School music programs are changing. For years the music education profession has emphasized large ensemble experiences for reasons that include quality of music making, sense of community, and individual and collective pride for many of the students involved. As a high school saxophonist, I valued that experience, but other high school…

Despite emerging efforts to teach from within authentic music making contexts, electronic music in schools generally remains detached from the practices of actual composers. Often electronic technology is regarded merely as a set of tools for learning and, as a result, many view active engagement in technology-based music making as a…

Composition with students on the elementary level sparks imagination and creativity while engaging students in an experience that can demonstrate personal musical growth. Traditionally, music educators have not been taught how to compose music, let alone lead their students in composing experiences. As music educators take the beginning steps of…

Music education is supported by an increasing range of digital technologies that afford a remarkable divergence of opportunities for learning within the classroom. Musical creativities are not, however, limited to classroom situations; all musicians are engaged in work that traverses multiple social and physical settings. Guided by sociocultural…

This article presents a study investigating musical learning among 9th grade adolescents in a Swedish lower secondary school. The adolescents collaboratively composed songs for a self-written musical, which they taught to their peers. The purpose of the study was to explore the ways in which adolescents acquire musical knowledge in this specific…

The decline in the status of the classical guitar is, for many, a cause of concern, calling for viable answers to restore its place in the expressive arts tradition. In this article, I explore a pedagogical style specifically intended for young and/or inexperienced players. It is argued that this endeavor could prospectively benefit a range of…

This paper considers the issue of computer-assisted composition in formal music education settings from the perspective of critical theory. The author examines the case of MIDI-based software applications and suggests that the greatest danger from the standpoint of ideology critique is not the potential for circumventing a traditional…

In this study, I explored children's development of rhythmic music literacy using a language acquisition paradigm. An emergent, constructivist curriculum was implemented over one academic year with 39 children, 5-8 years old. Children were involved in audiation-based active listening, singing, moving, chanting, and playing instruments and engaged…

Greater diversity and inclusivity in music curricula are goals that permeate discussions in education. Achieving these goals, however, is complex and presents inherent difficulties as music not only values tradition but also promotes the past. Many music traditions were exclusionary and unintentionally cultivated a culture in which many people…

The purpose of this study was to establish trends in the study of music and affective phenomena through a content and bibliometric analysis of three eminent music research journals, the "Journal of Research in Music Education", "Psychology of Music", and "Music Perception", for the years 1990 through 2009. Excluding…

The distinct music genre known as baby music is based on the premise that infants benefit from music "re-orchestrated for their little ears" ("Baby Einstein Takealong Tunes". (2012). Retrieved December 11, 2012, from http://www.babyeinstein.com/en/products/product_explorer/theme/music/62350/Takealong_Tunes.html). We completed a…

The "Norton Anthology of Western Music" ("NAWM") is a widely used textbook for music history courses at the collegiate level, yet there is virtually no research literature closely related to any aspect of the Anthology. The purpose of this study was to: (1) trace the content transformation of the "NAWM" six editions,…

Herein, Tricia Tunstall presents a critique of the article by Melissa Lesniak published in the December 2012 "Music Educators Journal," and offers a new perspective on the Venezuelan youth orchestra program known as "El Sistema." The program, which began in Caracas thirty-eight years ago, is dedicated to changing the lives of…

The purpose of this treatise is to study Tyzen Hsiao's "Memories of Home" as a pedagogical tool to introduce Romantic and Impressionistic styles to intermediate students. This work includes "Prelude, Memory, Playground, Ancient Taiwanese Melody, Elegy, and Frolic." This monograph is divided into four chapters as follows:…

This study determined the levels of recognizing piano works of contemporary Turkish composers, the importance of practicing these works and difficulty in playing these works by the prospective music teachers in the Departments of Music Education in Turkey. Furthermore, this study performed a comparative analysis on the opinions of the prospective…