In this article, the author discusses a rehearsal technique that would teach the content outlined in the National Standards for Arts Education and improve performance at the same time. A major component of this rehearsal technique needs to be increasing students' listening and analytical skills, and one way to do that is to ask questions…

The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is a rigorous preuniversity course of study leading to examinations for highly motivated secondary school students between the ages of 16 and 19. The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) offers the diploma program for students throughout the world. Recognition of the diploma is slowly…

Since--and even before--the National Standards for Music Education were published, music educators have tried to balance the expectations associated with the traditional performance curriculum and contemporary models of music education. The Standards-based curriculum challenges directors to consider how student experiences and learning can be…

Trying to implement the National Standards for Music Education the author has led her to the important conclusion that improvisation is a valuable teaching tool. Rather than thinking about it as yet another thing to teach in the already too-short music lesson, she has started using improvisation activities to reinforce music learning. By doing…

Although the National Standards include achievement standards for improvisation for elementary school students, music teachers sometimes are reluctant to pursue improvisation study with young students. First- and second-year instrumental students, often older elementary or middle school students, may have difficulty studying improvisation because…

Argues that while national standards provide a valuable resource to guide curriculum development, there is no clear procedure for turning them into a grade-by-grade curriculum. Outlines and discusses the process that one school district used to create a standards-based curriculum. Provides numerous charts and examples. (DSK)

Paul Lehrman mentioned in Mix Magazine that school music programs, which traditionally have given students the precious opportunity to hear what real instruments sound like from both player's and listener's perspective, are in the toilet. Some within the profession have voiced similar concerns. K-12 music teachers have historically have had very…

Observes that composition is seldom taught in music classes. Suggests that teachers cultivate student creativity and meet the National Standards for Music Education through composition activities with their beginning, intermediate, and advanced choirs. Presents activities that can be used at all three levels. (DSK)

Music offerings in United States schools have remained largely the same for well over half a century. Basic program consists of general music classes up to and sometimes through middle school and elective performance opportunities in upper elementary grades through high school, primarily focused on band (including jazz groups), orchestra, and…

This article challenges choral teachers to motivate their choirs to a new level of choral singing and harmonic creativity and outlines a sequential process for introducing improvisation into the daily warm-up. It argues that students can learn to harmonize and improvise by ear as part of each day's warm-up period. Sections include: (1) Chord…

Presents a model that provides guidelines that colleges and universities can follow when including technology in their music-degree requirements. Discusses the role of technology in music education, especially as related to the National Association of Schools of Music guidelines. Includes a glossary of technical terms used in the article. (DSK)

Paulo Freire developed critical pedagogy in Brazil in the 1960s to teach illiterate adults (or, as Freire calls them, "the oppressed") to read. Freire believed that teaching was a conversational exchange of information between the teacher and the student. He posed questions and problems to his students that caused them to take what they already…

In this article, a general elementary music teacher describes the steps involved in becoming a national board certified teacher. The author describes the steps there are to becoming certified including registering with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). She mentions the scholarship or loan programs available to help…

The typical music history or appreciation class teaches students to analyze musical elements and think generally about the aesthetics of historical periods but rarely encourages them to consider why the overwhelming majority of the composers discussed are white, European, middle- and upper-class men. Courses on popular music often discuss jazz and…

This paper discusses whether music educators should push for national testing of music students. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) did test music students in 1997. Even though the results of that test did not indicate students were very accomplished, there was a general feeling that at least NAEP and the nation recognized…