Incorporating Play into the Secondary Instrumental Classroom

Three musicians sitting together with trombones.

MME Spring 2025, Article #2

by Jillian Bowe
MMEA Region D Representative

What IS “Play” and Why is it Important?

As music educators, we understand the importance and lifelong impact a healthy relationship with music can have on students as they grow from children to adults. We aim to prioritize joy in performance and strive to provide our students with positive and enriching musical experiences.

This is much easier said than done—when it comes time to actually engage in these activities in the classroom, it is easy to lose sight of the joy of music and instead focus solely on achievement and performance.

If the goal of our classes is not just achievement, then what is it? How do we balance giving students opportunities to explore music playfully without missing deadlines for concerts and performances? We often talk about “play” in the context of early childhood. Is there even a place for play at more mature levels of music-making? How do you get a large group of 15-year-olds—who struggle with apathetic attitudes towards their education and schooling system—to trust that they can experience joy in front of their peers?

Though there is a large resistance from older students to engage in playful behavior, it is something they crave deeply. Oftentimes, when presented with the idea of play, older students reject the vulnerability and unfiltered curiosity it requires. The music classroom is a unique environment in which we can reprioritize joy in our students’ lives while still improving skills that further our craft.

How Can We Incorporate Play into the Secondary Classroom?

By incorporating playful elements into the classroom, educators can create more engaging and effective learning environments. Here are some practical ways to embed playfulness into your classroom.

Modeling playful behavior can inspire students to express themselves freely and creatively. Remember to have fun in front of your students without shame. This can look like exploring your favorite musical, your favorite movie soundtrack, or your favorite classical piece with unfiltered joy and excitement. Teaching them to enjoy things radically and unapologetically supports their social-emotional learning on a developmentally-appropriate level (Graczyk, L. 2024).
Simple tools like BoomWhackers and large elastic “stretchy bands” can be used to foster musical and rhythmic skills while still engaging the playful side of the student. The multiple modes of representation of information included in the use of BoomWhackers and BoomWhacker “play-along” videos is yet another way to involve the Universal Design for Learning in the classroom, ensuring an accessible environment (CAST 2024). BoomWhackers can also be used to address the composition standard of music education, giving students a confined range to practice improvisation and composition with their peers.
Dance! Utilizing Gordon’s concept of “continuous fluid motion” while engaging our students in movement helps immensely with steady beat – more so than clapping, snapping, or stomping (Valerio, W. N.d.). Even at the secondary level, the importance of movement as it relates to musical skill cannot be overstated.
Learn folk songs! Give students chances to explore other cultures off their instruments. Let them conduct research about various cultures and then teach the class how to sing/dance to the folk songs they learn.
Engage students in playful conversation about what current musical culture looks like to them. Discussions about contemporary music can contextualize the skills the students learn in the music classroom in fun and relatable ways.
After having these discussions, play beat pattern games to the music they recommend. This also furthers the use of authentic student voice and choice in the classroom while still remaining relevant to the content you are teaching in class.

Will This Truly Improve My Classroom?

The pressure of performance is not something that can be ignored. Many educators shy away from playful activities in favor of performance preparation. Incorporating play-based learning into the classroom allows for students to stay engaged and energized in their learning and achieve goals more quickly and efficiently.

Students are not “lazy” or “apathetic”; they are disenfranchised by the systems that rely on their achievement and performance to receive funding. They are tired, and they come to the band room to escape those feelings.

How do we combat this without tearing the educational system apart? We find ways to truly enjoy life. By providing opportunities for playful exploration, we can help students develop important cognitive, social, and emotional skills, ultimately leading to deeper understanding and a lifelong love of learning.

Resources for Incorporating Play

References

CAST (2024). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 3.0. Retrieved from https://udlguidelines.cast.org

Graczyk, L. (2024). The Joy of Learning (Thesis, Concordia University, St. Paul). Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.csp.edu/teacher-education_masters/125

Valerio, W. (n.d.). The Gordon Approach: Music learning theory. Retrieved from https://www.allianceamm.org/resources/gordon/