Finding the “both/and”: Balancing informal and formal music learning

Abstract

This article explores the informal and formal learning experiences of 20 activist-musicians. Multiple activist-musicians utilized the informal learning strategies Green identifies. More than half of the participants, however, bemoaned the lack of more formal music education. They noted that they valued informal musical learning practices and also wished that they had experienced more of a balance between formal and informal music learning strategies in their music education. Many of the participants identified as being self-taught. In interviews, they shared ideas about teaching themselves and “figuring things out” musically. They discussed both wanting to move away from theory and needing theory. They further preferred a structured approach to education before moving to a more “free” pedagogy. Ultimately, they noted that the human relationships intrinsic to musicking may transcend the need for “training.” This article concludes by exploring implications of implementing a balance between formal and informal learning for K-12 schooling and teacher education.

Keywords

Aurality formal learning informal learning music education notation popular music education

Introduction

Lucy Green’s (2002, 2008) work on popular music has proliferated across music education. Musical Futures, an approach to popular music education in schools, operates in the United Kingdom (D’Amore, 2014; Hallam et al., 2017), Canada (Wright et al., 2012), Australia (Jeanneret, 2010), and Ireland (Moore, 2019).¹ Nordic approaches to music education are often rooted in popular music (Karlsen & Väkevä, 2012).² Popular music education typically centers on informal learning practices and focuses on listening, covering, and ultimately creating (Campbell, 1995; Green, 2008) and further extends creating to include recording, engineering, mixing, and producing (Tobias, 2013).

Rooted in Green’s (2002, 2008) work, discourse on informal learning has become prevalent in music education since the early 2000s. This shift in the discourse about music learning created a significant turn in music education toward informal learning and practices that prioritize aurality and deep practices of cognition over a more notational literacy-based approach. From early days in popular music education, a dichotomy has been observed between notation and aural learning (Björnberg, 1993). The focus on aurality in popular music education moves away from the formal music education paradigm, which typically centers on notation, ensembles, and teacher-led instruction (Bartel, 2004; Bartel & Cameron, 2004). As some school practices change to take a more informal approach to music learning, considering how this approach serves students becomes important to reflecting on our pedagogical strategies as a field.

To engage the question of how this shift toward informal learning affects students, I draw on data from a study that explored the experiences of activist-musicians who, like Green’s (2002) participants, identify mostly as self-taught. Participants were diverse demographically across multiple identity spectrums (e.g., gender, race, age, sexual identity). While the study focused on activism in the context of music education, significant implications emerged for informal learning. I use the term activist-musicians to describe the participants as a group. While individual identity markers differed, most participants identified as both an activist (by their own definition) and a musician. Their definitions of activism typically involved social activism of some kind, although this article does not focus on activism. The hyphenated activist-musician identity highlights the ways that participants draw upon music to share their activism, which often focused on identity politics (Hess, 2019b).

Many of the activist-musicians engaged in the kinds of informal learning strategies that Green (2002, 2008) identifies. More than half of the participants, however, bemoaned the lack of a more formal music education. Although they valued their own informal musical learning practices, they wished that they had experienced more of a balance between formal and informal music learning strategies in their music education. While music education often emphasizes either formal Western notation-centered, ensemble-based learning (see, for example, Bartel, 2004) or an informal approach to music learning (Green, 2002, 2008), research that explores the ways that adult musicians place value on both approaches simultaneously is limited. Although formal learning extends beyond Western notation and music theory to include practices, approaches, organization of the educational space, and repertoires (and how they are selected), I focus in this article predominantly on notation and theory because these were the elements of formal education repeatedly referenced by activist-musicians.

The approach encouraged by activist-musicians instead pushed toward a balance between this formal approach and more informal strategies, unsettling the Western European classical model of education. While activist-musicians, who predominantly learned music informally, valued their own experiences, those without a formal theoretical understanding of music felt it was a lack in their musical lives. The desire for balance between the two approaches to music learning refuses to privilege one model over the other.

