Rathgeber, J. (2015, October). We’ve got to rock: The musical world of the Smooth Criminals. Poster presented at the Society for Music Teacher Education Symposium, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC.

This case study sought to explore the practices of a music therapy rock band, the Smooth Criminals. The band was comprised of young adults with development disabilities and adult assistants. The group operated within a “community music therapy” (Ruud, 2004; Stige, Andsell, Elefant, & Pavlicevi, 2010) clinical setting. Research questions included: (Q1) What are the musical practices of the young adult members of the band and how do the adult members facilitate these practices, (Q2) What are the affordances of the band’s practices for young adult members, and (Q3) What are the constraints of the band’s practices for young adult members? Data generation occurred over 13 months and included: video recordings of rehearsals, video recordings of two performances, informal and semi-structured interviews with participants and family members, field notes, reflective journaling, and selective transcription of video-recorded data.

​Related to each research question, findings include: (Q1) Young adult members selected the music they learned/performed, chose or rejected adult-created approaches, and were empowered to self-adapt situations to fit their abilities and needs. Adult members offered young adult members scaffolded and accommodative approaches for learning/performing music. (Q2) Participation in the band may afford young adult members chances to engage in musical community, to develop a sense of mutual care, to construct their own identities, and to develop their abilities to communicate verbally and musically. (Q3) Findings suggest that the practices of the band may have constrained the young adult members due to: limited focus on musical skills/technique acquisition, limited interactions with peers without similar diagnoses, limited genres to explore due to instrument availability and adult instrumental proficiency, and adult members’ assumptions about the abilities and tastes of young adult members. The findings may inform music educators who seek to develop ways to facilitate music making and learning among individuals with diverse abilities.

This case study explores the means and meanings of participation in a music therapy rock band for young adult members. The band, the Smooth Criminals, was comprised of five young adult members diagnosed with developmental disabilities and four adult assistants, including three music therapists/interns and myself as a volunteer. Data collection included: video recordings of weekly rehearsals and three concert; field notes; interviews with young adult members, their family members, and the other adult assistants; and a researcher journal. Through data analysis using organizational and axial coding, three major themes emerged: (1) young adult members use the band as a space to play with and construct personal identity, (2) participation in the band afford the young adult members and their family members a space for community and mutual care, and (3) adult assistants as acting as embellishers and providing a safety net. Findings suggest the experiences hold mostly social and identity-based meanings for young adults and that actions of the young adults are facilitated by self-adaptations and help from adult assistants. The discussion explores possible implications of this study for music education and music education research practices.

​Rathgeber, J. (2015, June). Let’s rock, together: The Smooth Criminals, disability, and inclusion. Paper presented at the Association for Popular Music Education Conference, University of Miami, Miami, FL.

Plenary session on Popular Music Pedagogy. 

Rathgeber, J., Hein, E., Bell, A. P., Egolf, E., O’Leary, J., & Bledsoe, R. (2014, August). Panel on Popular Music Pedagogies. Plenary panel presented at the The First Interactive Multimedia Performing Arts Collaborative Technology (IMPACT) Conference, New York, NY.

Illinois Music Educators Association Summer Learning Series 2014

We Did That! – Rathgeber handout
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Description: Packaged musicals are cute, but is there more to putting on a musical than being cute? What if you could engage your student (even the very young ones) in creating their own shows, asking them to make all the creative discussions, and opening up the world of musical possibilities to them all while preparing for a concert? In this session, you will explore, experience, and discuss how to put on a student-created performance/concert. You will discover some ways to lead your students in creating their own concert, including dealing with repertoire selection, “casting” and selecting parts, developing instrumental parts and choreography, and the logistics of working with a bit of uncertainty. You will walk away with lots of ideas, resources, and a sketch of a possible student-created performance that you could start with your students as soon as school resumes.