Your students culture in music education
Published: May 8, 2020 | Category: Uncategorized
The podcast and blog provided at https://switchedonpop.com is my go to podcast when driving. "Switched on Pop" is about the making and meaning of popular music hosted by musicologist Nate Sloan and songwriter Charlie Harding. What I really like is that at my mature age I can listen to what makes a hit and what is its place in the history and culture of our world. Sloan and Harding say "we help listeners find a-ha moments in music" And, yes they do! The first podcast I listened to was "Billie Eilish", A different kind of Pop Star!" I kept having a-ha moments, especially as I am classically trained and soon discovered how pop music and classical music can be linked up musically yet are also miles apart culturally.
Everyone likes to be comfortable with what we are listening to but I believe that deep down all musicians want to play by ear, and some of us like to read notation as well.
Ear playing in the instrumental lesson: An approach based on popular musicians' learning practices, Professor Lucy Green (Project Leader), Institute of Education, University of London, was an interesting read championing playing an instrument by ear. As teachers we have to go with what our students want to learn. Let's face it, playing by ear mean you are deconstructing the music and in classical terms that is called analyzing the music.
https://developmenteducation.ie/feature/exploring-popular-culture-in-education/Suggests making use of popular culture in education requires a willing on the part of the educator to research, experiment and have a general awareness and interest in the area.
So yes, I believe there should be a balance in education, but you need to cater for each and everyone of your students. Making your lessons generic is a sure recipe to turning everyone off. The trick is to know when a student is ready to pick up something and run with it. It is up to us as educators to provide the balance.