By Dr. Merlin Thompson
Music Teaching in the 21st Century: Understanding the Evolution of Music Lessons
Submitted to SRMTA by Merlin B. Thompson
Ask music teachers this question – Has the music teaching world changed? And you’ll get a resounding “yes”. Over the previous twenty, ten, and even five years, music teaching has undergone significant transformations that include technological and pedagogical shifts as well as cultural, social, and generational adjustments. We all recognize that today’s music teaching environment isn’t the same as it was. The ways in which students approach learning, engage with music, and even experience the world around them are different from past generations.
My impression is that we’re looking at one of the most exciting and rewarding eras of music teaching. What we do in these next few years will create successful results in ways that our predecessors could never have imagined. We are the generation that’s going to change permanently the tone of music teaching.
Why Embrace Change? What motivates music teachers to adapt our practices and adjust to these new circumstances?
Music teachers have two driving forces at the heart of what we do: our dedication to music and to our students. We care about music. It’s the friend and companion that nourishes and exercises who we are. We also care about our students. We have hopes and dreams to help our students develop meaningful connections with music making.
We work with real life students who come in all shapes and sizes. That means some students learn quickly, some slowly. Some students have lots of time to practice. Some students have many obstacles. Some students are highly disciplined. Some students prefer spontaneous explorations. Some students easily follow their teacher’s instructions. Some students need massive amounts of independence.
Unlike music teachers from previous generations who may have focused on changing students into their version of the “ideal” student, today our aim is to help all students become the best of their own brand. Our challenge for today isn’t just about how to teach music. It’s about how to teach in ways that resonate with the diverse needs, preferences, and aspirations of today’s students.
My goal in this article is to explore reasons behind these changes, the impact they have on our teaching methods, and how music teachers can shape a future where more students continue their musical journeys and experience lifelong engagement with music.
Evolution of Master/Apprentice Music Teaching – To understand how music teaching has changed, it may be valuable to visit a couple of fictional music teachers: Mr. McDonald who taught piano from 1950 to 1985 and voice teacher Ms. Jefferson who taught from 1980 to 2020.
Old School Master/Apprentice – Growing up in the 1930s and 1940s, Mr. McDonald took piano lessons from an “old school” teacher who reflected the social conventions of that era – that children should only speak when spoken to. When Mr. M. began his teaching career in 1950, he naturally followed the master/apprentice approach of his own teacher. As the experienced teacher responsible for passing on his expertise to inexperienced students, Mr. M exercised strict authority over his students. He carefully curated his students and limited his teaching to students with obvious musical talent and discipline he deemed as necessary to students’ successful musical development. His interactions with students were formal and informative based on his vast knowledge. Yet, his language could easily take on a cruel edge when providing feedback on students’ progress.
Modified Master/Apprentice – Growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, Ms. Jefferson’s childhood experiences were influenced by baby boomer parents determined to raise their children in a positive child-friendly environment, while her voice lessons still resembled those of Mr. M’s in adhering to the “old school” teaching model. When she began teaching in 1980, Ms. J wanted to modify her approach but she wasn’t entirely comfortable with straying too far from the “old school” top-down model of master/apprentice instruction. Her teaching focused on students who were disciplined and willing to work hard. Over her career from 1980-2020, there was a noticeable gentleness to her teaching along with the traditional expectations that students were to listen, follow instructions, and practice diligently.
Music teachers across several generations have continued to rely on the master/apprentice approach because it’s a very effective way to produce excellent student results. And with each new generation of music teachers, the level of student excellence has increased significantly. Today’s students perform at high levels never previously achieved – which is something to celebrate! At the same time, however, there’s a thorny issue that needs our attention.
The thorny issue has to do with the student drop out rate. Namely, that the vast majority of students who take music lessons during childhood never participate in music making activities as adults. Not just a few students here and there. The vast majority. Why does this happen? We might say it’s because students just aren’t committed enough, or that parents don’t take music studies seriously. Or we might acknowledge that previous generations’ success with the master/apprentice approach has masked its shortcomings. My impression is that a majority dropout rate is a signal that this model has some major gaps that require our attention.
Where do we go for solutions? Let’s step outside our usual way of looking at things and consider a different vantage point.
Social Movements – Over the past two hundred years, we’ve experienced a remarkable trajectory of social movements: the struggle against racial inequalities, women’s rights movements, LGBTQ concerns, needs of the disabled population, Black Lives Matter, the Truth and Reconciliation calls for action, issues facing BIPOC. Just consider for yourself how these social movements have influenced how you may think about things, the priorities you maintain, the way you interact with others, and even the language you use.
