There are countless ways to teach music, but what makes a music teacher “great”? Through a series of enlightening conversations with extraordinary educators, this six-part series offers invaluable answers and insights. Learn about the unique approaches and personal histories of masterful music teachers, discover what drives them to teach, and be inspired by stories of their life-changing successes.All episodes will be available in fall 2023.

There are countless ways to teach music, but what makes a music teacher “great”? Through a series of enlightening conversations with extraordinary educators, this six-part series offers invaluable answers and insights. Learn about the unique approaches and personal histories of masterful music teachers, discover what drives them to teach, and be inspired by stories of their life-changing successes.

There are countless ways to teach music, but what makes a music teacher “great”? Through a series of enlightening conversations with extraordinary educators, this six-part series offers invaluable answers and insights. Learn about the unique approaches and personal histories of masterful music teachers, discover what drives them to teach, and be inspired by stories of their life-changing successes.

Inspiring stories and invaluable insights—for, and about, great music teachers.

Great Music Teaching Teaser

We think of teaching as involving a plan, a set structure of lessons to complete. But for the PUBLIQuartet, teaching is all about improvisation. They teach musicians to respond and engage with the room, sometimes abandoning the plan altogether. Following your intuition puts the emphasis on process rather than product—and that’s where the real learning happens.

Theme Music

“Mr. Gentle and Mr. Cool” written by Duke Ellington and Laura Rembert Sony/ATV Harmony (ASCAP) / Music Sales Corporation (ASCAP) o/b/o itself and Tempo Music 
Performed by Sean Jones and NYO Jazz

PUBLIQuartet Episode

“At the Purchaser’s Option” written by Rhiannon Giddens and Joseph Edward Ryan 
Children of Llyr (BMI) / BMG Gold Songs (ASCAP) o/b/o itself and Joey Ryan Music Publishing (ASCAP) 
Performed by PUBLIQuartet

“Ballad” written by Hamilton Berry 
Performed by PUBLIQuartet

“Mind the Gap: What is American? IV Pt. 1” arranged and performed by PUBLIQuartet

“Voodoo Dolls” written by Jessie Montgomery 
NYC Music Services a/a/f Jessie Montgomery Music Publishing (ASCAP) 
Performed by PUBLIQuartet

“Quartet, Op. 22” written by Anton Von Webern 
Universal Edition AG / European American Music Distributors Corporation 
By arrangement with Concord 
Performed by Jennifer Frautschi, Christopher Oldfather, Daniel Goble, Michael Lowenstern 
Courtesy of Naxos of America, Inc. 

“Mind the Gap: What is American? ii” arranged and performed by PUBLIQuartet

We think of teaching as involving a plan, a set structure of lessons to complete. But for the PUBLIQuartet, teaching is all about improvisation. They teach musicians to respond and engage with the room, sometimes abandoning the plan altogether. Following your intuition puts the emphasis on process rather than product—and that’s where the real learning happens.
Theme Music
“Mr. Gentle and Mr. Cool” written by Duke Ellington and Laura Rembert Sony/ATV Harmony (ASCAP) / Music Sales Corporation (ASCAP) o/b/o itself and Tempo Music
PUBLIQuartet Episode
“At the Purchaser’s Option” written by Rhiannon Giddens and Joseph Edward Ryan
“Ballad” written by Hamilton Berry
“Mind the Gap: What is American? IV Pt. 1” arranged and performed by PUBLIQuartet
“Voodoo Dolls” written by Jessie Montgomery
“Quartet, Op. 22” written by Anton Von Webern
“Mind the Gap: What is American? ii” arranged and performed by PUBLIQuartet

We think of teaching as involving a plan, a set structure of lessons to complete. But for the PUBLIQuartet, teaching is all about improvisation. They teach musicians to respond and engage with the room, sometimes abandoning the plan altogether. Following your intuition puts the emphasis on process rather than product—and that’s where the real learning happens.

