Contemporary music student expectations of musicianship training needs

Abstract

The practical training of contemporary popular musicians, that is, the preparation of performers, songwriters, and music production personnel for the global popular music industry, is still in its infancy. This article seeks to discuss the specific issue of what musicianship skills should be taught, by interrogating the perceptions of a cohort of students studying for the Bachelor of Contemporary Music degree at Southern Cross University in Australia. Determining appropriate musicianship training programs for musicians in popular music is problematic because of the wide range of genres and professional practices involved in the field. Thus it seems to make good sense to tease out what music students themselves think about their support training needs. This small-scale study of 43 students in the first and second year of their degree shows that performance, composition and music production students have different musicianship-skill learning priorities.

Popular Music Pedagogies: An Approach to Teaching 21st-Century Skills

“…These skills include flexibility and adaptability, initiative and self-direction, social and cultural skills, productivity and accountability, and leadership and responsibility (P21, 2007). The focus on composing and arranging within PMPs requires students to be flexible and adaptable (Hannan, 2006); they must problem solve, implement feedback, handle setbacks, and manage various responsibilities in changing environments (P21, 2007). Because setbacks are common when students are in control of their learning, teachers must model positive ways of handling problems and give students time to solve their problems (Cremata, 2017).…”

“…Social and cross-cultural skills are developed in popular music ensembles when a group of musicians learn to listen to each other and handle diverse views and ideas in order to compose new pieces. These musicians often use iconic notation, chords charts, and lead sheet notation when learning and performing music (Hannan, 2006). The group composition process of much popular music stands in contrast to music composed for ensembles reading traditional music staff notation that is often composed by a single individual.…”

“…Popular musicians use critical thinking and problem-solving skills as they examine all components of the music pieces they are creating and synthesize information to create final compositions (Kaschub & Smith, 2013). PMPs often include the use of iconic notation such as chord charts, tablature, and lead sheets as a starting point for learning songs or notating chord progressions (Hannan, 2006). Embracing PMPs can also present opportunities for students to use prenotated music as a springboard for arranging, composing, and improvising original work.…”

Secondary student perspectives on musical and educational outcomes from participation in band festivals

“…Contrary to research that promotes informal music learning in somewhat informal school and out of school settings, as well as books and papers that argue the benefits of informal music learning and popular music (see Evelein 2006;Gouzouasis and Bakan 2011;Green 2006Green , 2008Hannan 2006;Seifried 2006;Väkevä 2006;Westerlund 2006), we take a stance in favour of all forms of music learning, around the world. There are times (e.g.…”

Instrumental Teacher Education and the Incoming Tide of Information Technology: A Contemporary Guitar Perspective.

“…Advocates for inclusion in curricula propose that technology use is actually a musicianship skill (Cayari, 2011;Dhokai, 2012;Grant, 2013;Hannan, 2006). Could this be taken one step further with a suggestion that technology use, and use of online resources, by instrumental music teachers is also a pedagogical skill?…”