Growing Songwriting: Student Creativities in the Classroom and Beyond

The history of music education over the past 100 years has centered on traditional band, choir, and orchestra models. Yet music education has always secured a prominent place in the curriculum when it captures the musical imagination of the masses, and research has shown that more and more students are seeking alternative opportunities to engage with music. Songwriting is a 21st Century curricular offering that considers who we are as a society--our desires, our goals, our passions. Most often, songwriting occurs in Modern Band classes that are beginning to pop up all around North America and many parts of the world. This book provides curricular support for those efforts as we look to the present and future of music teaching and learning.

Clint Randles is Associate Professor of Music Education at the University of South Florida, where he teaches courses at the intersection of contemporary musicianship, creativity, philosophy, and popular music. His work centers on the development of innovative curricular practice. He enjoys performing on guitar and singing as a part of his role as Director of Contemporary Worship at a church in Tampa.