EXCHANGE: Music teachers learn to rock new beats
Powell is director of programs for Amp Up NYC, a partnership between the Berklee College of Music and Little Kids Rock, curriculum for guiding students through the basics of performing popular music on guitar, bass, drums, keyboard and vocals.
The workshop was held on Monday for both Millikin's music education majors and Decatur schools' music teachers, who were using a professional development day to attend.
The trick to teaching modern band and popular music, Powell said, is to provide as much instruction as necessary, but not too much.
Neal Smith, associate professor of music education at Millikin, has held rock band camps for kids and helped with pilot programs in some Decatur schools, such as Dennis, Johns Hill and Holy Family.
A lot of the teachers here might not identify as a guitar player or whatever, and we've given them an approach to how they might include it in the classroom, not to replace the thing they're doing, but in addition to that, to get more students into school music.