While activist-musicians advocated for balancing these two approaches, popular music education courses often move away from notation (Dean, 2019; Fleet, 2017). Studies exploring the perspectives of students with experience in popular music and aurality, however, indicate that they place some value on notation and formal music education (Dean, 2019; Feichas, 2010; Fleet, 2017; Green, 2002; Robinson, 2012). The popular musicians in Green’s (2002) study who did not read notation felt they lacked an important skill (p. 71). Students in Feichas’ (2010) study similarly felt they needed notation and technical skills and wished to improve their reading and writing skills, instrumental technique, and theoretical knowledge (p. 53). In fact, Feichas (2010), Fleet (2017), and Dean (2019) call for a balance between formal and informal learning. Dean (2019) concluded that higher education providers should

be “opening these doors” for the students in order to present them with the range of opportunities that having notation skills can allow, thus allowing students to make their own choices about whether they want to develop these skills, or not. (p. 78)

Fleet (2017) similarly determined that the exclusion of notation from the learning environment performed a disservice to the students (p. 174). Folkestad (2006) argues that rather than viewing formal and informal learning contexts as a dichotomy, educators can consider them as poles of a continuum. Most learning situations, he contends, draw upon both types of learning. McPhail (2012) also advocates for an approach to curriculum that creates links between informal and formal knowledge.

This study supports previous findings that advocate for including both formal and informal learning opportunities, as well as notation and aurality in music education in K-12 schooling and in higher education. It further explores the experiences of musicians across multiple identity spectrums, allowing insights into how identities impact perspectives on formal and informal learning. Moreover, the qualitative data provide rich insights into participants’ learning experiences. As adult musicians, participants’ experiences of informal and formal learning have implications for school music and allow music educators and music teacher educators to consider what it might mean to implement a balance between formal and informal learning in teacher education. While Feichas (2010), Fleet (2017), and Dean (2019) call for such a balance, they do so in the context of music programs in higher education rather than music education programs. Implications in the present study consider both school music and teacher education.

Method

In this project, I interviewed 20 activist-musicians about the following dimensions of identity and meaning-making in their work: (a) how they view the role of (their) music; (b) how they consider and account for their identities in their work; and (c) what they believe are the implications of their work for music education, based on (d) their own experiences of music. This article focuses on the final dimension—activist-musicians’ experiences of music. I initiated the overarching study in response to the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014 in an attempt to construct an activist music education that would support youth to think critically about the world and meaningfully address social issues they deemed important.³ While the larger project had this goal in mind, discussions with activist-musicians led to interesting implications for informal and formal learning.

Interviews were semi-structured and did not directly address informal and formal learning. Interview questions focused on demographics, musical background, activism or political background, and the connection of politics and music and also presented an opportunity to envision school music programs given participants’ own experiences of activism and music. Because the focus of the project was activism, themes about learning, when they emerged, typically came up when I asked activist-musicians about their musical background. Interviews were transcribed and sent to participants for revisions. After reviewing the data, I noted that 12 of the 20 activist-musicians explicitly discussed informal and formal learning practices without being directly asked in the interview. For several of the participants, the discussion involved simply noting that their own musical learning was formal or informal. Other participants, however, elaborated considerably on their ideas about learning both in relation to their own musical experience and when they turned to envisioning a school music program. The emergence of this theme as significant prompted a coding process that examined themes that spoke to informal and formal learning.

My coding process constructed themes based on the data, drawing upon Saldaña’s (2013) coding manual. I used NVivo software for data analysis which allowed data to be coded for multiple themes. Descriptive coding (or “topic coding”) (Saldaña, 2013) first allowed me to discern the importance of formal and informal learning as a theme. Enacting descriptive coding allowed me to identify all of the important topics in the data rather than just those topics that pertained explicitly to activism and music education. After identifying informal and formal learning through descriptive coding, I drew on initial coding to break the qualitative data into parts to consider similarities and differences (Saldaña, 2013). Within initial coding, I noted processes described by participants and constructed in vivo codes whenever possible to highlight activist-musicians’ own words. Ultimately, emotion coding and values coding (Saldaña, 2013) allowed me to observe participants’ emotions in relation to the learning they described and their values, attitudes, and beliefs about topics discussed.

I examine the data as someone who was formally trained in Western classical music both through private piano and voice lessons and in school music ensembles in middle and high school. I have little experience with informal learning, but great respect for self-taught musicians who learn and play by ear. I recognize my own musical deficits that manifest in my reliance on notation in particular. In noticing my lack of informal music learning experience, I deliberately facilitate informal learning opportunities for preservice teachers.

