Rehearsing popular music: Exploring opportunities for supporting learning in the pop/rock band

Little seems reported about group-based rehearsals of popular music and the peer
learning opportunities that might arise from this activity. Although there are an
increasing number of studies exploring approaches to the assessment of musical
ensembles, they often focus on performance rather than rehearsing and, typically, do
not specifically address popular music courses (Hunter, 2006). Indeed, Lebler (2008)
describes popular music as being usually learned in the broader community as a selfdirected
activity, sometimes including interactions with peers and group activities, but
rarely under the direction of an expert mentor/teacher. The role of the tutor, in
facilitating learning opportunities that may be available for students working in
popular music genres within a band rehearsal context, can be quite different to that
required for rehearsing repertoire which might be described as being drawn from
western art music traditions. If so, and given the apparent lack of literature on, and
pedagogical resources for, band rehearsing of popular music (Lebler, 2007) within the
HE curriculum, the aim of this project is to provide a contribution towards filling that
gap.