Mikey Mayer

Personal Philosophy Statement

Music is an extremely empowering subject that should be taught not only to the talented,

but in order to have well-rounded students, music should be taught to as many students as

possible. The students come first, not the musical repertoire. I do not care if the students are not

prodigies, but I do care about individual growth. I believe the life lessons they learn in music are

more important than what scales they can play, life lessons that will be applicable to other

avenues of life. My philosophy is planted solely in the student’s well-being, in a viewpoint that is

existentialistic in nature. The student is the focus in the classroom, with the subject matter

coming second to it.

I believe that the importance of music does not come from playing the music, but the life

lessons that help musicians attain greater citizenship and enrichment of life. I believe music

should be for everyone; in this world that is so divided, inclusivity in music can help heal and

teach respect that can be transferred to all parts of a child’s life beyond their years in school.

Music is important because it is not a traditional classroom where in which students sit in desks

and take notes, but rather they explore and learn ways to express themselves in ways that they

cannot in any other class.

In addition to the use of expression, I believe the child’s social interaction with their

peers is very important, and in an ensemble setting, the students are growing as people because

they are working together as a team. With the respect that students learn working together in an

ensemble, they can apply that respect to other aspects of life and make the world around them a
better place. The teamwork skills that are gained through music do not just end with music, but

can enrich other parts of life, making the student more well-rounded.

Music should be for everyone, if it was only for the select few, it would not have as much

of an impact on life and culture. From experience as a disabled person, I know that music can be

therapeutic and can help with health, mentally, physically, and emotionally. Whenever I play

music, I try to make it expressive, because without your own personal touch on the music, it is

just ink on paper. I will encourage my students to be expressive in their music in order to really

feel the music and understand some of the abstract tendencies of music. Because music is

subjective, everyone will have a different feeling about it, but the fact that they can come

together and create something beautiful is fantastic

Although my job as a teacher is to teach music, the most important thing in my opinion

is that the students keep music in their lives long after they graduate, but in order to do that, they

must feel welcome in an environment of learning and exploring where their emotional well-

being can be catered to and the building blocks of good character are established. Musical

knowledge is still important in the classroom, in order to have the students enjoy themselves in

music, they must have a music knowledge base to start and grow upon. With the musical

knowledge that they learn, and the practicing that they do in preparation for class, they learn self-

discipline and become able to explore music on their own and grow as musicians and as people.

With the many years I have been playing music, I was able to teach myself how to grow on my

own as a tuba player. I want to foster an environment where students can make musical decisions

on their own using critical thinking and trusting their own knowledge base. When the student

grows that self-confidence that they learn in music, they can transfer it to other skills outside of

the subject and become a more well-rounded individual.

 My role as a teacher will be to foster these ideals to ensure that the child could grow into

the best person they could be. I want to make an environment where the student is comfortable to

expressive themselves and enrich their lives and grow as humans in all aspects, in any field of

study that they choose to pursue. I want to be a role model, to show that they can do anything

that they put their minds to and give them the tools to succeed in music and in life. Although the

musical content is important, I believe the social skills and what the students get out of music are

more important in life overall.