indiana university press the art of teaching music may 2008

Th inking about teaching as an art and craft such as music juxta-poses music and teaching so that we may think musically about teaching; thinking about music as teaching juxtaposes teach

A veteran teacher’s practical

approach to music education

“Th is book will turn heads and quite likely deepen the thoughts of working

musicians who teach I do not doubt that it will, as Jorgensen declares,

open wide the conversation on teaching that is waiting to happen.”

Patricia Shehan Campbell, University of Washington

Th e Art of Teaching Music takes up important aspects of music teaching from organization to

serving as conductor to dealing with the disconnect between the ideal of university teaching

and the reality in the classroom Writing for both established teachers and instructors on

the rise, Estelle R Jorgensen opens a conversation about the life and work of the music

teacher Th e author regards music teaching as interrelated with the rest of life, and her

themes encompass pedagogical skills as well as matters of character, disposition, value,

personality, and musicality She refl ects on musicianship and practical aspects of teaching

while drawing on a broad base of theory, research, and personal experience Although

grounded in the practical realities of music teaching, Jorgensen urges music teachers to think

and act artfully, imaginatively, hopefully, and courageously toward creating a better world

Author photo courtesy

of Indiana University

Estelle R Jorgensen is Professor of

Music at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where she teaches courses in the foundations of music

education She is author of In Search

of Music Education and Transforming Music Education (Indiana University

Press, 2003), and editor of Th e Philosophy of Music Education Review.

Th e Art of

Teaching Music

Th is book is a publication of

Indiana University Press

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No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher Th e Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.

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Manufactured in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Jorgensen, Estelle Ruth.

Th e art of teaching music / Estelle R Jorgensen.

p cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-253-35078-7 (cloth : alk paper)—ISBN 978-0-253-21963-3

(pbk : alk paper) 1 Music—Instruction and study I Title.

MT1.J667 2008

780.71—dc22 2007040647

1 2 3 4 5 13 12 11 10 09 08

formal and informal

intentional and accidental

known and unknown

past and present

I have oft en remarked to my students on the similarity of teaching and music In thinking of teaching as an art and craft , I see teaching as a meta-phor for music and music as a meta phor for teaching Th is double- meta phor may not seem, at least superfi cially, to get us very far A critic might suggest that if music is regarded as a meta phor for teaching and teaching as a meta-phor for music, each is defi ned in terms of the other and this smacks of tautological or circular thinking Still, this critic has made a crucial error and is mistaken Th e principal purpose of meta phors is not to defi ne but to illumine Th inking about teaching as an art and craft such as music juxta-poses music and teaching so that we may think musically about teaching; thinking about music as teaching juxtaposes teaching and music so that we think pedagogically about music.1 Both juxtapositions set us thinking about music and teaching in potentially diff erent ways And this is one of the purposes of meta phor

My objective in this book is not to defi ne music education, for I have

tackled this task in an earlier book, In Search of Music Education.2 Nor is it

to examine the changes that are needed in music education, because I have

begun to do this in Transforming Music Education.3 Rather, I seek to share principles that I see as important in the life and work of a music teacher—principles that emerge out of my reading and refl ection on my own lived experience I focus on the music teacher since those of us who teach music are in a crucial position to help our students develop as people, musicians, and lovers of music and culture Th is emphasis should not be read to di-minish the importance of the student in the instructional pro cess How-ever, as becomes clear in these chapters, as we take stock of our own lives and work, we are paradoxically better able to help our students And so I begin with our practical work as teachers

x • Preface

Th e teachers I have in mind include those who work in schools, leges, universities, conservatories, community music schools, and private studios I also think of choral and instrumental conductors, directors

col-of opera houses, impresarios and managers col-of musical concerts col-of all sorts, programmers of audiovisual and mass- mediated musics, music critics, and others who shape the public’s musical taste in a host of ways Th ey may teach in religious schools, publicly supported schools under the auspices

of state governments, commercial enterprises, schools operated by music professionals, family- run schools, or privately operated music studios In a host of diff erent situations, I think of music teachers as those whose work

is intended to pass on musical wisdom from one generation to the next Although the specifi c interests of music teachers diff er depending on the par tic u lar aspects, genres, or musics taught or levels of instruction ranging from elementary through professional or advanced, my sense is that some common threads unite the work of teaching music And it is these com-monalities that I focus on in this book

When I think of music teachers, I also include those who are preparing to

be teachers and have yet to experience the work of teaching fi rst hand Becoming a teacher is a matter of beginning to think as if one is already a teacher Th is does not happen overnight We are wise to begin to think of ourselves as teachers while we are yet students Why should this be? Since music teacher preparation programs are there to enable us to make the transi-tion from student to teacher, if we begin thinking of ourselves as teachers while we are still students, and we seek every opportunity to gather experi-ence by assisting experienced teachers and begin to look at the learning pro cess from a teacher’s perspective, our musical and educational learning takes on a greater urgency To aspiring teachers I say: fi nd outstanding music teachers and apprentice yourselves to them; follow them around and keep eyes and ears wide open Before long, you will receive jobs to do For the aspir-ing school music teacher in the West, this may include handing out music, arranging chairs and desks, repairing and tuning instruments, fi ling music, conducting sectional rehearsals, and giving additional lessons in the teacher’s absence, among a host of other things that teachers may appreciate having help in doing For the studio teacher, it may mean beginning to assist the teacher in coaching students who are preparing for recitals or need additional help For the aspiring choral or orchestral conductor, it may mean conducting sectional rehearsals and beginning to assume the task of conducting rehears-als and public per for mances Th ere is nothing like willing learners to motivate teachers to share what we know Looking at the classes we take as students through a teacher’s eye is also illumining We may ask: Why is my teacher

doing this? If this were my own class, ensemble, or student, would I do this? If

so, why? If not, why not? What would be a better approach? How could I make this or that work if I were the teacher? How can I help my fellow students who are struggling with this technique or concept? Th inking this way clarifi es the opportunities that exist for those who have yet to complete a teacher educa-tion or pedagogy program to become teachers while still students And since there are many things to master as we become musicians and teachers, becoming a music teacher will take some time So we may as well start now if

we have not already begun to take the leap of music teaching

Th ose of us who are further along the way also need to refl ect on what

we do as musician- teachers Our busy working lives may leave us little time for the luxury of refl ection Th is book is an invitation to think through important aspects of what we do and should do It is not intended to consti-tute a technical manual about music teaching I am aft er something deeper than simply amassing skills and techniques since teaching and musicality are more than the sum of their parts Rather, the things about which I write have been growing with me for the better part of a working lifetime I want

to excavate beneath superfi cial and demonstrable skills to think about the ideas and principles of music teaching, the things that drive and shape our practice My observations are shaped as much by the practitioner in me as

by the theorist and constitute something of the wisdom that I have been seeking across the years By wisdom, I mean a unifi ed and sound basis for action that is worth keeping and trea suring As we travel through life we may amass wisdom Sharing the practical wisdom we have gained is a cen-tral responsibility of music teaching Still, one person’s insights, interests, and convictions may not necessarily be another’s And my purpose is to share what I have learned in the hope of opening a conversation with teach-ers about what we have learned to trea sure individually and collectively

