Ashley's Blog
Tune in every Sunday for a new blog post.
09 | 15 | 17
Repositioning ‘The Elements’ : How Students Talk About Music
Leslie Stewart Rose
Jane Countryman
Rose, L. S., & Countryman, J. (2013). Repositioning ‘the elements’: How students talk about music. Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education 12(3): 45–64.
I found it extremely interesting that many teachers lack confidence in their teaching abilities and are too timid to explore new ways of teaching. In my opinion, teachers should be encouraging students to think differently and take risks and it was very intriguing for me to read that teachers are actually doing the opposite. Music is a form of expression and you would think that teachers would be encouraging students to be creative and unique rather than worrying about whether their students were living up to certain standards.
One quote that stood out to me is as follows;
“I’ve got to be careful of what I say to other teachers about what I’m doing in my teaching. I need to be careful not to go too far off the norm.”
This quote interested me as well as surprised and frustrated me. This is because, this teacher should not be educating kids if she has this mindset. Music is anything but a one way street and this teacher is boxing in her students and turning them into robots with this teaching style. She should be encouraging her students to stray from the norm and it is her lack of confidence which will ultimately hurt her students. Many young people find it very hard to express themselves and be themselves and by not straying from the norm, she won’t allow her students to truly be themselves and that is not an environment in which someone should be a part of, especially with music. This quote also frustrates me because clearly, not even teachers feel as if they can be honest with one another. This teacher is scared to talk about her teaching techniques to other teachers which completely blows my mind. Teachers and educators should be united. Music is already frowned upon by too many people and funding in schools continues to be cut, so educators should ban together rather than being too scared to even talk openly with one another. Music students need confident and creative teachers educating them, not self-conscious ones and it frustrates me that some students out there are being taught by a teacher with this kind of mindset. Teachers have an extremely significant impact on youth and the teaching style of this teacher may discourage many from continuing with music education. We should all be willing to learn from one another and this will never happen if teachers do not communicate honestly with each other.
Another part of this article that surprised me was when the statistic was presented that 5.7% of students enrol in grade 12 music while it is said that a favourite activity among teens is listening to music. Obviously the way that music is being taught in high schools is turning adolescents away from studying something that they actually like. I have experienced this throughout my high school experience, however I did not expect the enrolment statistic to be so low. Many of my friends enjoy music and enjoying singing but were reluctant to enrol in vocal music due to the fact that students were only successful if they had already had a high level of experience in this subject. The curriculum is very much designed for those that already have skill in music whereas it should be more inclusive to those that just want to explore music in a more relaxed manner. In my opinion, music classes should be more inviting to those that do not have background experience and should have an environment where no one is scared to take risks.
I would like to commend the authors for writing such an informative and relatable article. I agree with many of their points, specifically the ways in which the authors are critiquing the curriculum and ‘elements’. I would like to thank the authors for encouraging creativity and self-expression in the classroom as I believe that it is essential to music education. Lastly, I would want to ask the authors how they think that things such as creativity and self-expression could be implemented into the classroom without sacrificing an in depth education of the elements of music. It seems as if it is hard to balance both as typically if a teacher focuses on developing advanced musicianship skills they lose sight of the creative aspect and end up creating robots and vice versa. As a result, I would like to gain some insight on the authors opinions on this topic. I’m curious as to what the authors advise as next steps as they critique the current system extensively but do not really offer up many solutions.
Repositioning ‘The Elements’ : How Students Talk About Music
Leslie Stewart Rose
Jane Countryman
Rose, L. S., & Countryman, J. (2013). Repositioning ‘the elements’: How students talk about music. Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education 12(3): 45–64.
I found it extremely interesting that many teachers lack confidence in their teaching abilities and are too timid to explore new ways of teaching. In my opinion, teachers should be encouraging students to think differently and take risks and it was very intriguing for me to read that teachers are actually doing the opposite. Music is a form of expression and you would think that teachers would be encouraging students to be creative and unique rather than worrying about whether their students were living up to certain standards.
One quote that stood out to me is as follows;
“I’ve got to be careful of what I say to other teachers about what I’m doing in my teaching. I need to be careful not to go too far off the norm.”
