by David A.

Williams

The Elephant in the

Room
Abstract: Practically all teenagers find pleasure in music, yet the majority are not involved in
traditional school music ensembles. College requirements, the quest for high grade point aver-
ages, scheduling conflicts, uncooperative counselors, block schedules, students with too many
competing interests, or the need to work may limit participation in music classes. While there is
little music teachers can do to overcome many of these hurdles, the elephant in the room is the
very model we use for music education in the schools. The large performance ensemble was
established as the model for music education during the early 1900s and has remained relatively
unchanged for a century. Is this model a significant part of what is causing so few students to
enroll in school music classes? Recommendations are presented that must be considered as the
profession moves forward.
Keywords: alternative, curriculum, ensemble, high school, junior high, learning style, lifelong
learning, schedule
The large ensemble
may be one of the

T
here is a growing concern about the fu-
ture of American K–12 music education
programs, and much of the anxiety in-
volves enrollment in traditional large ensem-
bles.1 The concern is so great that we spend
considerable time trying to convince others of
the importance of music through advocacy ef-
forts. In the introduction to her chapter on ad-
vocacy in The New Handbook of Research on
Music Teaching and Learning, Liora Bresler
suggests that “the contemporary arena of
school music often resembles a battleground,
concerned with survival.”2
Why do so few students take part in tra-
ditional secondary school music ensembles?
Practically all teenagers find pleasure experi-
encing music, yet we know the greater major-
ity are not involved in school music offerings.
Recent data from Florida reveal a troubling
trend. Not only are music enrollments low,
but they have been dropping as well. Accord-
ing to Florida Department of Education data,
16.45 percent of high school students were
David A. Williams is an associate professor of music education at the University of South Florida, Tampa. He can be contacted at
davidw@usf.edu.
enrolled in music classes in 1985. This num-
ber dropped to 14.9 percent by 1995 and 11.67 biggest impediments
percent by 2005.3 If we were to project a 2025
figure based on these data, enrollment would
to wider access to
fall to under 7 percent. While this is just for music education in
the state of Florida, there is little to suggest
such trends are not similar in other parts of public schools in the
the United States. United States. Will
The extent of the problem is actually
masked here. To arrive at these figures, enroll- music educators
ment for every music class is added together, so
individual students enrolled in more than one
adapt in time?
music class are double-counted (concert band
and jazz band, for example). This suggests that
the actual percentage of students enrolled in
music classes is smaller than indicated. Addi-
tionally, these data include all music classes—
not only traditional ensembles. We can expect
that more alternate music classes (technology,
keyboard, world drumming, etc.) existed in
2005 than in 1985, meaning enrollment in tra-
ditional ensembles may have fallen even more
dramatically than is implied here.
Copyright © 2011 National Association
for Music Education
DOI: 10.1177/0027432111415538
http://mej.sagepub.com

www.nafme.org 51
 An Outdated Model
While there is little music teachers can
do to limit the aforementioned hurdles,
there is at least one issue that is too often
ignored, and that few within the profes-
sion seem willing to discuss. This ele-
phant in the room is the very model we
use for music education in the schools.
The large performance ensemble was
established as the model for music edu-
cation during the early 1900s and has
remained relatively unchanged for a cen-
tury. Is it possible this model is a signifi-
cant part of what is causing so few to
enroll in school music classes?
In many respects, this model has
been quite successful. The performance

TAP, TAP . . . level of our ensembles has been envied

by music teachers in several countries. It
has served important roles of public rela-
tions for and service to our schools. It has
(WHO'S THERE?) sustained the profession and has become
a prominent part of the secondary school
experience. The large-ensemble model
You are! Singing, dancing, playing, and making a difference has, in fact, become synonymous with
music education in schools—so much so
in children’s lives—and in your own. Teach our much-loved that it is difficult for most music educa-
research-based family and preschool programs, and enjoy the tors, as well as preservice music teachers,
to consider changes to the status quo.
support of our creative and energizing teaching community.
The model is so pervasive that new
There’s a workshop near you. concepts introduced into music educa-
tion are usually first thought of in terms
of how they can be added to current
ensemble offerings. Recent examples
of this include multicultural music and
technology, both of which function bet-
® ter apart from traditional ensembles as
THE JOY OF FAMILY MUSIC separate classes dedicated to the particu-
lar topic. Certainly there are advantages
to adding digital technology into a large
ensemble, although the true profit for stu-
(800) 728-2692 U MUSICTOGETHER.COM dents can be realized through new types
of classes devoted to contemporary tech-
nologies. It is the same with musics from
other cultures: in certain circumstances,
Certainly there is no single reason that who have tested poorly in areas such as using elements of other musical traditions
accounts for the situation in which the reading and math may be forced into extra can offer meaningful activities in tradi-
profession finds itself. It is evident that, in remedial courses. In either case, these stu- tional large ensembles, but again, the real
the push for academic excellence, some dents would have fewer, if any, opportuni- reward for students would be through a
students opt to enroll in multiple honors ties to elect music courses. Then there are specific course devoted to a particular
and advanced placement courses in hopes scheduling conflicts, uncooperative coun- style of music.
of raising their grade point averages and selors, block schedules, students with too So all-encompassing is the large-
increasing the likelihood of admission to many competing interests, or the need to group performance model that alterna-
preferred colleges. Additionally, students work. tives introduced as separate classes, most

