926608

research-article2020
GMTXXX10.1177/1048371320926608General Music TodayBernard and Cayari

Article
General Music Today

Encouraging Participatory Music 2020, Vol. 34(1) 29­–36

© National Association for
Music Education 2020
Making Through Differentiation DOI: 10.1177/1048371320926608
https://doi.org/10.1177/1048371320926608
journals.sagepub.com/home/gmt

on the Ukulele

Cara Faith Bernard1 and Christopher Cayari2

Abstract
Students come to the music classroom with varying degrees of skill, interest, and comfort toward making music,
yet educators must consider how to meet the needs of all students regardless of ability. Using differentiation as a
framework, we examine how participatory music making (PMM) might meet these needs. We offer strategies for
implementing PMM using ukulele in various types of music classrooms, including differentiating music making for
participation, extending participation through performance, and mediating participation through technologies. We
extend PMM strategies to the K–3 music classroom using a variety of instruments and songs. These strategies can be
used to differentiate music making, giving students options that encourage comfortable interactions with music and
ensuring all students experience success in all skill levels. The meaningful music experiences made possible through
PMM may inspire students to engage in autonomous music making outside of the classroom and beyond their K–12
education.

Keywords
differentiation, participatory music making, pedagogy, ukulele

Introduction music, much like the concert goers of a Queen concert;