This quote interested me as well as surprised and frustrated me. This is because, this teacher should not be educating kids if she has this mindset. Music is anything but a one way street and this teacher is boxing in her students and turning them into robots with this teaching style. She should be encouraging her students to stray from the norm and it is her lack of confidence which will ultimately hurt her students. Many young people find it very hard to express themselves and be themselves and by not straying from the norm, she won’t allow her students to truly be themselves and that is not an environment in which someone should be a part of, especially with music. This quote also frustrates me because clearly, not even teachers feel as if they can be honest with one another. This teacher is scared to talk about her teaching techniques to other teachers which completely blows my mind. Teachers and educators should be united. Music is already frowned upon by too many people and funding in schools continues to be cut, so educators should ban together rather than being too scared to even talk openly with one another. Music students need confident and creative teachers educating them, not self-conscious ones and it frustrates me that some students out there are being taught by a teacher with this kind of mindset. Teachers have an extremely significant impact on youth and the teaching style of this teacher may discourage many from continuing with music education. We should all be willing to learn from one another and this will never happen if teachers do not communicate honestly with each other.
Another part of this article that surprised me was when the statistic was presented that 5.7% of students enrol in grade 12 music while it is said that a favourite activity among teens is listening to music. Obviously the way that music is being taught in high schools is turning adolescents away from studying something that they actually like. I have experienced this throughout my high school experience, however I did not expect the enrolment statistic to be so low. Many of my friends enjoy music and enjoying singing but were reluctant to enrol in vocal music due to the fact that students were only successful if they had already had a high level of experience in this subject. The curriculum is very much designed for those that already have skill in music whereas it should be more inclusive to those that just want to explore music in a more relaxed manner. In my opinion, music classes should be more inviting to those that do not have background experience and should have an environment where no one is scared to take risks.
I would like to commend the authors for writing such an informative and relatable article. I agree with many of their points, specifically the ways in which the authors are critiquing the curriculum and ‘elements’. I would like to thank the authors for encouraging creativity and self-expression in the classroom as I believe that it is essential to music education. Lastly, I would want to ask the authors how they think that things such as creativity and self-expression could be implemented into the classroom without sacrificing an in depth education of the elements of music. It seems as if it is hard to balance both as typically if a teacher focuses on developing advanced musicianship skills they lose sight of the creative aspect and end up creating robots and vice versa. As a result, I would like to gain some insight on the authors opinions on this topic. I’m curious as to what the authors advise as next steps as they critique the current system extensively but do not really offer up many solutions.
09 | 24 | 17
The Invisible Student: Understanding Social Identity Construction Within Performing Ensembles
Ryan M. Hourigan
Hourigan, R. M. (2009). The Invisible Student: Understanding social identity construction within performing ensembles. Music Educators Journal, 34-38.
This article as a whole was of interest to me. This is because the topic of social awareness in performing ensembles sparked my interest. As a member of the Hamilton Children’s Choir for 10 years, I have seen firsthand how ensembles can either be extremely positive experiences or very negative ones, depending on the environment and the social aspects of the group. Furthermore, the following quote interested me when reading. “ I found that social identity is a concern not just with special needs.” I found this quote to be very interesting because it suggests that our society has attached a negative stigma along with special needs. It appears as if Hourigan is suggesting that people assume only those with special needs struggle with social identity. I found this interesting because it is very evident that a large number of people without special needs also struggle with self identity so why has our society created this stereotype? The term “invisible student” was also of interest to me. Hourigan defines an invisible student as, “any student who is challenged socially within our music program and has become overlooked in our daily classes and rehearsals.” I found the concept of an “invisible student” to be interesting because I have had classmates and fellow choristers that fell under this category and in my opinion, this term accurately defines them and groups them in a way that is understandable.
I was very surprised when I read the following sentence. “ How can I promote acceptance within my ensemble? Kids will be kids.” Specifically the , “kids will be kids” part. I was very surprised because I wasn’t expecting a teacher to excuse bad behaviour with the excuse that they will just be kids. This quote also frustrated me. This is because this teacher has a very poor attitude. By just saying that kids will be kids, this teacher is supporting a negative environment, completely opposite from a positive and inclusive one which is necessary for students to be able to have fun while making music. I was very surprised to read that a teacher had said this because I think that teachers should hold their students accountable for their actions and not pass bad behaviour off as just “being a kid.”
