The Modern Band Handbook

Modern band is a term used to describe popular music education in schools and is increasingly incorporated in K-12 and pre-service music teacher education programs. The Modern Band Handbook shines a light on the practices and perspectives of modern band music teachers from across K-12 and higher education and gives practical advice on how to incorporate modern band into music classrooms. Written by forty-three K-12 teachers and music education faculty members from across the USA, The Modern Band Handbook consists of lesson plans with pedagogical approaches, activities, assignments, and lesson objectives, accompanied by additional resources on the companion website.

Bryan Powell is Associate Professor of Music Education and Music Technology and coordinator of the Recording Arts and Production degree at Montclair State University. He teaches classes in popular music, modern band, and music technology, and directs the Montclair State popular music ensembles. A former NYC public school music teacher, Bryan is also the Chief Program Officer for the non-profit organization Music Will and serves as the Executive Director of the Association for Popular Music Education. He is the founding co-editor of the Journal of Popular Music Education, co-author of Popular Music Pedagogies: A Practical Guide for Music Teachers, and series co-editor of Contemporary Music Making and Learning.

- Acknowledgments
- List of Contributors
- About the Companion Website
- Foreword
- Lucy Green
- Editor's Introduction
- Bryan Powell
- Part I: Arranging and Creating Covers
- 1. Judging a Hook by its Cover: (Re)creating Pop Songs in the Secondary General Music Classroom
- Virginia Wayman Davis
- 2. Approximating by Ear: A Scaffolded Approach to Playing-by-Ear for Beginning Learners
- Jesse Rathgeber and Wayde Rathgeber
- 3. Translation Nation; How to Bridge the Gap for ESL Students and Beyond
- Sara Munson
- 4. Active Music Listening in Modern Band
- Sandra Sanchez Adorno
- 5. Breaking Down a Song: Orff and Modern Band
- David Dockan
- 6. Adapting Student-Preferred Music for Elementary Classroom Instruments
- Martina Vasil
- 7. Song Set and Segues
- Heather Fortune
- Part II: Songwriting in Modern Band
- 8. Hook-Writing: A Two-for-One Deal
- Sondra Braeutigam
- 9. Pathways to Teaching Composition and Improvisation
- Alex Ramirez
- 10. Songwriting to a Pitch: Lyrics
- Kat Reinhert and Sarah Gulish
- 11. Blues Songwriting with Ukulele
- Raychl Smith
- 12. Composition in the Primary Years
- Michelle Vallejo
- 13. Building Vocal Improvisation Skills With Early Elementary Students
- LeslieAnne Bird
- 14. Modern Band Songwriting Icebreaker Lesson: Paper Bag Challenge
- Jasmine Todd Faulkner
- 15. Speed Songwriting Challenge
- Matthew Clauhs and Beatrice B. Olesko
- 16. Pair Up: Collaborative Songwriting and Recording
- Tina Huynh
- 17. Lyric Writing in Modern Band
- Stefanie Sagaro
- Part III: Teaching Modern Band Instruments
- 18. Scaffolding a Student-Lead Band through Percussion
- Andrea Donze Krein
- 19. Student Goal Setting
- Joseph Campbell
- 20. Fostering Beginning Guitar Technique through the Single String Tablature Method
- Ronnie Nissinboim
- 21. All About that Bassline
- Carmella Berthia
- 22. Introducing Ukulele Using Modified Chords
- Tony Corallo
- 23. Introduction to Ukelele for Young Beginners
- Jill Wilson
- Part IV: Social Justice and Cultural Responsiveness in Modern Band
- 24. Social Justice in Songwriting: Protest Song Composition
- Mia Ibrahim
- 25. Latin Beats in Modern Band
- Vimari Colón-León
- 26. Beatboxing Our Way to Knowing and Doing Better
- Donna Hewitt
- 27. Social Justice Meets Modern Band: Conversations Based in Repertoire
- Rachael Sanguinetti
- 28. Building Community and Promoting Belonging, Identity, and Self-Awareness Through Hip-Hop
- Wanda Vásquez García
- 29. Affirming Individual and Collective Identities through Hooks in the Modern Ensemble
- Alice A. Tsui
- Part V: Music Technology in Modern Band
- 30. Teaching Live Audio Mixing Skills in a Modern Band Context
- Jennifer A. Jester
- 31. DJing in Modern Band: The Basics of Beatmatching
- Aixa Burgos
- 32. Beginning Scratching
- Kevin Droe
- 33. Speaking through Soundtrap
- Nicholas Piato and David H. Knapp
- 34. Introduction to Beatmaking
- Bryan Powell
- 35. Remixing Songs in a DAW
- Warren Gramm
- 36. Creating Mashups in Soundtrap
- Candice Mattio
- 37. Digital Audio Workstations and Participatory Learning
- Chad Zullinger and Kelly Bylica
- 38. Open Score to Mic to DAW: Remixing In C
- Lara Mitofsky Neuss
- Index