The activist-musicians

I recruited the activist-musicians through my own activist networks by requesting participants who engaged in activist work through music. The geographical nature of my connections meant that participants were predominantly from Toronto, Canada (6), the New York City area in the United States, (5), and multiple cities in California (6), in the Boston area (2), and in Vermont (1). In Toronto, I was an insider in activist circles, while in the other locations, I was an outsider, so snowball sampling ultimately served as the recruiting strategy. Activist-musicians held multiple class positions⁴ and ranged in age from late 20s to 70s. Half of the participants were in their 30s, three participants were in their 20s, two participants were in their 40s, four participants were in their 50s, and one participant was in her 70s. Participants identified as White (8), Asian American or Canadian (10), Black (1), and mixed race (1). Nine participants identified as men, nine as women, and two as gender non-conforming. While I did not ask specifically about sexuality, eight participants identified as LGBTQQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and allies) without prompting. Participants practice a range of musical genres, including hip-hop (6); punk (2); indie pop (1); indie/hip-hop/soul (2); metalcore (1); jazz (2), contemporary classical music (3); world music including Korean drumming, Japanese Obon, and traditional Chinese instruments fused with Western styles (3); musicals (2); and indie rock (1). Several artists fused multiple styles. One deejay participant moved between hip-hop, rock, funk, soul, house, and reggae. Lyrics, when present, addressed diverse topics that included personal experiences, identity politics, discussions of social issues, and beyond.⁵

While I asked about musical background and experience in the interview, activist-musicians did not necessarily discuss school music. Five activist-musicians made no mention of any school music experience. Of the participants who brought it up, two described a general music program in elementary school, six mentioned having participated in a band or orchestra program in school, and five noted a choir program. Activist-musicians indicated that choir programs mostly occurred at the elementary level, while band or orchestra programs typically began when the students were in middle school. Two participants mentioned learning the recorder and two explicitly noted that they had little music education in school. Several participants noted that most of what they experienced in school music was Eurocentric. In addition to school music, while I did not explicitly ask, 11 participants noted that they had taken private lessons at some point. I introduce participants more specifically in the “Findings: balancing informal and formal learning” section alongside their contributions. Whenever possible, I note their experiences with both formal and informal learning.

Findings: balancing informal and formal learning

Given the turn in music education toward informal learning, recognizing that activist-musicians, who predominately learned music informally, preferred a more balanced approach between formal and informal learning has implications for music education. Participants shared ideas about being self-taught musicians and what it means to “figure things out” musically. They spoke of both the need to move away from music theory and the need for theory. They further expressed that some degree of structure would be useful before turning to a more “free” approach. Ultimately, they noted ways that the human relationships intrinsic to musicking may transcend the need for “training.” Casey Mecija, a 32-year-old Filipino Canadian multidisciplinary artist from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, notes,

Now that I am older, I see the benefit of what being schooled in music could have brought me. Like a better understanding of how to maybe jam with other people. Or I definitely can feel, me not knowing as much as other people in terms of how to write music, like how to write notations of music or how to speak that language of music which is a more schooled language of music. But then I think about also how you learn yourself and you learn a style that is uniquely yours without training it. I think a combination of both—like finding my own voice in music, which I feel like I have in my playing style and stuff like that, and then combining it with learning more theory and stuff like that will only enhance that style. (Casey)

Casey noted that she stopped formal training in music at the beginning of high school and developed “a more recreational relationship to music.” While Casey valued the manner in which she developed her own unique musical voice, she recognized what theoretical knowledge might have offered her in addition to her personal development. This section explores the different themes that activist-musicians expressed about informal and formal learning practices and experiences.

Being self-taught and “figuring it out”

Thirteen of the 20 activist-musicians identified as being self-taught. Chucky Kim, a 29-year-old producer, worked across musical styles to bring out the voices of the Asian American artists he produced. Born in California, he identified himself as Korean American. Chucky described the process:

For the most part, [I was] self-taught. I just picked up a bass my sophomore year of high school, and just started playing, and really just fell in love with it. It was like the right instrument for me. I don’t really know why. I just really loved it. And then, as I kept on playing it, a lot of self-teaching. A lot of it was just throwing myself into different musical situations from folk, to country, to rock, to jazz, to funk, like whatever it was that I was fascinated by—I just tried to throw myself in and kind of figure it out. (Chucky)

Many popular musicians are self-taught (Green, 2002); they work with their instruments and figure out how to execute the technique and riffs that interest them. Most of the activist-musicians in this study became deeply involved with music in middle school or high school and committed serious time and energy to honing their craft.

