Interview with Professor Ethan Hein, Adjunct Professor of Music at NYU
Music plays a large role in many of our lives, serving as the soundtrack to our personal experiences. However, at present, music is not taught in schools the same way as other subjects, such as English or art. In a quest to learn how music is integrated into curricula of higher education, I reached out to music educator Professor Ethan Hein of NYU and the New School — my interview with Professor Hein can be found below.
Why did you decide to pursue a Ph.D. in Music Education?
Professor Hein was a musician in 20s. When he reached his 30s he began feeling too old for gig work, yet he did not want a traditional office job. He began producing electronic music and tried writing code. It turned out coding was not his strong suit, so he connected with people who were strong programmers; through this effort Professor Hein assembled a community of like-minded musicians and coders. Over time, this community turned into a research group which questioned why more people weren’t creating their own beats, and sought to find solutions by creating ways for beat making to become more accessible.
Before he knew it, Professor Hein was offered teaching jobs, as people sought out his ability to teach others how to make beats. Professor Hein realized he would be a stronger teacher with a Ph.D., which led him to pursue his Ph.D. in Music Education at NYU. His dissertation, “Learning something deep: Teaching to learn and learning to teach hip-hop in New York City” can be downloaded here.
What types of classes do you teach?
Professor Hein teaches a wide range of classes, including Music Education Technology Practicum, Music Education Popular Music Practicum, and Popular Music and Technology Trends in Music Education. Most of his students are future public school teachers, and many of them are trained in classical music. In terms of music education, pop is often taught on top of classical music; in other words, students are first taught classical music as a base, and those interested in pop music then build upon that base of classical training to include pop music.
Your 2020 paper “Chris Thile, Kendrick Lamar, and the problem of the white rap cover” addresses a 2016 cover of Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” by bluegrass legend Chris Thile. Are there any circumstances where a rap cover by a white performer would be considered appropriate?
Professor Hein does not believe musicians should perform rap covers. ”Alright” is an anthem expressing Black oppression — to hear it performed by a white man is exceptionally jarring. However, even if the rap topic is a universal theme such as love, as opposed to a unique expression of Blank oppression, Professor Hein still does not believe it is appropriate to perform a rap cover. While covers of rock and pop are commonplace, rap is a cultural form of storytelling about personal experiences, so if an artist covers a rap song, that artist is claiming someone else’s unique struggle as their own. For this reason, sampling is common in the rap community, yet rap covers rarely exist.
Instead of covering other artists’ rap, Professor Hein believes artists should create their own pieces. Professor Hein is so committed to this notion that he has dedicated his professional life to helping others bring their unique pop visions to life, through this teaching, research, and his platform Groove Pizza, which is discussed in more detail below.
Your dissertation questions the directional relationship between hip-hop and music education. You investigate whether hip-hop can benefit music education and/or if music education can benefit hop-hop. Can you talk about this complex relationship in today’s world?
Professor Hein feels strongly that students should spend time in classrooms engaging with music of their own time. The big question in music education is: How do we do this?
Music composition can be very advanced and technical; however, most college students who major in music make it all the way through their college education without writing a single song. Which begs the question: What if music is taught more like English or art? Students could spend time in the classroom studying influential musicians, just as they study influential authors and artists, and at the same time, students could be supported as they create their own, unique beats, just as students are supported as they write and create their own pieces during English and art classes.
At present, music is generally taught in schools via participation in an orchestra or band. These forms of musical expression should still be offered, but why can’t we expand upon music education by additionally offering classes such as beat making classes? Beat making classes would not be a substitute for more traditional music classes, but instead would complement traditional music classes. If schools were able to provide the proper gear (tools) and tech support, and allow students to lead the way, we could provide educational experiences which support students as they create their own musical works to express their unique lived experiences.
It should be noted that music education eventually incorporates culturally relevant musical genres into curricula. For example, schools have marching bands because communities have marching bands. However, incorporating certain musical genres into music curricula is not easy, and it takes time. Schools were originally reluctant to accept jazz into their curricula because, at the onset, jazz was not considered “real” music. As musical genres permeate the mainstream, such as rock and roll, they become more easily accepted into music education.
A primary purpose of music education is to prepare students for professional levels of music engagement. Therefore, incorporating pop music into music education is needed, as many current students aim to seek employment in the pop music industry. By ignoring pop music in higher education, schools are making a suboptimal decision regarding music education, as it limits students’ ability to contribute to today’s most relevant musical genre.
Does your research fall under the academic discipline “musicology”?
Professor Hein explained that, in general, most studies of music in formal settings may loosely be defined as “musicology”. More recently, there is a strong consensus that the study of music should, in some meaningful way, include studies of race, gender, and class. This notion is a rather new development, but has become paramount in more recent years, especially post-2020.
Can you please describe Groove Pizza?
Professor Hein was instrumental in the creation of Groove Pizza, a digital tool which allows people to create music. White it is mostly used by classroom teachers, Groove Pizza is used by a wide range of aspiring musicians, from little kids all the way to college professors. Inspired by the research of Godfried Toussaint, Groove Pizza simplifies the creation of beats by relying upon math concepts. Groove Pizza has been used approximately 12–13 million times across 140 countries.
What advice would you give someone who wants to become a music educator and/or wants to have a career in the music industry in some capacity, but is not a musician?
Professor Hein warned of the difficulties involved in making a living in the music industry, especially if you are not a skilled musician. If music is your passion you should certainly pursue your interests, but it is important to be realistic about the opportunities and sacrifices you may make in terms of future earning potential. Professor Hein’s advice is to be creative about how you engage with the music industry by developing outside marketable skills, and to shift your focus away from making money and towards solving problems within the constructs of musical experiences.
