Queering informal pedagogy: sexuality and popular music in school

Abstract

This qualitative case study explores how students’ perceptions of sexual identity affect how they participate in popular music processes used in school. Seventeen high school students were invited to form five single-gendered and mixed-gendered rock bands. The data collected included fieldnotes and audio recordings of observed rehearsals and individual interviews. The data were coded and analyzed from a queer theory standpoint to provide interpretations of how participants constructed their sexual identity through musical production and reception. The findings suggest that the boys used popular music making to project a sexual identity, and that they refused to participate in musical acts – like singing in a high tessitura and writing lyrics – that they willingly performed in traditional music ensembles and genres. This questions whether the recent use of popular music pedagogies in formal settings effectively furthers traditional music education aims of educating about the elements of music.

Keywords:

• popular music
• music education
• queer theory
• masculinity
• informal pedagogy

Notes

1. Singer Tiny Tim (1932–1996) became popular in the USA in the 1960s. His kitschy style, which was exemplified in his hit ‘Tip Toe Through the Tulips With Me’, included strumming ukulele and singing in a high falsetto.