Expanding Access to Culturally Relevant, Student-Centered, and Inclusive Music Education Through Modern Band, Bryan Powell

The inclusion of popular music in United States public school music education classrooms has become increasingly common in the 21st century. This expansion is in part due to the growth of modern band programs in public schools. “Modern band” is a stream of music education that broadens the repertoire and instrumentation typically found in school-based instrumental programs. The repertoire of modern band is what people might typically think of as “popular music” played on popular music instruments—the term “popular” being used to mean “of the people,” in this case, “of the students.” Such repertoire can include musics across rock, rap, metal, reggae, EDM, county, and other genres as they emerge. Music classrooms incorporating modern band repertoire, and therefore ensembles, help to bridge the gap between the music that students experience in schools and the music they experience in their communities. Through focusing on music that is familiar to students, modern band allows students to see themselves reflected in the curriculum. By validating and leveraging the cultural capital of their students, music educators can forge stronger bonds between typically marginalized students and the schools that serve them.

Our bands, choirs, and orchestras are working well for the students that they serve.

However, current research shows that our traditional bands, choirs, and orchestras are serving, on average, around 20% of secondary school students. What about the other students who, for one reason or another, are likely passionate about music, but do not see themselves participating in these ensembles? Modern band provides an opportunity for music educators to engage such students.

Moreover, as music educators seek to focus on issues of access, diversity, and inclusion, it is important to offer more diverse options in school music programs to provide an opportunity for more students to participate. In a study published in titled “Increasing Access to School Music through Modern Band,” the authors found that found that the introduction of modern band ensembles into school music programs can increase overall participation in school music, especially among non-white students and students who receive free and reduced lunch assistance (Clauhs, Beard, Chadwick, 2017). The authors also found that the introduction of modern band programs didn’t take students away from the traditional band, choir, and orchestra ensembles in the school. Instead, the modern band courses mostly attracted new students who had previously not participated in school music.

One of the opportunities offered by modern bands is the opportunity for the students to engage in songwriting and improvisation. Music educators all know that composition and improvisation are important aspects of music education, but composition and improvisation seldom happen in concert bands, choirs, and orchestras. The incorporation of composition in public school music education is often hindered by the teacher’s perception that students must first learn Western musical notation as well as have great facility on their instrument before they are able to write new music. Modern band on the other hand embraces student composition and songwriting through the use of common chord progressions and simplified, student-friendly approaches to songwriting and improvisation. Thousands of songs use a I-V-vi-IV chord progression (in the key of G, this would be G, D,

Em, and C). Once students learn to play these chords, they can not only play thousands of songs, they can also use that progression to create their own musical ideas. Music teachers can then use this common chord progression for improvisation and songwriting activities. Since most popular music uses similar chord progressions, music educators can utilize transposition and approximation to make most songs accessible to students of all skill levels. For more ideas about how to incorporate approximation and scaffolding in modern band, see “Approximation and Scaffolding in Modern Band,” published in the September, 2019 issue of Music Educators Journal.

In New Jersey, the presence of modern bands has expanded over the last ten years due in part to the efforts of the non-profit organization Little Kids Rock. In New Jersey, there are currently 123 active Little Kids Rock teachers serving over 21,000 students. The cities with the greatest number of Little Kids Rock teachers are Newark (25 teachers), Elizabeth (22 teachers) and Jersey City (18 teachers). Many of these teachers are offering modern band programs either as part of their regular teaching duties or as an after-school club. In January of 2019, 24 music teachers from Passaic City Public Schools attended a full-day modern band workshop, and there is a followup workshop scheduled for October 2019. According to Latasha Casterlow-Lalla, the Passaic Supervisor of Visual and Performing Arts, “Passaic Public Schools has taken a leap of faith to incorporate modern band as the newest dimension of our instrumental music program. Our goal is to embrace the wide variety of musical genres to showcase the interests and talents of our students.”

Modern band is not just taking off in K-12 classrooms; it is also rapidly expanding in higher education. To date, over 50 colleges and universities have included modern band into a college course syllabus. Some of these institutions are even offering full modern band courses where future music teachers are learning to play popular music instruments while also developing an understanding of the pedagogies involved in teaching popular music. Three music education faculty members from NJ-based colleges and universities recently participated in the Modern Band Fellowship. Sponsored by the nonprofit organization Little Kids Rock, The Modern Band Higher Education Fellowship (MBHEF) is an opportunity for music education professors to receive instruction in incorporating modern band pedagogies into pre-service music teacher education programs and receive hands-on instruction in playing popular music instruments. Since 2018, music education professors from Rutgers University, Westminster Choir College, and Montclair State University have participated in the Modern Band Fellowship.

Modern band ensembles should be seen as an addition to, and not a replacement of, traditional ensembles in schools. School music education is a big enough field to both advance its practices and preserve the music offerings that are valued by current students, their teachers, and our communities; to choose one music over others does little to advance the availability and viability of music in our schools. There is an exciting opportunity to expand the vision of music education to include popular music, improvisation, composition, music technology, and musics from around the world for the benefit of all. If the music education community is serious about increasing diversity, increasing access, and promoting inclusion, then it is imperative that we widen the door to participation in school music with more diverse and inclusive ensembles.

Clauhs, M., Beard, J., & Chadwick, A. (2017). Increasing Access to School Music through Modern Band. School Music NEWS: The Official Publication of the New York State School Music Association, 81(4), 24-28.