There were a couple of things included in this article that frustrated me. The first being the way that Jason is treated at his school. “It has been months since he has spoken to anyone in band, including his teacher.” It really frustrates me that not even Jason’s teacher put in an effort to make him feel welcome. As it says in the article, the teacher has to set a good example for the class. Jason’s teacher should’ve made the effort to at least talk to Jason. The teacher should have been advocating for a safe and inclusive environment right from the first rehearsal and it frustrates me that Jason’s teacher does not even acknowledge him even though he has been there for months! It is no doubt in my mind why none of the students include Jason and that is because the teacher is not acting as a good role model. I was extremely frustrated when reading that Jason’s classmates had begun to be abusive. It makes me very sad to read that the bullying that went on here lowered Jason’s already very low self confidence. This behaviour should not be tolerated under any circumstance and the fact that the students thought it would be okay to do this in the first place, tells me that this school does not have teachers advocating for a positive environment. It is obvious that Jason’s classmates view him as “different” and it is because of this and the lack of teacher involvement which made him get bullied so severely which frustrates me. Another part of the article that frustrated me was the following two sentences; “he could play his music for band well. However, because of his lack of connection the ensemble, he considered himself to be a poor musician.” These two specific sentences frustrated me because in Jason’s case, his experiences in a musical ensemble are destroying his self esteem due to an exclusive and negative environment and that angers me. Everyone should have the opportunity to have positive experiences and make music in a fun and safe environment and it makes me mad that this was taken away from Jason and many other students alike.
If I had the chance to speak to the author of this article, I would have a couple of questions to ask him. My first question is, do you think that a music class or ensemble can ever get to the point where it is 100% inclusive (everyone feels welcome and like a part of the group)? This article offers many strategies and methods of creating an inclusive environment in the music classroom but I’m curious as to if the author thinks that the environment can get to a point where inclusion is not an issue and how could it get to that point. My second question is, do you think that too much teacher interaction will stop student’s social skills from progressing and becoming better? What I mean by this is that in the article, many of the solutions that the author suggests involves the teacher getting involved and almost forcing interaction between students. I am curious as to what the author believes would happen to the development of student’s social skills if the teacher involvement is too great. Do you think students will not naturally engage with one another and make connections on their own if their teacher is constantly involved in this process?
09 | 24 | 17
Think Everything’s “Normal?” Then It’s Time to Reconsider And Promote a New Narrative of Disability
Drew Serres
Serres, D. Think Everything’s “Normal?" Then It’s Time to Reconsider And Promote A New Narrative Of Disability.
While reading this article, I found it interesting how society has attached such a negative stigma along with the word disabled/disability. Prior to reading this article I had knowledge of the struggles those with disabilities face in society, however I did not fully know the extent of these struggles and I found it very interesting to learn more about this topic. What was also of interest to me was the idea of normalcy and what exactly it means to be “normal.” Throughout reading this article, it became evident to me that as a society, we are constantly trying to fit in and be normal and it seems as if we are scared of not fitting in and being classified as normal. The following quote really made me think. “Through seeking “normalcy” does U.S. culture also diminish and stigmatize those who do not fit the traditional ideas of “being normal?” This quote was of interest to me because I agree with this statement. I think that by making the idea of normalcy so important, those who do not fall into this category will become segregated even more. This is a very dangerous concept in my opinion and it intrigues me because it makes me wonder how this preconceived idea of being normal can to be in the first place.
There were many things that surprised me in this article and in fact most of the material included in this article was of surprise to me. This told me that I should be more educated in this topic. “ It’s very difficult to actually tell if a student is disabled when they are between kindergarten and 3rd grade.” This quote in particular surprised me because many children are labeled with a disability during this time, so I was shocked to read that it is actually very hard to tell. This made me wonder why people assume it has to be a learning disability when in reality, their struggles in school could be the result of many other things. Why then do we do we label it as a disability? Another sentence in this article that surprised me was, “teachers almost never look into the eyes of students with disabilities and practice even greater patterns of superiority and paternalism than they do with other students.” This quote both surprised and frustrated me. The one question that came to mind after reading this was simply, why? Why do teachers treat students with disabilities different than students without? It both shocks and angers me that a teacher can’t even look a student into the eyes. Is it because this student does not fit into this teacher’s idea of being normal? I was very surprised to read about the mistreatment that occurs in the classroom.
While many things in this article surprised me, many things also frustrated me. The biggest thing that angered me was the idea of being normal. In my opinion, this concept is incredibly immoral because does anyone really fit into this category? This concept discriminates many individuals and creates a large divide in our society which is not right. Secondly, it made me very frustrated to read about the ways those with disabilities are being mistreated. We are all human beings and deserve to be treated fairly. “ youth of colour, LGBTQ students, and students with disabilities are punished more often and more harshly than their peers for the same misbehaviour.” This frustrates me because it is immoral and it makes me mad that this is happening to students just because they don't fit into this idea of “normal.” The following statistic shocked me. " black boys are 4 times as likely to be misclassified as intellectually disabled, and 4 times as unlikely to be classified as mentally gifted.” As it also said in article, being classified as disabled sticks with an individual for life and the fact that those of colour are being misclassified 4 times more than white people, angers me. In comparison, the solutions that the author has written about make me feel hopeful as I agree with them, specifically “ stop promoting the “normal" able-bodied life as the only “full” way to live.” This mindset is one that our society needs to develop and teachers should carry this into their classrooms.
