Honor the Quiet Listeners: Foundations and Approaches for Supporting Introverted Music Students

Abstract

Music educators are responsible for teaching students with an array of personality types and must be able to reach them all. Introverted or quieter students may constitute up to 50 percent of participants in a given music class or ensemble. In this article, we discuss differences between extroverted and introverted music learners and synthesize research findings into commonsense teaching strategies that support a variety of student personalities. Music educators can make small adjustments to their existing practices to ensure all students grow and thrive, even the quieter ones.