*SPECIAL TREAT ALERT*

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Lindsay-based music educator, percussionist, and researcher Andy McNeilly about music as a metacognitive activity, his experience teaching music in Bali, and what lessons we as music instructors can apply to make our lessons more student-centric.

Andy and I go way back to 2006 when we were both members of the community R&B band The Odyssey Project in Lindsay. Him and his family recently moved back to the City of Kawartha Lakes after many years spent in Bali, where he became famous for performing, learning to speak Balinese and other Indonesian languages and creating comical educational content about researching Balinese arts and culture.

I was fortunate to get a chance to reconnect with someone who shares many similar views on approaches to teaching music, as well as the importance of the arts for not only young people, but the City of Kawartha Lakes community.

Below is a snippet of our interview, edited for brevity:

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Morrison Music (MM): I was fascinated when we were chatting about metacognition in the context of learning music. In simple terms, what is metacognition?

Andy McNeilly (AM): Metacognition is thinking about thinking. I like to call it personalized knowledge.

MM: And how is learning music a metacognitive exercise?

AM: As an example, when learning to sing or play their first note or scale, the learner teaches their mind and body to personalize the knowledge by making a sound in the way that sounds and feels best for them. This is fantastic because it proves that making music is a personalized, metacognitive activity by nature.

If, for example, you and I both learn a C major scale on guitar, playing the same notes on the same instrument, how does that scale become “ours”?

What’s wonderful about learning music is every musician plays, or sings notes differently to produce their own unique sounds. You can bend a note, or play with vibrato and use those same notes in different ways to personalize own your unique sound!

How can music educators apply this theory to their teaching approach?

I always start by finding out from learners about different kinds of music they enjoy listening to and why. It makes the learning personalized, differentiated and puts each student at the center of all teaching and learning activities.

I want to talk a bit about your experience teaching music in Bali. How does music education in Bali differ from the way we learn in Canada? 

In Bali, the remarkable concept of Magurupanggul means your teacher is the mallet that strikes the instrument. There is a learner-centered focus on looking, listening and copying what the teacher does on an instrument.

Learning happens in pairs (teacher and learner) and in groups where the teacher goes to individual instruments one by one and plays that pattern on the instrument with each learner while everybody continues to play together.

What takeaways from this style of education do you think we should incorporate in the way we teach and learn?

I think the most important thing to do is to make arts and culture a priority in your social and spiritual lives. Making music together is a fun activity that you can do your whole life!

Arts education is seemingly becoming less of a priority for those who develop school curricula in Ontario. What are students missing out on by not being immersed in the arts in school?

Unfortunately, without an emphasis on arts education in schools, students miss out on many opportunities to learn metacognition and transferable skills.

To add to that, interested and talented students graduating from schools in Ontario may be unable to pursue post-secondary studies in the arts.

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About Andy McNeilly

Andy McNeilly is a music educator, percussionist and researcher who has been a teacher at every level from pre-school, K-12, to university in Indonesia, China and Canada since 2014. When Andy lived in Bali, he became famous for performing, learning to speak Balinese and other Indonesian languages and creating comical educational content about researching Balinese arts and culture. 

He has now returned to Canada with his Balinese family and is teaching and performing in the Kawartha Lakes. He enjoys playing percussion in the Kawartha Lakes Concert Band as well as playing Balinese Gamelan, songwriting, composing and recording.

Andy is an International Baccalaureate Educator Certificate in Teaching and Learning recipient (IBEC), Cambridge International Assessment Specialist in Arts, recipient of numerous awards and scholarships from the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Education and Culture while at the Indonesian Institute of Arts, Denpasar, Bali, a graduate of the University of Toronto Faculty of Music and four-time Avedis Zildjian percussion scholarship recipient, a graduate of the Cambrian College music program and is currently working towards completion of a Master’s of Science in Teaching degree.

Andy is a fantastic musician and teacher. He currently has a few spots open for students interested in learning drums. You can reach me by phone/text at 705-308-8080 or via email at mcneillyandy01@gmail.com.