and down, flat)
3. Mood (angry, whiney, somber, excited, timid)
4. Tempo (fast, slow, getting faster, getting slower, mixed tempos)
5. Volume (loud, soft, getting louder, getting softer, mixed volumes)
Five categories with five elements each should yield how many possibilities? Of course, the voice is only one element of puppetry. Combined with other elements, the possibilities are endless...