You may have vague memories of elementary music or perhaps you never had music at the elementary level (some states, like California, do not mandate it). Typically called “general music”, the purpose of a general music class is to provide a music foundation for all students, and is compulsory (required) in most states in the United States for grades K–5 in public schools. This first chapter provides you with a little bit of the history of general music in schools and review the purposes and aims of general music that most teachers and researchers would agree upon. Next, we dig deeper into who you are so that you can learn best how to know your students. As Aristotle said, Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.

A Brief History

What is known today as “general music” began at the turn of the 20th century (early 1900s) in one-room school houses, where the teacher would often play at the piano and lead songs for a portion of the day. The 1930–50s saw an increase in popularity of the “rhythm bands”, where the teacher would put on a record and students would march and play the beat on simple hand-held percussion instruments, such as triangles and hand drums. Children would sometimes conduct the class playing instruments on the beat. Square dancing soon became a fad and the 1960s–70s saw the introduction of “contemporary” approaches to teaching music to children, which included the Dalcroze, Kodaly, and Orff-Keetman approaches that centered music, movement, literacy, and creativity (more on those later in the book). The 1990s saw an influx of interest in multi-cultural music, and world music drumming programs became popular. In the past 20 years, ukuleles and the integration of popular music has risen, particularly with a type of class, “modern band”, which centers student-preferred music and uses instruments such as guitar, electric bass, drumkit, vocals, and computer. In other words, general music has evolved from singing only, to a multi-faceted experience of singing, moving, playing, and creating.

Aims and Purposes of General Music

Over the years, the aims and purposes of general music have shifted, depending on the political and socio-cultural climate. Here are a few examples of what teachers thought during different periods of times.

• To encourage lifelong musicianship of the individual
• To use music as a tool for promoting nationalism and bettering society
• To improve the overall musicianship of the individual
• To improve music literacy and preserve cultural tradition
• To help students explore their social and emotional skills

You may have your own ideas about what the aims and purposes of general music should be, but know that you may face pressures from your state, school, and community. Remember that you are the expert with the music education degree, and ultimately, it is up to you to know your student population (who you are teaching) and meet their needs to help them learn. You should be ready to articulate what you think the purpose of general music is when asked and be ready to explain why and how you teach music to children.

Who You Are and Who You Teach

To help you further determine what you think the aims and purposes of general music should be, consider the following:

• You need to know yourself first before you can really know your students.
• Think about WHO you are teaching first, rather than just WHAT you are teaching.
• Think about processes over musical elements (performing, creating, responding, creating, the four creative processes listed in our National Core Arts Standards).
• Keep learning as active as possible. Few learn just by sitting and listening.

In this section, I lead you through a series of reflective exercises. This is because I firmly believe that to be the best teacher you can possibly be, you need to know yourself well first and engage in reflexive practices. Only then are you going to be able to focus on who your students are and what they need to help them learn best.

Who Am I?

Everyone’s identity is composed of many parts. This include parts of yourself you can’t change (you were born that way) and aspects that society can shape or influence (things you are born into or choose). Depending on where you live and how you were raised, aspects of your identity may have benefited you or brought challenges. When multiple identities intersect or overlap, this is what Kimberlé Crenshaw coined intersectionality. For example, I am White and have OCD (things I was born with). My family was low-income and my parents immigrated to the US from Czechoslovakia (circumstances I was born into). Being a part of the dominant culture of my city, being White helped me blend in and socially I faced little problems beyond the typical bullying in middle school. However, being lower-income and a first-generation American brought many challenges, such as financial hardships and not understanding how to navigate systems in American society at times (e.g., college auditions and admissions). Understanding parts of your identity that may have helped and hindered you in life helps you build empathy for other people, and particularly your future students. Some parts of your identity may not be readily apparent (e.g., you can see I’m White, but may not know that I’m a first-generation American). It is interesting to explore other examples of intersectionality so that you can challenge your own assumptions about students and be ready to know them as they are.

Practicum Journal: Knowledge of Learners and the Community Context

When you visit your assigned elementary school for the first observation, it is important to learn as much as you can about the learners in the class you are observing and the community context. This will help you design better instruction when it is time for you to create and teach a lesson! See Canvas for more details.

References

CASA. (2025). Identity wheel. https://pacasa.org/news/identity-wheel

Crenshaw, K. (2016). The urgency of intersectionality [Ted Talk]. https://www.ted.com/talks/kimberle_crenshaw_the_urgency_of_intersectionality?language=en