Improvise

How do you teach students to read music? For Margaret Jenks, it’s about teaching them that they already know how to. Jenks roots her teaching in attention: noticing rhythm, noticing patterns, noticing absence, and most importantly, noticing each other. The best teachers do not work from a checklist—rather, they teach intention and intentional listening. They guide students toward a greater awareness of the world.

Theme Music

“Mr. Gentle and Mr. Cool” written by Duke Ellington and Laura Rembert Sony/ATV Harmony (ASCAP) / Music Sales Corporation (ASCAP) o/b/o itself and Tempo Music 
Performed by Sean Jones and NYO Jazz

Margaret Jenks Episode

“Groovin’ Hard” written by Don Menza 
Croma Music (ASCAP) 
Performed by Jazz Express

“Fuzzy Caterpillar Song” written by Patty Zeitlin 
Bullfrog Ballades (ASCAP) / Budde Music, Inc. (ASCAP)

“Little Snowflake” written by Troy McDonald and Devon Charles Thagard 
WC Music Corp. (ASCAP) o/b/o Skyship Music Limited

How do you teach students to read music? For Margaret Jenks, it’s about teaching them that they already know how to. Jenks roots her teaching in attention: noticing rhythm, noticing patterns, noticing absence, and most importantly, noticing each other. The best teachers do not work from a checklist—rather, they teach intention and intentional listening. They guide students toward a greater awareness of the world.
Theme Music
“Mr. Gentle and Mr. Cool” written by Duke Ellington and Laura Rembert Sony/ATV Harmony (ASCAP) / Music Sales Corporation (ASCAP) o/b/o itself and Tempo Music
Margaret Jenks Episode
“Groovin’ Hard” written by Don Menza
“Fuzzy Caterpillar Song” written by Patty Zeitlin
“Little Snowflake” written by Troy McDonald and Devon Charles Thagard
WC Music Corp. (ASCAP) o/b/o Skyship Music Limited

How do you teach students to read music? For Margaret Jenks, it’s about teaching them that they already know how to. Jenks roots her teaching in attention: noticing rhythm, noticing patterns, noticing absence, and most importantly, noticing each other. The best teachers do not work from a checklist—rather, they teach intention and intentional listening. They guide students toward a greater awareness of the world.

Notice

Everyone is an artist, and everyone can use music to express themselves. But for some, such expression is hard. It’s incredibly vulnerable to create music and reveal something so personal. But Emily Eagen emphasizes that this intimacy is to be celebrated. By weaving it into her own instruction, Emily demonstrates how intimacy is what gives music all its power.

Theme Music

“Mr. Gentle and Mr. Cool” written by Duke Ellington and Laura Rembert Sony/ATV Harmony (ASCAP) / Music Sales Corporation (ASCAP) o/b/o itself and Tempo Music 
Performed by Sean Jones and NYO Jazz

Emily Eagen Episode

“Where is Love?” written by Lionel Bart 
Hollis Music, Inc. (BMI) 
Performed by Sam Robson 
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/samrobson" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/samrobson</a>

“Anne” from Anne of Green Gables written and conducted by Hagood Hardy 
Cymba Music o/b/o Big Bay Music Publishing (SOCAN) 
Recording courtesy of Chapter 2 Productions, Inc. o/b/o Isis Records Ltd.

“I Never Will Marry” written by A.P. Carter 
Peer International Corporation (BMI)

Everyone is an artist, and everyone can use music to express themselves. But for some, such expression is hard. It’s incredibly vulnerable to create music and reveal something so personal. But Emily Eagen emphasizes that this intimacy is to be celebrated. By weaving it into her own instruction, Emily demonstrates how intimacy is what gives music all its power.
Theme Music
“Mr. Gentle and Mr. Cool” written by Duke Ellington and Laura Rembert Sony/ATV Harmony (ASCAP) / Music Sales Corporation (ASCAP) o/b/o itself and Tempo Music
Emily Eagen Episode
“Where is Love?” written by Lionel Bart
https://www.youtube.com/samrobson
“Anne” from Anne of Green Gables written and conducted by Hagood Hardy
“I Never Will Marry” written by A.P. Carter
Peer International Corporation (BMI)

Everyone is an artist, and everyone can use music to express themselves. But for some, such expression is hard. It’s incredibly vulnerable to create music and reveal something so personal. But Emily Eagen emphasizes that this intimacy is to be celebrated. By weaving it into her own instruction, Emily demonstrates how intimacy is what gives music all its power.