The advent of technology shifted the informal learning process considerably, creating additional possibilities for young musicians to teach themselves through imitation. Jason Hwang, an independent artist, violinist, and composer, was 58 at the time of the interview. He described himself as a Chinese American living in New Jersey who wrote and performed jazz, “new,” and “world” music. He participated in an orchestra program in high school and studied the violin in school and privately:

Pre-internet, maybe you picked up a record for sure, but you might see a great player come into your town or your city maybe once or twice a year and be inspired and go like, “Geez. I wish I could play like that. I think that they’re doing this.” But now, on the internet, you can see every major violinist in the world and watch them play again and again and again and again, and so the power of learning through emulation is tremendous because of this access. (Jason)

While musicians learning from recordings is a long-standing practice (Campbell, 1995; Green, 2002; Snell, 2009), the visuals offered by Internet video sites such as YouTube take informal learning to the next level, as such viewing facilitates easy repetition and physical imitation in a way that previous audio technologies have not. Learning by imitation in this manner aligns with aural approaches to music learning (Brown, 1973; Hess, 2009; Prouty, 2006; Shehan, 1987a, 1987b) across a range of musics and offers youth a path to active musicking through transmission practices other than notation.

These activist-musicians deeply valued being self-taught. Chucky even advocated for a place for self-teaching music education:

No matter how you use methodologies, like pedagogies you create to figure out the best systems of teaching, the one thing that we can never define, as educators, is that moment when something clicks. Like that moment when a student truly realizes that they themselves can be self-determined and self-taught. Which I think is the goal of any human being, to be able to realize. [That] it’s not these external things, but it’s truly the internal search is what defines who I am and what my intellect is. (Chucky)

Chucky linked self-teaching to self-determination and believes that the practice of self-teaching will empower youth and help them understand their power and agency in their lives. Targeting musical self-determination perhaps opens up the need for musical practices generated through informal learning alongside formal practices.

Moving away from music theory

A number of activist-musicians noted negative experiences with theory in the school context. Theresa Vu (tvu), a 32-year-old Vietnamese American, grew up on the West Coast and moved to New York City. Her group, Magnetic North, created the hip-hop album Home:Word to explore issues of Asian American identity in the 21st century. tvu noted that her school music experience involved elective singing classes and that she had studied piano. She likened music theory in schools to theory in computer science, as she worked full-time as a programmer:

When I was learning computer science, I hated it so much, ‘cause they were focusing on things like: “This is how the operating system works. This is how the data structures work.” And it’s so dry and they don’t teach you about the problems you could solve with it. And I feel like music’s the same way. It’s like, “Well, this is a dominant 7th. This is a ba-da-da-da-da.” But they don’t tell you the things you can do with music. There’s this quote, I forget from who, but it’s like, “Computer science is as much about computers as astronomy is about the telescopes you use.”⁶ We focus on these telescopes and we don’t focus on the stars. And that’s what I felt like with the classical music theory training. It just sucked the passion out of music for me completely. (tvu)

For tvu, music theory felt far removed from music. She wanted to be engaged in active musicking that went beyond basic theoretical elements of music. Chucky put forward another possibility:

One thing that I have found from working in community centers from people that have gone through music education in schools is that so much focus is placed on the actual reading and the theory of music, which I think is great. I think you need it. But I think for me personally, that wasn’t my experience. I learned the music theory and the reading probably eight years after I could play music. I think personally it’s more important to learn how to play and to be able to play with people very quickly. I think that’s a really fast way to learn. ‘Cause then the accountability system is already built in. You already have people you’re working with and have to learn to get along with and the whole communities component—the infrastructure is there. I think [it’s] much more fun to have as an infrastructure than someone who sits at home being able to go through theory. You need both. (Chucky)

For Chucky, active musicking came before his theoretical knowledge. The accountability of musicking-in-action with others ameliorated his own playing and contributions. The challenge and intrinsic rewards of collaborating with others pushed his musicianship greatly,⁷ and he put forward that model of collaboration before theory for any school music education. He himself had great theoretical knowledge of music and understood its place in overall musicianship.