In Bohemian Rhapsody (Beach & Singer, 2018), the 2018
blockbuster that portrayed the story of the British rock
band Queen, guitarist Brian May proposed a novel idea.
He said,
Remember our last concert? The crowd was singing our
songs back to us. It was deafening, but it was wonderful.
They’re becoming a part of our show. I want to encourage
that. So I’ve got an idea to involve them a little bit more.
Let’s start with this.
May proceeded to get his bandmates and others around
them to stomp on beats one and two while clapping on
beat three. He explained, “I want to give the audience a
song they can perform. Let them be part of the band.
Imagine a thousand people doing this in unison.” The
film cuts to a concert scene at Madison Square Garden
with a sold-out crowd participating in the stomps and
claps accompanying the rock anthem We Will Rock You.
Like May’s goal to include the crowd in Queen’s music,
we imagine what it might look like making music in a
classroom where all students—regardless of skill level—
are joyfully participating in song.
Students come to the music classroom with varying
degrees of skill, interest, and comfort toward making
yet, educators are tasked with the challenge of how to
meet the needs of all students regardless of skill level. In
this article, we examine how participatory music making
(PMM) might be employed in the music classroom to
meet these needs. First, we provide background on dif-
ferentiated instruction and its benefits in the classroom.
Then, we describe characteristics of PMM and illustrate
how it neatly connects with differentiation and discuss
how the ukulele has been used as a common approach to
music education in today’s society. Next, we provide
strategies on how to implement a differentiated learning
approach with ukulele to encourage PMM. These strate-
gies include differentiating music making for participa-
tion, extending participation through performance, and
mediating participation through technologies. Finally, we
offer strategies for extending PMM beyond the ukulele
into the early elementary general music grades.
1
University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA‬‬
2
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN‬, USA‬
Corresponding Author:
Cara Faith Bernard, Neag School of Education, University of
Connecticut, 249 Glenbrook Road, Unit 3033‬, Storrs, CT 06269‬,
USA.‬‬
Email: cara.bernard@uconn.edu
30 General Music Today 34(1)
Meeting the Needs of All Students
Through Differentiation
Meeting the needs of all students is a common goal for
teachers in music classrooms. However, music educators
face the challenge of meeting students’ needs as they
come to the music classroom with an array of music
backgrounds and experiences, influenced not only by
their school-based learning but also factors from outside
of school. One way to meet student needs is through ped-
agogical differentiation, particularly within classrooms
that contain a diversely skilled population. Tomlinson
et al. (2003) describe differentiation as the way educators
“proactively modify curricula, teaching methods,
resources, learning activities, and student products to
address the diverse needs of individual students and small
groups of students to maximize the learning opportunity
for each student in a classroom” (p. 121). We suggest dif-
ferentiation is a consistent examination of teaching strate-
gies that require modifying and adapting approaches for
learning; these approaches allow for learning opportuni-
ties that set up all students for success. Therefore, it is
important that every student has the resources and oppor-
tunities to be successful (Wormeli, 2006). Teaching all
students in the same way or adopting a “one-size-fits all”
approach will not effectively reach everyone.
Findings from a research study of 646 students in
Grades 3 to 8 who identified as gifted and nongifted stu-
dents described that students prefer differentiated class-
rooms and instruction over traditional lecture-based
instruction (Kanevsky, 2011). These findings might infer
that differentiated teaching helped more students achieve
success in learning; moving at a comfortable pace helped
them enhance their individualized learning. Wormeli, a
differentiation researcher and educator, argues that dif-
ferentiation is “fair for students” as it gives them the nec-
essary tools and support to assure learning and growth.
In this sense, differentiation is about helping each stu-
dent be successful. This is achieved through opportuni-
ties the teacher provides for all students and not just
preparing for those students who grasp the task, concept,
or technique quickly. Wormeli might suggest that a fair-
ness approach might require music teachers to develop
different activities for students depending on their ability
“in order for them to learn when the general classroom
approach does not meet students’ needs” (p. 3). However,
Wormeli warns, differentiation is “not individualized
instruction, though that may happen from time to time as
warranted. It’s whatever works to advance the students.
It’s highly effective teaching” (p. 3). While differentia-
tion may include some individual work, in reality, there
is not enough time to provide individualized instruction
all the time in most music classrooms. We will discuss
approaches that allow for individual practice and small
group work below.
Differentiating for diverse student abilities might
include creating learning opportunities that vary in group
size or allowing students to choose modifications that
could lead to their individual and group success. However,
it can be challenging for music educators to approach dif-
ferentiation with large class sizes. PMM is one way edu-
cators might address this challenge.
Participatory Music Making: Music as Social
Practice for All
Participatory music making, a term coined by Thomas
Turino (2008), characterizes activities that take place
when people actively engage in a music interaction, and
his concept emphasizes music making as predominantly
social in nature. All music experiences, according to
Turino, are situated in social practice. Turino identifies
four fields of music activity: (a) participatory, (b) presen-
tational, (c) studio audio art, and (d) high fidelity record-
ings. He insists each field is “rooted in a particular
mindset that influences music making and reception”
(p. 97) and defined “by its own frame of interpretation,
values, responsibilities, practices, sound features, and
distinct conceptions of what music is” (p. 21). Each
activity displays a unique modality and level of involve-
ment for one to experience music. We focus in this arti-
cle on PMM as a starting point to encourage students to
participate as active music makers.
PMM is exemplified in the Queen example above and
also includes activities that take place when people
actively engage in a music interaction. This engagement
