This study examines the learning processes that take place when upper secondary students apply and generate theories while drawing on their preferred music and writing songs of their own. One music theory teacher and two researchers collaborated to design an emergent sequence of lessons focusing on students' interests, questions and creative work.…

The future of American music education may be found in its past--a time when music teachers instilled lifelong amateur music-making in their students. There are differences between amateur and professional musicianship, and the focus of American music education shifted from amateurism to semiprofessionalism in the mid-twentieth century. An…

The canon forming the backbone of most conceptions of Western music has been a feature of musical culture for decades, exerting an influence upon musical study in educational settings. In English school contexts, the once perceived superiority of classical music in educational terms has been substantially revised and reconsidered, opening up…

The solfege course, which is carried out in conservatories where western music is taught in Turkey, covers solfege, theory, dictation and ear training studies in terms of content. Solfege course, which contributes greatly to the development of basic music knowledge and skills of students, also forms the infrastructure of other practical courses.…

In secondary general music classes, music educators have the opportunity to bridge the gap between the music students' experiences in school and the music they engage with outside of school. According to Williams, nontraditional music students have musical lives outside of school but choose not to participate in traditional ensembles. In this…

Musical composition is widely considered to be a fundamental component of good musicianship. Recent state and national standards make it clear that preservice music teachers will be expected to include the teaching of musical composition in their curricula when they enter the field. The purpose of this study was to investigate the integration of…

In a global society, 21st century skills are fundamental for every student. Furthermore, in today's digital world, technology is expected to be part of students' learning experiences. In the following research-to-resource article, I provide practical strategies and ideas for integrating technology into a performing ensemble program in order to…

Performing jazz offers students the opportunity to participate in a unique group activity where notated passages are blended with exciting moments of improvisation. Expectations have risen over the years as middle and high school jazz ensembles have proved that they can perform at a very high level. This expectation however, has led to the…

"Music is both a creative and a performing art" (Hallam, 2006, p. 70). Many musicians and music educators maintain that composing and performing, although related, are essentially different aspects of musical activity. In the professional musical sphere, composition and performance are almost invariably separated; academic studies have…

This article highlights a group ballad project which is a part of student experiences in Sing and Shout!, a course that integrates academic study with singing and song writing to develop a deeper understanding of problems in society. Students explore the intricacies of song composition and social consciousness drawn from past events that reflect…

Having previously been employed to investigate science and English classrooms and listening in the music classroom, theories of multimodality would appear to have much to contribute to an examination of group composing using Information and Communications Technology (ICT), owing to the multimodal nature of music software and group discourse. This…

Explains that quality refers to those attributes of sound and silence that give music its expressive character. Explores quality in four areas of music (dynamics, articulation, texture, and tone color) by tracing the research behind each of these areas. Provides different ideas for teaching quality in secondary general music classes. (CMK)

It's a far cry from Segovia and Julian Bream to a fully-fledged guitar orchestra. Author reports on a new phenomenon in guitar teaching and a new vocation for guitarists. (Editor/RK)

The catalog lists compositions written by thirty-nine composers during the five-year first phase of the Young Composers Project, the primary objective of which was to afford composers the opportunity to master their craft by writing works suitable for performance in secondary public school systems to which they were assigned. A total of 575…

Presents programming ideas using LOGO, activity for converting flowchart into a computer program, and a Pascal program for generating music using paddles. Includes the article "Helping Computers Adapt to Kids" by Philip Nothnagle; a program for estimating length of lines is included. (JN)