For centuries, music education has been noted for positively increasing students’ greater holistic learning and lifestyle outcomes, yet music education across the United States in public and private settings has faced a stark decline in the past several decades.

Bearing witness to this, a new wave of music entrepreneurs, performers, content creators and instructors are taking the music education space by storm. These instructors are leveraging various forms of technology and their personal social platforms to tell inspiring stories about their journeys and share their best practices within the field. Their work has inspired a new wave of learning in-person, virtually and through hybrid methods.

Below, five artists-turned-educators discuss their inspiration for becoming teachers, the importance of music education, challenges they have witnessed within the field, and innovative ways that music education can evolve in the future.

Darlene Machacon: Elementary general music teacher, choir director, podcaster

Practicing: 20+ years

Teaching: 10+ years

Instruments: Piano, general music, choir

Location: Garden Grove, CA

Darlene Machacon was inspired to teach music by the train scene in the movie The Chronicles of Narnia: "The film composer scored a beautiful musical moment that instantly inspired me to want to make music for the rest of my life," she told GRAMMY.com. Today, she teaches elementary general music for kindergarten through sixth grade, and directs fifth and six grade choir. 

Machacon believes "music is essential because it is all around us," and aims to dismantle the idea that music education is limited to learning how to read traditional notation. "Our youth deserve music education that connects them to what they experience outside classroom walls and challenges them to make a positive impact in their communities," Machacon says.

While this journey has been enjoyable, Machacon notes that music educators are often expected to work beyond contract hours and experience a lack of work-life balance. They often take on larger class sizes, earn lower pay and encounter the perception that music is not a "real" subject. Despite these challenges, Machacon sees a shift in elementary general music classes away from "singing from old school textbooks and reading notes" to creating immediate and relevant connections to keep students interested outside of school performance ensembles.

These connections could include opportunities to play in rock and pop bands, Machacon suggested. While classes for music production and design could pave the way for sound designers, music producers, video music creators and their peers.

Ian Levy: Assistant professor, hip-hop scholar

Practicing: 20+ years

Teaching: 10 years

Instruments: Trumpet, emcee

Location: New York, NY

Ian Levy recalls being introduced to hip-hop and emceeing as a tool for self-expression and emotional development in college. He then turned to hip-hop-based interventions as a school counselor, using lyric writing, recording and performing as therapeutic tools. In youth-created recording studios, Levy’s students share emotional experiences and systemic injustices by writing and releasing songs, and creating album artwork and music videos.  

And while this work creates a culturally sustaining counseling service, helping youth develop stress coping skills and emotional self-awareness, Levy's methodology has often come into question. Some faculty perceive these courses as the students "just having fun."

"Education tries to define how youth should sound and develop, often in misalignment with who they truly are," Levy says in rebuttal. "A challenge for hip-hop in school counseling is supporting youth in trusting their ways of knowing and being able to live authentically in a world that limits self-actualization."  

In the long run, Levy believes music education must transcend beyond purely teaching music and be leveraged as a counseling and teaching tool in various subject matter classrooms.

Ashley Keiko, Music school owner, performing/recording artist

Practicing: 20+ years

Teaching: 15+ years

Instruments: Piano, saxophone, flute

Location: Queens, NY

Ashley Keiko ventured into music at the behest of her parents, educators who owned a martial arts studio. Keiko was heavily involved in the studio and, one day, her mother encouraged her to provide piano lessons to a student. Word spread quickly, and Keiko's student population increased. By age 25, Keiko owned and ran her own school, Keiko Studios in Jamaica, New York. 

Keiko's work has evolved dramatically over the years. "For many years I taught private piano/saxophone lessons to students of all ages and recalled being hands-on with my teaching style at countless schools, concert and jazz bands, general music ed, choir and more," she says. "Now, I oversee 14 instructors with over 130 students and focus on big picture projects." 

Yet Keiko is challenged by the lack of others understanding the value of music educators' time and music education as a whole. She hopes that having more conversations about music education will change its perceived value. She finds resolve through creative means, incorporating more accessible technology into the music education experience. With countless music websites, apps, and software, Keiko believes the learning process for students can be more enjoyable and productive.

Brandon Toews, Content Director at Drumeo

Practicing: 15+ years

Teaching: 5+ years

Instruments: Drums, percussion

Location: Abbotsford, British Columbia

Brandon Toews' private music instructors inspired him to branch into music education. When he began working for an online drum education company, Drumeo in 2014, Toews witnessed the exponential global impact music education could have at scale. For the past seven years, Toews has filmed educational content for Drumeo, working with many of the world’s top drummers including Dennis Chambers, Simon Phillips, Jay Weinberg, Hannah Welton and Steve Smith.

While he believes that "music education is key in creating more musicians around the world and helping them find their unique voices," Toews has been challenged to create content that serves and connects those with different learning styles.  