can be commonly conceived music making like playing
an instrument, chanting, or singing as well as physical
displays like dancing, toe tapping, or nodding one’s head
to the beat. Examples of PMM include singing a song
around a campfire, participating in a hip-hop cypher,
contradancing at a community event, singing national
anthems (or perhaps mumbling) at the Olympics, singing
the traditional Happy Birthday, or doing hand motions to
a children’s song like Itsy Bitsy Spider. Overarching
social interactions drive music experiences, and PMM
blurs the distinction between audience and performer
because of its interactive nature. Participants are not nec-
essarily professionals and might identify as amateurs or
simply audience members. However, PMM describes a
phenomenon in which people at any skill level partake in
music.
If PMM were to be incorporated into a classroom, par-
ticipation may occur at any level of skill from keeping a
beat with an egg shaker—whether steady or erratic—to
improvising a solo during a 16-bar break of a song. Music
characteristics that lend to PMM include songs and pieces
of music that are cyclical with high degrees of repetition,
distinct forms, and melodic or rhythmic motives that are
Bernard and Cayari 31
created in the moment. More nuanced elements of music
such as dynamics and articulations are not usually
planned. Often, individual parts and music lines are indis-
tinguishable from the sonic collective. Likewise, impro-
visation, when it occurs, blends into the overall sound.
Incorporating these characteristics into a PMM music
making experience facilitates interactions that encourage
a “balance of challenge and acquired skills,” characteris-
tics Turino (2009) suggests are a highlight of these
socially musical exchanges (p. 99). These qualities of
PMM lend themselves well to differentiation, and music
teachers should purposefully consider these qualities to
develop diverse learning experiences through a variety of
repertoire and instruments.
The presentational performance field discussed by
Turino offers additional music opportunities that lend
themselves to music performance and the classroom. The
presentational field draws a divide between performer and
audience. Experiences common in this field often occur
at symphony centers, concert halls, and theatres.
Pedagogically and professionally, then, the focus is the
“preparation of music for interest of others,” where the
audience takes a passive role in music experiences (Turino,
2009, p. 90). Presentational music, in contrast to PMM, is
often well-rehearsed with value placed on precision of
timing, tuning, dynamics, and articulation. Music teachers
are well-versed in and often comfortable within the pre-
sentational field, especially in the form of large ensemble-
based programs prevalent in the current music education
landscape. However, this field favors particular ways of
learning over others and can act as a barrier of entry to
music making as students are pressured to have a certain
level of music ability to feel successful. While we do not
focus exclusively on this music field, we return to it later
in conjunction with PMM to provide strategies for refo-
cusing the traditional school music performance setting.
Ukulele in the Music Classroom
When students engage in PMM, they have multiple
opportunities to make music in comfortable and accessi-
ble ways. Ukulele, an instrument that has experienced a
resurgence of popularity in both popular culture and
school music, lends itself to PMM because of its acces-
sibility and affordability (Fox, 2014; Giebelhausen, 2016;
Greenberg, 1992; Kruse, 2013, 2018). There has been
research on ukulele and PMM in community and univer-
sity settings. Giebelhausen and Kruse (2018) incorpo-
rated PMM through playing ukulele in a community
group. Playing ukulele allowed people in the community
to enjoy social relationships and celebrate learning, even
when a technique or the task was difficult. Participants
reported that technique was not as important as the fun,
enjoyment, and socialization experienced through
playing as a group. Thibeault and Evoy (2011) extended
the PMM of university students in the community, and
Thibeault (2015) also developed a partnership between
university and elementary students, using PMM tech-
niques to perform. Community groups have also proved
to be helpful collaborators in classroom settings as uku-
lele may be performed with the community singing and
playing together, or as a way to “reach[ing] out to the
community” (Thibeault & Evoy, 2011, p. 47).
Seen as an easily accessible instrument for the school
general music setting, ukulele might provide potential for
group cohesiveness (Greenberg, 1992), or what Kruse
(2013) describes as ‘ohana. As students learn to play uku-
lele, it is recommended that they learn to sing and play
simultaneously (Giebelhausen, 2016). There are many
resources available online to help music teachers begin a
school ukulele program; however, these strategies are
often skill based and offer a hierarchy of how-tos that
might favor particular teaching strategies geared toward
more high-level students over more fair ones for all stu-
dents. Kruse (2018) warns that because of its accessibility
and ease to begin music making in the classroom, ukulele
might be used without consideration of its background
and the community and cultural aspects related to its his-
tory and use: “If the ‘ukulele’s popularity in schools and
communities persists, it is imperative that a comprehen-
sive appreciation accompanies its use”(p. 613). Music
teachers must carefully consider the ways in which they
use ukulele, PMM, and differentiated strategies with their
students.
Strategies for Implementing Participatory
Music Making Pedagogies in the Music
Classroom
If PMM is a process to encourage all students to feel com-
fortable experiencing and making music both individually
and as a group, how might music teachers provide tools to
support students in the music classroom with students
who have varying levels of skill? PMM allows all students
to move from the periphery of the music in a classroom to
become an active participant in a music community.
Differentiating music making through PMM is a pedagog-
ical starting point that encourages students to make music
whether they are new to singing and playing or have been
in music ensembles, courses, and lessons for years. These
activities can extend participation through presentation
within the classroom and beyond into live, staged music
events in the community. And, teachers can mediate par-
ticipation through technologies by using recordings that
can take on both presentational and participatory aspects.
Below we describe how music teachers might use ukule-
les to implement PMM in each of these categories. This is
also summarized in Table 1, which includes possible
32 General Music Today 34(1)

