It can be difficult to navigate the tasks of repertoire selection and part assignments in a way that produces a successful performance product while also being educationally beneficial to all students. However, researchers have explored methods of ensuring these goals through repertoire selection. In this article, I present ideas for how educators…

William Frederick ("Fred") Cardin served as a director of instrumental music in the Reading, Pennsylvania, School District from 1930 until his retirement in June 1960. An accomplished performer and composer, Cardin studied at the Curtis School of Music and the Conservatoire Américaine in Paris, France. He is remembered as an outstanding…

Recognizing that music teachers may struggle to implement songwriting activities in a classroom, and that iconic notation provides an opportunity to increase access to school music for all students, the purpose of this article is to share one model of songwriting activities in a music technology class using chord diagrams, beat grids, and keyboard…

The recent increase in popular music education in K-12 school music programs is in part due to the expansion of modern band programming throughout the United States. Modern band is a term used to describe school music ensembles that include popular music instruments and focus on performing music that is meaningful to the students while…

Despite its rich heritage and enduring popularity, country music has historically been marginalized in American music education, usually in favor of more "high-brow" musical practices. This article explores potential explanations for this imbalance within the context of a general overview of cultural and social considerations and…

Creating, performing, responding, and connecting are often central foci in the development of music education curricula. While these meta-organizers provide a sense of direction for planning instruction, greater depths of knowledge and skill could be achieved if these actions were viewed as means rather than ends in music education. The profession…

The purpose of this study was to determine if participation in a composition competition influenced four K-12 students' self-concepts as musicians. Research questions explored motivations for these four students to enter into a composition competition, influences of the competition on students' self-concepts as musicians (if at all), and effects…

A conversation between the Director of the University of Manchester's Science & Engineering Education Research and Innovation Hub and the Education Director of England's Halle Orchestra explores the relationship unfolding between science and music. The interview focuses on synergies between music and science and how the two subjects can…

This article looks at the iPad's role as a musical instrument through the lens of a live performance ensemble that performs primarily on iPads. It also offers an overview of a pedagogical model used by this ensemble, which emphasizes musician autonomy in small groups, where music is learned primarily through aural means and concerts are…

Kindergartener and Dalcroze teacher, Heather Gell (1896-1988), brought music to thousands of Australian children and adults. The community touched by Gell was vast: it included her classes in studios and teacher training colleges, "listeners in" to her radio programs, viewers of her television programs, Dalcroze trainees, and people in…

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)

The book contains information on musical activities which were field tested in Project PASE (Program in the Arts for Special Education, Pennsylvania) classrooms with a wide range of exceptionalities from preschool age to adolescence. Activities are seen to help children become more aware of their bodies, feelings, and themselves; feel important…

This curriculum guide contains objectives, activities, and evaluation procedures for a K-12 music education program. It would be useful to anyone responsible for teaching music. The authors believe that music education has the dual obligation of developing the aesthetic sensitivity of all students regardless of their individual levels of musical…

This paper describes how the musical dice game can be used with beginning, intermediate, or advanced students. In the musical dice game, the student composes six separate musical compositions of five measures each. Each measure of the musical compositions is written on a separate, numbered card. The performance of each measure is determined by…

This book addresses the nature of music education and argues for a broad-based view which is globally inclusive and acknowledges a long, distinguished history. The book asserts that music education has often been too narrowly focused on music instruction in elementary and secondary schools. Through a process of intellectual questioning, the reader…