I would firstly like to ask the author what he believes is “normal.” I would ask if he even has a definition of the word normal. Secondly, I would ask the author what has prompted him to write about this topic. It is obvious that Drew Serres has compiled many different sources and has include a number of authors/speakers in this article, so I am curious as to why he decided to research and write about this topic. Lastly, I would want to talk to the author about how this article relates to music education. Serres mentions the mistreatment that occurs in eduction in general and therefore I am curious if he has any knowledge of this occurring in music classrooms specifically.
10 | 01 |17
Fumbling Towards Vulnerability: Moving Out of the Familiar for Music Education’s Sake
Lesley Dawe
Dawe, L. (2016). Fumbling Towards vulnerability: Moving Out of the Familiar for Music Education’s Sake, Canadian music Educator, (57)2, pp. 22-24.
I found it very interesting to read about Lesley Dawe’s personal experiences as a music educator, particularly the struggles that she faced when she first started out as a teacher. One quote from this article that really stuck with me is, “ I am a co-learner with my students.” I find this style of teaching and pedagogy to be very interesting as it creates an environment where teachers and students are equals, learning from one another which largely contrasts the typical classroom setting in which a teacher knows everything and only focuses on teaching students, rather than learning alongside them. I also found the following quote extremely interesting. “This type of collaborative learning requires the teacher and students to become co-learners working together to increase their musical understanding by interacting with, and reflecting on the music making process.” Reading about this teaching style was of interest to me as I believe that the concept of teachers and students being co-learners should be the goal of educators. In my opinion this style of teaching creates a much healthier environment to learn in in comparison to one where a teacher is seen as only a superior to students. I was a member of the Hamilton Children’s Choir for ten years and my choir director Zimfira Poloz is definitely one of the most humble human beings I have ever met. Even though she is world renowned and incredibly intelligent, her philosophy was always that our choir was a team. She often compared the choir to a ship and said that she was just simply the captain, guiding us in the right direction. She constantly asked us for our opinions and asked how for advice on how she could better teach us. This created a much more welcoming environment to be a part of and everyone felt as if they were valued and respected. I think that this coincides with what Lesley is trying to introduce into the classroom. I found it very interesting that the following sentence was included in this article. “allowing people to become creative does not require genius; it requires humility.” This specific sentence was of interest to me because my teachers also instilled the idea of being humble into me and I think humility is a quality that educators should possess.
I found the whole concept of vulnerability interesting and surprising at the same time. I was surprised because I would have thought that having such intensive training in music would have made Lesley feel very confident in herself rather than feeling incredibly vulnerable. The following quote surprised me. “This absence of creativity and student autonomy in my own music education has contributed to the overwhelming feeling of vulnerability.” I think that the reason this surprised me is because prior to reading this article I have never thought about the correlation between a lack of creativity and vulnerability in music. Music stems from creativity and I was just surprised to read about the negative impact a child has when creativity is not present in their education. The next sentence that I am going to quote didn’t exactly surprise me but more made me come to a realization and think more. “It is easier, and perhaps safer, to stay with what is familiar, however, I do not think that it is necessarily better.” This sentence made me reflect on my own musical journey thus far and I can relate to what Lesley is saying here. As a singer it is very easy to sing the same songs over and over again because I am good at them and am comfortable when I sing them. I find it challenging to perform a difficult and new piece because it pushes me out of my comfort zone and makes me feel vulnerable. I agree with Lesley when she says it is not necessarily better because if we never push ourselves, we will never become better musicians and people. I think that we grow most when we are not 100% comfortable as it forces us to learn and experience new things.