Table 1.  Characteristics, Challenges, and Ways to Share Music With Others in Participatory Music Making.

Differentiating music making Extending participation through Mediating participation through

for participation
Characteristics Entry point to taking on
more active roles in music
making
Allows students to be
comfortable making music
through doing different
actions and options
Music used is often familiar
to students
Challenges or Challenges the expectation
drawbacks that everyone should learn
and perform the same way
may (standardization)
Students might try to
emulate recordings of
songs instead of putting
their own take on it
Ways to share Visitors to the classroom
with others can join in because of
differentiated music
making options
performance
Challenges the concept of audience
as sole receivers of a performance
and embraces the audience as
participants
Can be student-led or organized
with student input. Invites a sense
of community rather than a “high-
stakes” performance
Parallels the differentiated classroom
and invites space for different
performer levels and skills
Performances have elements of
including audiences, which can
include aspects of learning for both
students and community
Challenges the expectation that
ensembles should have a certain
look concerning attire, logistics,
and performance space
Performance anxiety may make it
hard for music makers to be in
front of others
Music making can be done at private
spaces like classrooms or in public
spaces like stages
technologies
Technology is used to create music
through recording and editing
Music making could be able to
be performed live as originally
conceived by the creator
Music making is differentiated
through creating recordings, which
build off of existing music skills
and moves toward more complex
material
Challenges the expectation that
music making is only for live
settings
Technological difficulties can slow
down or confound the creative
process
Access to software, hardware, and
knowledge can be expensive and
are not always available
Recordings can be used to show off
music making beyond classroom
and stage into digital spaces with
caretakers’ permission
Recordings can be shared at
concerts or public events

