top of page

Helpful Resources for Music Teachers

Updated: Mar 10, 2022

I will continue to update this post... Send me a message if you have more to add



Decolonise The Curriculum - Music | Jimmy Rotherham

https://theteacherist.com/2020/05/03/decolonise-the-curriculum-music/


The Racial Politics of Music Education | Ethan Hein

http://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2020/the-racial-politics-of-music-education/


What Can Music Teachers Do for Black Lives? | Emily

http://www.rebelmusicteacher.com/blog/2020/5/30/what-can-music-teachers-do-for-black-lives


George Floyd - We Cannot Stay Silent | Nate Holder https://theteacherist.com/2020/05/28/injustice-we-cannot-stay-silent/


Facilitating musical learning in Scottish Primary Schools: an interview-based study of generalist primary teachers’, primary music specialists’ and community music practitioners’ views and experiences | Dr Diljeet Kaur Bhachu

https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/36622/Bhachu2019.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y


Cultural colonialism, academic rigor, or both? A study of ABRSM examinations in Northern China | Le Zhang

http://www-usr.rider.edu/~vrme/v34n1/visions/Zhang_ABRSM_Examinations.pdf


The Flute is Not a Woodwind Instrument: Re-imagining and Challenging the Western Instrument Families | Steve Giddings

https://stevesmusicroom.wordpress.com/2020/06/28/flute-is-not-a-woodwind-instrument-re-imagining-challenging-western-instrument-families/?fbclid=IwAR0eDdsvn5zMaqDwcBvA0uWbZXvXFsUuSXIAKnI3CRJdIKLxBiknJ5DFOLk


An Open Letter on Racism in Music Studies | Danielle Brown

https://www.mypeopletellstories.com/blog/open-letter?fbclid=IwAR3XGrhGPBVyFKq7wFALOC57VHIrpb4VW5_eOcYzRBzdi9Hc-usJDMDNMVQ


A Guide to Coded Language in Education Vol. I & II

https://classtrouble.club/blogs/resonance-archives/a-guide-to-coded-language-in-education-vol-i?fbclid=IwAR0qawbSsERXt5_UxjevdlF4cKjpdYA9UJbeyoIOvSB_KDz7c8TzQ0dEOMg


Music Theory and the White Racial Frame | Philip A. Ewell

https://mtosmt.org/issues/mto.20.26.2/mto.20.26.2.ewell.html?fbclid=IwAR3NtXn6kNy34f-SqKJ6rCkFrE5MS93CQ3y9QUdWEakbKZ5zm0cOicjFiVI


Dinah, Put Down Your Horn: Blackface Minstrel Songs Don’t Belong in Music Class | Dr. Katya Ermolaeva

https://gen.medium.com/dinah-put-down-your-horn-154b8d8db12a


Choral Composers Recommended on DTMR | Kelsey Millerschin Gamza

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1V8xcAZRQ8gzEdOUNKkS2OUhLTz4WpbPdWGKsnvYRid4/edit?fbclid=IwAR2H0Lm1RsliAK9pJEl4i1ZS8e8lf85xAu8H3FqQS962npYzralCco293s8#gid=0


Decolonizing music education: Moving beyond tokenism | Juliet Hess

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0255761415581283


Stormzy vs Mozart vs Music Education | Max Wheeler

https://network.youthmusic.org.uk/stormzy-vs-mozart-vs-music-education


Classism and Racism in Classical Music | Des Oliver

https://medium.com/@desoliver/sharps-response-falls-flat-classism-and-racism-in-classical-music-58121343e8e9


Being a Black Ph.D. Student Following George Floyd’s Murder | Clifton Boyd

https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2020/06/11/black-phd-student-describes-having-balance-his-career-prospects-responding-racial?fbclid=IwAR3W9SoAtnj_kdCdV82k22NdjG4yBm9NoMWUvruZccgY0psTH1Bp5sV7fbE


Race, Blacksound, and the (Re)Making of Musicological Discourse | Matthew D. Morrison

https://online.ucpress.edu/jams/article/72/3/781/107058/Race-Blacksound-and-the-Re-Making-of-Musicological


Race and early European music (Open Resource) | Dr Joseph W. Mason

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YtvXXzppkPHvbEnzng2lQdDiL6EIiWDmeGUy-IXuhMg/edit#heading=h.lquawh897zc9


