Education and learning occur in various settings, some of which are more formally institutionalized than others. Even if it seems to have failed as a definition of art, awareness of art-world institutions has increased in the wake of George Dickie's proposal that art enmeshes an artifact in a set of interlocking yet informally structured art-world…

The author of this article proposes an agrarian vision of music education that underscores fundamental, "down-to-earth" principles for human actions and interactions. An agrarian world-view encourages mass participation ("y'all come")--"musicing" is free and available to all and it is not treated as a…

In this article Leon Mones expresses his deep interest in the functional role of music in Western culture and particularly in the system of public education that has been designed to assure the survival and advancement of Western culture and the people who will live within it. In other words, he is interested in music as a dynamic experience in…

Since early times, human beings have searched for spiritual experiences that provide connections to their hearts and souls. People sometimes find these connections through experiencing music--perhaps the last remaining ubiquitous spiritual experience in Western culture. And yet, material values rule our world, even in music education. Is music in…

After more than half a century, the music of Motown not only thrives, it transcends generations. The iconic sound of Motown has led a handful of scholars to write, teach, lecture and share the music, history and business of Motown on their campuses. In its golden age, from 1959 to 1972, the sound Berry Gordy pioneered at Motown Records in Detroit…

Unlike the other arts, music has no direct connection with the rest of the human world. True, there are bird songs and natural "melodies" in the gurgling of brooks, but these are hardly the materials of music in the way that landscape can be the subject of painting. And no natural sounds can stand alone as quasi-artworks the way that the deeply…

How is the tradition of Western classical music faring on university campuses? Before answering this question, it is necessary to understand what has transpired with classical music in the wider culture, as the relationship between the two is so strong. In this article, the author discusses how classical music has taken a big cultural hit in…

Given the increasing interest in musico-literary studies, I wish to examine some ways in which music can be used for pedagogical purposes in teaching literature. It has been widely recognized that music and poetry sprang from the common origin of chant or incantation. Throughout the ages, the sister arts sometimes went hand in hand and sometimes…

There is a long history of debate over what opera is. Since it's more or less formal beginning in the sixteenth century as a reconstruction of ancient drama, opera as an art form has been controversial. The received understanding--emphasized by the genre's founders and in periodic efforts at reforming the standards of composition and…

In this article, the authors address the conversation that, given the recent developments in the philosophy of mind, especially in terms of its cognitive turn, one task for philosophers of music might be to begin to speculate about the properties of music and organized sound that enable them to perform their various moral and cultural roles. The…

Tradition has it that the best way to familiarize oneself with a musical work is to attend a live performance. Teachers urge promising students to frequent concert halls, clubs, or stadia. Musicologists typically adopt the perspective of an ideal concert-goer when arbitrating matters of interpretation or evaluation. In this article, the author…

This article builds an interdisciplinary perspective on the nature of western classical music performance by combining concepts from literary theory, music philosophy and music education philosophy. The article concludes with practical proposals for the education of music performers. (Contains 2 notes.)

Peter Schickele, whose stage persona is P.D.Q. Bach, discusses such subjects as the musical influences on his childhood, humor, creativity, and what he wants to be when he grows up. (CS)

Notes that music education is a vital part of the education of all children at Bonita Elementary School in Crows Landing, California. Discusses how the school staff works together to create a new awareness amongst the students and in the community that will heighten awareness, expand knowledge, and create feelings of appreciation for many types of…

Suggests students can be led to listen to the sounds of poetry as they would listen to a score of music, discovering and re-discovering relationships between sound, rhythmic accents, sections, movements, and ideas. (NH)