Th e aspects of music teaching on which I focus in the following ters are necessarily selective Th ose aspects I include seem, now, to be of the utmost importance My criterion for selecting them has been the question

chap-“What is really important in music teaching?” Th ere are many other aspects about which I might have written Still, within the scope of this book, these fourteen chapters relate to a trio of questions: chapters 1–5, “Who ought the teacher to be?”; chapters 69, “What is the nature of musicality at the heart of music teaching?”; and chapters 10–14, “How should music instruction be conducted?” Notice that I begin with the teacher, with her or his self, values, dispositions, judgment, and leadership I start with the teacher’s selfh ood because teaching is more than personality It is about a lifestyle, vocation, and way of being I move, next, to the musician’s work and responsibilities,

xii • Preface

the musician as listener, performer, and composer Next follow ations of music teaching, especially matters of or ga ni za tion, design, instruc-tion, teaching imaginatively and for the development of imagination, and practical realities in the day- to- day lives of music teachers I conclude with

consider-an aft erword in which I bring together some general conclusions consider-and bilities for music teaching Notice that I have not or ga nized this book into three discrete parts because it becomes clear in these chapters that each as-pect melds into others Practically speaking, it is diffi cult to say where mat-ters having to do with each of these questions relating to the music teacher, musicality, and music teaching begin and end Consequently, I prefer to see them as intertwined even though, for expository purposes, I move from one focus to another throughout these chapters

possi-As becomes clear in the following pages, I see music teaching as inative, artful, and craft y.4 In thinking about this underlying theme of the artfulness of music teaching, much hangs on what we think about art Without getting into a lengthy debate on its nature, I prefer to take a simple and direct approach that builds on Nelson Goodman’s criteria for how we may recognize art.5 Among its characteristic features or symptoms are a rich and ambiguous array of possible meanings; a carefully articulated structure that is replete—that is, it needs nothing else and all that is needed

imag-is present; and an imaginative apprehension—that imag-is, since it imag-is so ous, multi- faceted, and dense, imagination is needed to uncover it Th e richness and density of possibilities suggest, also, that it is particularistic; that is, it is made with respect to specifi c circumstances rather than univer-sal laws Having its own language, it needs to be read within the context of that language or symbolic system Nor can it be separated from the idea it connotes or the person who generates it; that is, it is embodied in and ex-pressed by the people and events of which it is a part So thinking about music as art allows us to apply these characteristics to music teaching and,

ambigu-as Vernon Howard hambigu-as done, to teaching more generally.6 My point, here, is

to show how these artistic features apply specifi cally to musical instruction and, although less emphasized in these chapters, how notions of teaching may also bear on the ways in which we can envisage music pedagogically

In choosing to construct this book as an informal group of talks that can

be read in any order, I follow in the steps of others such as William James,

whose practical little book Talks to Teachers is a landmark in educational

literature Its unpretentious character and the straightforward simplicity of its psychological and practical principles made it helpful to generations

of teachers.7 Like James, I want to dignify the practical matters that are central to a teacher’s work Much wisdom comes to us from the past and in-

formally, and our work as teachers is as much to recover what might wise have been lost as it is to discover new knowledge I am also attracted to

other-the notion of a conversation with teachers and repelled by talks at other-them

With this in mind, I off er these principles in the hope of spurring dialogue about what I have written and prompting others to do their own thinking and acting, and to discover their own principles of music teaching

A word on my notes, which were written aft er the text of these talks I sense an obligation to enable others to reconstruct and follow sources that shape or relate to my thinking I could not have written these talks without referring to other related writing and, from time to time, relevant empirical research Since I range philosophically over a wide area of issues where I do not claim empirical expertise, I have been helped by colleagues who have pointed me to relevant research on par tic u lar points I am especially in-debted to those who have assisted me in this way and I state my indebtedness

to them at the relevant points throughout this book I also appreciate the comments of Deanne Bogdan, Patricia Shehan Campbell, and Iris Yob, who read the manuscript in its entirety; the assistance of Iris Yob in preparing the Index; and the guidance of Carrie Jadud, Jane Behnken, and June Silay of Indiana University Press Any errors or omissions, however, are mine alone Still, the help I have received makes me deeply conscious of the importance

of a community of music educators with whom to share ideas and from whom to receive constructive advice and criticism Th ese notes are intended

to provide a more detailed examination of par tic u lar points and can be read either in conjunction with the text or separately An interested reader may wish to pursue some or all of the notes that accompany each talk And while refl ection of the sort evident in my talks is crucial, my hope is that these notes also make transparent the importance of taking into account a grow-ing research literature on aspects of teaching music

I leave each teacher and teacher- to- be with the practical challenges of how the principles outlined in these chapters might impact the par tic u lar situations in which we work or hope to work Since my view of music teaching as artful and craft y focuses on the par tic u lar, my sense is that we cannot expect to fi nd the one right way to teach music that fi ts everyone, and this book is not intended to be prescriptive Rather, we would expect to develop a wide variety of music teaching practices as we seek to meet the needs and interests of our students according to our best lights Th rough our individual and collective refl ections about music teaching, we can fi nd our own ways to teach music And I hope that discovering and heeding our individual “voices” as music teachers can help to transform our teaching, our students, and those with whom we work

Th e Art of

Teaching Music

we need to discover answers for ourselves What follows are aspects that I have discovered to be important in my role as a teacher, namely, being true

to oneself, learning to listen to one’s inner teacher, accepting one’s tions, teaching to one’s strengths, keeping an open mind, and developing one’s art- craft

limita-As a youthful teacher, I was inclined to devalue teaching It came ily to me Th e study of education was very accessible compared with my other subjects of study and I did not respect what came easily It took me many years to come to see how invaluable is its work, how imperative is its mission to the wider life of music and culture, and how widespread an activity it is in our daily lives I fi rst learned to teach from my father, who was a teacher before me As early as I can remember, I watched him teach

eas-He was an expositor—a teacher gift ed with the ability to break diffi cult things down into simple elements and present them in a clear and logical

manner I saw him preparing to teach, taking his students seriously, paring outlines for their study, and teaching them for the long haul rather than for their immediate gratifi cation I suppose this extended appren-ticeship, watching and listening over many years, led me to expect that teaching was the most natural and the easiest thing to do I confess that I did not learn very much that was new during my teachers college experi-ence Much of what I learned confi rmed lessons learned intuitively and very much earlier as a young girl I also learned a repertoire of sophisti-cated vocabulary to describe what were essentially very simple concepts And I learned sets of rules for how I should conduct myself in the class-room.

pre-When I became a teacher myself, I quickly discovered that my father’s style and the rules I had been taught at teachers college did not fi t me I had learned rules set up by men and I had watched a male teacher at work for many years Here I was as a woman trying to fi t myself into a model pre-scribed by men I was a square peg in a round hole Madeline Grumet de-scribes my experience when she writes about school being our “father’s house.”1 For me, it was just that It was a place where I aped what I saw men

do even though it felt all wrong for me Having never seen, heard, or read the work of outstanding teachers who broke these molds, I had no idea that there could be other ways of being a teacher and doing the work of teach-ing And it seemed that to be myself as a teacher I would have to “trans-gress” the rules I had been taught to follow.2