Non-European musical cultures before 1600 (Open Resource) | Dr Joseph W. Mason

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LquYoVb4sfRRyiDLINrRzgLrMhKaPiT1VqJ43NeHfIE/edit


Trombone players: It’s time to bury Henry Fillmore’s “Lassus Trombone.”

https://thelasttrombone.com/2020/06/28/trombone-players-its-time-to-bury-henry-fillmores-lassus-trombone/?fbclid=IwAR0wHyfMadbacopxUY78b0TqWAhJZt0-cCt7sImFzj6rvc0Mbdo_AO04c0c


Sounds Like... Black Music Matters | Yorkshire Youth & Music

https://www.yym.org.uk/blog/sounds-like-black-music-matters


Was Beethoven Black? Probably Not, but These Unsung Composers Were

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/was-beethoven-black-and-why-might-be-wrong-question-ask-180975159/


Black Women Composers in Chicago: Then and Now | Helen Walker-Hill

https://www.jstor.org/stable/779279?seq=1


Debussy’s Cakewalk. Race, Modernism and Music in Early Twentieth-Century Paris | James Deaville

https://revuemusicaleoicrm.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/RMO_vol.2.1_Deaville.pdf


Accessing the Inside of the Tent: The Optics of Inclusivity in Music Education | Christopher Mena

https://medium.com/@christopher.r.mena/accessing-the-inside-of-the-tent-the-optics-of-inclusivity-in-music-education-eb140a1f46e7


Equity in Music Education: Exclusionary Practices in Music Education | Jacqueline Kelly-McHale

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0027432117744755?journalCode=mejc


Activities that Promote Racial and Cultural Awareness | Barbara Biles

https://www.pbs.org/kcts/preciouschildren/diversity/read_activities.html


Diversifying through decolonising at UK conservatoires

https://www.rhinegold.co.uk/classical_music/problematising-the-future-of-uk-music-conservatoires-diversifying-through-decolonising/


'We must channel the energy and pain that is being expressed right now': Chi-chi Nwanoku OBE on time for action on diversity in classical music | Chi-chi Nwanoku

https://theartsdesk.com/classical-music/we-must-channel-energy-and-pain-being-expressed-right-now-chi-chi-nwanoku-obe-time


Teaching Music History – Without the Lies | Chris Woods

https://chriswoodsgroove.co.uk/blog/


Contemporary Black composers you should know

https://www.cpr.org/2021/01/27/refresh-your-sonic-palette-contemporary-black-composers-you-should-know/?fbclid=IwAR1FWRiNMOAvo5Rq9dn-UaUVnsUN3Vs1T1GrIRtm8H9GH-K7NqmwXW-DTgU


Chevalier de Saint Georges x Mozart

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/chevalier-de-saint-georges-man-who-got-under-mozart-s-skin-a6859191.html


His Name Is Joseph Boulogne, Not ‘Black Mozart’

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/22/arts/music/black-mozart-joseph-boulogne.html?fbclid=IwAR03bBh6Am2-Xaax0D7Xd1OrYu0pFgeNmC5me8P9oney59zxxG-V_XH2v6E


Anti-Colonial Orchestras: A Cultural Response to Classical Music Imperialism | John Silpayamanant

https://silpayamanant.wordpress.com/2021/02/19/anti-colonial-orchestras-a-cultural-response-to-classical-music-imperialism/?fbclid=IwAR1T3RV396rByE4K4CdTv6AXLYJuvxiNO2C2IECoOwG1tC6pkUzMG-s6pa4


Carnegie Hall | Music lessons from around the world

https://www.carnegiehall.org/Education/Programs/Musical-Explorers/Digital


Music theory examples by women

https://musictheoryexamplesbywomen.com/


12 Childhood Nursery Rhymes You Didn't Realise Were Racist

https://nafme.org/you-might-be-left-with-silence-when-youre-done/


"You Might Be Left With Silence" The White Fear of Taking Racist Songs Out of Music Education | Martin Urbach

https://medium.com/@martinurbach/you-might-be-left-with-silence-when-youre-done-the-white-fear-of-taking-racist-songs-out-of-89ecdc300ee5



