By Olivia Adams
Q: What is an Adaptive Music Teacher?
When I say my job is an adaptive music teacher, many ask, “What does that mean?!” For some context, I work at the Lotus Centre for Special Music Education in Ottawa, and one aspect of my job is providing music lessons, group classes, and leading a children’s choir for students with exceptionalities. At Lotus, we serve many different types of musicians, including neurodivergent musicians who may need different instructional and learning supports, or musicians with a disability who may require physical supports in their music lessons and classes. I have had the pleasure of teaching music to musicians across the autism spectrum, musicians with dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADHD/ADD, auditory processing disorders, sensory processing disorders, non-verbal, intellectual delays, high-anxiety, cerebral palsy, limb differences, and Down syndrome – to name a few! Each lesson and class are adapted to the students participating.
So, what is an adaptive music teacher? An adaptive music teacher has a flexible mindset. They are willing to try something new! An adaptive music teacher is not tied to what they think a music lesson should look like but allows each lesson to look different for each student. As teachers, it is easy to find our favourite method book, technical exercises, and conservatory curriculum and teach these methods exclusively. Sure, we may throw in a fun activity on Halloween, Christmas, or Valentine’s Day, but we teach the same lesson week after week, and the difficulty of the music is only thing that changes. Occasionally, we may get a “difficult” student and declare them “not ready for music lessons” and suggest that the parent bring them back when the child can sit still for 30 minutes at a time. Does any of this sound familiar? When we are teaching a generalized curriculum that looks the same for each student, we are trying to fit students into our curriculum, rather than adapt our curriculum around each student. This brings me to my second point.
An adaptive music teacher has tailored a curriculum. Instead of opening the method book to the next piece, naming the notes and fingering, and then sight-reading a piece one note at a time (which may work for some students), we tailor the learning approach to each student. For example, if I am teaching a new piano piece to a non-verbal student with an auditory processing disorder (APD), I know that student may benefit from isolating rhythms from pitches and using kinesthetic learning pathways paired with aural and visual ones. I know that the student may not sing a melody back to me (a common tool I use with aural learners), so they may need additional aids to demonstrate their understanding of pitch. An example of how I may teach a new piece to a student is the following:
Step 1: We tap the rhythm in 2-measure sections, in a “repeat after me” fashion. I may say lyrics that match the rhythm. We tap the rhythm on our bodies or on a percussion instrument.
Step 2: I sing the pitches in the same 2-measure sections and have them repeat the melody back to me using handbells or the glockenspiel, reinforcing the rhythm through gross-motor movements as they learn the pitches.
Step 3: The student taps their fingers on a pop-it or flashy finger cards using the fingering listed in their score as I sing, one bar at a time (ex., for “Hot Cross Buns,” the student would tap 4-3-2 as I sing the pitches). I will use the score and point to each note as we tap and sing.
Step 4: I demonstrate on the piano using the same 2-measure sections we started with in step 1.
By the time the student has learned a new piece, we have engaged in kinaesthetic learning (step 1), aural learning (step 2), and tactile learning (step 3), connecting those with visual learning (steps 3 & 4). We have isolated the concepts and sequenced them together. The student has engaged in multiple modes of learning and demonstrated that they understand a concept through rhythm, pitch identification, and fingering independently of note-reading. This is just one example of how I may tailor a curricular approach to a student with these types of exceptionalities.
An adaptive music teacher prioritizes student-led learning. This does not mean that a student runs the entire lesson! Student-led learning is where a student plays an active role in designing their lessons. They learn to set their own goals, build autonomy in music choices, and make decisions within the music lesson. Merlin Thompson, in his book More Than Music Lessons, describes this as “democratic teaching.” The goal is not that my students follow my curriculum, but that they are empowered to make choices about their music learning experience.
Some examples of incorporating student-led learning into your studio are the following:
- Provide a choice board in the lesson.
- Incorporate a visual schedule into your lessons with intentional gaps. Allow the student to choose what elements will go in the gap.
- Give repertoire options that all work on the same skills.
- Provide multiple ways for students to demonstrate their learning (i.e. notation through composing, or ear training through improvisation).
- Use a spinner that has your lesson activities listed, and allow the
student to spin for their next activity. - Use music theory games instead of traditional theory books.
- Have the student choose and play a small percussion instrument when practicing rhythms.
- Learn music that your students want to learn. (e.g. If your beginner
student wants to learn a pop song, but their hands can’t fit a three-note chord yet, can you teach your student the bass note of each chord with the recording?).
An adaptive music teacher is a lifelong learner. I would say this is true for any teacher, but even more true for music teachers who work with students with exceptionalities. Our students, regardless of any diagnosis, may require additional and changing supports in their music lessons. Our understanding of diagnoses changes as the science progresses, and our teaching must as more information and resources become available. Adaptive music teaching means that we are continuing to learn from and alongside our students to ensure that they have the best experience possible.
You can learn more about adaptive music lessons by joining our teaching community at the Lotus Centre Institute for Professional Development.
