Students who value ensembles, lessons, and traditional pathways in music are not wrong. Their experiences are meaningful and have shaped how they understand music. The challenge is that these experiences are often limited in scope. When music education centers only conductor-led ensembles and teacher-directed learning, students come to see those as the definition of music-making. Rather than dismissing this, the goal is to expand it. When students experience creating, collaborating, and making their own musical decisions, their understanding grows into something broader and more personal.