Songwriting pedagogy is in its infancy in music education. This article presents a new way to think about pedagogy that utilizes student workgroups that more closely align with the ways songs are written in the real world. Implications for music education's connections to the world of contemporary commercial music are provided.

Mathematics and Music are closely connected and their multifaceted relationship has been explored since ancient times. Pythagoras was one of the first who discovered and formalized one of those connections by studying the arithmetic of musical intervals, expressing them by numerical ratios and relating ratios to consonance/dissonance notions,…

The history of female piano teachers, especially those working with children, remains largely unstudied. Estelle Philleo (1880-1936) is one example from the early 20th century who specialized in group lessons for beginners. A New Woman who never married, she began as a junior piano teacher at the Michigan Female Seminary before graduating in 1902.…

The ability to compose music must be taught and practiced. Students need purposeful opportunities to develop their musical thinking. This article presents a number of games and playful work that teachers can use to develop musical thought and lead toward intentional composition.

Middle school students are old enough to be capable of abstract thought and critical thinking while still being playful and joyfully goofy! Through music composition in general music classes, middle school students can be challenged to make musical decisions. Composition can be especially exciting in middle school because they will be motivated to…

This article presents a project, Shapes of Water, funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, which gave music education students the opportunity to compose children's songs about climate change with the help of artists from two fields (contemporary circus and music) and a scientist (chemistry). The article outlines the ways in which the composing…

In this paper we discuss the musical work of classical composer Benjamin Britten as a lasting legacy for public music education. Our starting point is the contemporary urgency to rethink both public music education in general, and the public-educational significance of Western classical music in particular, in the face of the dual threats posed by…

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,…

This design case describes how the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) informed the development of SpectrumPlay, a digital tool created to support learning and instruction of elementary music literacy and composition in inclusive music classrooms. The learning supports embedded in the tool enable students with visual processing…

Many music theory courses make use of a textbook with an accompanying anthology of musical examples. Some anthologies include recorded examples, and some do not. Many books address the topics of eighteenth-century theory with exercises for the student to complete at the end of each chapter. This article proposes a music theory pedagogy that honors…

This article offers the thoughts and comments of ensemble students performing music composed by women, African Americans, LGBTQ+ persons, and those who are minoritized in their own countries or regions. The student reflections suggest the potential roles music education might play in helping students reflect on issues of diversity, equity, and…

The Burmese arched harp, known as "Saung Gauk," is the national icon of the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar (once called Burma). It is both ancient and contemporary, and its music frequently carries stories that are threaded with long-standing philosophical principles of the Burmese. The music of the Saung Gauk consists of five…

In this column, I discuss a soundscape composition activity that I implemented with primary/elementary music classes. During this activity, students used the iPad app, iMovie, to record, organize and edit sound to accompany photos of artworks that they had created. Overall, I found iMovie to be a useful app for music composition with general music…

Music students, their teachers, composers, and school communities experience deep, long-lasting growth in music-making and artistic perspective when provided with opportunities to engage in the commissioning of new musical works in conjunction with composer residencies. Through consideration of relevant literature and case-study examination, the…

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact of the Curriculum Design Coherence Model (CDC Model -- Rata, 2019) on the design practice of two music teachers in a middle school music class in New Zealand. The CDC Model proposes that deep learning first requires deep design coherence. This coherence is generated by three interrelated design…