Each of Drumeo's approximately 30,000 students learns differently, he notes. To this end, the platform utilizes "step-by-step video courses to conceptual videos focused on creativity and musicality, or digital tools and technology for practicing exercises with notation." 

Toews finds that music education can be innovative by becoming more engaging, fun and increasing the practice tools and applications available for musicians. "Information is so widely available, but effective practice tools are still few and far between," he says.

Kate Warren, Freelance performer, educator

Practicing: 15 years

Teaching: 4 years

Instruments: French Horn, trumpet

Location: New Haven, CT

"Growing up, regular lessons were not something my family could afford," Kate Warren says. "Because of that, anything I learned outside of the classroom came from pedagogy books, blog posts, podcasts, and YouTube." Using those resources increased her interest in giving back to the field. 

To date, Warren has maintained a private studio, written a book on french horn pedagogy, run a music-education focused social media page and taught marching band. Her most recent project is a beginner french horn video series for students through a partnership with instrument manufacturers Conn & Selmer.

Warren has found that music education can provide students with "healthy outlets, lifelong friendships, and critical life skills." However, she’s witnessed that gender representation is still an issue in music — especially in brass playing.  

To provide an informed solution she is conducting research to help institutions diversify their hiring processes. Warren has also found social media to be influential in changing the way young people interact with and seek learning experiences by disseminating creators’ knowledge and experiences more freely.

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The Recording Academy has partnered with leading online learning platform Coursera on GRAMMY GO, a new online initiative to offer classes tailored for music creators and industry professionals.

This partnership empowers the next generation of the music community with practical, up-to-the moment digital content that provides wisdom for both emerging and established members of the industry. Continuing the Academy’s ongoing mission to serve all music people, courses cover a variety of specializations tailored to creative and professional growth. 

GRAMMY GO on Coursera includes courses taught by Recording Academy members, featuring GRAMMY winners and nominees and offers real-life lessons learners can put to work right away.

Starting today, enrollment is open for GRAMMY GO’s first Coursera specialization, "Building Your Audience for Music Professionals," taught by Joey Harris, international music/marketing executive and CEO of Joey Harris Inc. The course features Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and five-time GRAMMY winner Jimmy Jam, 10-time GRAMMY nominee Janelle Monáe and three-time GRAMMY winner and the 2024 GRAMMYs Best New Artist Victoria Monét. This foundational specialization will help participants gain the skills, knowledge and confidence to build a strong brand presence and cultivate a devoted audience within the ever-changing music industry. 

The partnership’s second course, launching later this summer, aims to strengthen the technological and audio skills of a music producer. "Music Production: Crafting An Award-Worthy Song" will be taught by Carolyn Malachi, Howard University professor and GRAMMY nominee, and will include appearances by GRAMMY winner CIRKUT, three-time GRAMMY winner Hit-Boy, artist and celebrity vocal coach Stevie Mackey, five-time GRAMMY nominee and Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr., and 15-time GRAMMY winner Judith Sherman. Pre-enrollment for "Music Production: Crafting An Award-Worthy Song" opens today.

"Whether it be through a GRAMMY Museum program, GRAMMY Camp or GRAMMY U, the GRAMMY organization is committed to helping music creators flourish, and the Recording Academy is proud to introduce our newest learning platform, GRAMMY GO, in partnership with Coursera," said Panos A. Panay, President of the Recording Academy. "A creator’s growth path is ongoing and these courses have been crafted to provide learners with the essential tools to grow in their professional and creative journeys."

"We are honored to welcome GRAMMY GO, our first entertainment partner, to the Coursera community," said Marni Baker Stein, Chief Content Officer at Coursera. "With these self-paced online specializations, aspiring music professionals all over the world have an incredible opportunity to learn directly from iconic artists and industry experts. Together with GRAMMY GO, we can empower tomorrow's pioneers of the music industry to explore their passion today."

GRAMMY GO also serves as the music community’s newest digital hub for career pathways and editorial content that provides industry insights for members of the industry; visit go.grammy.com for more. For information and enrollment, please visit the landing pages for "Building Your Audience for Music Professionals" and "Music Production: Crafting An Award-Worthy Song."

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Updated Friday Oct. 13, 2023 to include info about Kendrick Lamar's most recent GRAMMY wins, as of the 2023 GRAMMYs.

A GRAMMY veteran these days, Kendrick Lamar has won 17 GRAMMYs and has received 47 GRAMMY nominations overall. A sizable chunk of his trophies came from the 58th annual GRAMMY Awards in 2016, when he walked away with five — including his first-ever win in the Best Rap Album category.

This installment of GRAMMY Rewind turns back the clock to 2016, revisiting Lamar's acceptance speech upon winning Best Rap Album for To Pimp A Butterfly. Though Lamar was alone on stage, he made it clear that he wouldn't be at the top of his game without the help of a broad support system. 

