Music, movement, and imaginative play are essential for young children to explore and understand the world around them. It is important for educators of early primary students to consider how they can facilitate meaningful learning experiences that are practical, engaging, and allow children to investigate unfamiliar musical ideas in supportive,…

Students with disabilities (SWDs) in the United States have a right to the least restrictive learning environment as enshrined in federal law. Until recently, conceptions about educating SWDs have drawn from medical models of disability (i.e., that the student must be accommodated to interact with the environment) rather than a social model of…

Once referred to as "the most maligned musical instrument on earth," the harmonica holds an important historical place in music education as an instrument around which bands were formed, solo and ensemble competitions were held, and in some cases, careers were born. Much of this activity centered itself on city recreation programs as…

For various reasons, instrumentalist music education majors may find themselves teaching in an elementary general music classroom. Based on research and experience, this article will discuss why the transition from instrumental to elementary general music education may occur as well as offer suggestions to support instrumentalists new to the…

The challenge schools face when creating a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) program is how to incorporate the "E" into the curriculum. The author's school was meeting the National (U. K.) Curriculum Science, Technology and Maths learning objectives, so how could they justify adding another subject into the mix…

Drawn from Britta Techentrup's children's book "Little Wolf's Song", the author shares music activities appropriate for preschool and children in primary grades. Children will enjoy Technentrup's tender family story, while exploring vocal and instrumental timbres, as well as reading, writing, and creating with melodic contour.

Young teachers often struggle with pacing and the ability to cover more than one or two songs and activities in a single 30-minute general music class. Included in this article are lesson activities that show it is not only possible to include many of the National Standards in a single lesson, but also possible to sing, play, and create in every…

The main adaptations that will be made for music students with physical disabilities are those that make the classroom accessible and those that make classroom instruments accessible. There are a number of principles to guide one when selecting instruments for students with physical disabilities. These principles can assist one in determining the…

Poems are filled with musicality. Poetry and music are often described using similar terms: meter, cadence, phrase, form, and more. Poetry also has physical qualities recognized ever since the Greeks classified poetic meter in feet. In this article, the author presents a project that works well across the age spectrum: recording expressive poetry…

The Appalachian Folk Music Project developed methods to teach folk music in the schools. Authentic material was identified and teaching methods appropriate to rural Appalachia were selected. Departures from the norm included teaching of instruments like the dulcimer, harmonica, and fiddle and the use of folk models whenever possible. (CS)

This article tells about how teachers with little or no background in music at Aynor Elementary School in South Carolina are using the guitar to reinforce spelling, rhyming patterns, vocabulary words, history lessons, and math and science facts. Since 2003, 24 of the school's 30-odd teachers have learned to play well enough to accompany their…

THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF THIS DOCUMENT: Our former Elementary Instrumental Music Program for 4th-6th graders was costly and ineffective. Students were bused to a high school in the middle of the instructional day--costs (time and transportation) were not compensatory with the program, which was experiencing a significant drop-out rate.…

Thanks to an entrepreneurial principal, nearly 75% of a rural New York State school's upper-division students participate in band. To ensure access, the principal bargains with second-hand dealers for instruments (using fees from photo profits) and charges kids a fee of $1 to $15 yearly. Consulting with the music teacher avoids duplication and…

This curriculum and instructional plan for Canadian schools is based on a study of the tradition of steelbands of Trinidad. The primary aim of the study was to move toward understanding how Trinidadian people view, experience, explain, and order specific elements of their musical world. The study proposed a curriculum and instructional plan for…

Conducted during the Institute for Steelband Playing held in 1988, this study's aim was to understand how Trinidadian people view, experience, explain, and order specific elements of their musical world, with the goal of providing an information base for establishing steelband programs in Canadian schools. The study focused on (1) How did the…