Modern Band and Special Learners

Abstract

For the greater part of the past 50 years, music educators have advocated for contemporary approaches to music education that reflect the interests of students. This has recently manifested in an approach to music education that scholars call Modern Band. Though the term lacks any one definition, Modern Band classes typically involve popular music making with guitars, drum set, electric bass, and keyboard. Among the features of this approach is a student-centered orientation that is focused on the individual learner. Additionally, Modern Band is rooted in informal music-learning theory, which easily lends itself to the inclusive principles of universal design for learning and differentiated instruction. Because of this, Modern Band may be a perfect fit for inclusive music classrooms.

Modern Band: A Review of Literature

“…The modern band teachers surveyed by Randles (2018) also reported that 66% (n = 503) of their modern band programs allowed students to choose some of the songs that they performed, whereas 72% (n = 549) of teachers indicated that their students have performed their favorite music in public. These findings are supported by other researchers that highlighted the prevalence of songs chosen by the students in modern band classes (Knapp, 2020;Vasil et al, 2017).…”

“…Some scholars view formal and informal learning practices as two poles of a continuum, and argue that learning activities can fall anywhere on that continuum based on the situation, learning style, ownership of the activity, and intentionality (Folkestad, 2006; Green, 2002). Knapp (2020) argued that since the modern band approach is based on informal learning theory, “it is free from the predetermined curricular constraints that limit typical music education models like band, chorus, and orchestra” (p. 3). According to Knapp, teachers are thus able to design and adjust their lessons based on the needs of their classroom and the interests of students.…”

“…Modern band ensembles also provide opportunities for students with developmental disabilities to participate in school music programs because modern bands are particularly well suited for inclusive music classrooms with special learners (Knapp, 2020). In his writing about negotiating barriers to inclusion in a rock band setting, Rathgeber (2017) described several adaptive strategies to mitigate physical barriers to participation such as holding instruments in different ways, adding stickers to instruments to indicate the location of notes, and retuning guitars to play open chords.…”

“…Modern band also provides an opportunity for teachers to engage with culturally relevant pedagogy (Powell et al, 2017). The culturally responsive orientation of modern band “centers student experiences and is able to expand equity and access to music education beyond traditional large ensembles” (Knapp, 2020, p. 3). Gloria Ladson-Billings (1995) defines culturally relevant pedagogy as a pedagogical model where students are encouraged “to accept and affirm their cultural identity while developing critical perspectives that challenge inequities that schools (and other institutions) perpetuate” (p. 469).…”

Little Kids Rock and modern band in US schools: A punk problematic

“…Further deepening ties between these two organizations, and in the process muting any disruptiveness of LKR, NAfME frequently publishes articles on modern band in its research and practitioner journals (e.g. Burstein and Powell, 2019;Knapp, 2020;Powell, 2021;Vasil et al, 2019). Furthermore, as of January 2022, there is also a dedicated Modern Band Journal, a trade publication from artistpro, LLC (artistpro, 2022), which produces well regarded and widely read trade magazines to thousands of music teachers across the US.…”