I am not a teacher, but an awakener.

An essay on educational methods of instruction in music

What does it take to become a great teacher? We study educational
philosophy, the history of the American education system, the theory of multiple
intelligences, and tools to help us be successful in a specific subject area. As I laceup my teacher-shoes and step into my classroom, I want to know not only what I
want to teach my students, but why it is important, and how I can best do it.
Through the research of over five music schools in the country, interviews with both
current and graduated students, and my personal experiences, I have pinpointed
critical instructional techniques necessary to foster success and fuel passions in the
field of music.
The 13th edition of the text, Psychology Applied to Teaching, reveals four
approaches to educational instruction: behavioral, cognitive, humanistic, and social.
These approaches have been created and influenced by renowned psychologists of
the twentieth- and twenty-first-centuries, and have proved successful in many
differing educational settings. (1, Psych Book, Chap. 13) Though all four approaches
focus on providing students with appropriate information and basic tools to be
successful, the philosophies behind each vary considerably.

Instructional Approaches:
The first and perhaps the most basic of the approaches is the behavioral
approach. For behavioral psychologists, learning means acquiring new behaviors,
and new behaviors are learned because of the role that external stimuli play. (2,
Psych Book, 448) A popular method based off of this approach, known as direct
instruction, focuses on the teaching of basic skills by an autonomous teacher. Rules

are rigid and learning is relatively one-dimensional; it is intended to provide base

knowledge to students and capitalizes on the idea of engraining specific skills. Time
is set aside for practicing these skillsit often begins as highly structured and
supervised practice, eventually becoming more and more independent until the
student is able to practice entirely on his/her own. The focus of the behavioral
approach is to teach skills and information directly and explicitly, with the teacher
as the sole facilitator of learning.
A more in-depth approach to learning can be found in the cognitive method of
instruction. This method emphasizes the importance of not only teaching skills and
providing students with useful information, but teaching them how to continue to
learn in an effective way. Tools like introspection and metacognition are defining
elements of this approach, and are intended to lead students to an understanding of
both what they learn and how they learn. Teaching from this standpoint revolves
around principles of meaningful learning (3, Psych book, 439). This means teaching
students what they are learning, why they are learning it, and how to use the skills
they are gaining through this process in other areas of their lives. It shares similar
ideas with the behavioral approach of direct instruction in that it values the transfer
of information and skills through teaching; the cognitive approach simply takes
things a step further by asking students to evaluate the ways through which they
are learning this information.
As the first two methods revolve around the ideas being taught, the
humanistic approach to learning is a student-centered approach. This means that,
rather than focusing on what the student should learn, the instructor focuses on
who the student is, what he/she is interested in, and what is meaningful to him/her
so that the teacher can then cater the education to those values. Teachers who

adopt a humanistic orientation seek to create a classroom atmosphere in which

students believe that the teachers primary goal is to understand the students
needs, values, motives, and self-perceptions and to help the student learn. (Psych
book, 465) One of the leading psychologists responsible for this theory, Abraham
Maslow, believed in the idea that each student must receive validation and support
in order to reach his/her potential. Maslow believed that childrens academic and
personal growth is enhanced when various needs are metone of those needs,
belongingmeans the desire to get support from and be accepted by teachers and
classmates and to have opportunities to participate in classroom planning, goal
setting, and decision making. (Psych Book, 468) This approach places the student
first and works to tailor learning to fit each students needs and motives.
The final these four approaches is the social approach. This instructional
method places competition, cooperation, and social interaction at the center of
learning. The idea that knowledge can be acquired through collaboration and
comparison with peers differentiates this approach from the first three, as they
focus on the student as an individual learner. Competition within the classroom is
often criticized for its potential to discourage students and create tension between
peers, though it is viewed as a type of motivation by some nonetheless.
Cooperation, on the other hand, tends to receive acclaim for opportunities it
provides students in regards to gaining new perspectives, encouraging
achievement-oriented behaviors, as well as decreasing egocentrism. (Psych Book,
475) Interacting with others allows students to utilize knowledge beyond that which
they possess. The social method of instruction capitalizes on the opportunity to
learn from others as well as gain cooperative skills. It teach[es] students how to
productively interact with one anotherhow to ask relevant, leading questions and

how to give group members cogent arguments and justifications for the
explanationsthey offer. (Psych Book, 474) This approach uses core material to
teach students additionally skills to be used both inside and outside the classroom
in regards to human-to-human interaction.

