Name: It’s Not Us, It's Them: Co-Creating Codes of Conduct Within Student Popular Music Ensembles
Start: 2025-06-05T14:30:00-0500
End: 2025-06-05T14:40:00-0500

Welcome to the APME Memphis 2025 conference. Here, you’ll be able to register for the conference and update your Sched profile. The conference schedule will be available in late spring 2025. At that time, you can view the schedule and select the presentations you’d like to attend. If you have any questions, please visit our conference website or contact us at conference@popularmusiceducation.org We look forward to coming together as a community June 4–7, 2025.

Thursday June 5, 2025 2:30pm - 2:40pm CDT

Classroom 101 - Legacy Building

This paper explores codes of conduct co-created by student bands to establish clear expectations and consequences for behaviour within rehearsals. While research literature on band rehearsals has emphasised the importance of respect, shared goals, and efficient time management in successful music ensembles, it has been comparatively silent regarding the implementation of structured frameworks for addressing common band problems such as unpreparedness, time-wasting behaviours, and unresolved conflicts. My research investigated whether implementing structured frameworks, such as codes of conduct, may provide a level of formalisation often lacking in student-led popular music ensembles, potentially leading to more formalised and productive rehearsal environments. To observe students (ages 16-19) co-creating and implementing their own codes of conduct for rehearsals, the year-long study tracked how these codes were created, amended, adapted, and in some cases, ignored throughout the year. Observations and interviews offered insights into the practical challenges, successes, and disappointments of student-led efforts to formalise their rehearsal expectations and conceptions of professionalism. The study also uncovered the impact of these codes on the dynamics of leadership and authority within the bands, examining how student-led agreements influenced decision-making processes and accountability. This presentation offers insights into how popular music bands can create and utilise written agreements over time to cultivate a more professional and productive approach to rehearsals.

Speakers

Patrick Olsen

Lecturer in Popular Music, LASALLE | University of the Arts Singapore

I am in Singapore working to develop a Popular Music programme at a quickly growing college that will soon become a university. I run the Ensembles & Aural Skills (ear training) modules.My interests are primarily in pedagogy: learning cultures, meaning-making, differences in student/teacher... Read More →

Thursday June 5, 2025 2:30pm - 2:40pm CDT
Classroom 101 - Legacy Building 3775 Central Avenue 129 Music Building Memphis, TN, 38111

APME Memphis 2025

Patrick Olsen

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