A couple of things included in this article frustrated me. The first is, “Generally, I was able to get by and be successful as long as I did exactly what I was told to do.” The part, “as long as I did exactly what I was told to do” frustrates me because the environment in which Lesley was musically trained in seems very toxic to me. There was no creativity allowed and to me that diminishes the point of music. Music is about self expression and it frustrates me that her teachers never allowed her to input creativity as she says in this sentence; “there was little to no room for interpretation or creativity in my own in my music making.” To me, this teaching style defeats the whole point of music. Music is an expressive art form and creativity absolutely needs to be involved. What also frustrated me was the reasoning behind why Lesley was making music and working so hard. I got the impression that she was doing it in order to please her teachers and mentors instead of working hard to please herself and for her own love and enjoyment. “Mostly I felt embarrassed because it was the first time I was unable to achieve the expectations that my teacher had set out for me to meet.” In my opinion, working so hard to only please your teacher is making music for all the wrong reasons and it made me mad that she was only ever trying to live up to others expectations of her rather than making music for herself. Don’t get me wrong, I think that musicians should of course want to impress their teachers however it shouldn't solely be the reason behind why they do it. There should be a happy medium. Lastly, another thing that frustrates me is the fact that there is an evident disconnect between students that like music and the enrolment in music classes. “ I knew that my students liked music (they were always walking around the halls with headphones in their ears) but in my teaching, I wasn't honouring the way that they experienced music apart from class.” It frustrates me because it is obvious that teenagers like music however something about the way that it is being taught in schools discourages them from enrolling in music classes. Music education is incredibly valuable and beneficial and I just wish that kids and teens alike could explore their interests in music in a classroom setting.
If I had the opportunity to chat with Lesley Dawe, I would first want to ask her the following question. If your musical training wasn’t as “traditionally” based and included more aspects of creativity, do you believe that you would have struggled less in your first years of teaching and furthermore have been a better music educator in general? Or, in contrast, do you think that the lack of creativity you had in your musical training influenced and impacted you to become a better educator? I am very curious if Lesley views the way she was taught as a young musician as a setback or if she thinks it was beneficial to her. Secondly I would ask; how do you encourage students to take risks and step out of their confront zone in the classroom without feeling overwhelmed by vulnerability? In the article Lesley mentioned that she never had a safe environment to experiment and create in so I would also ask her what her ideas are on how to create a safe environment where students feels comfortable to explore outside of their comfort zone.
10 | 15 |17
Music Education, Multiculturalism, and Anti-Racism: Can We Talk?
Deborah Bradley
Bradley, D. (2006) “Music Education, Multiculturalism, and Anti-Racism: “Can We Talk?” Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education, 5(2)
This article as a whole was of interest to me as in my opinion, the topic of racism in music education quite often gets overlooked. It is not a topic that I frequently hear and read about which is why I believe I can be a lot more educated in this topic and why this article was very interesting to me. One particular part of this article that was of interest to me was when Deborah interviewed members of the Mississauga Festival Youth Choir. The interview with Kate was especially interesting because prior to reading this, I did not realize how being identified as a different race could affect someone so deeply. As a Canadian with a long line of ancestors also born in Canada, I do not experience the same prejudice that Kate clearly experiences and this interview opened my eyes a lot more to how as a society we need to be more educated before we throw terms around. It is apparent that Kate gets identified as Indian or Hindu or Pakistani, when she is in fact Singhalese. I found it very interesting to read about how this affects her from her point of view because I don’t experience this myself. I found it very interesting when Deborah said the following; “like calling Canadians Americans.” This quote really put it into context and made me understand how Kate is feeling. Another part of this article that I found to be interesting was when Deborah interviewed choir members after singing at the PFI Convocation where South African delegates had sung and danced along with the choir. I found this section of the article to be interesting because I was intrigued at how different choir members viewed this special moment. While Amber and Ricky came to the realization of racial boundaries and became more aware after this experience, choir member Diana clearly did not change her way of thinking and said many comments that involved stereotypes and prejudices. Even though she learned about African culture, she makes a comparison between primal and sophisticated societies in her interview, showing that she did not learn and get anything out of this experience as Ricky and Amber did. I found this interesting because it was intriguing to see how our thoughts can be influenced by different things and how the exact same experience can have a total opposite affect on different individuals. While this experience made some more aware of culture and race, on the other end of the spectrum, it made stereotypes even worse. I’m curious as to why that is.
I was surprised and frustrated by the fact that as a society, we are scared to talk about race in the classroom. “I will first consider the ways race is embedded as coded language in discourse, and the ways our use of coded language hinders our ability to talk about race directly. In that regard, I address the silence that sometimes results when we name race and racism explicitly.” I was surprised by these quotes because before reading this I had never really thought about this topic and to my surprise I realized that she was right. These sentences really made me think and reflecting on my own education, I realized that race is something we just don’t talk about. We tiptoe around the topic, scared to mention it and it makes me wonder why that is. It is unethical to act blind to someones race and culture and this article surprised me because it made me think about things that I never have before but are extremely important. I really enjoyed the following quotes: “If we as critical music educators are unable to discuss the racial coding of terms such as “aesthetic poverty” and “primal forms of artistic expression,” how can we expect to engage in meaningful communication with student populations who are increasingly diverse and cognizant of the implications of race to their location in society?” “When we teach from a multicultural perspective, are we teaching for social justice, or perpetuating the status quo?” I like the first quote because it shows how ridiculous our silence about race is. This article has really shown me the importance of talking. The second quote made me think as it poses a very important question. While it is important to teach with a multicultural viewpoint, it is also important that we are teaching with that perspective for the right reasons. We should not support multiculturalism just because everyone else is doing it but rather because it is ethical.
