My Qualifications as a Pop Musician

In Ch. 2 of Democracy and Music Education, Paul Woodford states, “Even when popular music instruction is included in school curricula, it is apt to be based on principles “abstracted” from the western musical and pedagogical canon” (2005, p. 25). I do believe in teaching popular music in the classroom, however, as a classical musician, I do not feel that I am highly qualified to do so. I am not a “pop” singer and realize that my students have much more knowledge about popular music than I do. Therefore, the only way I can bring popular music into my classroom is through a connection to classical music. I believe that the music classroom should be a dialogue between the students and the teacher. I want to encourage the students to bring me their music, and in return I will teach them mine. Classical music is as important in the music classroom as popular music, and it can just as easily be used to teach social justice. I believe that teachers have to be careful about teaching popular music. The students may know more than you do.