Teaching Girlie Pop in the Music Tech Classroom

Overview

This project is developed in collaboration with music educator and researcher Michelle Stead as part of postgraduate study in music education. It centres on the pedagogical application of digital music production in secondary schools, using the pop single Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter as a foundation for genre-based composition, listening, and creative agency. The project adopts a scaffolded approach to DAW-based music learning, grounded in a critical understanding of genre, technology, and student identity.

Context and Pedagogical Intent

The teaching of popular music in school settings is well established; however, the specific subgenre often referred to as “girlie pop” — highly produced, vocally expressive, and culturally coded as feminine — is frequently excluded or undervalued. This project responds to that exclusion by centring girlie pop as both a stylistic model and a legitimate object of study. The goal is not to replicate industry practices but to invite students into a structured yet open-ended creative process that supports both technical learning and critical reflection.

Informed by Kuhn and Hein’s (2021) project-based approach to music technology education, the project design reflects their “Project Formula”:

Music Concept + Technology Concept + Fun Hook = Successful Project

Applied here:

  • Music Concept: The formal and stylistic features of girlie pop
  • Technology Concept: Use of DAWs (Soundtrap and GarageBand) as compositional environments
  • Fun Hook: Engagement through the reconstruction of a recognisable track

The project is designed for high school students working with school-provided Soundtrap accounts. It introduces students to rhythmic programming, harmonic structuring, form-building, and sound layering. Instructional materials, including scaffolded DAW sessions, tutorial videos, and genre-based checklists, are currently in development.

Framing Technology and Genre Critically

Following the work of Faulkner (2001) and Wajcman (2004), the project recognises that music technology, like all forms of technology, is socially constructed. In educational contexts, this often manifests in the prioritisation of genres that align with masculine-coded forms of technological expertise. Genres like dubstep, hip hop, and trap frequently form the basis of classroom DAW tasks, reinforcing narrow definitions of musicianship and production skill.

Girlie pop offers a contrasting model. Its aesthetic vocabulary, including bright textures, syncopated chords, layered vocals, and polished sonic surfaces, demands precision, musicality, and attention to detail. The project encourages students to actively engage with these stylistic features while making individual creative choices within a structured framework. By doing so, it highlights the legitimacy of feminine-coded musical practices in music technology education.

Methodology and Design Logic

Students begin by listening analytically to Espresso, identifying genre tropes and production characteristics. They are then guided through the process of reconstructing a track in the same style using original material. Harmonic suggestions (for example, Am–F–C–G) and rhythmic prompts are provided, but students make their own decisions about structure, instrumentation, and form. The process is iterative and encourages experimentation, revision, and peer feedback.

The pedagogical strategy is rooted in constructivist learning theory (Papert, 1980; Resnick, 2007) and draws on Lucy Green’s (2002) work on informal learning in music education. Students construct knowledge through active making: composing, arranging, listening, and reflecting. The emphasis is on creative autonomy rather than passive replication.

Listening Practices and Inclusion

The project also foregrounds listening as an embodied and culturally situated practice. Building on the work of Oliveros (2005) and Stead (2016), it challenges abstract, disembodied models of musical listening that are often reinforced in formal music training. In girlie pop, listening is not passive; it is rhythmic, affective, and immersive. The genre invites movement, emotional response, and direct engagement with sound.

By recognising and embracing these modes of listening, the project affirms the value of students’ lived musical experiences and positions them as capable creative agents.

Conclusion

This project contributes to ongoing efforts to develop inclusive, critical, and musically rigorous approaches to digital music education. It models a genre-based production task that not only supports students’ technical development but also challenges assumptions about genre hierarchy, gender, and musical legitimacy.

Through its focus on girlie pop, the project reimagines the music tech classroom as a space where all students can see their identities, tastes, and creative capacities reflected and respected.