52 Music Educators Journal September 2011

notably, guitar and keyboard courses, are
often approached and taught in ways that
closely resemble the design used in tra-
ditional large ensembles—with neat rows
of students, reading notation, performing
the same piece at the same time, while
being conducted or led by the teacher.
Since this is the model we know and
understand, it becomes the template for
new courses as well. It is quite likely there
are better, more authentic paradigms for
these types of offerings.
Other Alternatives
Other countries have made consider-
able strides regarding alternate models of
music education. A recent special edition
of the British Journal of Music Education
contains a series of articles describing
both research and practice in England,4
Sweden,5 and Greece.6 In a study pub-
lished in 2000, researchers Charles Byrne
and Mark Sheridan reported on three
decades of change in music practices in
Scottish schools, where the inclusion of
a wider range of instruments and musi-
cal styles with alternate teaching methods
has resulted in a marked upturn in the
numbers of students studying music.7 In
research printed in 2006, Göran Folke-
stad studied different aspects of learning
(including the situation, learning style,
ownership, and intentionality) in socie-
ties outside Western cultures.8 Author
David Price, in articles published in 2005
and 2006, detailed the Musical Futures
project in the United Kingdom, which,
beginning in 2003, set out to devise new
and imaginative ways of engaging young
people in school music activities.9 Teach-
ers in this project reported that Musical
Futures had a positive effect on student
participation and retention, student atti-
tudes, self-esteem, and on-task behavior
and that students developed a greater
range of musical skills and were able
to demonstrate higher levels of musical
understanding.10
Nevertheless, it is little wonder that
the large-ensemble model of music edu-
cation remains so ubiquitous in the United
States. It is, after all, the model that prac-
tically all current music teachers experi-
enced as students. It is the only model
www.nafme.org
in which most college music education
majors participated during their second-
ary school years, as well as throughout
their undergraduate experience. It is, in
fact, the model in which most in-service
and preservice teachers not only partici-
pated but also excelled. Bringing to oth-
ers the same triumphs we experienced is
quite gratifying, and is an aspiration that
drives many to become music teachers.
When we are passionate about some-
thing, as many in our profession are
about traditional performance ensembles,
it is easy to assume everyone else is simi-
larly infatuated. This is unfortunately not
true. We know that the greater majority of
students choose not to participate in our
traditional offerings, and most of them do
not because they find this musical partici-
pation uninteresting. Even many of those
who do participate are less than enthusi-
astic about the experience. We must do
better. We can do better. It is essential
that we offer interesting, relevant, and
meaningful musical experiences for all
students that also allow them to develop
lifelong musical skills.
Opportunities to Consider
There are several possibilities that are
worthy of serious consideration as we
look to the future of music education
in the United States. Change is a worthy
goal, but we have to be brave enough to
venture into some unknown territory. We
must be open to possibilities. Toward this
end, here are several opportunities that
are available to us to improve the situa-
tion in which we find ourselves. Oppor-
tunities, when taken in combinations,
could help us realize interesting, relevant,
and meaningful musical experiences for
students.
1. Class Size
Large performing ensembles are an
important goal of the present model,
and increasing class size is often a
badge of honor for music teachers. Edu-
cational psychology suggests that large
class sizes are not educationally sound.
Twenty students in a high school math
class is almost always better than fifty.
An eighty-member ensemble might look
good from an advocacy standpoint,
but not from an educational perspec-
tive. It is essential that new models of
music education allow for reasonable
class sizes equivalent to those found in
other academic areas. The issue we face
is creating demand for a sizable total
enrollment in music courses, but this
enrollment does not have to be in one
class.
2. Student-Centered Learning
The large-ensemble model places com-
plete control in the hands of the teacher,
a concept borrowed from professional
orchestras where the conductor is in
command, and the main goal is excel-
lent performance. In schools, where the
main goal should be student learning,
this model seems outdated in light of the
wealth of research concerning construc-
tionist learning theory and inquiry-based
learning.11 Such control over the class-
room is important in the large-ensemble
model, although not necessarily condu-
cive to the best student learning. While
many school music programs involve
solo and small-ensemble experiences,
which can allow individual students
some level of control, these tend to be
short-term extensions to the real busi-
ness of the full ensemble. New models
of music education should allow control
over the educational environment to be
extensively shared inside the classroom
by allowing students to experience self-
directed learning, and peer-directed
learning.
3. Musical/Creative Decisions
In addition to control of the learning
environment, the teacher in the large-
ensemble model is most likely making
practically all the musical and creative
decisions. In this educational design, stu-
dents are most often reduced to techni-
cians, simply carrying out the creative
wishes of their music director. Again, edu-
cational research challenges this model.12
While control of creative decision mak-
ing is important for the large-ensemble
director, new models of music education
53
would benefit from allowing students to
learn from their own creative decisions. THE YOUNG MUSICIAN’S TEXTBOOK