Being True to Oneself

Th e answers to the questions “What place will teaching have in my life?” and “What will be my approach to teaching?” are fi rst found in discovering who we are We cannot teach like another because we are not that other, so

we need to discover who we are before we can be great teachers What do

we love to do? If I love to do something, it is for me a form of play It grips

my attention, and the time seems to pass rapidly because I am intently cused on what I am doing It is as intellectually, emotionally, and physically exhausting as it is restorative and exhilarating Th ere is a sense of ease, art-lessness, and self- forgetfulness that transforms ordinary and prosaic ac-tivities into moments of pure joy.3 Th e closer I come to doing the things I love to do and being the person I really am, the more oft en I experience this sense of playing

fo-2 • The Art of Teaching Music

How do we fi nd out who we really are? When we are surrounded by a sort of “banking education” or teaching by “impression” in which teachers believe that it is their role to fi ll their students with important information,

as empty vessels might be fi lled with water or bank accounts might be fi lled with money, it is very hard to discover who we are.4 If our teachers are con-stantly telling us to “play it this way” or “sing it that way,” do this but not that, follow this or that method, and never asking us why we do what we

do, why we approach this piece of music this way, or in what other ways we might play or sing this piece or teach this lesson, we do not have much op-portunity to discover who we are and how we should teach We learn what the rules are, even if they do not feel easy, comfortable, or artless We learn

to do things the teacher’s way and keep silent when we disagree And we become passive, timid, self- conscious, lacking confi dence in our own abili-ties, and disciples of other masters

Finding out who we really are takes a lifetime Th is is not something that can be learned quickly Even if we could fi nd teachers interested in

fi nding out who we are, we would not arrive at the end of our knowledge during our school years Experience as a teacher and person living all the aspects of life teaches us important and sometimes surprising lessons about who we are and the passions that are the most rewarding and the closest to our hearts To get on in life sometimes means doing things the way others want them done Still, too many of us get drawn into the end of “getting along” or “getting to the top,” among other external rewards that may be emphasized by family, friends, and infl uential others Too few of us stop to ask along the way, “What is this doing to my soul?” “What does getting along or getting to the top really mean?” “What am I giving up in personal satisfaction in order to get along or to the top?” If becoming a leader is my aptitude, and I am fortunate to become one, this may be being true to my self However, if I am going “through the motions” to do this because of what I think others want me to do, that is quite another matter If my heart

is not in what I do and it is not for me a source of deep and abiding joy, then

I am not being true to myself

Although we cannot fi nd the fi nal answer to who we are all at once, we can set out to discover who we are and grow into the habit of asking con-tinually, “Is this really me?” Th is perspective may seem very self- centered and hedonistic How could such a question be at the root of music educa-tion? My answer is that until we set out to fi nd out who we are, we cannot help our students begin to discover who they really are I speak of a way of being When we are true to ourselves, we are honest and transparent to our students What we say accords with what we do Th is transparency is

4 • The Art of Teaching Music

inspiring to students because they are dealing with persons of integrity, not frauds or people who pretend to be what they are not, or actors who put on

or take off a character or a role Th e integrity or wholeness of the teacher’s example also stands in distinction to, even as an antidote to, the pervasive hypocrisy and materialism in public and private life When we are truest to our deepest thoughts, beliefs, fears, joys, and selves, we are happy and con-tented And our happiness and contentment as teachers spill over into joy-ful and buoyant relationships with our students

Learning to Listen to One’s Inner Teacher

When we are deluged with information and pressed with work, it is times diffi cult to take the time for, and realize the importance of, listening

some-to the teacher within A widespread preoccupation with scientifi c ery in the world of education makes it tempting to gather information rather than listen, watch, and refl ect on our beliefs, values, and actions as they impact colleagues, students, and others with whom we relate We can become so busy gathering information—and it seems that there has never been so much of it—in doing our work and conducting our lives that we do not have time to refl ect on what is really important At all levels of music education it is possible to engage in unimportant “busywork” of limited value, and this is possible even in the academy—in the focus of research, for example Given the importance of the work of music teaching, music teachers naturally want researchers to focus on matters of real importance that can make a genuine diff erence to the work of music education rather than on studies that seem unimportant or trivial And it is important to consider whether the research conducted is mere busywork or genuinely engages issues of practical and theoretical signifi cance to music education

discov-Th e utility of book learning has been questioned ever since books were invented Plato thought that books would undermine the work of educa-tion and, in par tic u lar, the cultivation of the memory.5 He preferred the old oral tradition as a means of acquiring wisdom Descartes was also impa-tient with the study of philosophy and with books in general as a source of learning.6 Instead, he wanted to go slowly and carefully, and test his ideas

by the world of experience through travel and interaction with fellow ers Today, there seems to be a widespread anti- intellectualism among edu-cators and too many music teachers have read comparatively little of the literatures in music and education.7 For example, only a small proportion

learn-of the membership learn-of MENC—Th e National Association for Music Education—subscribes to research publications in the fi eld.8

To listen to the teacher within is to recognize the importance of portunities to expand our knowledge Reading is a sort of food It is a basis for our thinking and action Th e books and essays we read and the reper-toire we study are part of the traditions from which we draw nourishment and sustenance We need to take in ideas and hear others speak and write just as we need to study the important repertoire in our fi elds of musical practice For this reason, attending conferences, classes, seminars, and les-sons, reading books and articles, searching the Internet, and watching and listening to mass media are all important means of gathering information

op-We also acquire knowledge in the classroom, studio, rehearsal space, or concert hall as we participate in musical and educational activities When

we are at home, on vacation, attending cultural events, and going about all the activities of living, we may also acquire perspectives on music, culture, and life Descartes was right in his observation that book learning is not the sum of education Education is much more than this Still, there is as much of worth in reading and refl ection as there is in practical activity In all these ways, we can learn and thereby nourish our inner teachers

What is important, here, is that in all our getting information and knowledge, from what ever source, we create the time and space for refl ec-tion, for critically examining what we read and thinking through the valid-ity of ideas and their relevance to our teaching situations Acquiring information is quite a diff erent thing from developing wisdom Wisdom is knowing what to do with the information, how to pro cess, evaluate, and integrate what is grasped as valuable within one’s lived experience It is this refl ective aspect that enables our inner teachers to teach us In the silences and contemplative spaces, we can ask ourselves, “Is this really important?”

