Student Interviews

For my student interview, I decided to interview three students in different ages/grade. I chose
to interview three students in different age groups because I wanted to see if their perspectives of music
will be different depending on the age. After doing the interviews, I learnt that the age of the student
does not matter but how music was exposed to them. It was interesting hearing each student’s response
to the same questions. I decided to interview students who attend the same church as I do. I chose to
interview Mark, he is currently in his first year of college in the health and fitness program and is the
same age as me. I interviewed a high school student named Julianne, who is in the 10 th grade, and
Jannah, who is currently in middle, in grade 6. I made sure to interview each student separately and
asked their permission to video record them as they speak.

The first question I asked each student was, how important is music to you? Two of the students,
Jannah and Mark, gave quite similar answers. Both Mark and Jannah mentioned how music is like an
outlet. They like to listen to music depending on their mood and it's a way to express their emotions.
Mark also said that it's like another way to destress a bit when playing music on their instrument. I found
this very interesting because I completely forgot how music can affect others through just listening to it.
When I asked this question, I immediately agreed with their answers and felt intrigued by Jannah’s
answer too because I didn’t expect her to say that music was a way to express her emotions. I felt
surprised when I heard Mark respond with a similar answer to Jannah’s too. It came to my realization
that you don’t need to be a music student for music to have an impact in your life or for music to be
important. Music can affect everyone just by listening to it, it is a way to express one’s emotions and
feelings.

When I asked Julianne, she said how music had always played a huge role in her life, how her family was
always musically inclined. Most of her family were singers which had influenced her too because she had
grown up singing. A similarity that all three students had with music was that they all started music at a
young age as they mentioned and chose to continue to learn it.

What I found with the answers of all three students, was that they were all relatable. That music can be a
way to express one's emotions/mood, whether it be through listening to music or playing it. Music
played a huge role in Julianne’s family and I felt that I could relate to that a lot because my family was the
same. Both my parents loved music, where my dad had learned how to play the bass guitar and the
acoustic guitar informally and my mom enjoyed singing in choirs. It felt nice to hear that music had an
important role in these students lives.

The second question I asked each student was, “Have you taken any private lessons or class in
music?”. Both Mark and Jannah had taken private lessons on their instruments while Julianne hadn’t
taken any private lesson but mostly learned music through ensembles such as band class or choir. My
follow up question was if they enjoyed learning music and why. All three students said that they enjoyed
music, Julianne mentioned how she didn’t really enjoy learning the theory but other than that, it was
always seen as something fun and enjoyable. Julianne continued saying how learning how to play these
new instruments had made it enjoyable. Something that Julianne said had also interested me, she said
how music creates unity, she gave an example of her band class, and how the classroom gives off a
positive vibe and everyone are friends with each other. I immediately thought of how open her band
class must be, and that her teacher must’ve created an environment where they are open to
communicate with one another and to be able to enjoy themselves in their class.
 The third question I asked was, “Do you have a mentor/teacher or figure that has influenced you
in music?”. When I asked this question to the students, both Jannah and Mark said that they didn’t have
a mentor/teacher or figure that has influenced them in music. Mark said that he had different guitar
teachers throughout his private lessons sometimes and said that some of his classmates stopped taking
lessons as well, which is why he didn’t have anyone that has truly influenced him in music. The same
goes with Jannah.

As for Julianne, she mentioned that I was one of her influences in music which took me by surprise. I had
asked her why I was one of her influences in music and she mentioned how she also is just learning how
to play the saxophone, in which is my main instrument, and how every time she sees me play for my
church, she sees how I make it look easy, “I want to reach that level where I can be able to play (the
saxophone) without really thinking much about it”. Hearing this had made me feel flattered and happy
that I was able to influence someone with my music. I also asked Julianne who her influence was in
singing because I knew that singing was her main instrument. She responded saying that her major
influence in singing was her aunt because her aunt was in a band that would sing for weddings and
Julianne would always be invited to watch her aunt sing which is one of the reasons why Julianne had
started singing.

When I heard both Jannah’s and Mark’s response, I was surprised to hear that they didn’t have a mentor
or figure that had influenced them in music. This is because when I was going through my journey in
music, I felt that I had a lot of support from my private teacher and my band teacher. They were two of
my biggest influence in music and were one of the reasons why I was able to pass my auditions to
school. As for Julianne, hearing that I was one of her influences in music had made me feel very happy
because I never imagined that I would be influencing another through my music and it has encouraged
me to become a better role model for her. I was very thankful.

