When students are asked a question with one specific answer, they must think convergently. When children are performing a piece, they have to play the correct pitches and rhythms written on the page, which is also convergent thinking. Creative thinking is divergent thinking. Divergent thinking is when there are many possible answers. For example, a child could be asked to find different as many different sounds as possible that they can make with a drum. Webster's theory of creative thinking outlines three qualities of divergent thinking:
- Musical extensiveness- how many ideas are generated
- Flexibility- the ease of shifting within parameters such as high and low or loud and soft
- Originality- how unique the musical ideas are
The goal of the teacher should be to facilitate the development of these various skills and understandings.
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