How children listen: multimodality and its implications for K-12 music education and music teacher education

Almost twenty years ago, the question of ‘How popular musicians learn’ (Green, [2002]. How popular musicians learn: A way ahead for music education. Hants, England: Ashgate Publishing Limited) catalyzed a paradigm shift in music education and music teacher education bringing informal teaching and learning strategies to the fore. In this article, the author argues that a new paradigm-shifting question requires attention: ‘How children listen’. This article examines the multimodal nature of children’s popular music listening. It then explores the implications of such listening engagements for music teacher education. In a series of three sessions, preservice music education students explored the multimodal aspects of popular videos and designed pedagogical frameworks for ‘multimodal music learning’ that mirror young children’s contemporary listening processes. Findings suggest that young preservice teachers, having grown up with digital technology, are uniquely positioned to facilitate multimodal pedagogies of popular music. The author argues that current music teacher education does not sufficiently build on the digital literacies and affinities of students and suggests ways that music teacher education programs may address this gap.