The Music World:

I have conducted research regarding two of the nations (and the worlds) top
post-secondary music schoolsBerklee College of Music and Eastman School of
Music. Both schools in United States, they maintain both national and international
acclaim for their outstanding music programs and the notable success of their
students. Though both of these schools have an undeniable commitment to music
and the education of it, each institution embodies a unique philosophy behind that
education and how to best instruct and prepare its students. I will be focusing on
Berklee and Eastman, as
Berklee College of Music is a school known for its innovative and
contemporary educational philosophy. Located in Boston, Massachusetts, this newage conservatory prides itself on educating its students on modern music, with
focuses in areas such as Music Production and Engineering, Songwriting, Music
Business/Management, and Professional Music. Majors like these are not found in
classical conservatories. The introduction to Berklees educational philosophy
reads, Berklee was founded on two revolutionary ideas: that musicianship could be
taught through the music of the time; and that our students need practical,
professional skills for successful, sustainable music careers. While our bedrock
philosophy has not changed, the music around us has and requires that we evolve
with it. (Berklee website)

Jason Walsh, a senior at Berklee, refers to the institution as having the best
contemporary music curriculum in the world. The schools undergraduate
population reaches just about 4,000 students, and has an acceptance rate of
anywhere from 19-30% depending on the year. This low acceptance rate suggests
that Berklee students are highly qualified musicians. Agreeably, Walsh states,
There are so many musicians here that are better than you, no matter who you
are. Its funny because Berklee students always forget that the school contains the
top percent of musicians in the world, and we tend to get really down on feeling like
we cant improve. The truth is, many students here challenge the very nature of
how music is played and created. It really is humbling to be surrounded by so many
ridiculously talented musicianstruly an unreal experience.
At a school of this caliber, one might assume competition levels to be high.
As Walsh stated, Berklee is indeed ranked among the top music schools in the world
(link Jason sent me); almost 30% of its student body are international students.
(Berklee website) Currently, the Berklee webpage is highlighting one of its
international students, Wei Yang, a pianist and composer from Xiamen, China. He
comments on the idea of competition at Berklee comparatively to other
conservatories.
Asked about the most important lesson he learned at Berklee, Wei
(pronounced way)responds, Just one? He laughs and smiles, then says,
Berklee is very different from a conservatory or a classical school where
everyone is so competitive. You just focus on yourself and how to improve
yourself. At Berklee, its more like youre working with a lot of different
people, youre learning from them, and your mind starts opening and
becomes more accepting to different ways of doing things. In a conservatory,
youre taught, this is the right thing to do and this is wrong. (Berklee
website, Weis Way)
Wei touches on the instructional approaches at what he refers to as classical
schools, or classical conservatories. According to him, unlike classical schools,

which appear to follow a strictly behavioral approach to instruction, Berklee utilizes

both the social and cognitive methods of instruction. Wei continues, saying,
You experience all different kinds of music at Berklee, which you dont
experience at a conservatory, so thats a big thing, Wei says. A second
thing is that the student body at Berklee is much, much more international
than at a conservatory. I learned a lot from people from all over the world
doing all kinds of different music, whereas at a conservatory, you will still see
a lot of international students, but theyre all doing classical music, so you
dont learn as much from them. (Berklee website, Wei Yang, Weis Way)
It is amazing that a school of such high prestige and such competent students also
fosters such a supportive, encouraging atmosphere. In Psychology Applied to
Teaching, it mentions the potential detriments of taking the social approach to
teaching, as the competition can deter students from trying for fear of failure.
(Psych Book, chap 13) Through my conversation with Jason, and the study done on
Wei Yang, it is evident that the diversity amongst the students at Berkleein terms
not only of where they come from, but in how their minds think about and produce
music as wellultimately influence and encourage its students to be successful and
to think in new, innovative ways.
Eastman School of Music, a classical conservatory in Rochester, New York, is
another internationally-renowned music conservatory, but unlike Berklee, focuses
almost entirely on the education of Western music. It is a much smaller school than
Berklee, as its enrollment sits just above 900 students, 25% of those students being
international. . A part of Eastmans homepage includes the following passage:
Music does not exist in a vacuumit lives in the real world. Music is about
communication. As the great composer Gustav Mahler wrote, If a composer
could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in
music. In order to have something meaningful to say, a musician must lead
a rich and interesting life. Toward that end, we believe in educating the
whole studentnot just about the techniques of music, but also through the
study of humanities, by interdisciplinary pursuits, and by converging music
with other arts. (Eastman webpage)