Deborah quotes Pollock in this article: “many educators fear that talking publicly in racial terms risks being labeled as “racist.” This quote frustrates me because silence is not going to solve anything. Being silent about race is what is causing these issues. Furthermore, Dei is quoted in this article, “in conventional discourses race is the “category that often gets lost . . . in part because of the discomfort of speaking about race and racism” It frustraters me that there is discomfort when speaking about race and racism because there shouldn’t be. People like Kate continue to be misunderstood because of the silence and the fact that no one is comfortable speaking about it. In a classroom setting, there are kids from all different walks of life that have different cultures and as educators, I believe that this is a topic we have to be able to talk about as our classrooms are diverse and multicultural and we have to recognize that rather than being blind to it. Another thing that frustrated me in this article is the following quote: “musicological writing that continues to privilege European art music as being of “high” or “highest quality,” an attitude that implies, either tacitly or sometimes overtly, that popular musical forms and folk or indigenous musics are somehow worth less on the value scale of human activities.” This quote was extremely frustrating to read because it seems ridiculous to me to be regarding a certain type of music as higher quality than another because of where it comes from. Just because folk or indigenous music sounds different than a more classical style from Europe, does not mean it is worth less and not as high quality. Is it because of racism that European art music is considered to be of higher quality?
I really enjoyed this article as it opened my eyes to issues that, in many ways, I was choosing to be blind to. Racism could have been happening in my classroom and like many others , I was blind to it and didn’t feel like it was a topic I could discuss. If I had the chance to talk with Deborah Bradley, I would want to ask her what the main reason she believes is why we feel discomfort or feel as if we cant talk about race? Secondly, as a music educator, how can we make sure that our students appreciate and respect different cultures? It is evident that Deborah spent rehearsal time on learning about the origin and culture of the song and still some choir members had stereotypes after performing the piece. How can we get rid of these stereotypes in music education? Lastly, Im curious as to if she believes there should be a change in the curriculum. Growing up, I always learned about classical European music or Western music and music such as indigenous and folk songs were never integrated into the curriculum. I would ask what her idea of a multicultural, anti-racism curriculum would look like and what sort of things should be implemented into the classroom to ensure that all styles and cultures of music are explored.
10 | 22 |17
Another Perspective: The iPad Is a Real Musical Instrument
David A. Williams
Williams, D. A. (2014). Another Perspective The iPad Is a REAL Musical Instrument. Music Educators Journal, 101(1), 93-98.
I found it very interesting to read about iPads being used as musical instruments as this was the first time I had heard about iPads being used in musical performances. I knew that there were music apps created for iPads, however I found it very interesting to read that performances were taking place that featured a program of music created solely on iPads. In particular, I found it interesting to read about the argument as to why the iPad should be considered a real musical instrument. I found the controversy between if it should be considered one or not interesting because many times throughout the article I found myself asking this question; is the iPad a musical instrument? “A musical instrument, according to the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “a device used to produce music.” I found it interesting and clever that Williams used the dictionary definition of what a musical instrument is as it proved his point that by definition, an iPad is in fact a musical instrument. When I first read the title of this article, I thought it was ridiculous that people were considering an iPad to be a musical instrument. However, by the time I was done reading this article, my thinking changed significantly. I would agree that it is in fact a musical instrument because for one thing it fits the definition of a musical instrument and the similarities David Williams described between an iPad and an oboe prove that an iPad has many identical qualities to an oboe. If an oboe is an instrument than an iPad should be considered one as well due to the number of similarities the two have. I watched the video linked at the bottom of this article and just by watching the performance, I was convinced that it is in fact an instrument. In one song particular, it looked as if the performer was playing a piano. This performer obviously has to have knowledge of how to play a keyboard as the app was a virtual keyboard and so obviously this takes skill and practice to be able to do just like any other instrument. I also found it very interesting when Williams described the concerts that his iPad ensemble Touch puts on. Because I had no prior knowledge of iPad ensembles even existing, I had no idea what a concert would be like. I found it very interesting when he said, “ a wide range of musical styles are used at each concert, including classical, rap, heavy metal, African drumming, electronic, disco, classic rock, blues, and gospel.” It is obvious that this ensemble is very diverse in terms of the genres of music they perform and is extremely innovative. They are doing something completely new that has never been done before and this intrigues me because that is what music is all about. It is about being creative and creating new things and that is exactly what this ensemble is doing. I would never bash this ensemble nor say anything negative, like some are doing, as this innovative way of thinking and making music should be encouraged.
