The politics is in the drums: Producing and composing in the music classroom

Abstract

Music technology courses are increasingly common offerings in university and secondary music programmes. Curriculum standards, subject matter and classroom practices of these courses are still very much in flux. The music education field therefore has a unique opportunity to shape and define music technology as a subject before it becomes fully standardized. Teaching this subject in the context of European-descended ‘art’ music traditions will perpetuate the white racial frame of school music. The author argues that educators should critically examine the racialized split between ‘art’ and ‘popular’ forms of electronic music, and should consciously centre ‘the Black Electronic’ in their curricula. This includes the techniques of beatmaking and sampling, as well as their cultural and political contexts and meanings. An example project drawing on hip hop methods and values is presented.