Engaging preservice music teachers with adult amateur musicians

The purpose of this report is to describe a developing model for inclusion of community music as part of the process of music teacher training at an American university. Included in the narrative is an overview of the Congaree New Horizons Band (CNHB) in Columbia, SC, followed by a description of the inclusion of adult music learners in preservice teacher training experiences at the University of South Carolina (USC). The author describes the results from this partnership that have emerged over the past few years and notes the important, practical benefits to be gained by engaging preservice teachers with populations of learners not associated with the K-12 age range. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications these results may have on future practice.