Expanding Access to Culturally Relevant, Student-Centered, and Inclusive Music Education through Modern Band Bryan Powell Assistant Professor of Music Education and Music Technology Montclair State University The inclusion of popular music in United States public school music education classrooms has become increasingly common in the 21st century. This expansion is in part due to the growth of modern band programs in public schools. “Modern band” is a stream of music education that broadens the repertoire and instrumentation typically found in school-based instrumental programs. The repertoire of modern band is what people might typically think of as “popular music” played on popular music instruments—the term “popular” being used to mean “of the people,” in this case, “of the students.” Such repertoire can include musics across rock, rap, metal, reggae, EDM, county, and other genres as they emerge. Music classrooms incorporating modern band repertoire, and therefore ensembles, help to bridge the gap between the music that students experience in schools and the music they experience in their communities. Through focusing on music that is familiar to students, modern band allows students to see themselves reflected in the curriculum. By validating and leveraging the cultural capital of their students, music educators can forge stronger bonds between typically marginalized students and the schools that serve them. Our bands, choirs, and orchestras are working well for the students that they serve. However, current research shows that our traditional bands, choirs, and orchestras are serving, on average, around 20% of secondary school students. What about the other students who, for one reason or another, are likely passionate about music, but do not see themselves participating in these ensembles? Modern band provides an opportunity for music educators to engage such students. TEMPO
Moreover, as music educators seek to focus on issues of access, diversity, and inclusion, it is important to offer more diverse options in school music programs to provide an opportunity for more students to participate. In a study published in titled “Increasing Access to School Music through Modern Band,” the authors found that found that the introduction of modern band ensembles into school music programs can increase overall participation in school music, especially among non-white students and students who receive free and reduced lunch assistance (Clauhs, Beard, Chadwick, 2017). The authors also found that the introduction of modern band programs didn’t take students away from the traditional band, choir, and orchestra ensembles in the school. Instead, the modern band courses mostly attracted new students who had previously not participated in school music. One of the opportunities offered by modern bands is the opportunity for the students to engage in songwriting and improvisation. Music educators all know that composition and improvisation are important aspects of music education, but composition and improvisation seldom happen in concert bands, choirs, and orchestras. The incorporation of composition in public school music education is often hindered by the teacher’s perception that students must first learn Western musical notation as well as have great facility on their instrument before they are able to write new music. Modern band on the other hand embraces student composition and songwriting through the use of common chord progressions and simplified, student-friendly approaches to songwriting and improvisation. Thousands of songs use a I-V-vi-IV chord progression (in the key of G, this would be G, D, 26
APRIL 2020
