Several years ago, the author's relocated their work as educators from middle and high school music classrooms to positions in teacher education at two Canadian universities. Recognizing that working in initial teacher education demanded a new level of theorizing their practices of music education, they questioned their professional knowledge, developed courses, and found solace and inspiration in collaboration as they considered the literature demanding a paradigm shift in music education. The author's pondered the gap between the ideas expressed in this literature and the classroom realities that many of their teacher candidates were experiencing. Along with other trends, they noticed that many of their teacher candidates were being asked by their associate teachers to teach a lesson or two on the "elements of music". In this article, the author's draw on their experiences as both K-12 music teachers and teacher educators to: (1) share their thinking about the continuing curricular ubiquity of the "elements of music"; (2) highlight how "the elements" work as a framework of dominance, denying diversity, access, and individual agency; (3) articulate barriers to change toward an enactment of an alternative pedagogy; and (4) identify ways their adolescent students responded to and communicated about music and suggest implications and alternatives for pedagogy related to music listening.