Overall, I was surprised by the article as a whole because as I said before, I really did not know what to expect. Having said that, I was not surprised by the fact that iPads as musical instruments, as well as this ensemble, were being perceived in a negative way. I expected that there would be negativity associated with the iPads, however this frustrated me. A particular quote that angered me was, "each year it seems there are more sessions and performances that do not align with what our core mission is as music educators. iPad ensembles and rock bands are not the direction that we should be heading. We need to be seeking out students and exposing them to quality art.” This quote frustrates me because this person is saying that other genres such as rock are not as high of quality as more classical styles are. This is the complete opposite of how music education should be. Music educators should encourage their students to explore whatever genre they like and have a passion for and not categorize some genres as of higher quality than others as it is not right. Our core mission as music educators should be supporting whatever it is that interests our students. Our core mission should bellowing our students to think creatively and outside the box, not boxing them in and molding them to be the same as their peers. “I would like to see more clinics about band, chorus, and orchestra, and less about music technology, guitar, etc. Those things should not be taught in schools because there is not artistic merit.” This quote also frustrates me because again, certain types of music are being labelled as not as good as others. The fact that these styles of music are being labelled as not having artistic merit is extremely frustrating as it goes against everything that music education should be about. Students should be encouraged to explore whatever they want without the negative stigma attached to certain types of music. As well, technology is becoming the way of the world and is constantly advancing so we should be trying to implement more technology into music education as it is a huge part of kids words these days. “We continue to believe there is only a short list of real musical instruments and of high-quality musical styles.” This quote frustrates me for the same reasons I previously explained and also because I think it is completely ridiculous. Music is music, period. We need to get rid of the mindset that some genres are of higher quality and only some things are considered instruments. This mindset is what is wrong with music education and as said in the article it is why so many students are turned away from enrolling in music classes. “Is it any wonder we have trouble interesting the majority of school students in enrolling for school music programs when we offer basically one type of musical experience and we continue to marginalize the various musical involvements these students find most meaningful?” I totally agree with this quote. It does not surprise me that many students do not want to take music classes because the way music education is now, it offers a very traditional and classical way of learning where only certain instruments fit into the curriculum and this certainly is not of interest to everyone.
One quote from this article that I really love is, “It is the human being—the person. This is, after all, from where musicianship, creativity, and imagination originate. The most important aspect of human music- making is not the instrument—it is the human! The instrument is little more than a tool through which a person can produce music.” I love this quote because I think it sums up what this article is about. No matter what a person is playing, it is the person that is creating the music. I think that music educators need to remember this and need to be incorporating their students passions into the curriculum.
If I had the opportunity to ask some questions to David Williams, I would first ask him the history behind Touch and how it came to be. I’m curious as to if it was his idea or if his students proposed the idea to him. Is Touch inspired by another iPad ensemble elsewhere or was it a completely new idea? Secondly, I would want to ask him about how audiences perceive his shows. Have you had any negative experiences where audience members did not perceive the show well and said negative things or do audience members usually enjoy the show and leave with a newfound respect for iPads? Lastly, I’m curious as to what David Williams opinion is on if he believes iPads will ever be viewed by the majority as a real musical instrument. Do you think that music education will always be stuck in the mindset that some instruments and genres are of higher quality than others or do you think that times are changing and innovations like iPad ensembles will soon be the norm? How can we make it so that these new ideas become the norm and are viewed as worthy of teaching in classrooms? What are your ideas on how music classrooms can change so that enrolment increases?
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Toward Convergence:
Adapting Music Education to Contemporary Society and Participatory Culture
Evan S. Tobias
Tobias, E.S. (2013). Toward Convergence Adapting Music Education to Contemporary Society and Participatory Culture. Music Educators Journal, 99(4), 29-36.
Overall, I enjoyed this article because I feel as if it addresses one of the biggest problems currently with music education. In my opinion, one of the biggest problems with current music education practices is that music classes do not reflect what kids want to learn. Music classes are extremely different from the way kids interact with music outside of school. I enjoyed reading this article because it discusses how to converge the old with the new and change music education so that students can participate in the classroom how they would in contemporary society.
