Journal of Popular Music Education - Volume 5, Issue 3, 2021

Most research on music performance anxiety has focused on classical musicians and those being trained in the classical genre. Few studies have considered the performance experiences of contemporary musicians. The purpose of the present study was to extend the literature base by focusing the lens squarely on young contemporary musicians. Students (n=202) at a large, contemporary music college completed a questionnaire pertaining to their performance experiences, anxiety, training and coping strategies, as well as the Kenny Music Performance Anxiety Inventory-revised (2009). Results indicate that performance anxiety is a common experience among young, contemporary musicians. Females reported greater anxiety than males and solo performances elicited more anxiety than group. Coping strategies tended to be holistic in nature. Comparison with a previously examined group of classical musicians indicates similarities in factor structure, with some key differences that may distinguish between performance genres.

This article is based on the lived experiences of the authors engaging with modern band and the organization Little Kids Rock (LKR). We approach this research as critical storytelling to highlight the importance of critique of music curriculum and pedagogy. We identify moments of cognitive dissonance we experienced with LKR and modern band and unpack them through theory. Data included review of LKR materials, journals, text messages, reflective writing and discussion around participation in LKR-sponsored events. We share our critical story through text messages and narration, through which we note issues such as neo-liberalism and indoctrination; language (mis)use through educational buzzwords; identity reformation and the manner in which teachers feel a need to cling to methodolatry or act as change agents. We illustrate the central role critique plays in music teaching discourses and practices to guide music teachers to accept vigilance of curricular resources and pedagogical approaches presented to them.

Modern band is a relatively new addition to the US music education culture and is attracting attention in K–12 and tertiary contexts. While popular music education has a longer lineage and deeper roots that precedes modern band, the neophytes associated with the recent proliferation and popularization of modern band present potential challenges to a well-intended group of music educators. In many cases, their enthusiasm outweighs their understanding, and their backgrounds in and interactions with non-modern band contexts reveal an intercultural dilemma in which students, teachers, music teacher candidates and music teacher educators are entwined and potentially ill-informed. Nonetheless, modern band continues to spread and gain traction within the profession. This article explores modern band through a framework of evangelism and highlights some of its dynamic sociological practices such as conversion, neophytes and missionaries. Furthermore, this article provides some suggestions and recommendations to address some of these challenges.

This article presents a case study of riot grrrl music in a School of Rock franchise in the Midwestern United States. It presents the school as a place in which gender is bound up in specific notions of what it is to play rock music, notions that directly inform what constitutes popular popular music within this context. The article examines the Riot Grrrl project using frame analysis, presenting and discussing three frames through which riot grrrl was taught: as music, punk ethics and social justice. It examines a case of frame conflict as played out in a disagreement between the programme’s two male instructors. It suggests that multi-frame approaches to popular music teaching, including clashes that may arise from conflicting frames, are effective in disrupting the musical-cultural status quo and in creating spaces in which students may productively and empathetically encounter the unpopular popular music of marginalized musical ‘Others’.

In this qualitative, exploratory study we examined the music education backgrounds and current creative practices of thirteen self-described do-it-yourself (DIY) musicians from around the United States. A growing community of scholars within and outside of education have noted the relative inclusionary nature of DIY communities as compared to mainstream society. Several themes have emerged in DIY music participation literature, including social influences and isolation, and music making for self care and self expression. DIY music-making can offer a potentially liberating space for those marginalized by traditional schooling, providing students with social, educational and musical opportunities they could not find or participate in at school. Through an analysis of interviews and participation-observations of creative practices such as band rehearsals and improvisation sessions, we found that similar themes emerged in our own data. Implications for music education include the importance of more individualized instruction and opportunities for self care and self expression.

Review of: The New Music Industries: Disruption and Discovery, Diane Hughes, Mark Evans, Guy Morrow and Sarah Keith (2016)

Cham: Springer Publishing, 137 pp.,

ISBN 978-3-319-40364-9, h/bk, USD $69.99