“What does this mean?” “How shall I go about this?” among a host of other questions It is important to learn to listen for the questions and answers that come in these silences Th ese are our own voices Th ey cannot be heard

in the cacophony of information It is only in stillness that we can hear them

Sometimes, the silences in my classroom and the long pauses while we all refl ect on the matters at hand seem more important than the times when there is sound, verbal, musical, or what ever Th ese are the moments when the inner teacher can speak, when possibilities are explored, ideas are framed, and moments of decision are arrived at, however tentatively I used

to be very afraid of these silences Some of my new students might be comfortable with them at fi rst, rushing to fi ll the airwaves with sound to

un-6 • The Art of Teaching Music

drown them out No one taught me what to do with them as a teacher My

fi rst instinct was to fi ll up the space with my own sound Th en I began to realize that these silences were precious and my students also began to trea-sure them Th ese were transformative moments when the quick, facile an-swers did not do, when we all came to grips with something terribly important, and when insights were formulated and worked through as a prelude to the most signifi cant conversations I began to see that in these refl ective moments, we were listening to our inner teachers When the babble of sound stopped, the inner voice could speak and be heard

Accepting One’s Limitations

It is a wonderfully freeing thing to realize that we cannot be all things to all people and that we have defi nite limitations in dealing with students I dis-covered this principle when I began thinking about the many diff erent types of teachers and students in the educational universe When I have an opportunity to watch my colleagues interact with my own students, I see how successful they are in reaching those whom I may not impress in the same way I see how the very fact of their being—their gender, physical ap-pearance, age, ethnicity, personality, and musical expertise—makes a state-ment that I could never make Likewise, there are students with whom I am much more successful than with others, notwithstanding my desire to reach them all Th is principle has been understood by musician- teachers from antiquity, and it is not surprising that some of the most successful and transformative teaching is done when teachers and students come to-gether by choice rather than force My interaction with students is most profound where we share similar values, aspirations, hopes, even beliefs

Th is is not something that can be dictated I have colleagues who are mensely pop u lar and appeal to many students by virtue of such aspects as their personality and their subject matter Th ere are also those who are sur-rounded by a comparatively small group of devotees All these teachers are diff erent and limited in one way or another

im-Probably the most important limitation we need to acknowledge is that of our expertise Our authority and integrity as teachers arise from our knowledge of the subjects that we have made our special study We need to acknowledge that this teaching expertise is limited Even though we desire

to expand the range of our expertise, there is not the time in life to do erything equally well We can do harm to our students if we attempt to

ev-teach what we do not truly know, and we would do well as teachers to fi rst do no harm to our students.9 Ruining voices; developing poor instrumental posture; allowing faulty embouchures to go unchecked; permitting students to graduate from programs of general education igno-rant of the world’s great musical traditions, students’ respective musical heritages, musical histories, theoretical structures, and contextual mean-ings, and unable to sing at sight or to imagine how musical notations sound—all these perpetuate or excuse ignorance where education is called for.10 Yet, regrettably, some music teachers are inexpert in their teaching

musician-fi elds I began my own school music teaching as a piano/choral specialist assigned to a band program because it was believed that a music teacher should be able to teach “everything,” so I know fi rsthand this sense of not knowing what one should know as a music teacher Nor am I alone I have seen exemplary choral programs ruined when successful choral teachers were reassigned to instrumental programs or other schools only to be re-placed by teachers without the necessary expertise Occasionally, I hear of choral music teachers at high schools teaching a musical diet consisting entirely of pop u lar songs learned by rote I know of sensitive wind ensem-ble conductors trained to perform the concert wind ensemble literature but pushed into leading marching band programs where much instructional time is spent performing arrangements of a few pop u lar songs with milita-ristic discipline in the name of spectacle and entertainment When I think

of these disjunctions and the harm that may be done to teachers and dents over the long term, I realize that somewhere, somehow, we have to draw the line We must admit that we do not know this subject suffi ciently well yet, and until we do and are competent in what we seek to teach, we should not be teaching it To do otherwise is to perpetuate a fraud

stu-Even if we have what our peers might regard as a basic level of tence as a music teacher, there is always more to learn One way of ac-knowledging our limitations and building our expertise is to seek help When I see music teachers doing this, I am fi lled with admiration for them

compe-My own teaching experience has taught me that when we become learners along with our students and invite experts to our classrooms or studios to assist us in developing the skills we need, we gain the respect of our stu-dents Like many choral majors, I left graduate school unable to achieve a choral blend of the sort that I wanted to achieve and knew could be accom-plished In my fi rst years of teaching at a high school, I asked an experi-enced choral conductor to help me He literally taught me in front of the students, who had never seen such a thing in their lives In this transforma-tive moment, I learned that calling upon experts can expand our musicality

8 • The Art of Teaching Music

and bring our music teaching and per for mance to new and higher levels of excellence I also learned that universities and colleges, among the places where teachers are prepared, also need to fi nd ways to take advantage of the practical experience of expert music teachers in elementary and secondary schools and other settings In places near universities and colleges, under-graduate and graduate students in music may also wish to have the oppor-tunity to coach bands and choirs alongside a school music teacher or to teach individual lessons alongside the studio teacher Th ese students could

be put to work as experts in the various instrumental families to lead tionals, provide private lessons, and help out in the teaching of repertoire, history, theory, ear training, and a host of other activities Th ey are bud-ding experts in classroom instruction, technology, jazz, and many other areas, with skills from which music teachers could benefi t Some might be enticed to volunteer their time, or awarded scholarship assistance to fur-ther their educational studies Music teachers who are retired from active teaching or who teach privately might also be co- opted into providing ad-vanced instruction for students in school ensembles or coaching teachers

sec-in how to more eff ectively or ga nize their music programs Opportunities for distance learning abound and collaborative arrangements with univer-sities and colleges could be forged to spread around the expertise and help music teachers expand our musical horizons And acknowledging our lim-itations by forging these sorts of links can only benefi t our teaching

Teaching to One’s Strengths

Finding out who we are and what feels comfortable in our own teaching styles is an important part of teaching to our strengths My own responsi-bility as a teacher of future teachers is to help my students discover their own styles of teaching I do not want to make clones of myself—people who act and sound just like me So it is important to help my students identify their strengths Some are enormously successful at the sorts of teaching I

do, namely, employing questions, leading discussions, and probing ideas

Th ey seem to do this naturally Th ey listen well and are receptive to others’ views, inclusive of minority opinions, and very gentle in their approaches

to their students Others are more forceful, didactic, funny, charismatic, and spend rather less time inquiring of others In a variety of activities, I watch for signs of an incipient and emergent style and try to help students see their strengths, label them, embrace them, and work to acquire the

various skills that are going to be necessary in doing their par tic u lar kinds

of teaching Our class comes to see that we are all very diff erent and we all have very special strengths on which to build When we validate these strengths, we validate our personhood and gain the courage to teach with honesty and integrity

Teaching to our strengths suggests that we need to carefully consider what and where we should teach Once we know which students we are most suited to teaching eff ectively, our next step is to prepare ourselves to

be able to work in these settings Regrettably, some of our best teaching ent in music is located in universities and colleges Th is is upside- down thinking and doing Zoltán Kodály and Émile Jaques- Dalcroze were right that our best music teachers also need to be found in the kindergarten pro-viding a solid foundation for the musical education yet to come.11 Yet music teachers are oft en rewarded by moving “up” to the high school, college, or university, or out of teaching into administration Th e resulting pyramid teeters on a narrow base of musical expertise at the kindergarten rather than being grounded on a solid and wide base in the pre- school and pri-mary grades Small wonder that so many in the public- at- large are ignorant

tal-of musical culture beyond the immediate pop u lar repertoire heard in eryday life Nor should it be surprising that if cultural sophistication plum-mets, people no longer know how to deal intelligently and musically with the great and little musical traditions of the world, and cultural life frac-tures as musical enclaves retreat into their narrow confi nes

ev-Some of my students have strengths in areas that have not historically been included within music education Th ey are church musicians, pop u lar musicians, private teachers, technological wizards, soft ware developers, music business executives, arts administrators, performers, musicologists, theorists, and composers Th eir approaches and styles would probably not

fl y in a public school as music education is presently conducted in the United States, but they do the important work of music education in their various spheres I think of a musician who now administers a children’s museum in a large city, a music educational soft ware designer in a multi-media corporation, a music director of a large parochial school, a member

of an orchestra who visits schools to talk with and play for the children, a freelance musician and chamber music player who teaches a large class of private students, a church offi cial who dictates musical policy for an inter-national convocation and chairs a denominational hymn book committee All of these people need to be directly involved in forging music educa-tional policies Music teachers need to co- opt these strengths and work with those who historically, at least since the mid- nineteenth century, have

