Ryan Shevlin

Roles and Functions of Music in the Lives of Individuals – Pedagogical Implications

From the Shehan-Campbell Reading

Shehan-Campbell draws upon Alan P Merriam’s anthropological investigations into how people use music around
the world.

• What did you find interesting about the article?

- I found the different ways (functions) that music affects people from as early as infants to adults.
Music is all around us and affects us in many ways whether we realize it or not.

• Which functions seemed most familiar to you?

- The emotional expression function seemed most familiar to me since music has been an outlet for my
emotions almost my whole life. It affects how people act and think about their surroundings.

• Which functions seemed least familiar to you? Why?

- Culture and integration of Society were less familiar to me. I almost felt like they were the same when
reading them at first. They are very similar about how people learn music from what’s happening
around them.

• What are ways you see PreK-Grade 6 children engaged in these different roles and functions of music?
Provide examples using the chart below.

FUNCTION Example How can you use this function in

Emotional Expression Students listening to music to accept
what they are feeling.
Aesthetic Response Movements and gestures made while
listening to music.
Communication Rhythmic and melodic speaking.
Physical Infants react to music by nodding
their head, kick their feet, etc.
Social Norms Songs that are used to teach
etiquette.
Religious Rituals Songs that speak about religious
events or ideas.
Culture Families use music to teach children
about cultural expressions.
Integration Dancing, drawing, singing on road
trips, playing together a duet on the
piano.
planning music learning activities for
elementary-aged kids?
Sing happy songs with the class to boost
their happy mood.
Have the students express themselves by
moving their body to songs that you
work on.
You can read children’s books that rhyme
in a rhythmic and melodic way.
Add movements to the songs to help the
students understand what they are trying
to project in the song.
You can sing songs that tell students how
to be polite and respectful through
music.
You can work on holiday songs with the
students that have to do with all
different religions.
Teaching students about different ethnic
backgrounds.
Connect students to what is happening in
the community.
From the Gregory Reading

Gregory’s analysis of roles and functions adds to Shehan-Campbell’s ideas by placing music within specific cultural
activities.

• What did you find interesting about the article?

- I liked how in this article, it broke down into very specific categories about where you can hear music
in society.

• Choose three roles or functions using Gregory’s cultural activities categories and construct a playlist of
three to five musical works that are representative of that function/role. Include a brief annotation for
each piece as to why it fits with the function or role. You may not use the functions of aesthetic
enjoyment or expression!

Playlist for PreK-Grade 1

FUNCTION Composer/Artist How it fits function/role
Lullabies Hush Little Baby, Don’t Say a Word This would be a good song to teach
by Cecil Sharp melodic lines to young students.
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by Jane This is a good song to start
Taylor introducing rhythms to students
since you can sing to a beat.
Are you Sleeping? By Frére Jacques This song is good to teach scales
and work on melodic singing.

Playlist for Grade 2-3

FUNCTION Composer/Artist
Games Tetris by Nikolay Nekrasov
Pac-Man theme by Toshio Kai
Classic Donkey Kong by David Wise
How it fits function/role
This game theme is good because it
can help students with rhythm and
learning to count the beat along
with songs.
This theme is good with teaching
students about chords since the
beginning is arpeggiated chords.
This game theme starts with a
melodic line that also has a trill.
This can introduce fun and cool
sounds that are in music.

Playlist for Grade 4-6

FUNCTION Composer/Artist How it fits function/role
Storytelling Kilkelly Ireland Song by Peter Jones This song talks about a historical
time period that happened in
Ireland.
National Anthem by Francis Scott This song was written during a
Key battle between the British and the
revolutionist.
Fortunate Son by Creedence This song is about how corrupt the
Clearwater Revival draft was during the war and only
poor people got drafted.
From the Tobias Reading

Tobias’s analysis adds yet another dimension to the roles and functions music has in people lives by looking at the
intersection of participatory culture and digital/online engagement.

• What did you find interesting about the article?

- I liked how this article talked about how people can be engaged in music in many different ways
other than a classroom.

• Using Table 1 on p. 30 in the article as a reference, list all of the ways that you have engaged in music. In
what context did you engage in these practices (activities) and what do you remember about them as a
participant? (Add rows, if necessary.) If you have never engaged in any of these practices, which practice
seems most interesting to you? Why?

Participatory Practice Memories about the activity

Arranging I have written a string quartet for the song “High Hopes by Panic at the Disco.
Covering I was in a band in high school and we would do covers of songs with our own
twists.
Remixing I have recorded and adjusted recordings to mix them how I like them.

• Which practices do you think young children (ages 2-5/6) might like to do? Middle childhood students
(ages 7-9); late childhood students (9-12)?

- Ages 2-5: Commenting and discussing

- Ages 7-9: Covering
- Ages 9-12: Multitracking, remixing, sample-based producing