Improvisation as Liberatory PRAXIS in Popular Music Education

Gareth Dylan Smith is Assistant Professor of Music, Music Education at Boston University. His books include A Philosophy of Playing Drum Kit, I Drum, Therefore I Am, and Authentic Drum Kit Pedagogy. Smith is a drummer and released his duets album, Permission Granted, in 2024, followed by Pathétique with pianist Austina Lee in 2025. His research interests include drumming, punk/DIY/DIWO, and eudaimonia/hedonia. Smith is founding co-editor of the Journal of Popular Music Education, past president of the Association for Popular Music Education, and founding co-editor of the book series, Contemporary Music Making and Learning.

Zack Moir is Professor of Learning and Teaching in Music at Edinburgh Napier University. His research interests are in higher popular music education, social justice, and composition/improvisation pedagogies. Moir edited The Bloomsbury Handbook of Popular Music Education, The Routledge Research Companion to Popular Music Education, and Action Based Approaches in Popular Music Education. He is also an active composer/musician, writing for saxophone and tape, and solo cello, and creating reactive generative sound art installations for the Edinburgh International Science Festival.