Crossfading music education: Connections between secondary students’ in- and out-of-school music experience

To Cite or Download the Article: Tobias, E. S. (2014). Crossfading music education: Connections between secondary students’ in- and out-of- school music experience. International Journal of Music Education, 1-18. doi: 10.1177/0255761413515809

If you do not have institutional access to International Journal of Music Education and would like a copy of the article, contact me via email or with a note in the comment section.

My article “Crossfading music education: Connections between secondary students’ in- and out-of-school music experience” is now available OnlineFirst in International Journal of Music Education. The study looks at how students’ experiences and learning in a Songwriting and Technology Course in school impacted their musical experiences outside of school and vice versa. You might be interested in the article if you are curious about the role that popular music might play in students musical lives and their learning in school as well as how learning music in school can impact students’ lives outside of school. I use the metaphor of crossfading to discuss the intersections between students’ in- and out-of-school music experience. A key take away from this research might be that music educators can and ought to design curriculum and classrooms that provide opportunities for students to connect between their in-school and out-of-school musical experiences. The abstract of the article is as follows:

In this case study, the author investigated intersections of secondary students’ musical engagement in a Songwriting and Technology Class (STC) and outside of school. The study traces the experiences of three individual participants and three participant groups (six embedded cases in total) in the creation, performance, recording, and production of original music over the course of a culminating class project. Findings suggest that the STC allowed students to experience smooth transitions between their musical engagement and learning in and out of school. Key factors that contributed to participants’ engagement in the STC were (a) their experience with instruments and software outside of school and (b) use of popular music. Participants’ engagement in the STC (a) informed and influenced the ways they listened to music outside of school, (b) broadened and deepened their aesthetic preferences, and (c) provided an environment in which participants could experience and negotiate their perspectives on issues related to popular music and the music industry. Participants also saw the STC as related and connected to their current and future lives as musicians. The study supports the inclusion of curricular offerings that allow for crossfading or overlap between students’ in-school and outside-school musical experiences.

Figure 1 from the article summarizes the ways that students’ in- and out-of-school musical experiences impacted one another: