Demetrius Cassaway- Philosophy

Music is one of the most human things that we use to express ourselves. From being a

part of our cultures by heritage, community, or self exposure, we surround ourselves with music.

As such, music education should be an outlet for student expression through a classical format

and/or other form. This can be done through expanding music course offerings beyond classical

performing ensembles in the public school forum.

The average student is not listening to classical music like they are modern genres of

music. Very rarely will a student come into the classroom listening to a symphony. Instead they

are listening to music like Laufey’s modern jazz albums, or Bad Bunny’s reggaeton. It is sad to

say that most classical music is too outdated for many students, but this gives the opportunity to

broaden course offerings to include these different genres of music so that students are actually

intrigued to learn how to make similar music, or in some cases how to help produce or compose

using music technologies.

In a popular music/ modern band ensemble, students are able to have input in what they

perform and learn about. This could lead into learning arranging techniques, modern performing

styles, and producing cultural diversity in the classroom. No two students will have the same

interests which can broaden the classroom’s collective cultural knowledge of their own

community. As stated by Lily Chen-Haftek and Frank Heuser, “Teaching popular music can

contribute to culturally responsive pedagogical practices in music.” While in these kinds of

ensembles, students are learning different styles, the teacher is also benefiting by being

exposed to each student’s own cultural background. Whether the piece a student picks is from

their family, friends, or just overheard one day, we are able to stay current and aware of the

going ons in our students’ community, in a sense. In a way, having pop music in the classroom

is a way to keep music education relevant and exciting for students.

Going back to the idea of learning popular music, it is a wonderful way to introduce a

number of different kinds of music technology courses that can range from production to

composition. As found by researchers Peter Dunbar-Hall and Kathryn Wemyss, “...popular

Demetrius Cassaway- Philosophy

music in schools encourages individualized learning and adds dimensions of music technology,

musical sound production, and music creation to the curriculum.” Not every student is going to

want to perform and that is a fact that seems to not be acknowledged enough. There is much

more that goes into music than just the performance, there are whole other worlds of production

information that might appeal to the tech-savvy student sitting in math class who turned away

from music just because they did not want to play the violin or flute. A study done by Dave

Williams in 2012 showed that music education is reaching on average 20 percent of student

bodies, a shortcoming that we as music educators can help rectify. To reach the other 80

percent educators can be implementing non performance based music classes, where students

can learn the technical skills of setting up a studio for recording. Or offer a class in which

students can learn the basic level of composition so that they might write the next big hit. We as

educators cannot keep offering the same exact education because we are neglecting so many

students on the secondary level.

Music is a fundamental force in society and its learning should be adapted to suit

modern students and it is our job as musician educators to offer students the best experience

with music as we can. We should be having more diverse course offerings for students to

choose from that are not solely performance based and instead have some more focus on using

popular/diverse music to promote production, composition, and arranging. By introducing

popular music and letting it influence the creation of other courses, music learning can become

so much more attractive to many more students, much more than just 20 percent. No longer

should this kind of learning be kept for a post secondary education.

Demetrius Cassaway- Philosophy

Sources

Chen-Hafteck, Lily, and Frank Heuser. “Coming of age.” Maize Books, 2017,
https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9470277.

Dunbar-Hall, Peter, and Kathryn Wemyss. “The effects of the study of

popular music on music education.” International Journal of Music
Education, 36 (2000): 23–34.

Williams, David Brian, and Rick Dammers. “If We Build It They Will Come: Using Music

Technology to Reach ‘the Other 80%’ of Secondary Schools.” Bluegrass Music News, 4

Mar. 2014.