Additionally, students would benefit in UN G

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isfaction and meaning from performing
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gies and instruments that are of interest
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which they live. In a work published in
1997, Libby Larson stated that, in addition
to a core of acoustic sound, we are now 6. Musical Styles
faced with “the musical reality of pro-
duced sound.” She suggests, “We do not School ensembles were well established
need to replace the basic standards but in the United States by the 1920s. Up to
we must rethink the approach to music. that time, the music they performed was
We must rethink its core, and we must a significant part of the musical society.
expand it to include the core of produced As we well know, this is no longer true.
sound.”13 Today, most music performed by school

54 Music Educators Journal September 2011

 could have success with classes based on
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inven-
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empirical evidence a very large percent-

The goodfor sweet harmo piece of
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Looking d? This nifty imaginable keyon guitar. From Duisiam cillam, vullaore
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CLICK
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age of students that begin participation

or call Tia at
l Site Map
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in secondary school ensembles cease

t Us l Teac
e l Abou
ent l Hom
l Assi gnm
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914.358.1200 x310 their musical involvements while still in

school or soon after leaving high school.
Aside from fond memories, there is lit-
tle indication that traditional music edu-
cation has much of an effect on musical
life after high school for most students.
Considerable thought should be given to
ensembles has become so esoteric that popular styles, including cultural/ethnic the enhancement of lifelong musical skills
perhaps the only way to categorize it is considerations of interest to students. when developing new models of music
“school music.” Little of this music has Many of these musical styles come with education. Helping students find rele-
relevance to the lives of students outside authentic learning and performance prac- vance between music study in school and
of school. To attract interest in music edu- tices that are not well suited to our tra- their musical life outside of school will go
cation programs, new models of music ditional large ensembles. Some schools a long way in the development of lifelong
education must include a variety of musi- might find an Afro-Cuban music course learning. Educator Lucy Green suggested
cal styles and genres and should embrace of great interest to students, while others in a 1988 study that allowing students