Christopher Emdin https://twitter.com/chrisemdin

Ethan Hein https://twitter.com/ethanhein

Dr Diljeet Kaur Bhachu https://twitter.com/DiljeetB_Flute

Emily https://twitter.com/rebelmusicteach

Travis G-Zinnel https://twitter.com/traviszinnel

Timothy Jones https://twitter.com/tdj6899

Joe Guarr https://twitter.com/jguarr

Institute For Composer Diversity https://twitter.com/ComposerProject

Dr Anna Bull https://twitter.com/anna_bull_

Daniel Green https://twitter.com/DanielGreen9

Dr Kira Thurman https://twitter.com/kira_thurman

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion in Music Studies https://twitter.com/EDIMusicStudies

BRITISH BLACK MUSIC https://twitter.com/BBMBMC

Black Music Research https://twitter.com/cbmrccc


Music by Black Composers - MBC

https://www.facebook.com/musicbyblackcomposers/photos/avril-coleridge-taylor-1903-1998-was-an-english-pianist-conductor-and-composer-a/674333289396876/



Black Lives Matter, Music Ed, and Current Discourse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuLfTL7Ykwc&feature=youtu.be


Reality Pedagogy: Christopher Emdin at TEDxTeachersCollege

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y9tVf_8fqo


Decolonising Music Education

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JZcLs3eV7U&t=1s


61 Black Composers: Solo Piano Works

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqHFh54O-uD-RppjTPj9Ag36VSboiPQso&fbclid=IwAR34EiAeZ6Kbzr-24m2NWv6mAPT9c3BApVJkrUmhzNHKJTGQTJEWa9LZuW4&app=desktop


The REAL Origin Of The Song "Funga Alafia" - Hint It Isn't A Liberian Song, Or A Nigerian Song, Or A Traditional African Song

https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-real-origin-of-song-funga-alafia.html?fbclid=IwAR0dyuHEnmpGEufErzjO4nVuTSGuLJtSqRtrvbez3Z0BlKmI1e-4CiESwcE


Racism in music industry: Robert Glasper shows racial inequality in music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiVLZGYJwUE


Prof. Shirley J. Thompson OBE Interview | Identity & Aesthetic: Five British-Caribbean Composers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzTqBlGfbdk


Composer Eleanor Alberga on race in classical music

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/entertainment-arts-37709257/composer-eleanor-alberga-on-race-in-classical-music


Music Theory and White Supremacy | Adam Neely

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr3quGh7pJA&t=2254s


Music Theory and the White Racial Frame | Phillip Ewell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpetWiFLXUo




Pod The Score - Ep.34 White Fragility In Music Education

http://podthescore.buzzsprout.com/493009/3992723-ep-34-white-fragility-in-music-education


Music and Peacebuilding - Ep. 8 Decolonizing the Music Room with Brandi Waller-Pace

https://www.musicpeacebuilding.com/ep8-decolonizing?fbclid=IwAR0I-1B3WLrg-SkZA8EkIaSKwLghU_Z6I255IyBvt9e0pUwP0FZBHOXz-ms


A Racist Music | Errolyn Wallen | BBC

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000bmrr?fbclid=IwAR0elFkUXdjmeftzXL0HZlw3NKAMHGvn7TzFogobFNjuoBMsYkHtD3r2c0M

Music Matter

Race, equality and classical music | BBC

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000kv61


Music Schools and White Supremacy with Loren Kajikawa

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1114601/4700222?fbclid=IwAR0VzVe_Eq9_z6WpCFXmtDXGjUsIAEC-r4tAEKkXO29PFubElUUIYN5-zfM


Classical Commonweath - Errollyn Wallen unravels the story of how classical music fused with local musical traditions across the British Commonwealth, speaking to acclaimed conductor Zubin Mehta, soprano Patricia Rozario, composer and kora player Tunde Jegede and others.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000sht9


Trilloquy | Garrett McQueen & Scott Blankenship

https://www.trilloquy.org/opuses


For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood... and the Rest of Y'all Too: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education (Race, Education, and Democracy) - Christopher Emdin


Blues People: The Negro Experience In White America And The Music That Developed From It - LeRoi Jones


Me and White Supremacy - Layla Saad


Sounds Like London: 100 Years of Black Music in the Capital - Lloyd Bradley



2,767 views1 comment

Related Posts

See All
bottom of page