10 • The Art of Teaching Music

been marginalized in the profession Like Elam Ives Jr., who broke with Lowell Mason and founded his own community singing school, music teachers have played to their strengths and inner convictions even though they have been sidelined from the mainstream of music education.12 For example, a private teacher in a community music school or studio may not

be successful leading a large wind ensemble, orchestra, or choir Still, the work that he or she can do in individual contacts with students is every bit

as important to the work of music education as that conducted by tional ensemble directors or school music teachers And we forget this to our peril as a profession

tradi-Keeping an Open Mind

It is always a pity to encounter young people who are old in their minds well before their time Without a mind open to new possibilities, uncon-strained by dictums and ideology, and eager to learn, fossilization sets in One becomes rigid in one’s thinking, unwilling to entertain alternatives, and altogether narrow- minded I am glad that I work with young people because I frequently fi nd an idealism, eagerness, and openness to diff erent perspectives that is refreshing in a world so oft en plagued by cynicism, en-nui, and despair When I see the “lights go on” in my students’ eyes, when I

am struck by a diff erent perspective that another brings, and when my ideas are challenged and better ones are off ered, I bless the opportunity and honor that I have to be a teacher of music and education Sometimes, already in youth, the mind has become prematurely closed I am saddened when I see possibilities bypassed, challenges unmet and overlooked, and views set in stone at an early age Th ere is nothing much that I can do when confronted by such a reality except to lament the educational forces that led to this intellectual rigidity and closed- mindedness Despite my best ef-forts, I must sometimes unwillingly accept defeat Without an open mind and willingness to learn on the student’s part, I cannot teach that person; there is something that the student must do as a learner When he or she is unwilling to move beyond preconceptions and past beliefs, attitudes, val-ues, and practices, we are at an impasse And I am thankful that most of

my students have minds that are open

How shall we keep an open mind? Th e only way I know to do this is to continue to test my assumptions and convictions One of the regrettable eff ects of a recent upswing in religious fundamentalism in the United States

has been the willingness of adherents of various faith traditions to allow others to do their thinking for them and to rest in the dogmas and dictums

of others Th e witness of history is that wherever dogma and mindedness thrive, turmoil and confl ict are not far behind Dogmatism, or the refusal to test one’s assumptions and convictions or to accept contrary evidence, is to be deplored, and the work of education is soundly against this sort of narrow- minded thinking.13 John Dewey would go so far as

closed-to call such narrow- mindedness “mis- educative,” a form of indoctrination that stunts and thwarts personal growth.14 Rather, our work as musicians and educators ought to be liberal in the grandest sense of the word It should tend to inclusiveness, breadth of vision, and willingness to chal-lenge our dearest beliefs, should hope for a rich musical and cultural life on the part of all the world’s inhabitants, and should bring together diverse peoples rather than divide and destroy them and the cultures of which they are a part

Continuing to be a student, a fellow traveler with our students in a community of learners, can help us to keep an open mind It is diffi cult in today’s world to hold convictions, and being open- minded does not stand against having convictions However, we need to be willing to test those convictions and we can best test them when we are in the company of fel-low students who may also be our teachers and colleagues and who may see things diff erently than we do As music teachers, it is important to learn the art of disagreeing with ideas rather than with the people who promul-gate them Just because I disagree with a part of what another says does not mean that everything the other says is unreliable, untrustworthy, or lack-ing in any merit My conversations with phi los o phers over the years have taught me how complex and nuanced ideas are It is better to be sympa-thetic and generous in dealing with another’s ideas than to disparage that person unfairly, and I have learned that it is diffi cult to express complex ideas Iris Yob is right when she says, “What we write is wrong.”15 We never say exactly what we mean when we speak or write, and what we say is in-evitably fl awed We have the responsibility to seek the truth for ourselves but that undertaking needs to be pursued in a spirit of humility and open-ness to the possibility that we may be wrong Such a fallibilist stance is the only way I see to retain an open mind If I ever think that I only am right and that I am right in every respect, I become closed- minded, doctrinaire, and ideological And this attitude needs to be avoided and deplored by those who seek to keep an open mind

12 • The Art of Teaching Music

Developing One’s Art- Craft

As with every art, music teaching incorporates techniques and skills that may be called “arty- craft ” and “craft y- art.”16 I like this view of what we do as music teachers because it is necessary to accumulate “tool- kits” of tech-niques that we can employ—knowledge of instructional planning and deliv-ery, techniques of rehearsal and lesson management, conducting, exposition, questioning, assessment, and the like Beginning teachers sometimes do not see the place of these craft y elements until they have been in teaching situa-tions themselves Th ey cannot learn to teach until they actually teach For this reason, my approach to teacher education is to ensure that teachers- in- training are in classrooms, studios, or wherever they will teach as soon and

as much as possible Simulation exercises may be helpful in developing their confi dence as teachers, but the actual pro cess of doing the teaching, even of

a small segment of a class or lesson, is invaluable to neophyte teachers Such experiences make relevant the tool- kits of techniques, management strate-gies, and the like that are so essential to the work of music instruction.Craft and art are practical, done rather than simply thought about Knowing how to do something and actually doing it are quite diff erent things but both are essential in the making and taking of music Although Charles Leonard and Robert House as well as Bennett Reimer propose mu-sical and artistic reasons as rationales for musical study,17 David Elliott and Christopher Small seek to refocus the work of music education on the do-ing of music.18 Notwithstanding their diff erent emphases, these writers agree that the receptive and active elements of musical experience are both important Wayne Bowman is at pains to elucidate the fuzzy boundaries of music, its social context, and the social construction of musical meaning.19

Claire Detels suggests that we draw the threads of the various artistic specialties—music, art, drama, dance—closer together to refl ect the “soft boundaries” that should exist between them.20 My own dialectical response

is to posit that these ideas are all important but in tension one with other.21 Rather than one or another perspective, my own response is a “this

an-is with that” view in which things are in tension and sometimes confl ict Keith Swanwick’s ac know ledg ment of the importance of knowing about how to go on in music making and taking, while formulated in de pen dently

of Vernon Howard’s earlier published position, is also consonant with my own.22 And the resilience of the objective of a comprehensive approach

to music education seems grounded in the intuitive experience of music teachers who want these various forms of knowing for their students.23

