It was a pleasure to join Beth Philemon on the Choir Baton to chat through aspects of technology, participatory culture, and music education. As with many conversations, there are several moments that I would love to go back in time and rethink or rephrase. Our conversation focused primarily on aspects of change, possibilities, and what choir or music education could be.
Here are some resources and links related to things we discussed on the Choir Baton podcast:
On Technology and Music Learning and Teaching
When we were chatting about music technology, I referenced Alex Ruthmann’s and Roger Mantie’s edited book, The Oxford Handbook of Technology and Music Education.
Here are some communities supporting music educators working with technology in their programs:
- I Teach Music Technology Facebook group
- Audio Engineering and Music Production Education Facebook group
- Music Educators Creating Online Learning Facebook group
Here are some additional resources on technology in music education I’ve curated.
The reference to learning music technology through reading Computer Music Magazine that I would pick up while living in NY when I first started teaching—true story!
The reference to pools in AZ as a way to explain why some people have difficulty addressing technology in music programs, also a true story – check it out.
My reference to the Victrola Talking Machine as an example of how music educators have been discussing the role of technology in music learning and teaching for decades was inspired by numerous letters to the editor in the Music Supervisors Journal, what is now the Music Educators Journal (MEJ).
On Hybridity and Hybrid Music programs
While most people us the term hybrid to mean a class that is part physical and part virtual, I also use hybrid and hybridity to describe learning environments that blur curricular boundaries and support multiple ways of being musical.
If you are interested in some additional thinking around this type of curricular paradigm that I’ve written on see:
- Learning with Digital Media and Technology in Hybrid Music Classrooms (chapter in the book Teaching General Music) – Let me know if you would like a copy
- Hybrid spaces and hyphenated musicians: Secondary students’ musical engagement in a songwriting and technology course – Let me know if you would like a copy
- Reflecting on changes in practice through integrating participatory culture in our classrooms – written with Abbie VanKlompenberg and Catherine Reid has a section about how Abbie created and facilitated a hybrid choir program.
- Here are blog posts on Orchestral hybridity and hybridity with classical and popular music
On Participatory Culture in Music Learning and Teaching
This is the article Toward convergence: Adapting music education to contemporary society and participatory culture from MEJ 2013 that I referred to.
This image of Figure 1 from Toward Convergence visualizes what I referred to on the podcast as “low hanging fruit” in terms of a choir addressing aspects of participatory culture while also maintaining a model of preparing music to perform for others. The article, Toward Convergence, explains this in detail.
I mentioned these following music educators who publish work on participatory culture and music education:
- Christopher Cayari – Here’s Christopher’s recent online article “Virtual choral singing: Beyond the Eric Whitacre virtual choir” I mentioned when Beth and I were chatting about the Tennessee Arts Academy.
- Nathan Kruse
- Roger Mantie
- Heidi Partti
- Matthew Thibeault
- Janice Waldron
My Publications on Participatory Culture and Music Learning and Teaching
Here are pages summarizing my publications on participatory culture and music learning and teaching. Contact me if you want a copy and need access to any of these publications.
- O’Leary, J., & Tobias, E. S. (2017). Sonic participatory cultures within, through, and around video games. In R. Mantie & G. D. Smith (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of music making and leisure (pp. 541-564). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
- Tobias, E. S. (2013). Toward convergence: Adapting music education to contemporary society and participatory culture. Music Educators Journal, 99(4), 29–36. doi:10.1177/0027432113483318
- Tobias, E. S. (2013). Inviting possibilities for new music and music education. NewMusicBox. Retrieved from http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/inviting-possibilities-for-new-music-and-music-education/
- Tobias, E. S. (2014). 21st century musicianship through digital media and participatory culture. In M. Kaschub and J. Smith (Eds.), Promising practices in 21st century music teacher education. Oxford: Oxford University Press (pp. 205-226)
- Tobias, E. S. (2015). Participatory and digital cultures in practice: Perspectives and possibilities in a graduate music course. International Journal of Community Music, 8(1), 7-26. doi: 10.1386/ijcm.8.1.7_1
- Tobias, E. S., VanKlompenberg, A., & Reid, C. (2015). Reflecting on changes in practice through integrating participatory culture in our classrooms. Mountain Lake Reader: Conversations On the Study and Practice of Music Teaching, 6, 94-110.