www.nafme.org 55
more autonomy over the learning environ-
ment can have positive effects on learn-
ing for life.14 Autonomy in several of the
previous areas, including creative decision
making, instrument choice, and musical
styles, could have a significant effect on
the acquisition of lifelong musical skills.
If we expect music education to be taken
seriously as a school subject, we must give
considerable thought to the enhancement
of lifelong musical skills when developing
new models of music education.
9. Entry Level
Once a student has missed the entry point
for participation in traditional ensem-
bles, it is often difficult to break into the
system as a beginner. Few high school
programs (especially instrumental) have
serious options for students with no pre-
vious performance skills. New models
of music education must not only allow
but encourage students to start music
instruction at any grade level and pro-
vide opportunities for them to be placed
in small-group settings where students of
various abilities and experience can learn
with and from each other.
10. Developing Functionality
In traditional performance programs, it
normally takes several years of practice
and study to achieve a functional level
on an instrument. Even with a full year of
ensemble experience in a band, choral, or
string class, a student is not likely to have
achieved a level of musicianship sufficient
to sustain musical activity if he or she stops
in-school participation. Ideally, new mod-
els of music education need to help stu-
dents reach a functional level of musicality
within one year or less, providing students
who cannot or choose not to participate
in school music classes for longer periods
the ability to independently enhance their
musicality after they leave us.
A New Direction
There are several opportunities for change
that are worthy of serious consideration
56
as we look to the future of music educa-
tion in the United States. I chose the term
opportunities very carefully. The music
education profession is, and has been for
some time, facing various challenges that
may best be dealt with through change.
Change can be scary. But change can
also be an opportunity. I suggest that we
are entering a very exciting time for the
music education profession as we deal
with potential change. I think we have
many great opportunities to make music
study in the schools as relevant as it has
ever been. We also have amazing oppor-
tunities to help expand musicianship for
all students, and to enhance the musical
culture of the United States. None of this
will be easily accomplished, but I have to
believe we are up to the challenge.
What might all this look like? One
example could be a guitar class where
students learn primarily in small groups
(two to four students), learning to play
copies of music they choose and music
they compose/arrange themselves
(including vocals). The teacher would
help individuals develop technique, learn
stylistic characteristics (including move-
ment), and lead students to representa-
tive listening examples. The performance
aspect of the class would be groups play-
ing for each other and discussing what
they did and how they did it. Other per-
formance opportunities include use of
the Internet and informal presentations
around the school. An obvious extension
for such a class would be to include addi-
tional instruments such as keyboards,
electric bass, and drums. A similar class
could use iPads as instruments instead
of guitars. The iPad (as well as similar
devices) brings a whole new world of
possibilities to music performance. The
touch interface is a big part of this, but
even more important is the ever-growing
library of musical applications (apps)
that are available. The variety of musical
apps is truly amazing, and the array of
different sound possibilities is staggering.
Never have so many sound choices been
so easily accessible. Almost anything is
possible when multiple iPads are played
together.
Music Educators Journal September 2011
Another example might be a com-
puter-based classroom where students
would work independently and also col-
laborate in small groups, copying and
creating original music. Again, vocals
and other instruments could also be used
(including traditional instruments!). Mul-
timedia could be added through video,
and elements of dance could be incor-
porated. Ideally, students would activate
their creative thinking skills and make
artistic choices, and teachers would facili-
tate learning. Still another example might
take the form of a hip-hop and deejaying
course where students create their own
beats and songs, rehearse them in small
groups, and perform for each other in the
class. The options are many and limited
only by our own imaginations.
Another important option is an Inter-
net-based music class. In a very short
time, the Internet has changed the way
many people access information. It has
literately changed how we live, and it is
changing what is meant by “school.” Our
profession would be wise to think seri-
ously about Internet-based courses. A
music composition, songwriting, or music
production type course would actually
work very well in an online environ-
ment. Even a guitar class would be easily
attainable.
Any of these examples could also
include investigating the popular music
business, studying musicians and per-
sonalities from within the musical styles
covered in the class, and analysis of
exemplary musical examples. Addition-
ally, samples of musics of other styles and
genres, including classical, could be used
to help students understand general sonic
relationships within music.
Classes such as these, and no doubt
there are many more possibilities, com-
bine various aspects of the ten preced-
ing opportunities by limiting class size to
twenty to twenty-five students, allowing
students to choose the musical styles to
study, and then allowing them to choose
the instruments to authentically produce
this music. Students in such classes would
be responsible for their own creative
