As another remarkable teaching year comes to a close, it feels like the right time to examine what makes Teach Music 21C unique. And that brings three pillars to mind - Why we teach, What we believe, and What we’re doing. These pillars are transformative ideas - they’re actions we live in our conversations, our studios, and our continued evolution as music teachers.
Why We Teach
At Teach Music 21C, we teach because we care about making music, we care about people, and we care about teaching music.
We know how making music can move us in many directions - as an anchor, inspiration, distraction, challenge, companion, and more. It’s why we return to making music again and again.
We also care about our students and their families, getting to know them, their interests, their backgrounds, their strengths and obstacles.
And we care about teaching music - about doing it thoughtfully, creatively, and reflectively so that our students experience what we know making music can accomplish for all of us. Here at Teach Music 21C, making music matters, people matter, and teaching music is our way of weaving things all together.
What We Believe
We believe that music makers come in all ages, abilities, backgrounds, and circumstances. They’re real people who have their own individual and moving connections to music.
We also believe the best way to achieve successful music lessons is for teachers and students to work together. This means that right from the very first lesson, we collaborate to ensure that students experience their own musical journey complete with detours, setbacks, and celebrations.
Furthermore, we believe musical explorations necessarily involve students’ whole person - their physical, emotional, intellectual, intuitive, and spiritual capacities. Making music is more than something students learn—it’s something they live, breathe, feel, think about, trust, treasure, and more.
What We’re Doing
At Teach Music 21C, I appreciate how it all starts with asking different questions of ourselves than past generations of music teachers. Questions like - What musical activities will my students participate in 20 years from now because of this week’s music lesson? Asking different questions leads to experimentation, deep listening, and reflective thinking - which in turn leads to using 21st century teaching tools like Curriculum Models and Reflective Partnership Teaching.
We design musical experiences that prepare our students as music makers across their entire lifespan. What we’re doing is more than helping students prepare for their next concert, exam, or music lesson. We’re preparing our students for their own musical futures at every stage of their lives.
Finally, here at Teach Music 21C we’re building a community of forward-thinking music teachers who care deeply about their students and about the future of teaching. Together, we explore ideas, share actions, and support one another in reimagining what music teaching can be — for today’s students and tomorrow’s world. We value inclusivity, reflection, and innovation. We enjoy sharing spaces where questions are welcome, collaboration is key, and change begins with putting ideas into action.
Looking Ahead
This year has been a busy one at Teach Music 21C. We’ve welcomed music teachers into Certification cohorts, held conversations about parents, practicing, and neuroscience, and presented podcasts on topics that ask teachers to rethink what music teaching can be. And there’s something quite remarkable about it all - how the Teach Music 21C community is filled with thoughtful, curious, and creative music teachers ready to do things differently and better.
As we pause for the summer break, I want to acknowledge how three pillars - Why we teach, What we believe, and What we’re doing - provide the impetus for transformation that doesn’t happen overnight. It happens over time and takes intention, support, and courage. It happens when we show up—for ourselves, our students, and each other. We make changes to how we teach because we believe music is essential to being human.
So as you take a well-deserved break or prepare for what’s next, I invite you to carry this with you: YOUR MUSIC TEACHING MATTERS. What you do every day—lesson by lesson, question by question—supports our students’ musical futures.
Thank you for being part of Teach Music 21C. I’m so grateful to be in community with you.
If you're thinking now is the right time to connect with our thoughtful TM21C community, deepen your teaching, and explore new questions, TM21C Certification might be the next step for you. Click HERE for more information on what that looks like.