Maintains that the ability and experience of improvisation is an essential component in young musicians' education. Discusses one teacher's trial-and-error efforts in introducing improvisational exercises into her students classical training. Includes a list of resources and representative musical examples. (MJP)

Provides some tips on jazz instruction for the beginning music educator who may not have had much experience in that field. Specifically recommends teaching guide tones, the root, third, and seventh chords, as an invaluable aid to jazz improvisation. Includes musical notation showing guide tones for two jazz standards. (MJP)

Describes a pilot study where choral conducting students used miniaturized scores (simplified scores that focus on specific gestural problems). Students received three simplified scores, each one highlighting a different approach. Students overwhelmingly favored the simplified score using a cuing technique. Includes, score excerpts, student…

Describes a lesson on the Gilded Age that focuses on eight themes (urbanization, the rise of Jim Crow, populism, politics, immigration, Westward expansion, industrialization, and imperialism) and also incorporates Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences model in order to provide students with various types of learning activities. Gives a list of…

Compares the effects of fundamental exercises and music excerpts approaches on sightreading and performance proficiency of 58 students in a symphonic and concert band at a suburban high school. Finds that the students using music excerpts were no weaker in sightreading ability, had a higher performance achievement, and indicated more positive…

Over the past 25 years there has been an increasing and worldwide research interest in music education, embracing a range of disciplines and perspectives. As well as particular research foci on the nature of curricula, musical behaviour and development, new research literatures have been developed that link music education with ethnomusicology,…

This paper serves as a brief description of research into the use of professional level music software as a learning tool for creativity and composition by primary school children. The research formed the basis of a Master of Information Technology in Education degree at the University of Melbourne. The paper examines the physical environment, the…

The work described here forms part of a project using models of musical ideas within an artificial intelligence and education framework whose goal is to encourage and facilitate music composition by novices. Formal knowledge of the domain (popular music) is too incomplete and fragmented to support a traditional expert-based tutor for precisely…

This syllabus/handbook is designed to aid teachers and administrators in developing a music course to meet the New York State Commission of Education's requirements for a one year high school Music In Our Lives (MIOL) class. This class encompasses the areas of listening, performing, composing, using basic tool skills, and developing special…

Designed for instruction of emotionally handicapped children and youth, these seven articles offer activities and concepts relative to music and outdoor education. The first article presents 12 specific objectives and 40 specific activities (e.g., action singing using motions to describe words). The second article presents three basic concepts…

This is the sixth in a series of technical research reports by the Harvard Project Zero which study artistic creation and comprehension as a means toward better art education. (See related documents SO 008 705 to 008 709.) This paper examines the ways in which music can refer in various ways to itself or to extramusical things. It outlines the…

The purpose of this report is to document the results of the 1971-72 national assessment of the music education of elementary-secondary students and young adults. Music exercises were given to a national probability sample of 9-year olds, 13-year olds, 17-year olds (including high school dropouts and early graduates), and young adults between the…

This commentary examines the primary types of music analysis. Although the study focuses mainly upon individual trends and schools of thought, some attention is given to the evolution of ideas within the field. Methodologies are considered in the light of their applicability to individual or classroom analysis by students. From the most…

The essays in this book explore the relationship between films and some of the liberal arts. The first set of essays revolves around the topic of films and rhetoric. They describe the special language of films and its unique mode of communication. A second group of essays deals with films and literature and includes discussions on writing for…

Divides musical composition selection for student orchestras into two categories, teaching repertoire and concert repertoire. Provides a number of helpful hints and criteria for selecting both. Includes "Ten Terrific Titles,""Super String Selections," a list of premiere selections for grades two through six, and a list of selected resources. (MJP)