Teaching Music

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Why it works

Comprehensive music education, guided by standards, develops students as musicians through performing, creating (composing, improvising), and responding to music (listening, analyzing, connecting), not just preparing for performances. Research links quality music education to engagement, skill, and broader benefits. Strong teaching engages every student (not only the talented few), balances the three artistic processes, and builds a lifelong relationship with music.

The research: National Core Arts Standards; research on music education.

The run-of-show

Choose your slot. The agenda, timings, and length update to match.

The core activity: balance the artistic processes

Teachers leave with a unit that balances performing, creating, and responding for every student.

Pick a unit or lesson.
Make sure students perform, create (compose or improvise), and respond to music, not only rehearse.
Design for every student to participate and grow.
Build toward a lifelong relationship with music.

Perform, create, respond, for every studentMusic education is more than the concert. Balance performing, creating, and responding, and engage every student in real musicianship.

Facilitator notes

Balance performing, creating, and responding.
Engage every student.
It is more than concert prep; build a lifelong relationship with music.

Concert prep alone is a narrow music educationOnly rehearsing for performances misses creating and responding. Balance the artistic processes and engage every student.

Adapt it

Elementary: singing, playing, creating, responding, joy.
Secondary: performance, composition, analysis, lifelong music.
All settings: balance the processes, every student.

Participant handout

One page for every teacher. Print it, or save it as a PDF.

K12 Academics · Professional Learning

Teaching Music: perform, create, respond

Real musicianship: balance performing, creating, and responding, for every student.

The unit or lesson:
How students perform:
How students create (compose or improvise):
How students respond to music:
How I engage every student:

Make it stick

Balance the processes:

Balance performing, creating, responding.
Engage every student.
Bring a lesson beyond concert prep to the next PLC.

Common questions

Isn't music class mostly preparing for the concert?

Performing matters, but comprehensive music education also develops creating (composing, improvising) and responding (listening, analyzing). Concert prep alone is a narrow slice of real musicianship.

How do I reach the less musically experienced?

Design for every student to make, create, and respond to music, not just the talented few. Value growth and engagement, and build musicianship for all.

What are the artistic processes?

Performing, creating, and responding (and connecting). Balancing them, rather than only performing, builds well-rounded musicians.