Tim Pelltier

Foundations of Music Education

Dr D'arca
6 May 2015
Philosophy of Music Education
Music is something that has been a huge part of my life ever since I can remember. Jazz in
particular is such a huge part of my identity and I can't imagine living without it. I would say that most
cultures in general feel the same way as this; they wouldn't be the same without music. So it's the
teachers job to instill this passion for music inside the children. It's my job to encourage children to
branch out and find their muse in music; find what inspires them. It's not an easy job to inspire
someone in such a way. However, I believe that with the right ideas and the right mindset, that it can be
possible to go above and beyond expectations.
So what is music anyway? Why is it here? What is it's purpose? Questions that seem to be asked
constantly. Every time you ask them you'll get a hundred different complex answers. My answer is a
simple one, however. It's that musics purpose is to evoke some sort of emotion out of somebody. It is
meant to make someone feel a certain way. The documentary Amandla!: A Revolution in Four-Part
Harmony produced by Sherry Simpson Dean, Desiree Markgraaff and Lee Hirsch , is all about the
struggles of South Africans and how they used music to unite against the whites. Music was so
powerful to them that it caused the South Africans to erupt in revolution and riots. Music is the main
sense of culture.
To those South Africans music meant freedom. To others it may be an escape from a bad
breakup. Music is important to people for many different reasons. The main thing music does, however,
is it unifies people. It brings people closer together as a culture; As you can certainly see in Amandla!.
If you go to any rock concert you will see how that culture interacts with each other and that sets itself
completely apart from a symphony concert. Music is also a way for people to truly express themselves.

A tool of self-expression. So if music can be quantified by saying if it means something to someone or

if it is an expression of someones emotions, does that mean there really is no bad music? I think so. If
one hundred billion people despised a piece of music, but one person found meaning in it, then it has a
purpose and it is good music.
Getting children to be able to express themselves is the important part of music education in my
mind. Operating under the philosophy that all children have musical potential, I plan to create an
environment where students feel free to explore their minds through creativity and self-expression,
discovering their own musical identity, and learning more about themselves and others. Music is not
always about oneself. I think teaching a child altruism is just as important as self-expression. Being
able to listen to how you fit into the group, musical or otherwise, as a whole is a very important skill to
have. Aiding them in their social and emotional growth, my goal is to encourage this communication of
thoughts and feelings through song, movement and verbalization, giving them a more powerful
repertoire of self-expression.
An environment of safety and freedom from judgment allows the student to escape from any
outside world stress while they're in the classroom. One way to do this is to use a strategy that Susan
Snyder talks about in her article. Allow an environment that does not artificially remove children from
their interests. Make sure that children are learning with activities that engage their own interest. This
way they feel more at home and not in such a foreign area. Snyder also mentions how young children
are natural sound tinkerers. Babies will often pick a sound that they hear their parents do and mimic
it. They will then repeat it and improvise on it saying different variations. Ba. Ba. Baaaa. ab. Aba.
Aaabbaaa. Imagine if a teacher could take that inept skill and build on it, rather than stifle it. Any
child who is properly trained can develop musical ability just as all children develop the ability to
speak their mother tongue. This is what Dr. Shinichi Suzuki developed his whole philosophy on. He
believed that every child had potential and they need only have the correct stimulation.
Another way to keep a healthy classroom environment is to keep in mind how I treat my

students. I should always treat my students with the same respect that I expect from them. How can I
expect a student to put their neck out on the line when they are improvising, for instance, when they are
terrified of me because I run my classroom like a dictatorship.
Measuring all of this in a quantifiable way is difficult. However, listening to the group as a
whole is a good way to see how everyone is improving. Their ability to be more independent is a sign
that they are taking to my teaching as well. An important point to remember, it is not an educators job
to force students into a specific, standardized mold, but rather give them the tools to decide for
themselves. So when they are coming back to you with songs they heard that particularly took their
interest and telling about who wrote it, you know that they are building the tools well. The whole
purpose for a teacher to not only teach the music but allow the music to bring out the best version of
the students; extending beyond the classroom.

Work Cited
Amandla!: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony. Prod. Sherry S. Dean, Desiree Markgraaff, and Lee
Hirsch. Artisan Entertainment, 2002. Videocassette.
Hendricks, Karin S. "The Philosophy Of Shinichi Suzuki: ''Music Education As Love
Education''."Philosophy Of Music Education Review 19.2 (2011): 136-154. Education Full Text
(H.W. Wilson). Web. 6 May 2015.
Snyder, Susan. "Developing Musical Intelligence: Why And How." Early Childhood Education
Journal 24.3 (1997): 165-171. Education Research Complete. Web. 8 Apr. 2015.