Moral significance has been attributed to music from antiquity: for example, both Plato and Aristotle made much of the power of music to influence and shape moral character. However, it would also seem often assumed that music and musical experience have some kind of spiritual significance or value for human development. The present paper sets out…

For many people, the appeal of music lies in its connection to human emotions. A significant body of research has explored the emotions that are experienced through either the formal structure of music or through its symbolic messages. Yet in the instrumental music education field, this emotional connection is rarely examined. In this article, it…

Students pursuing college degrees in fields other than music must often take a music or arts course. Teaching these non-majors has been a traditional responsibility of college and university music departments. While experts agree that a single, widely accepted approach to teaching the non-major is unavailable, many experts concur that developing…

This exploratory study surveyed 118 music majors to investigate their music listening practices. The questionnaire specifically assessed musical tastes and examined the roles that listening plays in personal and professional activities. With regard to the amount of time spent in their daily lives, these music majors reported spending more than…

One of the most enduring lessons that the author learned as a musician is that sometimes the most expressive notes are the ones never played. This lesson continues to teach him as he learns to correctly use it within his compositions, as well as in live performances. The author has used music as a tool to connect with students, and has written…

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was the ultimate child prodigy. It is said that Mozart, after attending a service at the Vatican, wrote down an entire sacred piece of music after one hearing. There are countless examples of the amazing feats that Mozart accomplished through his childhood, not to mention his huge compositional output through…

Music educators can nurture students' lifelong musical involvement, both as consumers and as participants. Orienting musical instructional practices around classroom elements suggested by achievement goal theory can foster lifelong musical connections. Practices related to using meaningful and challenging tasks, evaluations that decrease emphasis…

The late rapper Tupac Shakur wrote a poem called "The Rose that Grew from Concrete" that serves as a good metaphor for helping educators, including school librarians, to disrupt stereotypical metanarratives they might have about urban youth and replace them with new narratives of hope, compassion, and high expectations for all students. Tupac's…

A primary difficulty with music performance assessment is managing its subjective nature. To help improve objectivity, rubrics can be used to develop a set of guidelines for clearly assessing student performance. Moreover, rubrics serve as documentation for student achievement that provides music teachers with a written form of accountability.…

Only a few of the author's music students are dedicated to music as a possible career. Most squeeze their lessons in between soccer tournaments and play practices, homework and a social life. As their only musical outlet, the author feels a double responsibility. Her goal is to open children's minds and hearts to the world of music--for them to…

The current study sought to assess the progress and effectiveness of a partnership program between a university and two high school drumming ensembles. A total of 32 students enrolled in world drumming courses in two urban high schools (n[subscript 1] = 16, n[subscript 2] = 16) participated in the study. An assessment tool was developed and…

MENC's first Music Education Week in Washington's purpose was twofold: to celebrate the value of music education and to give those in the profession the chance to come together and explore ideas and techniques both old and new. Most of the celebrating was reserved for special events such as the Jazz Academy Showcase concert featuring celebrated…

In this article, the continuity in music taste from parents to their children is discussed via a multi-actor design. In our models music preferences of 325 adolescents and both their parents were linked, with parental and adolescent educational level as covariates. Parents' preferences for different types of music that had been popular when they…

Listening to music from a variety of national, ethnic, and historical traditions may help adolescents develop respect for individual differences, particularly when they are challenged to confront music that has little immediate musical appeal for them. This article outlines strategies for two sample listening lessons, using Serbo-Croatian gusle…

Spirituality and religion are not synonymous and, in fact, require not only different definitions but also appropriate vocabulary. A deeper discussion of the issues concerning spirituality ensues in several sections: 1) fundamental differences between spirituality and religion; 2) brain operations relative to transcendent states; 3) a definition…