Express

What does it mean to be musically gifted? Sean Jones understands this gift to be as much a blessing as it is a responsibility. It is our charge to realize our talents. There’s a song that sits, awaiting in each one of us. Music teachers encourage students to find that song and assure them of its worth. In doing so, they empower students to let their song out.

Theme Music

“Mr. Gentle and Mr. Cool” written by Duke Ellington and Laura Rembert Sony/ATV Harmony (ASCAP) / Music Sales Corporation (ASCAP) o/b/o itself and Tempo Music 
Performed by Sean Jones and NYO Jazz

Sean Jones Episode

“The Ambitious Violet” written by Sean Jones 
Harper Woods Music Publishing / Seany Boy (ASCAP) 
Performed by Sean Jones and NYO Jazz 
All rights reserved.

“Struggle Gives You Strength” written by Jihye Lee 
Performed by Sean Jones and NYO Jazz

“Fête dans la tête” written by John Beasley 
Performed by Sean Jones and NYO Jazz

“I Still Hear Mama Praying” written and performed by Chester D.T. Baldwin 
JDI Entertainment o/b/o J Robersongs Music (BMI) 
Recording courtesy of JDI Entertainment, Inc.

“Forgiveness” written and performed by Sean Jones 
Harper Woods Music Publishing / Seany Boy (ASCAP) 
From the album no need for words (MAC1057) 
℗ 2011 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC 
Courtesy of Mack Avenue Records 
All rights reserved.

What does it mean to be musically gifted? Sean Jones understands this gift to be as much a blessing as it is a responsibility. It is our charge to realize our talents. There’s a song that sits, awaiting in each one of us. Music teachers encourage students to find that song and assure them of its worth. In doing so, they empower students to let their song out.
Theme Music
“Mr. Gentle and Mr. Cool” written by Duke Ellington and Laura Rembert Sony/ATV Harmony (ASCAP) / Music Sales Corporation (ASCAP) o/b/o itself and Tempo Music
Sean Jones Episode
“The Ambitious Violet” written by Sean Jones
“Struggle Gives You Strength” written by Jihye Lee
“Fête dans la tête” written by John Beasley
“I Still Hear Mama Praying” written and performed by Chester D.T. Baldwin
“Forgiveness” written and performed by Sean Jones
Harper Woods Music Publishing / Seany Boy (ASCAP)
From the album no need for words (MAC1057)
℗ 2011 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC
Courtesy of Mack Avenue Records
All rights reserved.

What does it mean to be musically gifted? Sean Jones understands this gift to be as much a blessing as it is a responsibility. It is our charge to realize our talents. There’s a song that sits, awaiting in each one of us. Music teachers encourage students to find that song and assure them of its worth. In doing so, they empower students to let their song out.

Empower

Does focusing on students imply a sacrifice of your own creative expression? Not to Thomas Cabaniss. Practicing as a teaching artist, Cabaniss centers his own artistic experience. His passion for creation inspires engagement and sheds inhibition in the classroom. We are left with the opposite conviction: Creativity is contagious—cultivating it in oneself cultivates it in others.

