Music IS social. Music IS emotional. Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in the music classroom capitalizes on the power of music education to help our students build the competencies of IDENTITY (self-awareness & self-management), BELONGING (social-awareness & relationship management), and AGENCY (responsible decision-making). SEL must be intentionally embedded in musical instruction. It should never feel like “one more thing” or a box to check; it should simply feel like great music teaching meeting our students’ needs. We put SEL center stage!