Date

7-21-2026

Department

School of Music

Degree

Doctor of Music Education (DME)

Chair

David Hahn

Keywords

songwriting, music education, professional development, constructivism

Disciplines

Music

Abstract

Historically, the field of music education has been grounded in the band, chorus, and orchestra model, with an abundance of professional development opportunities for educators. Despite the eventual expansion to introduce alternatives, including the Orff approach, guitar ensembles, mariachi, and the ukulele; further exploration of songwriting learning experiences is warranted due to a lack of professional development opportunities for music educators. Traditionally, songwriting is learned or taught piecemeal; thus, the need for music educators to possess additional skills is paramount. This qualitative narrative study will examine the perspectives of music educators who participate in interviews about teaching songwriting or their reluctance to teach it. Introducing the foundational elements of songwriting would help them have more confidence to facilitate songwriting learning experiences, thus initiating meaningful classroom activities that are musical, social, and action-based. This study, guided by the existing literature through the lens of constructivism, will impact educators, music administrators, students, and other stakeholders. This research can provide strategies to improve lesson plan activities and songwriting strategies, thus elevating the student learning experience. Songwriting as a component of music education is an innovative domain, and professional development provides tools to aid educators who feel unprepared to teach unfamiliar concepts, including theme, emotional expression, literary devices, rhyme, melody, rhythm, form, and song structure. These shortcomings can be addressed to strengthen classroom instruction, college courses, clinics, and workshops that ultimately serve students in practical, relevant ways.

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