One thing that was of interest to me was Table One. Many things listed in this table were actually offered to me in my school vocal music program (covering and arranging). I found it interesting that many school programs don’t offer students the opportunity to do these things. I also found it interesting that a lot of the suggestions listed in Table One require the use of technology because technology and the use of media was definitely something my school music program lacked as I never got to create mashups, remixes, or anything that involved the production of music. This made me curious as to why my music program was so against the use of the technology. It made me pose the question of budget. I am curious as to if these suggestions would require a larger budget for music classes as obviously classrooms would have to have access to technology and specific programs and softwares. One quote that I enjoyed from this article is, “reconciling differences between the musical cultures present in contemporary society and our K-12 music programs necessitates looking beyond whether people participate and focusing more closely on how they engage with music.” This quote is interesting because obviously there is a lack of involvement in music programs, however I agree that we should be focusing on the ways in which people engage with music. We should be thinking about how they engage with music in our society and trying to incorporate that into the classroom and in my opinion, if we do that, the problem of whether people are participating or not should diminish. Another quote that I enjoyed reading is, “helping students participate in such musical cultures calls for music educators to contextualize the types of musical engagement in Table 1 for music classrooms and ensembles in ways that both engage technology and require minimal to no use of technology or digital media.” This particular quote caught my eye because one concern that I had when I began reading this article was that I thought Tobias was pushing for a music classroom that used technology for everything. In the beginning, I got the impression that he was trying to promote actives in which required media and technology and this concerned me because I believe it is all about balance. While technology has many excellent uses and has amazing software for music editing, producing, etc, it should not replace traditional ways of making music. I am glad that in this quote it was stated that they should engage both in ways that use technology and do not because I do believe it is all about balance and giving students the opportunity to explore all kinds of things which make them well rounded individuals. I think that technology should just be thought of as a different approach to music making rather than a replacement or the only way to do things and I think this quote summarized that. This takes me to another quote that I enjoyed; “convergence, after all, is characterized by intersections of different systems rather than the replacement of one for another.” I really liked this quote because I completely agree with it. No approach or method should replace another one but both should simply coexist. Lastly, I found the following quote to be very interesting. “educators might first act as ethnographers, investigating and identifying their students’ interests along with how they and others engage with music outside of school.” This article and this quote in particular just made me realize that there is so much more to being a music educator than meets the eye. It is defiantly not easy and it takes a lot of work to find out what it Is that students want to learn and to find a way to incorporate that into the current curriculum that both provides students with some kind of structure while allowing them to still be creative and direct their own learning. Finding that balance is difficult and this article made me realize that as educators our approaches to teaching music will constantly be changing due to the fact that society is constantly changing and we have to keep up with the times.
While I enjoyed this article and the overall idea of the article , a couple of Tobias’s ideas on how to converge media into the music classroom frustrated me a little bit. I appreciate the thought of expanding musical engagement with literature however I do not agree with his proposed idea. Tobias says, “in expanding the world of Into the Woods, students might want to create a Twitter account for Jack tracing his trip up the beanstalk or to develop additional or alternative plot lines by maintaining Facebook pages for each of the characters.” I can appreciate the idea of trying to use social media in the classroom in a way that relates and coincides with the curriculum, however in my opinion, I believe that there is no place for social media in the classroom. Social media is great for staying in touch with relatives, friend, etc, but in my opinion, it cannot be used effectively in the classroom. I think that it takes away from the main goal of music education which is to be creating and exploring music. I think that creating social media accounts would be a waste of time. If students were interested in Into the Woods, they could add or change storyline and perform their new add ons or remix the songs if they wanted to but I fell like using social media is a total waste of time. A lot of negativity also occurs on social media and while this may promote using social media for good rather than bad, it may also create a negative environment as students would have access to other students work, making it easier for them judge one another. Using social media is taking convergence too far. Yes as educators we should be using media and keeping up with society and advancements, however we should be doing this to an extent. Incorporation social media is just taking it too far and takes away from a music program, in my opinion.
If I had the chance to speak with Evan Tobias, I would first want to talk to him about budget and about how to incorporate these changes if a school did not have any money to buy technology for a music classroom. Is technology the only way to adapt music eduction to contemporary society? If technology is not available, what are some alternatives to your proposed ideas? Lastly, I would ask him what he believes are some problems associated with adapting music education to contemporary society. Will there still be opportunities for students to learn in a more traditional way if all these changes are taking place? How can we ensure that there is a balance between previous music education and future education practices?