Theme Music

“Mr. Gentle and Mr. Cool” written by Duke Ellington and Laura Rembert Sony/ATV Harmony (ASCAP) / Music Sales Corporation (ASCAP) o/b/o itself and Tempo Music 
Performed by Sean Jones and NYO Jazz

Thomas Cabaniss Episode

“Sketches of Venasque” written by Thomas Cabaniss 
Performed by Michael Shinn and Jessica Chow Shinn

“Double Rainbow” written by Thomas Cabaniss 
Performed by Michael Shinn and Jessica Chow Shinn

“The March of The Siamese Children” from The King and I written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II 
Williamson Music Company 
By arrangement with Concord (ASCAP) 
Performed by the Original Broadway Cast 
Courtesy of Verve Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises

“I Whistle A Happy Tune” from The King and I written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II 
Williamson Music Company 
By arrangement with Concord (ASCAP) 
Performed by Gertrude Lawrence &amp; the Original Broadway Cast 
Courtesy of Verve Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises

“One and One” written by Thomas Cabaniss 
Performed by Michael Shinn and Jessica Chow Shinn

“The Third Eye” written and performed by Max Roach 
Milma Publishing Company (BMI) 
Administered by Songs of Kobalt Music Publishing 
Recording courtesy of Kepach Music S.r.l.

“Lovesong” written by Thomas Cabaniss 
Performed by Michael Shinn and Jessica Chow Shinn

“Two” written by Thomas Cabaniss 
Performed by Michael Shinn and Jessica Chow Shinn

“Flutter Flutter” written by Thomas Cabaniss 
Performed by Michael Shinn and Jessica Chow Shinn

Does focusing on students imply a sacrifice of your own creative expression? Not to Thomas Cabaniss. Practicing as a teaching artist, Cabaniss centers his own artistic experience. His passion for creation inspires engagement and sheds inhibition in the classroom. We are left with the opposite conviction: Creativity is contagious—cultivating it in oneself cultivates it in others.
Theme Music
“Mr. Gentle and Mr. Cool” written by Duke Ellington and Laura Rembert Sony/ATV Harmony (ASCAP) / Music Sales Corporation (ASCAP) o/b/o itself and Tempo Music
Thomas Cabaniss Episode
“Sketches of Venasque” written by Thomas Cabaniss
“Double Rainbow” written by Thomas Cabaniss
“The March of The Siamese Children” from The King and I written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
“I Whistle A Happy Tune” from The King and I written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
“One and One” written by Thomas Cabaniss
“The Third Eye” written and performed by Max Roach
“Lovesong” written by Thomas Cabaniss
“Two” written by Thomas Cabaniss
“Flutter Flutter” written by Thomas Cabaniss
Performed by Michael Shinn and Jessica Chow Shinn

Does focusing on students imply a sacrifice of your own creative expression? Not to Thomas Cabaniss. Practicing as a teaching artist, Cabaniss centers his own artistic experience. His passion for creation inspires engagement and sheds inhibition in the classroom. We are left with the opposite conviction: Creativity is contagious—cultivating it in oneself cultivates it in others.

Cultivate

Once a great teacher enters your life, you’re never the same. Great teachers function as excavators; they chisel away, honing in and refining a student’s talents. They extract abilities that may have laid latent, unrealized. This teaching pedagogy is embodied by music teachers like Bishop Chantel Wright. Wright is meticulous and uncompromising, traits that lend themselves well to teaching the precisions of music. As she shares her story, consider the most demanding teachers in your life, and what they have unearthed in you.

Theme Music

“Mr. Gentle and Mr. Cool” written by Duke Ellington and Laura Rembert Sony/ATV Harmony (ASCAP) / Music Sales Corporation (ASCAP) o/b/o itself and Tempo Music 
Performed by Sean Jones and NYO Jazz

Chantel Wright Episode

“God is My Everything” written by Percy Gray 
© Slickey Music (BMI) administered by Music Services, Inc. / Saved Children Music (BMI) 
Performed by the Chicago Mass Choir 
Recording courtesy of New Haven Records

“Midnight Train to Georgia” written by James Weatherly 
Universal PolyGram Int. Publishing, Inc. (ASCAP) 
Performed by Gladys Knight and The Pips 
Recording courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment

“Mamma” written and performed by Abdullah Ibrahim 
Edition Abdullah Ibrahim Ekpa (GEMA) 
Recording courtesy of Enja &amp; Yellowbird Records