Once we acknowledge that knowing about and knowing how to do something are quite diff erent although interconnected objectives, we re-quire both kinds of knowledge As a beginning teacher, I came away from

my initial preparation with a better set of intellectual concepts than of practical skills To learn a musical craft and art takes time, and in my expe-rience, more time than learning the concepts surrounding the craft Pre-paring a craft sperson and artist teacher requires a prolonged period of time during an apprenticeship in which the neophyte gradually takes over the music teacher’s work Still, too many beginning school music teachers, in the United States at least, are unable to sight- sing, mentally image a score, detect fl aws in an ensemble’s per for mance, create a blend of the individual instrumental voices, fi x technical diffi culties in musical per for mance, com-pose and improvise, or ga nize a program of musical works, select appropri-ate exercises and repertoire to remedy defi ciencies and enhance musical growth, perform music in various traditions, genres, and styles in an exem-plary manner, place the music performed within a social and cultural con-text, and accurately and straightforwardly explain musical concepts I worry more about these musical defi ciencies than I do about the teacher’s general pedagogical education because they are parts of musical craft and art that have yet to be adequately developed even though they are essential

to a music teacher’s work

Of par tic u lar concern is the pervasive lack of adequate musical ration for tomorrow’s elementary classroom teachers.24 Would that we had

prepa-a Mprepa-artin Luther for prepa-a superintendent of schools who would sprepa-ay, “A teprepa-acher must be able to sing; otherwise I will not so much as look at him [or her].”25

Th ankfully, there are musicians among the elementary teachers of row However, in my experience, they are in the distinct minority One or more short courses cannot repair the lack of a lifetime’s experience in mu-sical study If specialist music teachers are not found in elementary schools,

tomor-we need to agitate nationally for educational leaders to be charged and powered to raise the level of musical teaching in primary and elementary grades.26

em-One of the greatest losses to school music education in the United States throughout the latter half of the twentieth century was that of music supervisors and coordinators equipped to lead school districts by example and precept.27 From the time when music was introduced into the common and public schools of the United States, music supervisors were agents for musical and cultural development in many centers across the country Be-cause education remains a local and state responsibility, they are again sorely needed throughout the nation Classroom teachers need regular and

14 • The Art of Teaching Music

ongoing opportunities to develop their craft of making and taking music And the appointment of a music supervisor in every school district in the country with administrative or consultative powers could go some way toward accomplishing this end and ensuring that musical instruction is taken seriously throughout the entire school program

A craft is not developed for all time but needs to be practiced It is portant to make time for our own musical practice and score study so that the pieces we teach, conduct, and perform with and for our students are fresh and musically satisfying I cannot teach eff ectively that which I do not continue to do Many of my students are now budding scholars and refl ective practitioners Unless I continually engage in the work of scholar-ship and practice the craft of teaching, I lose my expertise and relevance to the world of music education scholarship My students have the expecta-tion and right to see me engaged in the work I profess to teach Unless I continually put myself through the selfsame rigors that they must face, I forget what it is to do the work they must do in order to succeed in their own right If I never or rarely put up a piece for competitive review, I can-not know how easy or diffi cult it is for a young scholar or musician to be-come established and what it feels like when others sit in judgment of one’s work If I simply edit or sit in judgment of the work of others and do not put myself in the same place as these others I judge, I forget the need for compassion for their eff orts And the same might be said of per for mance, composition, or what ever activities in which the musician teacher is en-gaged

im-Staying Close to One’s “Bliss”

In sum, we are happiest and most productive as teachers when we are true

to ourselves, listen to our inner teachers, recognize our limitations, teach

to our strengths, keep an open mind, and develop our art- craft Joseph Campbell speaks of “following one’s bliss.”28 What does he mean by “bliss”?

I do not think that he means that we ought to shirk duties and bilities and avoid doing things that may be irksome or wearying but need

responsi-to be done Nor is he suggesting that life is a Pollyanna- esque existence in which we can or should expect to be perfectly happy all the time Rather, by bliss, I see him referring to the importance of staying as close as life’s cir-cumstances allow to who one is and what one’s potentials are.29 Taking stock of who we are, recognizing our shortsightedness, biases, limitations,

strengths, gift s, and talents allows us to seek to live a life of contentment, self- ac cep tance, and resignation as the case may be, assume responsibility for our decisions, and pursue, insofar as possible, our innermost hopes, dreams, and aspirations.

Human potential is always contingent It depends not only on what we are in terms of our par tic u lar ge ne tic endowments and life experiences to this point but also on our own choices Th ese choices have consequences that are limiting as well as enabling When we choose one thing, another must necessarily suff er by virtue of not being chosen Israel Scheffl er rightly points out the fl aws in the myth of “being all one can be.”30 Choices exer-cised throughout one’s life exclude some possibilities as they also include others Our bliss is, to some degree, constructed by virtue of the choices made up to this point Sometimes we may not realize that other alternative paths would be equally, if not more, in tune with our nature and experience until we encounter a crisis that excludes the ways we have been following

or opens up other possibilities to our understanding A promotion denied,

a notice of dismissal, a change in school administration, a family crisis, a religious awakening, a romantic interest, a betrayal, or a profound musical experience can all be means of awakening possibilities not heretofore ex-plored As we take the time to refl ect and listen to our inner teachers, pos-sibilities and alternatives may seem to open up before us that were not there before And following these inner teachers, we can come closer to truth about self, others, and what ever lies beyond

value

All that we do as musician- teachers is driven by matters of value and the par tic u lar things that we prize Lately, there has been a lot of po liti cal and religious talk in the United States about values.1 Th e prejudicial ways in which this word has too oft en been used as a code for certain beliefs that are held to be immutable and that may refl ect the views of a limited spec-trum of society make me uneasy Some view their par tic u lar conceptions

of values as normative and castigate any who do not share them Still, the sometimes negative ways in which the word “value” has been used do not constitute a suffi cient reason to avoid the word; rather, it is even more im-portant to rescue the term “value” as an important element of a teacher’s belief system and a legitimate way to think about music education

Most simply put, a value is an idea that one trea sures and lives by ues guide one’s actions and one not only assents to them but loves to live in reference to them Th ey constitute imperatives that cause one to be dis-posed to act in accordance with them In considering how to or ga nize a discussion of these values, I felt that one possibility lay in returning to the Aristotelian virtues, ideas that drew from and fertilized the Greek idea-

practice of paideia—the cultured, enlightened, civil citizen revived in the

Re nais sance, forwarded in the Enlightenment, and resurrected in the late twentieth century by such writers as Mortimer Adler.2 Following Aristotle would have been a comparatively straightforward task since educational phi los o phers have explored this terrain.3 Still, I am not at all sure that Ar-

istotle (or his teacher, Plato) had things entirely right In her book

Reclaim-ing a Conversation, Jane Roland Martin makes an excellent case for the

notion that Plato, Aristotle, and other ancient Greek writers had some things quite wrong, particularly in their exclusion of domesticity and the private sphere from their ethical formulations of education.4 Other prom-ising starting points, such as the notion of the “cardinal virtues” in Chris-tianity with its ancient roots notably in the thinking of Th omas of Aquinas, seemed not to be suffi ciently broadly construed for my taste, and given the church’s historic treatment of women and their spheres of infl uence, I was also uncomfortable grounding my discussion in these virtues.5 Nor could other religions be presumed to concur with these par tic u lar virtues

