‘The Maine Question’ explores how to teach music during a pandemic

The coronavirus has disrupted just about every facet of academia, especially music education. Like concerts and jam sessions, teaching music is a shared community experience, but the pandemic has prompted several educators to shift instruction from in-person to remote. 

The inability for students to play their instruments together forced music educators to get creative to teach their students from home. That’s why Philip Edelman, assistant professor of music education at the University of Maine, and Shianne Priest, director of music at Leonard Middle School in Old Town, teamed up to pilot a program that pairs music education majors in the UMaine School of Performing Arts with budding middle school musicians for online lessons.

How can a teacher help a student improve when they can’t be in the same room or even play together? Host Ron Lisnet speaks with Edelman to find out on Episode 9 of Season 3 of “The Maine Question” podcast. 

Listen to the podcast on iTunes, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Stitcher, Spotify or “The Maine Question” website. New episodes are added Thursdays.

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