Eastman values the progress of the student not only as a musician, but as a wellrounded individual. This humanistic approach to learning has the potential to affect
students in countless areas of their lives, for as they grow in new areas, they begin
to think about things in new ways, and ultimately process experiences and new
knowledge slightly differently than they might have before.
Heather Anderson, a junior cellist at Eastman, mentioned a special program
offered at Eastman to help its students learn to market themselves after their time
there. She states, The Arts Leadership Program offers courses and advising help to
teach students how to be innovative in the music business of the 21st century-unlike a lot of other music conservatories, I think, the focus is not only on winning
orchestra auditions (which are sadly starting to disappear), but how to market
yourself and create a unique career in the ever-changing field. (Heather Anderson,
junior) Despite Eastman being a classical institution, this sounds strangely similar
to Berklees new-age philosophy of changing with the times. This type of education
goes beyond that of direct instructionit not only gives students tools to be
successful in the future, but it forces them to analyze how to apply these tools to
the type of job-searching situation they are in. This is a great example of the
cognitive method of instruction, as it teaches students to understand and apply
acquired knowledge in various contexts, forcing them to access and utilize this
information in inventive, original ways.
Although Gustavus Adolphus College is not a music conservatory, Ruth Lin
(music theory/conducting professor and director of the Gustavus Symphony
Orchestra) provided me with information about her experiences as a graduate music
student at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. As Northwestern Universitys
music school is separate from the rest of the college, it functions like a

conservatory, thus I hoped Dr. Lins insight would be relevant and useful, especially
because she is now an educator herself.
In a lengthy interview, she articulated her thoughts on instruction, pulling
from her past experiences and also including the philosophy she has developed as a
teacher. After I provided her with an overview of each instructional method, she
stated, I dont think there is ever a time when there is just a single approachI
think it is always just a little bit of everything, especially in music. She continued
to address her own style, saying I think as a teacher, I am probably a little bit of
the cognitive and the humanistic approaches. (Ruth Lin) Music needs direct
instruction at the beginning, for although much of music is artistic interpretation
and expression, there are indeed right ways and wrong ways of doing things. It
cannot stop there though, for music cannot be created by simply playing the notes
on the pagemusic comes from a deeper place. Education should teach students
to find that, to feel that, and to crave that.

The culmination:
In the last five years as a musician and a student, I have learned that my
ideas about music and the education of it coincide harmoniously with the things I
value in regards to my life and my relationships. This study has allowed me to
internalize more than just what I might one day teach or how I might one day teach
itit has given me the opportunity to think about why I want to teach music.
I believe in music and the power it has to affect people. The education of
music must focus on the student first, as the student is the artist. This starts with
teaching students how to examine music. We have to teach them how to look for
what they like, and to think about why they like things (this is taking the cognitive

approach). The more they can begin to understand about the music they hear, the
farther they will be able to go when analyzing it and discovering more about it.
Music gets deeper the more you analyze it and understand it. Music demands direct
instruction at the beginning to give students proper tools to work with to eventually
create successfully as artiststhey need tools to help them create, and they need
tools to help them think.
Holistically, the cognitive approach to music instruction seems to be the most
prominent and perhaps the most useful, which makes sensemusic is an art form
that ultimately becomes subjective to the individual and his/her own skillset. Music
education is so much more than teaching students to play music, or to read music.
The education of music needs to consist of teaching students how to identify music
that is meaningful to them, and to give them the tools to identify and understand
why that is. If we want music to continue to grow as an art form, we cannot only
study and perform music of the pastschools like Berklee foster this. Musicians
need to know how to be innovative. They need to know how to create and master
music in a way that makes sense to them.
Finally, the humanistic approach is the key to any valuable educational
experience. Every individual wants to feel valued and appreciated for what he/she
offers, and until this is evident in the classroom, students will not reach their full
potential. Encouragement and support are crucial components of an atmosphere in
which students feel comfortable to express, experiment, and excel. In all three
schools in this study (Berklee, Eastman, and Gustavus), the three interviewees, as
well as Wei Yang, mentioned something about the supportive environment of these
schools. Berklee and Eastman are highly renowned music schoolsis there a

correlation between the supportive atmosphere and the success of the students at
these schools? I would venture to say yes.
The four of these approaches are, as Dr. Lin stated, all necessary in the
education of music. It is hard to pick one that is the most important, for they work
together to teach students basic skills and ideas, how to understand those ideas
and find meaning in them, how to search within oneself to find value, passion, and
drive, and finally to interact with, support, and learn from others. These four ideas
are critical to fostering a well-rounded education, especially in the field of music
things are constantly changing, almost everything is subjective, and there are
millions of creative people in this world who have the ability to influence the path
this art form takes. It is not enough to teach musicit is our job as educators to
awaken the minds of artists and allow them to flourish.