challenges or drawbacks to these strategies and venues for
sharing music with others. Then, we explore how PMM
could be applied beyond ukulele to younger elementary
grades.
Differentiating Music Making for Participation
As Turino describes, in PMM the social connections
between people are paramount for sharing music experi-
ences with one’s community. Music teachers naturally
include elements of PMM in their classrooms through
singing games, movement activities, or improvisatory
activities. Through PMM, music teachers may carefully
employ differentiated music experiences, allowing all
students an opportunity to participate in music making in
an active and personally meaningful role.
Considering a Grade 6 general music classroom that
has access to ukuleles, we offer suggestions on how to
differentiate teaching a three-chord popular song. Songs
that use simple chords like C, F, and G could be used to
introduce the instrument to students. Song examples
might include The Lion Sleeps Tonight by Linda and
Peretti or Lean on Me by Bill Withers. Differentiation
could include the following sequence: students begin by
strumming on C just on the downbeat, playing what we
call “the Rockstar.” This move was inspired by Dewey
Finn, Jack Black’s character in School of Rock (Rudin &
Linklater, 2003), when he inspired his student, Zack, to
embody the spirit of Rock and Roll. Finn directed his stu-
dent to adopt a strong-footed stance and strum down-
ward, letting the chord ring as he circled his arm around
at the shoulder and nodded his head with gravitas.
Students then move back and forth from C to F, playing
the Rockstar. Students are then encouraged to strum on
the first two beats of the measure for each chord, allowing
the second two beats of each measure to transition to the
next chord; however, students should be allowed to con-
tinue playing the Rockstar if that is how they want to par-
ticipate. When adding new chords, educators are
encouraged to explore with students the various ways to
switch between chords. For example, G major requires
fingers to be placed on three strings. While the two songs
above in this paragraph require students to go from C to
G, some students might find moving from F to G easier.
Bernard and Cayari 33
Figure 1.  Differentiated strumming options and how they line up.
Note. The simplified and challenge lines each contain four examples of various differentiation options. Rather than reading it as written, allow
students to play one measure as an ostinato, changing chords at the appropriate time.
After adding the G with a similar approach, students are
allowed to choose their level of differentiation. If stu-
dents want to continue to play at one of those levels, they
may; however, they are challenged to strum four quarter
notes on each chord.
An invitation to improvise new strumming patterns
with eighth notes or add riffs can be given in subsequent
lessons. The various options lead to fluidity in difficulty
and authentic music choices for each individual. Students
can vacillate by feeling comfortable playing the Rockstar
for one section of a piece and challenging themselves
with a complex syncopated rhythm in another. Some
might play and sing simultaneously, while others might
have to separate these actions (see Figure 1 for examples
of how various strums fit together).
As students choose their own level of participation, we
encourage music teachers to continuously check in,
encouraging students to acknowledge they are playing
something that is comfortable for them while simultane-
ously challenging them to look ahead to attempt more
complex skills. One approach to differentiation has been
referred to as whole-group-whole (Tomlinson et al., 2003;
Wormeli, 2006). Using ukulele, students play together as
a large group in whatever way they are comfortable; then,
they work on a skill they want to improve by themselves
or in small groups to practice and learn things like a new
chord, strumming pattern, or multitasking by simultane-
ously singing and playing. These breakouts can be as
quick as 15 seconds or last a few minutes. Then, students
come back as a collective to make music together.
Learning different types of strums and songs allow stu-
dents to become comfortable with music practices while
fully participating in social music making regardless of
what level or playing or singing ability they possess.
Extending Participation Through Performance
Music educators are familiar with the idea of presenta-
tional performance as a way to celebrate student accom-
plishments at a concert. Often, teachers spend hours
preparing with their students by rehearsing a song, setting
a program, and performing it for an audience. However,
PMM invites all present to join the music making. We
suggest that a PMM public event—the equivalent to a
concert—could be based around the sharing of the music
in which students have participated during their time in
class. This type of sharing expands the concept of an
audience that is solely receivers of a performance and
embraces the audience as participants, just like the open-
ing example of May’s desire to let the audience be honor-
ary members of Queen. These events lean toward a
participatory structure for those who show up to support
the students as they stomp, clap, sing along, or even
dance. These PMM events invite and welcome the audi-
ence into a music process, sharing background and learn-
ing in attainable ways that intentionally blur the line
between student and audience.
Preconceived notions about space, sound, and attire are
challenged through PMM. However, a participatory event
need not occur on a stage. Music teachers might hold the
event in the music classroom, cafeteria, or all-purpose
room instead of the auditorium to alleviate performance
anxiety and welcome a community feeling. This can be
done by allowing students to wear casual attire, rather
34 General Music Today 34(1)
than traditional concert black and white. Regardless of
setting or concert attire, most important, the event breaks
down the wall between audience and performer.
Using ukulele in these instances incorporates both par-
ticipatory and performance elements together in an inter-
active event. It is important to recall, not every student
needs to participate in the same way through PMM. For
example, students might differentiate their strums within
these events, similar to the ways they learn in class, as
described in the section above. Incorporating the differ-
entiation into the shared performance allows all students
to participate in a way they can feel positive and confi-
