Outside the Classroom: Community-Engaged Learning Projects in Music Theory

Bourne, Janet

doi:10.18061/es.v5i0.7242

Cited by 1 publication

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“…Examples are wide-ranging, including publications in journalistic outlets (Barna 2020;White 2020), explorations of historical examples of PMT (Lumsden 2020;Jenkins 2017aJenkins , 2020, and an evaluation of online music analytical thinkpieces (O'Hara 2018). (1) In addition, there are numerous suggestions on how to bring PMT activities into the classroom, such as writing program notes and newspaper articles (Belcher and Grant 2019), recording podcasts (Gomez-Peck and Teeple 2020), editing Wikipedia articles (Bourne 2017), and performing lecture recitals in local community centers (Peebles 2017;Stevens 2022). What accounts for this significant new trend in music theory pedagogy scholarship?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Music Theory’s Neoliberal Learning Outcomes

Belcher,

Kim,

Reese

2023

MTO

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Recent years have seen a growing interest in integrating “public music theory” (PMT) into the classroom. While proponents argue that PMT-related class projects enhance traditional learning outcomes, some advocate for PMT assignments that focus explicitly on job training, thus aligning the learning outcomes of the music theory class with those of music entrepreneurship programs—students learn to “market themselves, fundraise, and interact with the broader public beyond traditional concert performances” (Belcher and Grant 2019). We argue that such discourse reflects a neoliberal frame that encourages a marketized view of music theory pedagogy—how music theory mastery can be sold to our students as a boost to their careers. PMT, with its emphasis on practical skills and interaction with a (potentially paying) public, is particularly susceptible to this framing. Building on Moore’s (2016) critique of musical entrepreneurship programs and Ritchey’s (2019) examination of neoliberalism’s effects on classical music, we analyze the role neoliberal values play in theorists’ decisions to bring PMT into the classroom and publish PMT themselves. We elucidate the neoliberal frame in several examples drawn from our own teaching experiences and from others. In our critique, we identify covert learning outcomes promoting a neoliberal perspective and engage with the following questions: How are music theory faculty, like all university instructors, under a particular “pressure to embody and transmit the values of power” (Bousquet 2008, 93)? And, in light of this pressure, how can we negotiate differences between our economic realities and societal ideals in our teaching?

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