"First off, all glory to God, that's for sure," he said, kicking off a speech that went on to thank his parents, who he described as his "those who gave me the responsibility of knowing, of accepting the good with the bad."

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He also extended his love and gratitude to his fiancée, Whitney Alford, and shouted out his Top Dawg Entertainment labelmates. Lamar specifically praised Top Dawg's CEO, Anthony Tiffith, for finding and developing raw talent that might not otherwise get the chance to pursue their musical dreams.

"We'd never forget that: Taking these kids out of the projects, out of Compton, and putting them right here on this stage, to be the best that they can be," Lamar — a Compton native himself — continued, leading into an impassioned conclusion spotlighting some of the cornerstone rap albums that came before To Pimp a Butterfly.

"Hip-hop. Ice Cube. This is for hip-hop," he said. "This is for Snoop Dogg, Doggystyle. This is for Illmatic, this is for Nas. We will live forever. Believe that."

To Pimp a Butterfly singles "Alright" and "These Walls" earned Lamar three more GRAMMYs that night, the former winning Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song and the latter taking Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (the song features Bilal, Anna Wise and Thundercat). He also won Best Music Video for the remix of Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood." 

Lamar has since won Best Rap Album two more times, taking home the golden gramophone in 2018 for his blockbuster LP DAMN., and in 2023 for his bold fifth album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.

Watch Lamar's full acceptance speech above, and check back at GRAMMY.com every Friday for more GRAMMY Rewind episodes. 

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Twenty-five music teachers have today been announced as semifinalists for the Music Educator Award, an annual award, presented by the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum, that supports and celebrates music education and music educators across the U.S. The 25 semifinalists, who hail from 25 cities across 17 states, were selected from a pool of more than 2,000 initial nominations from across all 50 U.S. states. Finalists will be announced in December, and the ultimate recipient of the 2024 Music Educator Award will be recognized during GRAMMY Week 2024, days ahead of the 2024 GRAMMYs.

Nominations for the 2025 Music Educator Award are now open.

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Presented by the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum, the Music Educator Award recognizes current educators who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the music education field and demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in the schools. The Award is open to current U.S. music teachers. Anyone can nominate a teacher — students, parents, friends, colleagues, community members, school deans, and administrators — while teachers are also able to nominate themselves; nominated teachers are notified and invited to fill out an application.

Each year, the recipient of the Music Educator Award, selected from 10 finalists, receives a $10,000 honorarium and matching grant for their school's music program. The nine additional finalists receive a $1,000 honorarium and matching grants. The remaining 15 semifinalists, among the group announced today, will receive a $500 honorarium with matching school grants.

The Music Educator Award program, including honorariums, is made possible by the generosity and support of the Chuck Lorre Family Foundation. In addition, the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, NAMM Foundation, and National Education Association support this program through outreach to their constituencies.

Read More: 5 Organizations And Scholarships Supporting Music Education

The full list of the 2024 Music Educator Award semifinalists is as follows:

Learn more about the Music Educator Award and apply to the 2025 Music Educator Award program now.

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It's rare that a genre can be traced back to a single artist or group, but for funk, that was James Brown. The Godfather of Soul coined the phrase and style of playing known as "on the one," where the first downbeat is emphasized, instead of the typical second and fourth beats in pop, soul and other styles. As David Cheal eloquently explains, playing on the one "left space for phrases and riffs, often syncopated around the beat, creating an intricate, interlocking grid which could go on and on." You know a funky bassline when you hear it; its fat chords beg your body to get up and groove.

Brown's 1965 classic, "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag," became one of the first funk hits, and has been endlessly sampled and covered over the years, along with his other groovy tracks. Of course, many other funk acts followed in the '60s, and the genre thrived in the '70s and '80s as the disco craze came and went, and the originators of hip-hop and house music created new music from funk and disco's strong, flexible bones built for dancing.

Legendary funk bassist Bootsy Collins learned the power of the one from playing in Brown's band, and brought it to George Clinton, who created P-funk, an expansive, Afrofuturistic, psychedelic exploration of funk with his various bands and projects, including Parliament-Funkadelic. Both Collins and Clinton remain active and funkin', and have offered their timeless grooves to collabs with younger artists, including Kali Uchis, Silk Sonic, and Omar Apollo; and Kendrick Lamar, Flying Lotus, and Thundercat, respectively.

In the 1980s, electro-funk was born when artists like Afrika Bambaataa, Man Parrish, and Egyptian Lover began making futuristic beats with the Roland TR-808 drum machine — often with robotic vocals distorted through a talk box. A key distinguishing factor of electro-funk is a de-emphasis on vocals, with more phrases than choruses and verses. The sound influenced contemporaneous hip-hop, funk and electronica, along with acts around the globe, while current acts like Chromeo, DJ Stingray, and even Egyptian Lover himself keep electro-funk alive and well.

