Skip to content

Blog: Catalysts & Connections

A brave new world: Theory to practice in participatory culture and music learning and teaching

Waldron, J., Mantie, R., Partti, H., & Tobias, E. S. (2018). A brave new world: Theory to practice in participatory culture and music learning and teaching. Music Education Research, 289-304. doi:10.1080/14613808.2017.1339027

A brave new world: Theory to practice in participatory culture and music learning and teaching is available for free for a limited time. (If you would like to read the article but do not have institutional access after the free version is no longer available contact me via the comment section or via email.)

It was an absolute pleasure to co-author A brave new world: Theory to practice in participatory culture and music learning and teaching with Janice Waldron, Heidi Partti, and Roger Mantie. The article (now available online) builds on our collaborative presentation at RIME 9. 

Here’s the abstract:

The four perspectives in this paper were first presented as an interactive research/workshop symposium at RIME 9. The purpose of the symposium was to connect new media scholar Henry Jenkins’s theory of ‘participatory culture’ (1992, 2006, 2009) to possible practices of ‘participatory culture’ in diverse music teaching and learning contexts. We ask: If participatory culture exists in music learning contexts – what is it? What are its dimensions? What does participatory culture look like and mean in other music cultures and different contexts/‘places’ (e.g. online, offline, and convergent settings)? Who can and who can’t participate? How might this idea cause us to re-think some of our practices?

Each of us provides a different perspective moving from the general to the specific to the philosophical addressing aspects of participatory culture as it relates to possibilities and challenges for music learning and teaching. 

Read More »A brave new world: Theory to practice in participatory culture and music learning and teaching

Considering orchestration and arrangements with Laura Mvula’s Sing to the Moon

I often enjoy listening to multiple examples of the same song by the same artist. In addition to being enjoyable in and of itself, having multiple recordings of the same music can be a nice way to have learners listen to and discuss the decisions that musicians make when orchestrating or arranging music. Check out some of these recordings of Laura Mvula’s Sing to the Moon and maybe have students/learners listen and chat about the similarities and differences among the… Read More »Considering orchestration and arrangements with Laura Mvula’s Sing to the Moon

Performing Music with Digital Media

Check out Sight Machine by Trevor Paglen, Kronos Quartet, and Obscura Digital commissioned by Cantor Arts Center (recently featured on WIRED): You can also read a New York Times article by Julie Baumgardner about Sight Machine and themes of the project.  I find this collaboration interesting for some of the following reasons in relation to music learning and teaching: it explores socio-cultural issues through the arts it is driven by artistic inquiry  it combines digital media and acoustic instruments in a hybrid… Read More »Performing Music with Digital Media

Flow, Beats, & Style – Hip Hop Meets Llama Llama Red Pajama

The Cruz Show on Power 106 Los Angeles has a running segment where MCs rap the children’s book Llama Llama Red Pajama over a beat.   Besides it being fun to hear a children’s book getting some rap treatment, it provides an interesting way to get a sense of how MCs approach flow differently and approach rap with a particular style.  If you are unfamiliar with the artists you might find it worth listening to their other music to get a… Read More »Flow, Beats, & Style – Hip Hop Meets Llama Llama Red Pajama

Sound Explorations Music Learning Playlists – Digital Media and Learning Competition 6

I am currently leading a project to develop connected learning playlists focused on music. The Sound Explorations: Creating, Expressing, Improving Communities project is an awardee of the 6th Digital and Media Learning Competition, with support from the MacArthur Foundation. Sound Explorations: Creating, Expressing, and Improving Communities, connects pre-service and in-service music educators, teaching artists, community youth organizations, and youth to create a set of six interconnected learning playlists with multiple learning pathways around the following themes: Building instruments and interfaces Coding… Read More »Sound Explorations Music Learning Playlists – Digital Media and Learning Competition 6