A music literacy-based rationale for popular music ensembles and experiences in music education

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 470-491
Author(s):  
Brittany Nixon May ◽  
Paul Broomhead ◽  
Samuel Tsugawa
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Literacy Development ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Music Literacy ◽  
Music Ensembles ◽  
Definition Of

The purpose of this article is to utilize new conceptions of music literacy to support and encourage popular music experiences in music education. A new definition of music literacy is presented and authentic popular music resources that function as (newly defined) texts to develop music literacy are identified and discussed. Finally, considerations will be given for music educators on how to select and utilize popular music texts to engage students in meaningful music interactions that promote music literacy development.

scholarly journals General Music Today Music Ideas Series: Viewpoints in Secondary General Music—Article Two: Power Trio: Three Ideas for Renewed Success With Classroom Ensembles

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-14
Author(s):  
Virginia Wayman Davis ◽  
Laura Singletary ◽  
Kimberly VanWeelden
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
Upper Elementary ◽  
Elementary Music ◽  
General Music ◽  
Music Classroom ◽  
Music Ensembles ◽  
Music Class ◽  
Instrumental Ensembles

In this second of three in the series, we explore methods for incorporating instrumental ensembles into your music classroom. Experiences such as performing on ukulele, bucket drums, and in modern popular music ensembles are excellent ways to provide meaningful, relevant music education to students of all ages. Using both research-based information and practical experience, we will discuss ideas for three common instrumental ensembles. The techniques and resources provided in this article are starting points, appropriate for various levels and configurations of music classes: upper elementary music classes, secondary general music classes, afterschool or extracurricular music groups, or for teachers seeking to start an alternative ensemble or rebrand an existing nonperformance music class.

scholarly journals Mapping visions of improvisation pedagogy in music education research

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-139
Author(s):  
Eeva Siljamäki ◽  
Panagiotis A. Kanellopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Education Research ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Learning Tool ◽  
Musical Improvisation ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Improvisation Pedagogy

This systematic literature review aims to identify and critically examine the prevailing general trends of music education research that addresses issues of improvisation from 1985 to 2015. The study examined the main features of studies with impact that focus on musical improvisation and have been published in peer-reviewed music education journals. Data were organised on the basis of the following: 1) General publication features; 2) Topic; 3) Methodological approach; 4) Participant features; 5) Type of improvisation; 6) Definition of improvisation; 7) Findings; 8) Suggestions for practice. The study also takes a close look at the construction of the discourses through which improvisation has been framed in the field of music education, providing insights on how such discourses create particular pedagogical visions of improvisation. To this end, we have created a map of the different visions of improvisation pedagogy that the studied works point towards. These visions have been clustered in the following five categories: (i) from rupture of certainties to creative problematisation; (ii) return to the “natural” beginning—in search of humanness; (iii) improvisation as a learning tool; (iv) conserving and enlivening traditions; (v) improvisation as an impetus for creativity. The map proposed in this study is meant as a possible representation of the general trends that underpin music education research focusing on improvisation. This map can also be seen as a “tool” through which music educators can situate their practice and reflect on their particular ways of working with improvisation, possibly envisioning alternative ways forward.

The Application of a Critical Sociology to Music Education

1984 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 247-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Vulliamy ◽  
John Shepherd
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Music Teaching ◽  
Critical Sociology ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
Sociology Of Music ◽  
Musical Notation ◽  
Musical Traditions

The aim of this article is to explore some important issues which music educators have raised concerning our work on the use of popular music in teaching and concerning the sociology of music thesis that underpins this work. Following a brief résumé of our perspective, we shall address four criticisms that have been made fairly generally by a number of reviewers of Whose Music? (Shepherd et al. 1977), and of the Cambridge University Press books (Vulliamy & Lee, 1976, 1982a) and the Routledge Popular Music Series (Vulliamy & Lee, 1982b). These criticisms are, first, that we hold an over-socially determined view of music; secondly that we have overstressed the qualitative differences between various musical traditions, especially in their differing relationships to analytic musical notation; third, that the culturally relative view of music which we espouse is both suspect theoretically and potentially anti-educational in practice; and, finally, that many of our suggestions for a reform of music teaching are impractical. Our hope is that we can dispel some ambiguities in our earlier work concerning these important but complex issues and thus leave music educators in a better position to appraise the relevance of our thesis.

The effect of participation in a popular band program on students’ musical and extra-musical outcomes in Korea

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 370-382
Author(s):  
Joo Yeon Jung ◽  
Jihae Shin ◽  
Soojin Lee
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Integrated Curriculum ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Music Curriculum ◽  
Bob Dylan ◽  
School Music ◽  
Mainstream School ◽  
Younger Generation

The increased attention to the use of popular music within the classroom is not new. In fact, music educators in many countries have discussed the incorporation of popular music into mainstream music education for decades. South Korea is no exception, and the younger generation has a genuine interest in and sensitivity toward popular music. Yet, South Korea has been slow to incorporate popular music into its mainstream school music curriculum. Recently, the popular band has been gaining its popularity as a new kind of ensemble program inside and outside the school in South Korea. Thus, the purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of a popular band program, the “Little Bob Dylan Band,” on students’ musical and extra-musical outcomes. Thirty-five students participated in the program, and, in this study, both students and their parents completed a survey and were individually interviewed. Results indicated that the program enabled students to have new and deepened musical experiences in their lives. In addition, students were able to develop artistic originality through an integrated curriculum that involved cooperation with peers while creating and playing music together.

