Practice, skill and competition are important aspects of participating in school bands and orchestras. However, writers have questioned their value. In this philosophical paper, I mine the writings of the American pragmatists--in particular, their theories of habit and experience--to construct a theory of action for instrumental music education,…

In classical Greek philosophy, the pursuit of Truth was done primarily through logical argumentation using language as "Truth tool." The major thinkers in classical China, on the other hand, were famously suspicious of language, with Confucius declaring, "I wish to be wordless." They turned instead to music to express the…

In this philosophical essay, I propose a theory of creativity for instrumental music education inspired by Confucian "creatio in situ" ("situational creativity"). Through an analysis of three major texts from classical Confucianism--the "Analects," the "Zhongyong" ("Doctrine of the Mean"), and the…