Magali Meagher, a White woman with French and Canadian heritage, grew up in Guelph, Ontario. Aged 38 at the time of the interview, Magali was the frontliner for an indie rock group called The Phonemes. As a multi-instrumentalist and singer, Magali also co-directed Girls Rock Camp in Toronto, a program that encourages teenage girls to learn instruments and enact musical practices that resonate with their identities. Magali distinguished the musical practices of the younger campers in Girls Rock Camp from less formal music experience and older students:

I witness that how the young girls who come, especially the young ones, I would say, the 8 to 9 to 10 year-olds are really free in terms of how they create. Their like lack of knowing allows them to be innovative in ways that some of the older kids aren’t and that’s not necessarily tied to theoretical knowledge of music, but it is more also tied to developmental and emotional kind of caring what other people think and that kind of thing. Social pressures, and that kind of thing. (Magali)

In her work with young people, Magali observed that a lack of theoretical grounding in music provided some freedom to innovate. Rather than being influenced by theory, youth in the program responded to social stimuli. The move away from theory diminishes, in some respects, the place of a formal model of music education and transmission. Activist-musicians acknowledged, however, the importance of striking a balance between theory and praxis.

Finding a balance: the need for theory

Close to half of the activist-musicians had not received formal theoretical music education themselves, and a number of them pointed to the importance of having a theoretical vocabulary when working as a musician—a lack they sometimes saw in themselves. L’Oqenz (El), a Toronto-based deejay, collaborated with multiple artists. A Canadian with roots in Guyana and Barbados, she worked across multiple styles that included hip-hop, rock, funk, soul, house, and reggae. As a child, she took guitar and drum lessons:

When it comes to deejaying, it’s actually learning how to deejay. With that comes some music in terms of teaching a little bit of theory, very basic theory—nothing to get people too discouraged, but enough to understand music. And then also teaching what kinds of songs are out there—what are people listening to, what has influenced, like a little bit of a music history. (El)

El noted that the practical aspect of learning how to deejay is the most fundamental musicking act. She acknowledged, however, that the theoretical and historical grounding in the art of deejaying would help youth significantly in their journey to develop their own musicianship. This push toward a theory and a more formal approach is to move away from or complement the argument for informal music learning in schools.

tvu also regretted not having more theoretical knowledge herself:

Looking back on it now and working with Chucky, I really missed not having more of that music theory background. I think hip-hop is a beautiful art form. And it is hard. And I would never downplay it. But I also wish that I knew how to compose music, because I have these ideas I want to fit to the music, but it’s harder for me to get it out there, and I do wish when I was learning about music that composition was taught in a more like accessible way. I was never taught how to compose or put something together. Or why something sounds good. We were given these building blocks, but no idea how to put it together. I kind of love music and psychology in general. Like why does the I-IV-V pattern sounds so good? I do want to know that. Why do minors sound sad? I just love knowing. Music psychology I think is so interesting, because I see music as a way of unlocking emotions. And I really want to get more into understanding that. I just want to be more human in the context of people who listen to it. Like why do they like this? Why don’t they like this? Why is the key of F so nostalgic? I thought that would have been super interesting. (tvu)

tvu was interested in theory, in a way that takes theoretical knowledge to the next level. She wanted to know not only about chord progressions but also the manner in which chord progressions act on our emotions as humans and why they prompt the responses that they do.

Structure before freedom

In considering the balance between theoretical musical knowledge and a praxis-oriented music education, considerations of structure are important:

I think children, as in like elementary and younger age, would definitely need more structure. I think the structure really is important and what I found is that I would rather have a very strict structure that the child learns to not only exist in, but also branch out of in their own unique way. And for them to discover that than have no structure at all. It’s so hard to go from no structure to structure, rather than structure to now free. That’s probably more of like a fundamental theme [laughs]. That’s just my perspective. And I think that’s how I would do it. (Chucky)

Chucky asserted that structure is important for youth; he preferred that they have some sense of the theoretical building blocks before branching out on their own. He also noted, however, the value of rising to the challenge musically despite lacking some of the theoretical knowledge. He remarked on the ease with which users can go from structure to less structure and the difficulty of doing the reverse. These activist-musicians asserted that while theory cannot be the whole of a music education, it is an important part of a larger contextual understanding of music.

