Tobias, E. S. (2014).

From musical detectives to DJs: Expanding aural skills and

analysis through engaging popular music and culture. General Music Today,
OnlineFirst, 1-5. doi: 10.1177/1048371314558293
Tobias (2014) article discusses alternative forms of music education regarding in
particular to aural and analysis skills. He mentions that most of the lessons we have
regarding these skills derive from the Western Music curriculum, and proposes that we
can expand our lessons to be more relevant to popular music. He categorizes his ideas
into six sections: Engaging as Musical Detectives or Forensic Musicologists, Engaging
as Music Critics: Comparing Versions of Songs, Engaging as Cover Artists, Arrangers,
and Stylistic Transformers, Engaging as Music Teachers and Learners, Engaging as
Music Cartographers: Identifying and Mapping Musical Relationships and Engaging as
DJs. In summary, Tobias (2014) is hoping to engage students by having them listen to
the music critically, finding elements that are either unique to the piece or elements that
are similar to other pieces they have listened to.
While I found this to be a well written article with interesting ideas to evoke critical
thinking in popular music, I would still find myself wanting to analyze popular music
further using techniques derived from Western music. Personally, I had a harmony and
dictation teacher lecture us in more of an informal learning setting and she would ask us
questions like the ones Tobias (2014) has included in his article. It could be possibly
because I grew up with formal training but I would be frustrated that we wouldnt be
discussing how what we were hearing in the pieces related to the theory we knew. I do
find these questions important to developing aural skills but I dont believe they can be

used as a substitute to traditional styles. I dont want to be outdated with my teaching

style so I hope to find a way to incorporate older techniques with newer ideas.