dent sharing their music.
Likewise, participatory events can be student-led and
can incorporate aspects of both PMM and traditional
performance. Students might invite friends from other
classes, faculty, or community members to join them.
The invitation could even extend to neighboring schools
or music making groups. Students can invite participants
to bring ukuleles or any percussion instruments and pro-
vide additional instruments to borrow. Music teachers
should guide students to develop a program that actively
involves audiences and showcases accomplishments.
For example, students might create song form charts;
this requires them to consider how to introduce the songs
and what chords are most accessible for people with dif-
ferent skills. Predetermined rhythmic patterns or ostinati
can provide a foundation for the audience participants.
Projecting song lyrics and chords can further aid in the
participation of all present at shared performances.
Returning back to Queen’s goal of including the audi-
ence as part of the band, we have developed some strate-
gies to include concert goers into the PMM of our
students. Participatory activities include, but are not lim-
ited to: have audiences keep the beat or clap and stomp on
beats two and four; have audiences snap when they hear
a sonic clue like a chord change or a certain word; or
teach the audience the root notes of the chord progression
and have them sing the solfège. A favorite of the authors
is having the audience sing do–fa–do–sol. After they sing
the progression, we have the audience sing “a wimoweh,
a wimoweh” as the students sing, “In the jungle, the
mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight” from The Lion
Sleeps Tonight.
Music teachers may provide hand percussion instru-
ments to select members in the audience to play ostinati
that provide accompaniment to the songs played and
sung. Teaching audiences ostinati is a great way to help
them feel involved. Likewise, music teachers may allow
audiences to move and dance, moving away from orches-
tra hall seating, hearkening back to the early days of
opera, where people would feel free to laugh, jump, and
mimic the musicians’ actions. Finally, motions can be cre-
ated for songs such as Lean On Me1, a popular song that
has a long tradition in churches, camps, and other social
groups, and children’s songs such as Itsy Bitsy Spider.
Adults in the audience get to revisit their childhood, while
students get to see adults participating in music, which
will hopefully encourage their future involvement in
music programs.
Mediating Participation Through Technologies
While live music making is usually the primary experi-
ence prevalent in curricula, PMM can be applied to tech-
nological and recording practices. This can be done by
asking students to submit a video recording of themselves
playing a song they worked on in class. Music teachers
can provide PMM experiences every class period by
singing through students’ favorite songs, allowing them
to choose their level of difficulty by being a Rockstar,
playing steady beats, playing an agreed on strum, or
improvising their own rhythm on the ukulele. Then, the
teacher can show an instruction video to announce a par-
ticipatory recording assignment.2 In the video example,
students are challenged to play the chords to a song; we
used Viva la Vida by Coldplay. To stay true to PMM, stu-
dents were suggested to try recording one or more of
three predetermined strum, each similar to the ones in
Figure 1. Of course, they could also improvise strumming
as an option. These options exemplify how students are
able to choose their level of difficulty and creativity, thus
differentiating this activity. Videos were created so stu-
dents could play along with the teacher or a click track to
help them complete their recordings. After recording, stu-
dents submitted their video to be edited, mixed, and mas-
tered the same way Eric Whitacre compiled his virtual
choirs (Armstrong, 2012). As we show in our example,
each video can be compiled to create a virtual ensemble
of ukuleleists. In our example, students did not even live
in the same state!3 This example shows how PMM con-
cepts can facilitate music making that is extended to and
mediated through technologies and recording (Cayari,
2019).
Moving Beyond Ukulele: Extensions for
Younger Students
We have used the above examples with upper elementary
school students through collegiate and adult learners.
However, for music educators in a younger elementary
setting who do not find ukulele playing advantageous, the
same approach can be used to incorporate PMM with less
complex instruments. While each of the activities we
have suggested are not novel in the sense that most music
educators have done many of these in the past, it is impor-
tant to consider how PMM through differentiation could
play into an educational experience. Music teachers
Bernard and Cayari 35
should choose the skills they would like their students to
work on and allow students to diverge individually from
one another. Again, not every student needs to be playing
and singing the same thing, but each student should be
encouraged to be involved in the experience by playing,
singing, moving, and interacting with others as the class
joins together in song.
Consider the French folk song Au Clair de la Lune, a
three-note melody that is attainable to sing for most chil-
dren. Some students might comfortably hum. If they do
not want to attempt the French or sing the melody on the
text, they could sing on a neutral syllable. Students who
excel at singing might add harmony using simple coun-
terpoint or sing long tones on a vowel, creating a chord.
Or, instead of playing chords, additional harmonic sup-
port could be offered by having students play single notes
or chords on pitched mallet percussion, Boomwhackers,
iPads, or autoharps using a similar approach to the strum-
ming discussed above in Figure 1.
Nonpitched and percussion instruments may also be
incorporated by playing whole notes on the guiro (done by
slowly scraping across the guiro, which allows for a whole
note to be played), demonstrating a steady beat with a
variety of bells (e.g., cowbell, glockenspiel, temple bells),
playing a syncopated pattern on claves, or improvising a
rhythm on the woodblock. These techniques could be
done with body percussion if instruments are not avail-
able. Students might demonstrate the legato phrase of the
melody in their bodies through dance. Students could
incorporate movement by swaying or moving arms to