Today, funk lives in many places, with its heavy bass and syncopated grooves finding way into many nooks and crannies of music. There's nu-disco and boogie funk, nodding back to disco bands with soaring vocals and dance floor-designed instrumentation. G-funk continues to influence Los Angeles hip-hop, with innovative artists like Dam-Funk and Channel Tres bringing the funk and G-funk, into electro territory. Funk and disco-centered '70s revival is definitely having a moment, with acts like Ghost Funk Orchestra and Parcels, while its sparkly sprinklings can be heard in pop from Dua Lipa, Doja Cat, and, in full "Soul Train" character, Silk Sonic. There are also acts making dreamy, atmospheric music with a solid dose of funk, such as Khruangbin’s global sonic collage.

There are many bands that play heavily with funk, creating lush grooves designed to get you moving. Read on for a taste of five current modern funk and nu-disco artists making band-led uptempo funk built for the dance floor. Be sure to press play on the Spotify playlist above, and check out GRAMMY.com's playlist on Apple Music, Amazon Music and Pandora.

Say She She

Aptly self-described as "discodelic soul," Brooklyn-based seven-piece Say She She make dreamy, operatic funk, led by singer-songwriters Nya Gazelle Brown, Piya Malik and Sabrina Mileo Cunningham. Their '70s girl group-inspired vocal harmonies echo, sooth and enchant as they cover poignant topics with feminist flair.

While they’ve been active in the New York scene for a few years, they’ve gained wider acclaim for the irresistible music they began releasing this year, including their debut album, Prism. Their 2022 debut single "Forget Me Not" is an ode to ground-breaking New York art collective Guerilla Girls, and "Norma" is their protest anthem in response to the news that Roe vs. Wade could be (and was) overturned. The band name is a nod to funk legend Nile Rodgers, from the "Le freak, c'est chi" exclamation in Chic's legendary tune "Le Freak."

Moniquea

Moniquea's unique voice oozes confidence, yet invites you in to dance with her to the super funky boogie rhythms. The Pasadena, California artist was raised on funk music; her mom was in a cover band that would play classics like Aretha Franklin’s "Get It Right" and Gladys Knight’s "Love Overboard." Moniquea released her first boogie funk track at 20 and, in 2011, met local producer XL Middelton — a bonafide purveyor of funk. She's been a star artist on his MoFunk Records ever since, and they've collabed on countless tracks, channeling West Coast energy with a heavy dose of G-funk, sunny lyrics and upbeat, roller disco-ready rhythms.

Her latest release is an upbeat nod to classic West Coast funk, produced by Middleton, and follows her February 2022 groovy, collab-filled album, On Repeat.

Shiro Schwarz

Shiro Schwarz is a Mexico City-based duo, consisting of Pammela Rojas and Rafael Marfil, who helped establish a modern funk scene in the richly creative Mexican metropolis. On "Electrify" — originally released in 2016 on Fat Beats Records and reissued in 2021 by MoFunk — Shiro Schwarz's vocals playfully contrast each other, floating over an insistent, upbeat bassline and an '80s throwback electro-funk rhythm with synth flourishes.

Their music manages to be both nostalgic and futuristic — and impossible to sit still to. 2021 single "Be Kind" is sweet, mellow and groovy, perfect chic lounge funk. Shiro Schwarz’s latest track, the joyfully nostalgic "Hey DJ," is a collab with funkstress Saucy Lady and U-Key.

L'Impératrice

L'Impératrice (the empress in French) are a six-piece Parisian group serving an infectiously joyful blend of French pop, nu-disco, funk and psychedelia. Flore Benguigui's vocals are light and dreamy, yet commanding of your attention, while lyrics have a feminist touch.

During their energetic live sets, L'Impératrice members Charles de Boisseguin and Hagni Gwon (keys), David Gaugué (bass), Achille Trocellier (guitar), and Tom Daveau (drums) deliver extended instrumental jam sessions to expand and connect their music. Gaugué emphasizes the thick funky bass, and Benguigui jumps around the stage while sounding like an angel. L’Impératrice’s latest album, 2021’s Tako Tsubo, is a sunny, playful French disco journey.

Franc Moody

Franc Moody's bio fittingly describes their music as "a soul funk and cosmic disco sound." The London outfit was birthed by friends Ned Franc and Jon Moody in the early 2010s, when they were living together and throwing parties in North London's warehouse scene. In 2017, the group grew to six members, including singer and multi-instrumentalist Amber-Simone.

Their music feels at home with other electro-pop bands like fellow Londoners Jungle and Aussie act Parcels. While much of it is upbeat and euphoric, Franc Moody also dips into the more chilled, dreamy realm, such as the vibey, sultry title track from their recently released Into the Ether.

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