Movement Intellectuals in Popular Music

2018 ◽  
pp. 286-304
Author(s):  
Robert John Razzante
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Media Literacy ◽  
Contemporary Literature ◽  
Music Literacy ◽  
Counter Narratives ◽  
Critical Media ◽  
Definition Of

Institutions of higher education continue to face the pressing values of neoliberalism. As such, colleges and universities seek to produce human capital. Critical media literacy offers one means of education to challenge neoliberal assumptions. However, current research lacks a conceptual understanding of how musical artists can serve as critical pedagogues through their music. The current chapter seeks to understand the role of movement intellectuals in popular music among educators. More specifically, this chapter proposes the following definition of a movement intellectual in popular music: an artist who observes, collects and disseminates warranted counter-narratives through the medium of their music. Ultimately, through exploring germinal and contemporary literature, this chapter attempts to offer a language for talking about critical music literacy as a means to challenge nihilism within the environment of a neoliberal higher education.

Popular music in preservice music education: Preparedness, confidence and implementation

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Hamilton ◽  
Jennifer Vannatta-Hall
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
The United States ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Music Teacher ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Training Programmes ◽  
K 12

This study examined popular music in preservice music teacher training programmes in the United States. The researchers explored types of courses and programmes offered in undergraduate music education programmes to prepare future music teachers to teach popular music. Quantitative data revealed trends in the inclusion of popular music within undergraduate music education programmes, determined music teacher educators’ perceptions of their students’ attitudes towards using popular music in the general music classroom, and examined the types of popular music pedagogy needed for preservice music educators. Qualitative data ascertained perceived confidence levels of graduates to utilize popular music. Results revealed that western classical music is the focus for the majority of music educators’ undergraduate degree programmes and that often music teacher preparation programmes ignore popular music study. Bridging the gap between western classical and popular music would help prepare teachers to include and value all types of music in K-12 music education.

Popular Music in Nigeria: Patronising Attitude or Benign Complacency?

1998 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Okafor
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
The Other ◽  
Main Thrust ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
Cultural Contact ◽  
City Life ◽  
The Media ◽  
Nigerian Government

The development of musicians and the continuity of the musical art should be the main thrust of music education. The institutions of education should therefore be equipped to mould the development of music in society and to make the strongest input into musical expressions that are fashionable, acceptable and available. Formal music education came to Nigeria by way of Western institutions, drawing from the cultural traditions of Western societies. On the other hand, the media and other agencies have brought in other types of music acceptable in Western societies outside their academic sectors. Musical and cultural contact has given birth to the contemporary popular music of Nigeria that integrates Nigerian and non-Nigerian elements. With the growth of city life, commerce, industry and communication, this music has grown in popularity, in some cases sweeping every other thing aside. The attendant ‘pop phenomenon’ also means that cultural intrusion from outside Nigeria has grown more menacing. Who controls the popular music in Nigeria today? This paper tries to answer this question and in addition presents some data on the prevailing perspectives in the hope that the Nigerian Government and all music educators should range plans and solutions against them.

The integration of music technology into popular music ensembles: Perspectives of modern band teachers

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 297-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan Powell
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Music Technology ◽  
Student Agency ◽  
Music Ensembles ◽  
School Music ◽  
K 12

The increased presence of technology into music education classrooms has coincided to some extent with the increased presence of popular music into school music spaces, especially in the United States. This study examined the integration of music technologies into K-12 (ages 5‐18) popular music programmes in New York City (NYC). One hundred sixty-eight music teachers responded to a survey, all of whom had previously participated in a modern band workshop as part of the Amp Up NYC initiative. Results of the study found that many of the challenges of incorporating music technology into modern bands, including lack of access to technology or faulty hardware, are not unique to popular music ensembles. Some of the successes mentioned by the teachers, including songwriting, beat-making and increased student agency, provide a glimpse into the benefits that integrating music technology into modern band classrooms can offer.

Perceptions and Preparedness: Preservice Music Educators and Popular Music Teaching Skills

2020 ◽  
pp. 875512332095794
Author(s):  
Rachel Sorenson
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Informal Learning ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Music Instruction ◽  
Comfort Level ◽  
Teaching Skills ◽  
Music Software ◽  
Learning Practices ◽  
Music Education Majors

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of undergraduate music education majors regarding the skills needed to teach popular music classes, and their comfort level with those skills. Preservice music educators ( N = 81) completed a researcher-designed questionnaire describing their previous experiences with popular music, their perceptions of necessary teaching skills for popular music instruction, their comfort level with those skills, and their overall feelings of preparedness to teach popular music. Respondents rated the teaching skills of ear training, piano/keyboard, and informal learning practices as most important. In addition, respondents indicated that they were most comfortable with the teaching skills of singing, music theory, and informal learning practices. In general, respondents felt moderately prepared to teach popular music, but many believed they were lacking important knowledge and skills, including proficiency on various instruments, understanding how to integrate popular music, and music software proficiency. Implications for music educators are discussed.

scholarly journals Popular Music Education: A Call to Action

2019 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-24
Author(s):  
Bryan Powell ◽  
Gareth Dylan Smith ◽  
Chad West ◽  
John Kratus
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Call To Action

This is the editors’ introduction to the Special Focus Issue on Popular Music Education. Also included is a forward from Robert A. Cutietta, editor of the 1991 Music Educators Journal Special Focus Issue on Popular Music Education.

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