Exploring the outcomes of rock and popular music instruction in high school guitar class: a case study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to better understand the impact of rock and popular teenage music on public school music education programs. ‘Frankstown Secondary School’ is a large suburban public school offering a guitar program that includes a strong popular music component. Subjects in this study were selected from students enrolled in Frankstown's guitar program. They participated in two rounds of in-depth interviews, which were recorded, transcribed and analyzed. The guitar program at Frankstown emerged as a powerful educational tool. Students who deliberately ‘chose the margin’ or adopted ‘oppositional frames’ found a program that explicitly embraced the margin. Guitar class was a place where the students seemed comfortable; a place where they were able to ‘act out’ their oppositional persona within the larger Frankstown culture – a place that accepted them as they were and was a product of their own negotiations with the instructor and one another.

Keywords

education guitar guitar instruction music popular music rock US public school

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