- 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
Examples of Participatory Culture Music Initiatives
Extending Concerts Through Transmedia and Participatory Pop Ups
I mentioned the concept of transmedia in relation to concerts and some experiments we’ve engaged in with the Music Learning and Teaching program at Arizona State University.
This page links to some experiments with participatory culture in relation to concerts and the public as experiments that emerged in graduate courses at Arizona State University in our Music Learning and Teaching Program.
Also, check out #WeAreAllMusical @ Spark Festival 2017 – Mesa Arts Center
#WeAreAll Musical was a public participatory project I designed and facilitated with a fantastic team of music educators and community members as part of the 2017 Spark Festival of Creativity at the Mesa Arts Center. The goal of the project was for people to engage with music and feel that they were indeed musical. It was born out of my frustration of meeting so many people who would assert that they were not musical. So, I wanted to explore a wonderment of what might we do to help people feel musical.
Tik Tok References
Here are the two references I made to participatory culture through Tik Tok:
Other Resources Around Participatory Culture and Music
[Some of the links to books are affiliate links]
- Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. NY: New York Uinversity Press.
- Jenkins, H., Purushotma, R., Weigel, M., Clinton, K., & Robison, A. J. (2009). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- Turino, T. (2008). Music as social life: The politics of participation. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
- Young musicians can perform on virtual stages when schools are closed – Christopher Cayari
- At one point I mentioned Maxine Green in relationship to envisioning possibilities. Though not specific to participatory culture or music education, any of Greene’s published work can help us expand our sense of the possible. If you want a starting point, consider reading Releasing the Imagination: Essays on education, the arts, and social change
On Issues of Equity in Music Learning and Teaching
When I mentioned that I find conversations helpful for thinking through issues of equity, I intended to communicate that reading books isn’t enough and that I find it helpful to dialogue. I did not intend to downplay the important role of reading and learning from existing resources. Books, articles, podcasts, research are all important.
I mentioned the book Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad. You can learn more about Layla F. Saad on her website.
I also mentioned the Decolonizing the Music Room private Facebook group. Decolonizing the Music Room is also a nonprofit organization and has an informative website.
You might also be interested in these related online communities:
- NAfME Cultural Diversity and Social Justice (Society for Music Teacher Education) SMTE ASPA Facebook Group
- Social Justice Music Educators Facebook Group
While speaking about issues of equity in relation to choirs, I mentioned the idea of analyzing power and decision making in the choir and referenced Patti O’Toole’s article I Sing in a Choir But Have “No Voice!”.
Plenty of folks have curated helpful lists of books focused on issues of equity and antiracism:
Racial Justice, Racial Equity, and Anti Racism Reading List – Harvard Kennedy School
An Anti-Racist Reading List – Ibram X Kendi via NYTimes
Book and Films Lists – Racial Equity Tools
The podcast Seeing White is informative and powerful in addressing histories of Whiteness and racism in the United States
If you are looking for books related to equity issues in music education, consider taking a look at:
Gould, E., Countryman, J., Morton, C., & Rose, L. S. (Eds.) (2009). Exploring social justice: How music education might matter. Ontario, CA: Canadian Music Educators’ Association.
Hess, J. (2019). Music education for social change: Constructing an activist music education. New York: Routledge.
Lind, V. R., & McKoy, C. L. (2016). Culturally responsive teaching in music education: From understanding to application. New York: Routledge.
Talbot, B. C. (2017). Marginalized voices in music education. Routledge.
Additional References
You may have caught a reference to the Tennessee Arts Academy, an absolutely wonderful professional development opportunity and community for arts educators across Tennessee. It would be amazing if additional states engaged in similar initiatives. I still have a bag of glowsticks (in case I ever needed to find my technology in the dark) that my wonderful hosts gave me as a gift – what a great group of folks!
I mentioned the Arizona State University, School of Music, Dance, and Theatre, Music Learning and Teaching program. I work with absolutely fabulous colleagues and we have a wonderful community of people across all aspects of the program.
I’m always looking for grad students to connect with our Consortium for Innovation and Transformation in Music Education and to work on any number of initiatives to expand music learning and teaching in new ways. If you are interested in change, possibilities, and the types of projects we’re working on (or could be working on) get in touch – you can find my email address here!
Ask us about the numerous courses or action research projects we make available virtually for grad credit or professional development hours!