Community bands play an important role in Brazilian music education. Often the only point of musical access, they provide free instrumental teaching for thousands of people who cannot afford to pay. One challenge that needs to be continually addressed is the issue of attrition, especially during the first stages of instruction. Considering this…

This study, a replication and extension of work by Norris (2004), examined sight-reading requirements at middle and high school large-group band festivals across the United States. As in the earlier investigation, answers to the following questions were solicited from all 50 states: (1) Are there ratings-based large-group band festivals? (2) Is…

The purpose of this study was to investigate musical parenting of infants and toddlers in Brazil. Forty-three Brazilian mothers were interviewed on musical experience and preferences, beliefs and uses of music with their children. Results suggest that mothers appear to be caught between two main forces: the natural human urge to interact,…

We assessed whether 2 preschoolers with autism learned to discriminate between the sounds of musical instruments more rapidly than the spoken names of the instruments. After the children learned the sound-object relations more rapidly than the name-object relations, we then evaluated a prompt-delay procedure for transferring stimulus control from…

Previous research has demonstrated a benefit of music training on a number of cognitive functions including verbal memory performance. The impact of school-based music programs on memory processes is however relatively unknown. The current study explored the effect of increasing frequency and intensity of classroom-based instrumental training…

Although it is generally accepted that music is universal, we can imagine that every culture has a way of describing or talking about its music. The purpose of this article is to examine some aspects peculiar to the musical traditions of the Anioma people of Southern Nigeria from indigenous perceptions of their cultural modalities. The focus is on…

This article examines the educational function of the North American wind band program. Issues such as band education's methodological control, perceived lack of self-reflection or inquiry, its insecurity concerning program legitimacy, and the systemic fear that seems to permeate its history provide the framework for this exploration. With a…

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of teaching beginning wind instrumentalists using a sound-before-sight (aural) approach, designed to foster the connections between eyes, ears, and fingers; and capitalize on students' musical intuitions. Participants received one hour of weekly instruction for 15 weeks. One group (n = 10)…

This paper examines three historical geometric constructions for handcrafting stringed instruments. Using elementary geometry--in particular, triangles--these methods can provide quite good rational approximations to the irrationals that arise from tuning instruments in equal temperament. Interestingly, continued fractions help explain the…

The current study sought to determine the relationship among music teachers' length of teaching experience, specialty (vocal or instrumental), and ratings of behaviors and teaching activities related to vocal health. Participants (N = 379) were experienced (n = 208) and preservice (n = 171) music teachers, further categorized by specialty, either…

Performance assessment is an integral part of young musicians' development. Students enrolled in music programs frequently participate in adjudication festivals and many audition for select ensembles. Outcomes of such events are deemed consequential among all concerned: students, parents, teachers, and administrators. Furthermore, the number of…

The New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) runs an annual evaluation of students' musical performance. The purposes of the evaluation are to promote music programs in the schools and communities of New York State, and to provide a means of objective evaluation of musical performance. The evaluation is influential because the selections…

Pre-service teacher degree programs are increasingly crowded with subjects covering the wide gamut of knowledge a teacher requires. Ensuring musical knowledge and language for classroom teaching poses a difficult problem for teacher educators. This article examines the challenges of including in the pre-service classroom teaching program a music…

Self- and peer assessments are becoming more popular in classrooms, but there are few data on the reliability and validity of such assessments performed by school children. Because these factors are greatly affected by the number of raters, we conducted two studies to determine the rating behaviours of teenagers in self- and peer assessments, and…

This paper examines the extent of gender differences, and discusses the role of gender in musical instrument learning. It focuses on the collective instrumental experiences of 1493 Chinese students (774 boys and 719 girls attending grades 7-13) within Western and non-Western musical traditions in Hong Kong. The discussion draws attention to gender…