show phrases, while others might put the rhythm in their
feet as they march about the room. Students in a K–3 set-
ting could share their interpretations of Au Clair de la
Lune in a participatory event for their school community
while also inviting audiences to join in on the experience.
Toward Participatory Music Making
for All Students
Opportunities for students to be autonomous and social in
their music making are at the center of PMM. The afore-
mentioned strategies encourage students to use their
music and technological skills at whatever skill level they
possess to create, make, and participate in meaningful
music experiences. The application of PMM can be
applied to various live music settings and extended to
digital realms through sound recording and editing. The
teacher’s responsibility lies in differentiating learning
experiences, which affords for diverse tasks that student
can learn, choose, and then practice.
Remembering Wormeli’s (2006) quote from the open-
ing, “It’s whatever works to advance the students,” we
encourage music educators to consider how differentia-
tion and PMM might fit in their classroom (p. 3). Music
educators can leverage autonomy and choice to encourage
students to start at a comfortable level and eventually add
skills that help them progress to more advanced levels of
music making. Ultimately, PMM can help teachers to bet-
ter differentiate music making, by giving students options
of how to comfortably participate with low pressure and
high autonomy, ensuring that all students regardless of
skill level experience success. The meaningful music
experiences students have through PMM can set the
stage for students to make music apart from the class-
room and beyond their K–12 music experience.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with
respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this
article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.
ORCID iD
Cara Faith Bernard https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8899-0170
Notes
1. For a recording of what this could look like, see https://
youtu.be/HiYDYQQAvz0
2. The instruction video for Viva la Vida ukulele assessment
is available at https://youtu.be/VxOMjiFAsyo
3. The final version of Viva la Vida performed https://youtu.
be/3iK2I26DdlI
References
Armstrong, M. (2012). Musicking in cyberspace: Creating
music and fostering global community through a virtual
choir [Master’s thesis, Tufts University]. https://dl.tufts.
edu/concern/pdfs/6w924p92r
Beach, J. (Producer) Singer, B. (Director). (2018). Bohemian
Rhapsody [Motion picture]. 20th Century Fox.
Cayari, C. (2019). Facilitating music video projects in the
classroom: From YouTube to musical playground. In Z.
Moir, B. Powell & G. D. Smith (Eds.), The Bloomsbury
handbook of popular music education: Perspectives
and practices (pp. 219–226). Bloomsbury. https://doi.
org/10.5040/9781350049444.ch-016
Fox, C. (2014). Choose your uke and teach it, too: A guide
to the ukulele in the general music classroom. Michigan
Music Educator, 52(1), 13–15.
Giebelhausen, R. (2016). “So, you’re thinking about starting
a ukulele program?” General Music Today, 29(3), 38–41.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1048371315625294
Giebelhausen, R., & Kruse, A. J. (2018). “A smile on every-
body’s face”: A multiple case study of community ukulele
groups. International Journal of Music Education, 36(3),
347–365. https://doi.org/10.1177/0255761417744371
36 General Music Today 34(1)
Greenberg, M. (1992). Ukuleles in the classroom. Music
Educators Journal, 79(3), 43–48. https://doi.org/10.2307
/3398483
Kanevsky, L. (2011). Deferential differentiation: What
types of differentiation do students want? Gifted Child
Quarterly, 55(4), 279–299. https://doi.org/10.1177/0016
986211422098
Kruse, N. B. (2013). “Without u, it’s just kulele”: Expressions
of leisure and ‘ohana in an intergenerational ukulele club.
International Journal of Community Music, 6(2), 153–167.
https://doi.org/10.1386/ijcm.6.2.153_1
Kruse, N. B. (2018). The jumping flea diaspora: An ethno-
graphic exploration of music and culture in a Hawaiian
‘ukulele club. Music Education Research, 20(5), 603–615.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2018.1516745
Rudin, S. (Producer) Linklater, R. (Director). (2003). School of
Rock [Motion picture]. Paramount Pictures.
Thibeault, M. D. (2015). Music education for all through par-
ticipatory ensembles. Music Educators Journal, 102(2),
54–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432115610170
Thibeault, M. D., & Evoy, J. (2011). Building your own musical
community: How YouTube, Miley Cyrus, and the ukulele
can create a new kind of ensemble. General Music Today,
24(3), 44–52. https://doi.org/10.1177/1048371310397348
Tomlinson, C. A., Brighton, C., Hertberg, H., Callahan, C. M.,
Moon, T. R., Brimijoin, K., Conover, L. A., & Reynolds,
T. (2003). Differentiating instruction in response to student
readiness, interest, and learning profile in academically
diverse classrooms: A review of literature. Journal for
the Education of the Gifted, 27(2/3), 119–145. https://doi.
org/10.1177/016235320302700203
Turino, T. (2008). Music as social life: The politics of participa-
tion. University of Chicago Press.
Turino, T. (2009). Four fields of music making and sustainable
living. The World of Music, 51(1), 95–117.
Wormeli, R. (2006). Fair isn’t always equal: Assessing and
grading in the differentiated classroom. Stenhouse.
Author Biographies
Cara Faith Bernard is Assistant Clinical Professor of Music
Education at the University of Connecticut in the Neag School
of Education, where she teaches courses in choral and elemen-
tary methods, curriculum, and supervises student teaching. Cara
serves on the editorial committees of Music Educators Journal
and Visions of Research in Music Education. She is co-author
of the book Navigating Teacher Evaluation: A Guide for Music
Teachers, published by Oxford University Press.
Christopher Cayari is an assistant professor of music education
at Purdue University. Christopher’s research focuses on mediated
musical performance, YouTube, informal music learning, virtual
communities, video games, and online identity. His research
received the Outstanding Dissertation Award 2015 from the
Council of Research in Music Education and has recently appeared
in International Journal of Education and the Arts, International
Journal of Music Education, Oxford Handbooks, Bloomsbury
Handbooks, Music Education Research, Tech Trends, General
Music Today, and the International Journal of Community Music.