What do social movements have to do with music teaching? You might ask. A great deal. Because there’s a very relevant message that’s common to each of these social movements. They all point to imbalances that result from one group have power over another: like whites controlling people of colour, or men controlling women, and so on. And in the context of one-on-one music lessons, these movements also point to the imbalance in teachers controlling students – a statement which may make music teachers uncomfortable. After all, we don’t control our students. Or do we? A quick examination of teaching as demonstrated by Mr. M and Ms. J provides ample evidence of teachers controlling their students. In contrast, the above social movements encourage a shared journey wherein each of us contributes as best we can to caring for ourselves, each other, and the world around us.
How can today’s music teachers create shared journeys with our students?
Here are three tools to help out.
Tool #1: Two-Way Communication. A useful starting point may be to imagine the one-way communication style of Mr. M and Ms. J wherein teachers did all the talking and students listened. In a two-way communication model, both teachers and students actively contribute. This means music teachers, in addition to their musical expertise, also gather information, encourage student reflective thinking, and follow students’ lead. The whole point of two-way communication is for teachers to engage students as active and independent thinkers appropriate to students’ age and level of development.
Tool #2: Questions for Our Teaching. Consider these two practical questions for today’s music teachers. Question A: What skills and knowledge will students take away from music lessons? Question B: What will students take away from music lessons that’s meaningful for themselves?
Question A is the one we’ve inherited from previous music teacher generations and includes things like technique, repertoire, theory, improvisation, intonation, reading, playing by ear, and more. It’s a massive list of integral elements for our teaching.
Question B shifts our thinking. What’s meaningful for students may include activities like the following: chill out at the instrument, play Happy Birthday, let off steam, use music as self-care, form a band, teach someone else, pursue a professional career, develop unique musical connections, and more. This question reminds us that students’ music connections grow and thrive in relation to their own personal lives.
What happens when we put Questions A and B side by side? At first glance, it may appear that exploring what’s meaningful for students takes time and energy away from teachers’ focus on musical skills and knowledge. However, these two outcomes are not mutually exclusive. Rather, skills/knowledge and what’s meaningful for students have a reciprocal impact on each other. Consider how music skills/knowledge provide the solid foundation for students to explore what’s meaningful. At the same time, what’s meaningful for students sheds light on which skills/knowledge will be most efficacious for their musical journey.
Tool #3: Twenty Years from Now. I have one more question to anchor our teaching: Twenty years from now, what kind of musical activities will our grown up students participate in as a result of having had music lessons with us this week? I like this question because it reminds us that music teachers can influence what students do in the future by what we do with them today. For music teachers, it’s so easy to get overly focused on students making progress, or practicing diligently, or getting ready for the next deadline that we lose sight of where we’re headed. That’s why I make sure every music lesson includes space to reinforce students’ own musically enriching activities. We take time to connect with music in ways that I hope resemble their future music making explorations.
Hopes and Dreams. At the beginning of this article, I indicated that as music teachers we have hopes and dreams for our students. I’d like to affirm that music teachers also have hopes and dreams for ourselves. I dream that we’ll be the generation of music teachers that changes the tone of music lessons. That we’ll be the change agents who demonstrate what it looks like when teachers set up a shared journey of music teaching and learning.
Does that mean everything will go without any bumps or hiccups along the way? Not likely. I think we all recognize that doing what we’ve always done produces a sense of stability. Changing what we’ve always done can feel as uncomfortable as walking a tightrope. Does change involve risk? Yes it does. But there’s a risk involved when we don’t change what we’re doing – the risk that things will continue just as they are — with excellence on one side, and an incredible dropout rate on the other.
I hope that we’ll be the music teachers who turn around the legacy of music lessons, where instead of the majority dropping out we’ll have the majority of students continuing to make music throughout their entire lives. It’s obvious we’ve got some work to do. But here’s what I know about music teachers – and I’ll emphasize a group of Saskatchewan-rooted music teachers – we are entrepreneurs, musicians, and teachers who have the willpower, the creativity, the community support, and the means to make things happen.
Follow Up – As I presented the above three tools at the 2024 SRMTA Conference, it seems appropriate to conclude with the following questions:
- What do you notice about your own teaching in terms of two-way communication? Strength or weakness?
- How do you feel about the interweaving of music skills/knowledge and what’s meaningful for students? What could you do better?
- What seeds are you sowing today to support your students’ future music making? What’s holding you back?
Reflecting on the passion and commitment I saw in colleagues at the conference, I feel hopeful and energized, knowing that today’s music teaching community is poised to inspire future generations of musicians to create, connect, and share their love of music in ways we’ve only just begun to imagine. We’re the teachers who can do it!
