Perceptions of modern band music educators on their preparedness to teach drum kit

As modern band programmes continue to develop across the United States, teachers engaged in teaching popular music education (PME) in primary and secondary schools face challenges for which they were not prepared in their pre-service music education programmes; graduates of many music education programmes feel unprepared to teach popular music. Many faculty also desire more preparation to teach PME. PME can provide unique experiences for students – such as informal learning styles, music production technology and instruments not commonplace in instrumental methods courses. Ubiquitous in popular music styles, the drum kit is largely absent from instrumental course offerings, save brief demonstrations in percussion methods courses. Research indicates that many music educators may not be adequately prepared to teach learners at the drum kit beyond a very basic level, limiting student progress. The purpose of our study was to discover how modern band teachers approach teaching the drum kit, their perceived level of preparation on the instrument and their needs regarding professional development in this area. We designed and distributed an electronic survey, drawing on extant literature pertaining to preparation to teach popular music in general, playing and teaching the drum kit in the classroom and current challenges experienced by teachers in the field. After internal review board approval, this survey was distributed to in-service teachers in the non-profit organization Music Will’s network (approximately 2500 teachers) to target educators teaching modern band in US schools. Data analyses show a range of areas of confidence and challenges, respectively. In reference to the framework of pedagogical content knowledge, this study’s findings indicate a widespread need for greater breadth and depth of knowledge in both playing and teaching the drum kit. The authors recommend including more drum teaching instruction at the undergraduate level and the creation of salient pedagogical resources.