decisions and would work cooperatively
with other students, of varying experi-
ence levels, and would regularly demon-
strate what they are learning for others
in the class. Green provides an excellent
model of this setting from her research on
informal learning.15
As a profession, should our goal be
to perpetuate the type of musical experi-
ence we enjoyed as students, or should
we adapt as necessary to reach new gen-
erations of students with musical experi-
ences that might be more meaningful and
relevant to them? I suggest the answer is
not necessarily “we should do both.” Cer-
tainly there are schools where the tradi-
tional model is still very strong and needs
to continue in addition to new offerings,
but just as certainly, there are schools in
which it no longer makes sense to con-
tinue traditional instrumental and/or cho-
ral programs—and I would propose there
are more examples of the latter than the
former. In fact, many school music pro-
grams would benefit from starting over
completely with different types of music
experiences for students, experiences
many students not currently interested in
school music programs would find both
relevant and meaningful.
There are two issues keeping the pro-
fession from making significant strides
in increasing enrollment and extending
musicianship skills. First is this belief that
a secondary school music program must
include traditional ensembles, and sec-
ond is the belief that anything added is
exactly that—an add-on, not the serious
music-making business found in the band
and choir. Students attracted to nontradi-
tional music classes can be just as earnest,
sincere, and committed (if not more so)
as students who play trumpet or sing in a
choir, and they deserve teachers who are
equally resolute.
These attitudes are keeping the pro-
fession from making any real progress
related to enrollment and musical par-
ticipation. Perhaps we are fifty years too
late. It would have been timely if we had
started adding substantial numbers of
guitar classes, composition classes, and
popular music classes in the early 1960s.
While we continue to debate the need for
www.nafme.org
these classes today, they are fast becom-
ing noninnovative and now only scratch
the surface of the possibilities. Whatever
we do, I hope we act quickly. The profes-
sion’s reluctance to address this elephant
in the room has hurt us greatly and has
robbed countless numbers of students of
a potentially rich music education.
NOTES
1. Lee Bartel, Questioning the Music
Education Paradigm, vol. 2 of Research
to Practice, a Biennial Series (Sydney,
Canada: Canadian Music Educators
Association, 2004); John Kratus,
“Music Education at the Tipping
Point,” Music Educators Journal
94, no. 2 (2007): 42–48; and Tom
Regelski and J. Terry Gates, eds.,
Music Education for Changing Times:
Guiding Visions for Practice (New York:
Springer, 2009).
2. Liora Bresler, “Research: A Foundation
for Arts Education Advocacy,” in The
New Handbook of Research on Music
Teaching and Learning, ed. R. Colwell
and C. Richardson (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2002), 1066.
3. Data furnished by the Florida PK20
Education Data Warehouse, http://
edwapp.doe.state.fl.us/doe/.
4. John Finney and Chris Philpott,
“Informal Learning and Meta-Pedagogy
in Initial Teacher Education in England,”
British Journal of Music Education 27
(2010): 7–19.
5. Eva Gorgii-Hemming and Maria
Westvall, “Music Education: A Personal
Matter? Examining the Current
Discourses of Music Education in
Sweden,” British Journal of Music
Education 27 (2010): 21–33;
and Sidsel Karlsen, “BoomTown
Music Education and the Need for
Authenticity: Informal Learning Put into
Practice in Swedish Post-Compulsory
Music Education,” British Journal of
Music Education 27 (2010): 21–33.
6. Ruth Wright and Panagiotis
Kanellopoulos, “Informal Music
Learning, Improvisation and Teacher
Education,” British Journal of Music
Education 27 (2010): 71–87.
7. Charles Byrne and Mark Sheridan,
“The Long and Winding Road: The Story
of Rock Music in Scottish Schools,”
International Journal of Music Education
36 (2000): 46–58.
8. Göran Folkestad, “Formal and Informal
Learning Situations or Practices versus
Formal and Informal Ways of Hearing,”
British Journal of Music Education 23
(2006): 135–45.
9. David Price, Musical Futures: An
Emerging Vision (London: Paul Hamlyn
Foundation, 2005), http://www.musical
futures.org; and David Price, Supporting
Young Musicians and Coordinating
Musical Pathways (London: Paul Hamlyn
Foundation, 2006).
10. Sue Hallam, Survey of Musical Futures
(report from the Institute of Education,
University of London for the Paul Hamlyn
Foundation, 2005).
11. Howard Gardner, The Unschooled Mind:
How Children Think and How Schools
Should Teach (New York: Basic Books,
1991); and Seymour Papert, The
Children’s Machine: Rethinking School
in the Age of the Computer (New York:
Basic Books, 1993).
12. Patricia Shehan Campbell, Songs in
Their Heads: Music and Its Meaning
in Children’s Lives (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1998); Lucy Green,
“What Can Teachers Learn from
Popular Musicians?” in Bridging the
Gap: Popular Music and Education,
ed. C. Rodriguez (Reston, VA: MENC:
The National Association for Music
Education, 2004), 225–41; and
Peter Webster, “Research on Creative
Thinking in Music: The Assessment
Literature,” in Handbook of Research
on Music Teaching and Learning, ed.
Richard Colwell (New York: Schirmer
Books, 1992), 266–80.
13. Libby Larson, “The Role of the Musician
in the 21st Century: Rethinking the
Core” (plenary address to the National
Association of Schools of Music National
Convention, 1997), http://libbylarsen
.com/index.php?contentID=226
(accessed March 23, 2010).
14. Lucy Green, Music on Deaf Ears:
Musical Meaning, Ideology, and
Education (New York: St. Martin’s Press,
1988).
15. In particular, see chap. 2, “The Project’s
Pedagogy and Curriculum Content,” in
Lucy Green, Music, Informal Learning
and the School: A New Classroom
Pedagogy (Burlington, VT: Ashgate,
2008).
57