It seems that a genuinely cosmopolitan approach that transcends the dictates of any par tic u lar religious persuasion is needed in today’s multi- cultural societies, in which various religions are infl uential In the writings

of Raymond Gaita, Martha Nussbaum, Amy Gutmann, Seyla Benhabib, and Nel Noddings, it is clear that other values loom large beyond these his-toric formulations, and the par tic u lar imperatives of our time call for ways

of rethinking the values that ought to drive music teaching and learning.6

Th is is not to reject the important work of scholars such as David Carr,

R S Peters, and Israel Scheffl er, who have cleared some important paths through this territory,7 but to allow myself the space to think through the values that undergird my own teaching and see where this leads

Here, I think of a quartet of par tic u lar values to which I am committed and that have shaped my own experience, namely: a common humanity; reverence; the good, the true, and the beautiful; and balance As I go along,

it becomes clear that these values intersect with those advanced by earlier writers My purpose, here, is not to bring out the nuances of these intersec-tions (and there will be time and place for that conversation in another writing) so much as to indicate as clearly as I can what I understand by these values and how they relate to my own teaching I know not how widely they may be shared; however, since I am committed to them, like Immanuel Kant, I act as if they are normative and everyone ought to be similarly committed even if they are not.8 Still, I know that my commit-ments and actions in regard to these values do not necessarily presuppose that these are all there are or that everyone must be similarly committed to them Rather, this writing is an invitation for others to examine these val-ues critically, decide what broader application they might have, and ques-tion which ones ought to guide music education

Since these values are, for me, ideals, things to which I aspire, and since I am also conscious of falling short regarding them, they inspire me

to sharpen my ideas and improve my actions Th us they are my teachers,

18 • The Art of Teaching Music

since they constantly suggest the need to think and do better than I have in the past Occasionally I see them embodied in the life and work of others When this occurs, it seems that I already knew what they had to teach but had forgotten its importance.9 And when I read the writings of those who point out these values to me and exemplify how they work, I am comforted that others may agree with me as I tread this sensitive ground

educa-In describing the nature of the human mind as feeling, Susanne Langer sought to explain that human beings construct meaning in myths, rituals, and arts that constitute refi ned forms of play—signifi cant, vital, dynamic, immediately grasped, and imaginatively known ways of thinking and be-ing that complement and enrich the various discursive forms of languages through which humans communicate.12 Her formulation also gave rise to educational ideas that emphasized the interconnectedness of mind, soul, and body, of cognition, intellection, and psychomotor action, evident, for example, in the notions of cognitive emotions and emotive cognitions ar-ticulated by Scheffl er and Yob.13 Th e rich array of symbolism that is both spiritual and material, propositional and evocative, play and work, felt and thought, refl ected about and acted upon, is certainly one of the important markers of human intelligence and experience And the imagination nec-essary for developing and expressing these many symbolic systems has been important in the creation of the varied cultures and diverse expres-sions that constitute human experience around the world

Th ere is also the preciousness of human life and the dignity that mond Gaita claims is a common and shared element of our humanity.14 As

Ray-I write, we witness the daily scenes of heroism as the victims of natural and human- made disasters are rescued Why is it worth risking one’s life to save another’s? Aside from questions of self- interest—that is, saving anoth-er’s life can help preserve one’s own—one can justify risking one’s life in order to save another’s when one regards everyone as precious, of value, as possessing dignity arising out of that inherent value Even though fl awed (and Isaiah Berlin, quoting Kant, reminds us about the “crooked timber” of humanity15), all of the world religions with which I am familiar address this value and dignity in myriad ways From the life rituals of Papua New Guinea studied by anthropologists such as Margaret Mead in the mid- twentieth century or more recently by ethnomusicologists such as Steven Feld,16 to the commemorations and memorial ser vices of post- industrial Western countries most strongly infl uenced by Judeo- Christian thought, there can be found countless examples of rituals that express the value of human life and the sense of loss when loved ones perish Even in acts of ter-ror, misguided zealots are willing to give up their lives and kill others, en-couraged by their belief in the promised Paradise for all faithful souls and honored as martyrs by their fellows

Gaita’s compelling point about the value of human life and dignity is one that has not been emphasized suffi ciently in recent de cades, yet it was a theme of earlier, Enlightenment writers such as Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi.17

Love for other human beings, even when it results from disinterested ing, is an outgrowth of the preciousness and dignity of human beings and is

car-a bcar-asic element of humcar-an existence car-and car-an car-aspect of humcar-anity thcar-at drives one’s care for others For Pestalozzi, the love of God is a driving force in the work of teaching Th is idea is widely shared around the world Bringing these ideas to bear on Australia, Gaita argues that love needs to drive eff orts

to restore the dignity and humanity of the aboriginal peoples, better their lives, and make restitution for lands and futures lost by and stolen from them.18

Supposing that human beings have inherent worth, dignity, and desire

to give love, it is natural to also wish to claim as a right that one’s humanity will be respected and taken into account in all social relations Notions of happiness, justice, and freedom are predicated on these ideas of humanity, and these principles have been enshrined in po liti cal declarations, bills of rights, and constitutions for countries around the world.19 Civic arrange-ments and legal systems are also set up to ensure that these rights are re-spected People around the world may disagree with the particulars of

20 • The Art of Teaching Music

these rights, and throughout history, formulations of rights and their tical implementation have at times been imperfect, short- sighted, and in-humane Still, people have struggled to gain rights for themselves, to protect the rights of all who have been excluded, and to ensure that all are regarded and treated as persons of worth

prac-Where it is believed that all have the right to be treated with dignity, love, and respect, education needs to be inclusive of diff erences of language, religion, color, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, among a host of barriers between people In this pro cess, the educator’s task becomes one of break-ing barriers, crossing borders, and bridging diff erences in order to help students better understand themselves and their fellow human beings around the world as compassionately and broadly as possible.20 For the musician, there are the challenges of the many musical traditions in which students in today’s typically multi- cultural societies are participants and in which a diverse humanity is expressed Th is desire for inclusiveness cannot

be a token gesture, but needs to be a grounding value in the eff ort to stand the commonalities we share as human beings beyond the diff erences that divide us and yet create such variety and make us so distinctive and interesting.21

under-Th ere is also a sense in which the value of our common humanity tersects with other values from which it derives and to which it contributes

in-It is thus inseparable from these other values, both dependant on and tributing to them Education grounded in our common humanity is neces-sarily concerned with the ways in which what is taught and learned meets the needs and interests of students while also treating them with respect and dignity, and ensuring their right to know their own culture and about those of others.22 Regarding students as precious persons, according them love, respect, and dignity, and ensuring them a musical education with integrity need to be outgrowths of as well as contributing factors to such

con-a person- centered music educcon-ation

Reverence

Among the values too oft en overlooked in the education of our own time is reverence, the sense that one is standing on holy ground Paul Woodruff seeks to re- awaken awareness of this virtue.23 He emphasizes our awe of things that are beyond our control, our wonder at the mystery we face, our sense of our own limitations and mortality, and our powerlessness against

the sometimes monumental powers of the natural world despite all of our technological prowess Having profound respect in the face of seemingly supernatural powers seems akin to a sense of the sacred, of that time and place apart from ordinary mundane existence Citing examples from West-ern and Eastern antiquity, Woodruff exemplifi es how pervasive this value once was Some might say that reverence is no longer relevant because sci-entifi c explanations of natural phenomena clarify what was once mysteri-ous And since education has become eminently secular in many parts of the world, values such as reverence that seem to smack of the spiritual and the religious may be repudiated.