“So Beautiful” written by Lee Hutson, Jr. and Taalib Johnson 
EMI April Music Inc./La Kasa Sole/Writers Guild (ASCAP) 
/ Universal Music Corp. o/b/o itself and Soul Child Music (ASCAP) 
Performed by Robert Glasper 
Recording courtesy of Blue Note Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises

“Tarn” written and performed by Scott Solter 
Under license from Scott Solter 
<a href="http://scottsolter.bandcamp.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://scottsolter.bandcamp.com</a>

“Of Dreams to Come” written and performed by Robert Glasper 
 I Am A Jazzy Guy (SESAC) administered by Concord Tunes (SESAC)  
By arrangement with Concord 
Recording courtesy of Blue Note Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises

“Guilty Cubicles” written by Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew 
Arts &amp; Crafts Music, Inc. / Songs of Peer. Ltd. o/b/o Brendan Canning Music (ASCAP) 
Performed by Broken Social Scene 
Recording courtesy of Arts &amp; Crafts Productions, Inc.

Once a great teacher enters your life, you’re never the same. Great teachers function as excavators; they chisel away, honing in and refining a student’s talents. They extract abilities that may have laid latent, unrealized. This teaching pedagogy is embodied by music teachers like Bishop Chantel Wright. Wright is meticulous and uncompromising, traits that lend themselves well to teaching the precisions of music. As she shares her story, consider the most demanding teachers in your life, and what they have unearthed in you.
Theme Music
“Mr. Gentle and Mr. Cool” written by Duke Ellington and Laura Rembert Sony/ATV Harmony (ASCAP) / Music Sales Corporation (ASCAP) o/b/o itself and Tempo Music
Chantel Wright Episode
“God is My Everything” written by Percy Gray
“Midnight Train to Georgia” written by James Weatherly
“Mamma” written and performed by Abdullah Ibrahim
“So Beautiful” written by Lee Hutson, Jr. and Taalib Johnson
“Tarn” written and performed by Scott Solter
http://scottsolter.bandcamp.com
“Of Dreams to Come” written and performed by Robert Glasper
“Guilty Cubicles” written by Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew
Arts & Crafts Music, Inc. / Songs of Peer. Ltd. o/b/o Brendan Canning Music (ASCAP) 
Performed by Broken Social Scene
Recording courtesy of Arts & Crafts Productions, Inc.

Once a great teacher enters your life, you’re never the same. Great teachers function as excavators; they chisel away, honing in and refining a student’s talents. They extract abilities that may have laid latent, unrealized. This teaching pedagogy is embodied by music teachers like Bishop Chantel Wright. Wright is meticulous and uncompromising, traits that lend themselves well to teaching the precisions of music. As she shares her story, consider the most demanding teachers in your life, and what they have unearthed in you.

Unearth

There are countless ways to teach music, but what makes a music teacher “great”? Through a series of enlightening conversations with extraordinary educators, this six-part series offers invaluable answers and insights. Learn about the unique approaches and personal histories of masterful music teachers, discover what drives them to teach, and be inspired by stories of their life-changing successes.

All episodes will be available in fall 2023.

Theme Music

“Mr. Gentle and Mr. Cool” written by Duke Ellington and Laura Rembert Sony/ATV Harmony (ASCAP) / Music Sales Corporation (ASCAP) o/b/o itself and Tempo Music

Performed by Sean Jones and NYO Jazz

There are countless ways to teach music, but what makes a music teacher “great”? Through a series of enlightening conversations with extraordinary educators, this six-part series offers invaluable answers and insights. Learn about the unique approaches and personal histories of masterful music teachers, discover what drives them to teach, and be inspired by stories of their life-changing successes.
All episodes will be available in fall 2023.
Theme Music
“Mr. Gentle and Mr. Cool” written by Duke Ellington and Laura Rembert Sony/ATV Harmony (ASCAP) / Music Sales Corporation (ASCAP) o/b/o itself and Tempo Music
Performed by Sean Jones and NYO Jazz