“We’re already behind schedule for our winter conference,” is a comment I often hear from music teachers on the first week of school. The FIRST WEEK! The school year has barely started and we’re worried about missing a deadline.
Why do we do this? Why do we handcuff ourselves to a goal that demands such a strict, rigid schedule? If you’re always playing catchup, there isn’t any room for student feedback, incorporating new ideas or methods, or iterating and innovating around a program. This is all a big disservice to students.
There are a few reasons why I think we do this:
- It’s the way we’ve always done it
- It’s the only thing that meets the standards
- I can showcase my work as a teacher to parents and peers
- It justifies my job by showing our accomplishments
But there is a better way. If we kill the concert, and take off the handcuffs of that performance deadline, we can think differently about student performances that benefit students, teachers, and parents in many ways.
Let’s explore what we can do by killing the concert.
A Static Repertoire Appeals to No One
Have any students ever said, “I’d really love to play Ye Banks and Braes O’Bonnie Doon. It’s on my favorite Spotify playlist.” With music streaming apps in our pockets, students have access to every song ever written anywhere in the world. This increased access allows our individual preference for music to become extremely diverse.
Students using Moosiko request about 200 new songs every year that they want to learn in their music class. Here is how those requests break down by genre.
Traditional and classical music sits at just 3%. It’s no shock that hip hop is the most popular requested genre but we were surprised by the number of singer songwriter artists requested. The reasons given for wanting to learn these songs tend to be “it inspires me”, “it provides a great sense of hope”, or “it means something special to me”. This emotional connection with music is critical for any beginner learning a new instrument and is the foundation for a continued desire to learn and play music for years to come.
Some additional interesting things to note:
- ~25% of requests are for songs in languages other than English (Spanish, Japanese, Korean, French, Mandarin), usually by foreign artists.
- ~50% of requests are by non-chart topping or “popular” artists reflecting the large number of singer songwriter artists.
- < 5% of requests are duplicates, reflecting the fact that every student truly has a unique taste in music
The chart above is a tremendous oversimplification of categories. It is nearly impossible to accurately group song requests into similar categories, or subcategories, due to the styling differences of music from the 1950s to today. Adding in international artists and sounds makes this exercise even more difficult.
And that is exactly the point. A static repertoire appeals to no one. By focusing on the individual, we allow students to learn and create music that is meaningful to them.
Individual Performance Boosts Engagement & Efficacy
With students emotionally connected to the music they are learning, engagement will increase dramatically. Teachers use Moosiko to track student practice and are often surprised to see some students practice 3 – 5 hours every week!
Individual performances also highlight successes, and flaws, for each student, ultimately leading to pinpointed assessment that improves effectiveness for each student. Students can no longer hide behind the horn section in a large ensemble faking their way through the music. Tools like built-in video recording make it easy for shy students, or those learning remotely, to obtain the same feedback as those in-person.
Creativity, improvisation, and individual expression is another benefit that we can encourage with students. Instead of trying to play a perfect line from a lead sheet, we should encourage students to make something up and let them decide if it sounds good. “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up,” Picasso once said. Forcing students to learn an extremely narrow genre of music, by an extremely narrow selection of musicians, from an extremely narrow era in time, kills the inner artist found in all of us.
Here are some examples of what’s possible when we give students the choice to create:
- Here is an album released on Spotify by a small school guitar class
- Student plays and sings 4 parts to her favorite song, Brown Eyed Girl
The Value of Ensembles
Music is a social activity and an important skill is the ability to play with others. But it doesn’t have to be with 30 other people. Learning to play with just one other person is actually quite challenging and provides 80% of the necessary skills to play with larger groups.
Small ensembles of 3 – 5 allows students to group that have similar skill sets and similar tastes in music, again helping boost motivation and engagement. Here is a good instrument mix for a miniband:
- 1 – 2 harmonic instruments (guitar, keyboard, ukulele)
- 1 Drums
- 1 Vocal / Singer
- 1 Bass guitar
- 1 lead (strings, wind, brass)
It doesn’t have to be a perfect mix either. Three guitarists and a singer will still sound awesome and will create sound and music that is very different from another group made up of 2 drummers and a banjo.
With software tools, you can actually play along with others by yourself. This blog talks about how Moosiko and Soundtrap can help students play along with their favorite bands, self-duet, and learn how to improvise all on their own. With modern DAWs, you can have 30 students and 30 ensembles in the same class.
Here is an example of a student playing the rhythm and lead guitar parts to Twist and Shout with the Beatles.
Showing Off & Highlighting Accomplishments
Without a grand concert to cap off the end of the year, how do we showcase all that our students have accomplished? We can think about this in a few ways.
Moosiko captures skills, songs, and practice time for the entire class that provides insights into the raw data of what has been accomplished. Class stats can be shared with administrators or individual student stats can be shared with parents.
But this is music and we still want performances! Here are a few ideas I’ve seen that do a good job of showcasing individual performances:
- Montage videos, which were popular during the pandemic. Here’s a fun one covering Renegade by Styx. These videos can be posted on the band webpage, school social channels, and sent to staff and parents.
- Individual or ensemble performances, audio or video, can be sent to parents. Here is a wonderful cover of Put Your Head on My Shoulders.
- Publish to Spotify or Apple Music. What better way to cap off a music class than have students publish their work for the world to listen to! Here is an album released on Spotify by a school guitar class. (Remember to obtain the proper licensing if publishing cover songs or remixing existing music to streaming services.)
I think everyone would agree that performance is important for music programs. But it is the irrelevant, static, and impersonal aspects of traditional concerts that are inhibiting change and innovative thinking. Once we free ourselves from this burden, lots of good things will come.
Dan Mascola is the founder of Moosiko, a music edtech platform for guitar, ukulele, and modern band programs in schools. Dan lives in the Boston area and enjoys writing and playing music with friends and his son.