Music and human relationships transcend “training”

Taiyo echoed Chucky’s earlier note about rising to musical challenges without specific theoretical background. He extended this idea further:

I didn’t really have formal music training either, but in my adult life, music is predominant and it’s really amazing, ‘cause still today I can’t really read music. But I’m making music, and I perform music. Theory is important, sure. It helps fortify so much, but like, it’s number one about the spirit. Even when I’m working with jazz musicians who have so much more training than I do, we’re able to communicate and make music together because, I’ll beatbox a groove, or I’ll sing the melody. We can talk in ways where we want to guide a song that goes to a certain direction and of course I have the songs and the stories and the narratives that want to be shared and folks want to hear, so when that starts in you, it’s gonna let out and different kinds of people coming together for it to make that music is definitely a process that I find so amazing any time it happens. (Taiyo)

Taiyo asserted that music is fundamentally about human relationships, which will transcend theoretical training. A 31-year-old hip-hop artist, Taiyo described himself as an Asian American male from New York City. His school music experience was minimal; he recalls two grades of having music class. Taiyo communicated with other musicians through the language of music and they interacted and responded to each other, much in the same way that one might when one participates in an ensemble that is about togetherness and collaboration. Activist-musicians argued strongly for a balance between formal and informal learning and practical and theoretical knowledge. What Taiyo pointed to here is the notion that music as a human relationship will transcend lack of theoretical knowledge in order to function as a connection and relationship between people.

Implications and limitations: balancing formal and informal learning

Activist-musicians advocated for a balance between formal and informal learning and supported the integration of the teaching of Western standard notation, Western classical music theory, and music history across styles alongside self-teaching and aural work. The majority of activist-musicians saw the merit in being able to navigate both musical worlds—a corollary to Delpit’s (2006/1995) advocacy for teaching dominant cultural codes to youth who may not otherwise learn them. Explicit teaching of notation and theory ensures that youth who wish to continue with music have the skills they need to navigate a musical world that insists on notation and auditions. Beyond this classically based world, theoretical knowledge in music may facilitate creativity. tvu wished that she had more theoretical education and felt that such education would allow her to express her ideas through composition. This section centers on findings from the study and considers what these findings may mean in the larger context of access to opportunities in music.

Consistent with literature that examines students’ perspectives on formal and informal learning (Dean, 2019; Feichas, 2010; Fleet, 2017; Green, 2002; Robinson, 2012), activist-musicians who were mostly self-taught wanted an education that helped them gain facility with music theory and notation. They saw the value in (and use for) being able to navigate both informal and formal musical worlds that included musical language, notation, and approaches to communication. Music degrees currently demand facility in Western standard notation and classical practices—practices that are decidedly raced and classed (Koza, 2008). While musicians wishing to enroll in a postsecondary music degree program (with the exception of the popular music degrees offered in the United Kingdom and in Nordic countries) may possess a “both/and” ability in both Western classical music and a selected other music, most North American degree programs currently do not admit students without requisite knowledge and performance skills in Western classical music. “Either/or” skills, in other words, when the student performs only a non-classical music do not yet allow students to gain admission to music degrees. The balance between approaches that activist-musicians support would allow potential future music students to gain the theoretical skills they need to pursue music at the postsecondary level.

In K-12 schooling, these findings indicate that music educators would do well to offer opportunities for both informal and formal learning to students. Music theory and notation could comprise part of a student’s music education, but not the whole. Activist-musicians deeply valued the skills they accrued through being self-taught and learning to “figure things out.” Teachers might create opportunities for students to practice their aural ability to learn a desired riff or song and create space for the type of self-determination that Chucky described. Alongside opportunities to learn notation and theory, informal learning practices such as those described by Green (2008) may allow students to develop a degree of musical autonomy as well as experimenting with and formulating their own unique musical voice, as Casey described. The more formal learning might extend music theory to include the psychological, as tvu suggested, and allow students to explore the different effects that music might create through tonality, rhythm, and other musical elements.

An approach to music theory, for example, that explores the psychology and emotional potential of music as tvu described (see, for example, Lundqvist et al., 2009) may be more interesting to youth than an approach that focuses on building chords and looking for relationships. Such a model of music theory integrates rich contextualization that moves beyond a Western classical orientation and also provides youth with the ability to navigate the “codes” in Western classical theory and Western standard notation (Delpit, 2006/1995). Delpit (2006/1995) argues for the importance of schools providing students from minoritized backgrounds the cultural codes to navigate the dominant culture so that they can be successful in a world that operates through different cultural codes than their “home” codes. By providing a grounding in Western standard notation, music educators provide an important “code” to youth wishing to continue their music education. Moreover, tvu felt that having such codes—theoretical musical knowledge—would have provided greater facility for expression and creativity.

