Great Music Teaching

Carnegie Hall

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.

Carnegie Hall. 2023 - 2025

All episodes will be available in fall 2023.

Carnegie Hall. 2023 - 2025

2hr 47min

Thumbnail for "Great Music Teaching Trailer".

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

May 15, 202332sec

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.

October 26, 202324min 33sec

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.

October 19, 202329min 4sec

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.

October 12, 202326min 3sec

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.

October 5, 202328min 59sec

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.

September 28, 202323min 50sec

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.

September 21, 202330min 36sec

Thumbnail for "Great Music Teaching Teaser".

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

September 14, 20232min 59sec

Great Music Teaching Trailer

May 15, 202332sec

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