Music That "Counts" - Sara Munson

Music That "Counts"

Sara Munson Christopher Columbus Middle School Clifton, NJ

It’s customary for music educators to consider the ways we can improve ourselves, our best practices, as well as who we are as human beings. It’s convenient to have summer “vacations,” and winter break to ponder how we can refine our craft, especially since, at the time of writing, the NJMEA convention is only a little over a month away. However, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, every day brings a new pseudo “new year resolution” that makes teaching feel like a never-ending cycle of new beginnings. In all honesty, this constant cycle of change in how we teach is a good thing. Personally, I constantly re-evaluate my best practices in order to enrich not only my student’s musical experiences, but social and emotional experiences in the classroom. It’s what they need, especially right now. But as it turned out this past year, my students needed to do some re-evaluating. This in turn gave me a pseudo “new year’s resolution” a little bit early.

For my student’s first assignment in music class each September, I like to have them come up with three songs that “lived rent free”; better known as “it got stuck in their head sand they could not stop thinking about it” over summer break. By doing this, I am able to learn my students’ musical preferences as well as connect with them on a personal level; to consider whether or not we have similar musical tastes. More often than not, my students end up educating me on new artists and bands that inevitably end up on my “most listened to” playlist on Spotify. This year it’s Girl in Red, but I digress. Each year I look forward to giving this assignment because I typically receive such a wide variety of musical genres represented in students’ projects. Granted, there’ll always be some pop, a little bit of rap, and more alternative rock than expected. However, this year, I’ve been thoroughly surprised with the niche styles that grace my students’ GoogleSlides. Music from all corners of the globe, some created by artists that only perform covers via Minecraft for their small following on YouTube, filled the virtual pages of my students’ assignment. Such diverse musics color an otherwise monochrome canvas of musical tastes I’ve assumed inhabit the world of Gen Z and younger. Additionally, some students bring classical music to their projects without realizing it. Electronic remixes of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and Mozart’s Requiem Mass never fail to rear their heads within a project or two.

The students come to class with such an enormous personal library of music they enjoy. The internet and social media can be a burden and cause a great deal of grief, however it’s undoubtedly introduced younger generations to many different genres of music. Nowadays, students can find any genre of music from any era for free on YouTube and Spotify, or through a subscription such as Apple music. It’s astounding and it makes me both jealous and thankful. I’m jealous that I never had access to this array of music when I was younger, but I am thankful my students get to grow up in a world where international music is so readily available to them.

There is one thing, though, that is always surprising to me when I assign this project. It’s the one recurring question my students ask me when they want to include their favorite SoundCloud rapper or Vocaloid pop-star to their project: “Does this music count?”

I couldn’t fathom a song that “wouldn’t count” since the project is about revealing students’ preferences. In my mind, if the song encompases some aspect of sound moving through time and the students get some enjoyment from it, then it’s undoubtedly a piece of music that would be fine to present in the project. Why would the students second guess their own musical preferences? When I asked myself that question, I tried to put myself in the students' shoes.

Over the past year, many students have experienced heightened anxiety over getting good grades and completing assignments. Students have told me they hand in incomplete work because they simply don’t want to see the red “missing” notification on their GoogleClassrooms pages. So, as I watched my sixth-grade students constantly switch between my rubric and their playlists, I realized the question they were asking was more complicated than I initially thought: “Does this count?” quickly became “does the music that I enjoy count?”

Despite making it abundantly clear to the students that I grade this project--and every other project I assign throughout the marking period--with an open mind and willingness to learn about new artists and genres of music, the students still seemed to

believe that I would not value their favorite music as being legitimate, or worthy of being put into an academic project. I cannot lie: it broke my heart a little bit because I personally love listening to the students talk about their interests, musical or otherwise.

According to Hill, Hall, and Appleton (2011), “self-oriented perfectionism is the tendency to set exceedingly high personal standards and evaluate oneself critically” (p. 239). When students set high personal standards for themselves, more often than not based on the rubrics that we provide for them, completing projects and assessments become that much more daunting. Students feel a need and pressure to prove their competence, which can lead to feelings of pressure when being evaluated that in turn impairs performance (Fairlamb, 2020). Do they risk putting a great deal of effort into an assignment only to receive a bad grade because the teacher has some pre-existing bias against their favorite type of music?

It’s no secret that seeking the approval of others, even teachers, can become a problematic strategy to establish a sense of self-worth (Crocker & Park, 2004). Hill, Hall, and Appleton (2011) posit “the inability to satisfy [this need to impress] is likely to be a significant source of the negative psychological consequences associated with socially prescribed perfectionism'' (p. 241). Personally, I don’t know if I would be willing to put forth that much effort only to be criticized for the thing I enjoy by someone who is supposed to be there to encourage and affirm my developing taste in music.

Fairlamb stated “one’s self-esteem is dependent on academic outcomes, individuals may experience greater fluctuations to their self-worth, depending on their successes and failures in their academic studies” (p. 3). Because of this, I’d like to propose a “new years resolution challenge” to every reader: let students know their music “counts” as often as possible to keep that fluctuation of selfworth in check. I’m not asking teachers to listen to all of BTS’ discography if a handful of students are obsessed with K-Pop. Rather, I’m asking teachers to create an environment where it is evident they would be open to listening to BTS, or Hatsune Miku, or whoever students are currently obsessed with.

There are so many different ways teachers can illustrate how students’ musical interests are a priority. Playing instrumental covers of today’s hits during class/period transitions is one way to open the door for students’ feelings of self-worth. Moreover, doing so helps students understand who they are and what they find valuable matters in the minds of their teachers. And if students hear their favorite song when the teacher plays something as part of a lesson plan and they start singing along in class, that’s always a win!

For example, play instrumental covers when teaching students about instrument families. YouTube and TikTok are full of short clips of people playing popular songs on any instrument. I am constantly in awe of the untapped talent that is on display within these social media applications.

Consider, too, creating a “class playlist” submission form where students can suggest songs to listen to and/or discuss during lessons. There are so many ways teachers can connect the music that students enjoy to whatever standards that need to be met. In my classroom, I’ve used Olivia Rodrigo’s song “Deja Vu” (a song that often frequents my class playlist suggestions inbox) to teach students about the difference between “head” and “chest” voice to sixth grade chorus students. So, when I ask students to use their head voice, we lovingly refer to it as our “Deja Vu” voice. Through using the song name in our class vocabulary, students discover that the music they listen to and enjoy has “academic” value. They’re not wrong or lesser for associating their head voice with Olivia Rodrigo; they’re connecting my lessons to the music they enjoy and make outside of the classroom.

It’s no accident that the “rent free music” project is the first assignment I give students. I can’t speak for anyone else but myself, but I want to let each and every student know their personal musical knowledge is something to be commended. I remember when I was their age, I held my favorite songs in the highest regard. Such songs got me through tough times and continue to do so to this day. Now I’ve found that if I give students the space to celebrate their favorite genres of music, they are more willing to listen and engage with music and concepts I bring to the table in all lessons. It’s reciprocal teaching at its finest.

Works cited

Crocker, J., & Park, L. E. (2004). The costly pursuit of self-esteem. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 392–414.

Fairlamb, S. (2020). We need to talk about self-esteem: The effect of contingent self-worth on student achievement and well being. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology.

Hill, A. P., Hall, H. K., & Appleton, P. R. (2011). The relation ship between multidimensional perfectionism and contin gencies of self-worth. Personality and individual differences, 50(2), 238-242.