The study investigates Australian music teachers' approaches to teaching the post-tonal piano music of Béla Bartók, composed between 1908 and 1920 and included in the syllabi of four international music examining bodies in Australia. Despite the inclusion of Bartók's piano music in Australian instrumental music education syllabi, it is often…

It is almost as if there are two Bartóks -- the amiable collector of Hungarian folk music and the 'infernal' barbarian intent on destroying the music of the past (Gillies, 2010). These two sides of Bartók's character may be seen in such disparate works as "The Miraculous Mandarin" (1919) and his "Suite" No. 2, Op. 4 (1904-07).…

This study investigates the compositional and contextual thinking of composer, Stuart Greenbaum, and the preparatory thinking, and teaching experience of pianist, Yvonne Lau, in the preparation of the solo piano work, "First Light". Adopting a practice-informed interview approach with questions drawn from the researcher's own preparation…

Two classrooms of diverse 5-year-old children were set the task of exploring ways of realising music invention through the semiotic import of composing resources. In both a rural and an inner-urban setting in Australia, children demonstrated syncretism in bilingual practices in communication. Visual multimodal analysis demonstrated how children…

This article, based on my PhD empirical study, was conducted in a qualitative and holistic approach. It had examined how students had used formal and informal strategies, styles and situations while improvising and composing for the research task. Eighteen research groups made up of a total of 40 males and nine females had participated in…

This paper serves as a brief description of research into the use of professional level music software as a learning tool for creativity and composition by primary school children. The research formed the basis of a Master of Information Technology in Education degree at the University of Melbourne. The paper examines the physical environment, the…

Describes a study that involved a search for a model for the teaching of musical composition to students with some prior experience. Recounts in detail the way students approached the task of composing music, and the compositions they produced. Offers several recommendations for reforming composition instruction. (MJP)

Examines the musical compositions of Australian children ages seven and nine years to discover the nature of their melodic and rhythmic representations. Finds that older children created more compositions of higher stages of complexity. Reports that girls produced a greater percentage of compositions assigned to the highest stages. (CFR)