Emily Langerholc
Emily Langerholc is a music educator who actively explores connections across a wide variety of music makers and musical traditions. She is currently in her 18th year of teaching music in public schools across Florida. She has taught middle school band, chorus, adaptive general music, and high school music history and currently teaches elementary general music. She is passionate about the inclusion of popular music at all levels of the academic music curriculum and is also a specialist in woodwind instruction.
She is currently a doctoral student at the Center for Music Education Research at the University of South Florida. Her research interests include popular music in K-12 settings, musical imagery in families, and technology’s influence on music preference. She holds prior degrees from the University of Central Florida and the Florida State University. Her interest in the overlap between academic music and popular music began in her undergraduate years, having written an Honors thesis about parallels between French composer Erik Satie and alternative rock band Sonic Youth. In her master’s degree program, she began compiling prominent examples of music theory concepts heard in popular songs.
In 2016, she started the Rebel Music Teacher blog to continue compiling songs for this project. She hopes to keep making connections between popular music and academic music through her writing and her teaching. Her work gained notoriety on social media, even getting an inadvertent shout-out during Lizzo’s Hot Ones interview in 2022. Guide to Teachable Features in Popular Music is her first book. When she is not teaching, writing, or practicing, she spends quality time with her family & friends or comfort-watches Gilmore Girls for the hundredth time.
Find Emily:
eBooks by John Doe
Posts by John Doe
Musicast Episode 19: Franklin Willis – The Power of Living Your Teacher Truth
Franklin Willis is taking the Music Education world by storm! From his new book, Edward's Rhythm Sticks, to the amazing work he does with children and teachers everyday, he is an inspiration to listen to and learn from. You don't want to miss this episode! [...]
Research to Practice: Inclusion Means Everyone
For the past few years, the field of music education has talked about an increased need for diversity and equity in classrooms. However, as I’ve listened to these calls for change, I frequently see that for many people, diversity and inclusion encompasses only race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, orientation, and socioeconomic status. And while these are all aspects of music education that certainly need to change, I hold firm to the belief that we cannot have truly diverse or inclusive classrooms until we also include people with disabilities. [...]
Musicast Episode 18: Kat Reinhert – Popular Music on Stage and in Class
F-flat author, teacher, professor, and singer-songwriter Kat Reinhart sits down to discuss her journey as a musician. She discusses what it took to get where she is now, where she's headed, and lends a ton of advice to those looking to forge their own path in education or the music industry. Take a listen! [...]
The Asterisk: Representation and Diversifying Visual Aids
Welcome to The Asterisk*, a new regular column where we’ll [...]
Musicast Episode 16: Margaret Harrigan- The Importance of Music Play
Elementary music teacher and research Maggie Harrigan sits down with Marissa and Kevin to discuss this importance of music play in the elementary music classroom. She gives advice for where to start, resources to to turn to, and how to incorporate it into your classroom! [...]
Research to Practice: Informal Music Teaching
Action research is a great way to break into thinking about ways to improve what you teach, how you teach, and how students learn. I would even go as far as to suggest that most teachers are already doing this in their classrooms. Action research doesn’t have to be formal or fancy. It just starts with a spark of wonder or an idea. [...]