These moves in K-12 education have implications for teacher education. To facilitate both formal and informal learning opportunities valued by activist-musicians, preservice educators must have chances in their education to experience both types of learning regularly. In classical music degree programs, teacher candidates perhaps have fewer occasions to experience informal learning, yet activist-musicians emphasized the importance of their own informal learning. In popular music education programs, conversely, a shift toward informal learning sometimes limits opportunities to experience notation and formal learning, including in music theory. Activist-musicians also valued this more theoretical learning. Ensuring that one approach to learning does not take precedence over another when activist-musicians advocated for a balance will allow future teachers to develop their musicking skills across learning contexts. Attaining a degree of comfort with both formal and informal learning makes it more likely that teachers will be able to confidently facilitate these opportunities for their future students. Given that music education classes often make up only a percentage of the classes future teachers will take in their degree programs, music teacher educators may assess the types of learning experiences that students have in other areas of their program and make efforts to facilitate experiences that differ from the majority of the programs. Offering such opportunities may foster the type of self-determination Chucky described, as future teachers and ultimately their future students will thus experiment with different ways of learning music.

In the context of language, Delpit (2006/1995) argues that minoritized children must be given the codes to navigate dominant language practices so that they can be successful in the dominant (White) culture. Rather than insist, as Lorde (2007/1984) does, that the “master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house,” Delpit wants to ensure that all children, particularly minoritized children, have the “master’s tools” to succeed. El and tvu explicitly spoke to the need for theoretical musical knowledge to extend their own musical practices. As noted, the majority of North American music degree programs demand facility in Western standard notation and classical performance. These skills comprise the codes necessary to obtain a degree in music. To focus only on informal opportunities in schools may preclude particular students from being able to audition for a music program. While students from White, middle-class groups may be able to afford the private opportunities necessary to gain the formal skills they need, minoritized students may depend solely on their school music education. If that education fails to give them the codes they need to obtain a music degree, their music education may perpetuate the raced and classed dynamics of music education programs that consist of mainly White, middle-class students (Elpus, 2015; Moore, 2012, 2014).⁸ Providing a solid education that includes both formal and informal learning opportunities ensures that students who depend solely on school music for their music education will be able to continue in music if they so choose.

Both Taiyo and Chucky identified the way that human relationships in musicking may transcend formal learning. The opportunity to make music with others in situations where communication is essential may allow young musicians to make music far beyond their level of formal training. Experiencing situations that challenge musicianship in ways that are satisfying (Elliott & Silverman, 2015) is crucial to growth. While Chucky and Taiyo both identified this ability to transcend any deficit as a positive effect, ensuring that both K-12 education and teacher education provide extensive opportunities for students to experience both formal and informal learning may help to address any deficit young musicians feel that they have. Musicking is fundamentally about human relationships (Small, 1998), and the potential for relationships to transcend skills is remarkable. Educating in a way that provides as many skills as possible may allow students to experience these musical situations as even more profound.

Participants shared ideas about being self-taught musicians and what it means to “figure things out” musically. They spoke of both the need to move away from theory and the need for theory. They further expressed that some degree of structure would be useful before turning to a more “free” approach. Ultimately, they noted the ways that the human relationships intrinsic to musicking may transcend the need for “training.” Activist-musicians offered compelling reasons to teach the “both/and” and facilitate opportunities for both formal and informal learning in schools and in teacher education in ways that allow students to gain the skills they need in aurality, notation, music theory, and the different aspects of musicking. These skills may further enable students to participate in musicking in ways that they find satisfying and gain access to a range of musical opportunities.

Limitations to this work derive predominantly from the fact that the findings about informal and formal learning were incidental to the larger study. Had this study and these interviews focused directly on informal and formal learning, additional insights may have emerged. As such, future research may concentrate on similar populations with informal and formal learning as the central focus of the study. Examining the effects of a balanced approach to preservice teacher education on the pedagogy of future teachers would allow insight into the possible value of including both informal and formal learning experiences in teacher education.

Including both formal and informal learning practices in music education will help to ensure that young musicians are not limited in the future by an inability to participate in a musical experience that is either formal or informal. Contrary to the push toward informal learning in music education, this research, following other scholars (Dean, 2019; Feichas, 2010; Fleet, 2017; Green, 2002; McPhail, 2012; Robinson, 2012), calls for a balance between the formal and the informal in ways that will position students well to engage in different musical experiences throughout their lives.

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Juliet Hess

Notes

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