Still, my response, like Woodruff ’s sense of “loss” that reverence is too oft en disregarded in contemporary life, is to want to recapture its impor-tance.24 Without rehearsing his arguments for reverence, I agree that sci-ence, technology, and materialism have contributed to our knowledge of the world and what lies beyond, yet I also encounter a longing among my students for the spiritual and the sacred, for a sense of wholeness, wonder, and awe in the face of things that transcend the ordinary, prosaic, and humdrum History provides examples of countries such as France, Rus sia, and China in which mandated secularism was eventually subverted and even repudiated by the people In the United States, a bastion of capitalism

and materialism, the success of such fi lms as the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Star Wars series, the Harry Potter series, and Th e Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe reveals the wide and deep appeal of myth to young and old

alike Woodruff ’s examples are drawn from ancient stories, but one might just as easily cite such characters as Bilbo, Frodo, Samwise, Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, and Sauron, among the many characters in Tolkien’s epic.25 Th e adventures of Harry Potter and his friends, and Lyra and Will in Philip

Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy,26 reveal a struggle between good and evil, and evil doers’ aspirations to possess the powers of superhuman be-

ings, that reminds one of Tolkien’s history of Middle- earth and his Lord of the Rings saga And so, our modern myths can also evoke reverence and a

sense of respect in the face of mystery, wonder, and awe

Among the educational phi los o phers to write about reverence, Alfred North Whitehead used the term “religious” to describe a similar attitude

to that which Woodruff articulates Whitehead states: “Th e essence of ucation is that it be religious.”27 By religious, he means a sense of the mag-nitude of this present moment and the conviction and integrity that need

ed-to characterize it Th e word “religious” might seem unfortunate since it now carries the trappings of par tic u lar sorts of worship associated with religious institutions Still, I think Whitehead is attempting to explain a

22 • The Art of Teaching Music

quality of deeply respecting, revering, even worshiping in this present ment And this idea is also expressed more recently by Parker Palmer in his image of the spiritual nature of the community of learners gathered about

mo-a subject of gremo-at importmo-ance.28

I am troubled by the prospect of uncritically studying a piece of music that is taken for granted as “great” with a view to appreciating it and indoc-trinating students to take a similar view Wayne Bowman, David Elliott, Elizabeth Gould, Julia Eklund Koza, Anthony Palmer, Th omas Regelski, John Shepherd, and Christopher Small are among those writers in music education to emphasize the role of power structures and social pro cesses

in shaping our views of musical value.29 Others such as Patricia Shehan Campbell, Lucy Green, Börje Stålhammar, Christer Bouij, and Stephan Bladh provide evidence of the role of environment in the ways people know music and the means whereby musical identity is shaped.30 Still, these re-alities need not preclude a sense of reverence Rather, the nature of the subject of our study and the ways in which it might be approached so as to evoke a sense of reverence may need to be re- construed

My explorations of myth and its intersection with music and education

show how Th e Lord of the Rings can be approached musically, cinematically,

poetically, narratively, dramatically, and critically in order to better stand music as well as myth and to evoke a sense of reverence.31 Consider,

under-for example, the songs in Tolkien’s novel, Howard Shore’s score under-for the Lord

of the Rings fi lm trilogy, Johann de Meij’s Symphony No 1 (Th e Lord of the Rings), Donald Swann’s song cycle Th e Road Goes Ever On, and Tolkien’s

own realization of an Elvish song in Gregorian chant or his evocative tion of the drumming hoofb eats of the riders of Rohan that C S Lewis loved to hear him give.32 An imaginative teacher has a wealth of material with which to contextualize musical study, enable students to listen to re-cordings, create their own songs, perform these and other works, critically engage the myth and musical settings of it, and, in a host of other ways, come to reverence, to a sense of awe and wonder at the majesty of the story, the collision between the forces of good and evil, and the inevitability of death and loss that mortality assures Th e themes this myth evokes are com-pelling, even if one disputes the merits of this par tic u lar narrative Other myths might be better choices for musical study For example, we might think of the myth of Don Juan portrayed in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s

rendi-opera Don Giovanni, in which the hero refuses to repent of his evil- doing

and perishes in hell’s fi re at opera’s end.33 Still, irrespective of one’s decisions about this myth, studying it and the music with which it is associated can evoke a sense of the importance of this moment and enterprise

Abraham Maslow’s notion of the transcendent moment, the “peak perience” as he calls it, could explain reverence in psychological terms.34 In the moment, the material and its engagement by the learning community are so compelling that time seems to fl ash by, one is deeply preoccupied with and respectful of what one is doing, and one experiences a deep sense

ex-of joy and wonder at the sheer ease and brilliance with which things seem

to come together Langer refers to this imaginative and deeply satisfying preoccupation with the work of art as its “vital import,” and cites the musi-cian’s sense that it seems to exist in “virtual time” apart from ordinary ex-perience.35 Mihali Cziksentmihalyi uses the word “fl ow” to describe the moment of performing at a high level of intensity when all the elements seem to be artless and eff ortless.36 Th inking about reverence in these psy-chological and philosophical terms can be translated readily to the special times during a choral rehearsal or per for mance in which singers and con-ductor are absorbed with the music or the per for mance evokes from musi-cians and audience an intensity, ecstacy, and awe that cause the repertoire

to come off brilliantly—moments that seem almost magical And because such experiences are readily known to musicians and remembered in mind’s eye and ear, it is likely that many already implicitly embrace the value of reverence without understanding explicitly how it works as music

is made and taken

Achieving such moments musically is an intensely intellectual and emotional experience Th e senses, intellect, and emotions are implicated in imaginative moments when we are confronted with the immensity of cos-mic forces beyond our control Th ere is a sense of deep concentration on the task at hand, the profundity of the issues we are contemplating, and the imperative of their solution.37 Critical thinking is invoked in judgments concerning the phenomena we seek to understand.38 Imagination is also evident as we attempt to make sense of the things we see, hear, and other-wise feel and to express them artistically as well as in other ways I think, for example, of the intense concentration evident when a composer writes

a piece of music, an improviser plays with a musical idea in the midst of per for mance, or a performer seeks to communicate musically with an au-dience Each person may be so focused as to be conscious of little else be-yond the imperative of this musical task at this par tic u lar time And in the aft ermath of such moments may come sheer joy, relaxation, and quietness

of mind—a sense that one has come face- to- face with transcendence and imminence.39 By transcendence, I mean a sense of things beyond or above oneself, and by imminence, I refer to a deeply felt sense of things within oneself