Recent developments affecting educational institutions provide guidelines: first, for the videotaping and use of television programs by nonprofit educational institutions and, second, for the copying of music. (Author/MLF)

Three teaching units are presented as models for integrating the guitar in a comprehensive musicianship program. Designed for high school or college level, each emphasizes composition and improvisation. The units deal with the use of tremolo, quartal harmonic structure, and variation technique. Selected readings, music, and recordings are listed.…

Discusses the importance of teaching improvisation. Defines improvisation as the spontaneous generation of melody and rhythm without specific preparation or premeditation. Answers reasons for not teaching improvisation. Suggests training the ear, providing models, allowing for imitation, developing performance facility, guaranteeing success, and…

This discussion of copyright law on music focuses on the special problems of the band director who wishes to make a special arrangement or alteration of a copyrighted work. Guidelines and a sample form are provided for securing the publisher's permission to arrange a musical work. (SJL)

Offers ideas for teaching musicians to be improvisors. Suggests that structure, organization, and continuity are problems that can be solved by learning to improvise. Recommends exercises in building phrases to help students acquire a sense of the developing whole. Concludes that improvisation can be taught by showing students how to teach…

Discusses the use of technology in music and music education for teachers. Describes resources that are available presently and how they may be used for performing, composing, research, and administration. Addresses areas where a gap exists between what is or should be available and the technology actually being used in classrooms. (DK)

Recommends commissioning new works as a challenging and motivating learning experience for high school and college bands. Includes several guidelines for negotiating costs and performance rights with the composer, as well as other technical details. Discusses specific problems arising from this arrangement and possible solutions. (MJP)

An upper division college-level course dealing with women composers for both music majors and nonmusic majors is outlined. The course provides an historical and analytical survey of western music through works composed by women, with emphasis on the 19th and 20th centuries. Students listen to music, participate in class discussions, and listen to…

Discusses improvisation as a phenomenon. Offers suggestions for a learning sequence. Warns against allowing students to skip levels. Identifies developmental levels of improvisation as exploration, process-oriented, product-oriented, fluid, structural, stylistic, and personal improvisation. Urges that improvisation can and should be a meaningful…

Asserts that a revolution has been occurring in musicology since the 1970s. Contends that music has change from being only a source of emotion to appearing more open to science and techniques based on computer technology. Describes recent research and other writings about the topic and provides an extensive bibliography. (CFR)

Provides an insightful summation and critique of David Elliott's "Music Matters: A New Philosophy of Music Education." Praises the book for its broad selection of thinkers and diverse array of topics. Claims, however, that the book places undue emphasis on performing and stoops to ridiculing rival theories. (MJP)

Discusses the importance of applying computational modeling and artificial intelligence techniques to music cognition and computer music research. Recommends three uses of microworlds to trim computational theories to their bare minimum, allowing for better and easier comparison. (CFR)

Profiles music scholar Charles L. Seeger and his contribution to U.S. musical life. Seeger played a significant role in introducing vernacular music to schools, extending the definition of U.S. music in the curriculum, presenting music as a cultural subject, and promoting musical diversity in the classroom. (MJP)

Attempts a deeper understanding of, and justification for, music education by concentrating on its application in two historic periods. Contrasts the utilitarian approach of Greek civilization with the religious and liturgical concepts of the Medieval period. Asserts that historical awareness is an integral component of music education. (MJP)

Presents 44 entries from a modern composer and music professors' journal, culled from 1993 to the present. Includes comments and criticisms of composers and musicians, as well as philosophical and practical observations. (MJP)