On the fourth question, I was curious as to whether some of the students will be continuing
music depending on their grade/age. Unfortunately, due to the lack of time, I was not able to ask this
question to Jannah. I asked Julianne if she would continue taking music in grade 11/12 or even after high
school. She said that should like to continue taking it for the rest of high school but is still unsure if it’s
what she would like to continue studying in a university level, more likely she would be continuing it as a
hobby though. I asked as to why she is unsure, and she said that she still does not know what she wants
to study in the future, whether it be in the science or the arts. I asked this same question to Mark as well
but in a different context.

I asked Mark if he has ever thought about continuing music in university, and he responded saying that
he has but doesn't think he’s at that level to be able to take in university. As a follow up question, I asked
as to what made him think that he isn’t at that “level” and he mentioned that the RCM standard was
level 8 and he’s only in level 7 but does not know if it is even in RCM. I asked him, if he was in the level 8
or higher, if he would have auditioned for it or continue to study music in university, and he responded
saying that it would've been one of his options but since he wasn’t he decided not to try.

When I had asked both Julianne and Mark this question, I was happy to hear that music was something
that they would both like to continue. But saddened that it was something that they questioned when it
came to university, at the same I understood them because I sort of felt the same way when I was
applying for university, this is because of the profession and the career I would be in if I took music in
university. This made me realize that most people see music more of a hobby rather than a profession
despite the fact there are many celebrities that are singers and musicians. Hearing Mark’s answer had
saddened me as well because it is something I could relate to. When I was auditioning for music in
different universities, I was a bit scared that I wasn’t good enough or at the level that I was required to
be. This is because, although I took private lessons and band class for saxophone, I never had any exams
or tests that put me in certain levels, therefore, I wasn’t sure if I was good enough and questioned my
own abilities/skills. But even though I felt discouraged because of that reason, I still had my private
teacher and band teacher, as well as my family/friends who had supported me and motivated me to
continue my studies in music. This was something that I hope for these students, that they would have
that same support that I did from my teachers and family to continue in something they enjoyed, for me,
it was music.

The last question that I asked was, “Did you feel you had opportunities to be creative as a music
student? What were they?”. When I asked Jannah this, her response was a hard “No”. I even gave her
different examples and she continued to say no which was shocking to me because I expected that there
would be more creativity in class as a younger music student. Julianne gave the same answer, that they
mostly just receive music from their teacher and as a band class/vocals class, they prepare their music
for a concert that is usually four months away. I asked Julianne if she would like to have activities that
require students to think creatively. She responded with a yes, that in her vocals class, they would get to
create their own song or melody and add different harmonies to it. Julianne also mentioned that there is
a different class called “Music and Computers”, where they get to create their own music using
technology, but she would still like to do creative activities in her vocals class.

I also asked Mark this question, and he responded saying yes, during his private lessons, his teacher
would have him and his classmates enter in band competitions, where they students in the same studio
create their bands and compete with other bands from different branches. There, the students create
their own arrangements of songs or covers. Mark mentioned how his teacher asked him and his
classmate to create their own guitar solos, he said how that was his first experience ever where he had
to create his own guitar solo and even though it wasn’t what Mark considered a good solo, he still found
it a cool experience.

When I asked this last question to each student, I was hoping that their answer would be a yes. But I was
taken back when both Julianne and Jannah haven’t the chance to feel creative in their music classes.
Although that’s the case, I am still glad that they find their music classes enjoyable. I think it is important
for music educators to give music students opportunities to be creative, this is because it creates an
open and communicative environment for the students and allows them to experience music in a
creative sense without having any limitations.

Hearing each student’s answer made me realize how grateful I am to have had my music teacher give me
so many opportunities to be creative in class. This is because in high school, doing creative activities was
something that I was scared and self-conscious of, but because my teacher gave us so many chances to
build our creativity, I began to feel more comfortable and felt that it was okay to make mistakes.

In conclusion, it was nice to hear different answers and similar answers from each student on
each question that I had asked. After doing this, I felt like I had a greater sense of what music was to
them and how it has influenced their life.