Explores preschool children's movement responses to music. Using naturalistic procedures Metz generates three substantive core categories regarding the nature of movement response: conditions, interactions, and outcomes. Provides seven propositions for early childhood music education. (LS)

Discusses how listening, in conjunction with questioning and classroom dialogues, promotes critical thinking about music. Suggests that classroom interaction encourages analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of content. Lists ways music teachers can stimulate critical thinking, including an activity called structural dictation, and the development of…

Presents an interview with Bell Yung, a scholar of Chinese music and ethnomusicology. Maintains that world music (music from many nations and cultures) should be taught as early as possible in the schools and at home. Includes two lesson plans for teaching about Chinese music. (CFR)

Describes Leonard Bernstein's contributions to music education as a teacher of conducting and of musical awareness and appreciation, and as a university professor. Emphasizes Bernstein's love of teaching, people, and music. Encourages music educators and the music profession to contemplate his teaching skills to help students feel the joy of music…

Examines how popular music preference in listening exercises influences apparent time passage in a study involving 80 University of Texas, Austin, music and nonmusic major undergraduate students. Shows no significant relationship between music preference and apparent time passage. Finds no significant differences attributable to level of music…

Attempts to see whether children of a range of ages could use a Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI) dial to express feelings inspired by music, and to compare their responses with those of more musically experienced groups. Finds that younger children were successful and displayed varying correlations more than did experienced…

Presents a college level music appreciation course that combines cohort analysis, action research methods, and distance learning. Students identify generational cohorts and use research methods to determine the preferred musical forms of the cohort. Describes a "cohort," a music appreciation Web site, the course structure, and benefits of the…

Encourages the appreciation of music through listening, responding with body movement, and sharing with children. Points out that early childhood educators and children who are nonmusicians can make and understand music. Identifies basic problems with preschool teachers' current practices in using music with young children and provides a list of…

Annotates 13 recent documents and journals from the ERIC database that discuss the benefits of art and music education to children's development and academic achievement. Includes art and music education Internet sites. (LBT)

Describes an activity designed to develop middle school choral students' writing skills: students wrote letters to the composers or arrangers of pieces they had performed at concerts; the students could address topics such as their reaction to the piece, general questions about composing, or discussing the performance of the piece. (CMK)

Compares the effects of explicit training in classical and romantic styles, the relevance of four musical dimensions, and the congruence of categorizations with predictions of exemplar- or prototype-theories of concept formation. Explains that subjects in both the exemplar and prototype groups relied on independently abstracted cues rather than…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between selected listener variables and musical preference of young students in Singapore. Based on the Leblanc 1982 model, gender, age, race, musical training and familiarity were chosen as independent variables. The data collected showed that musical preference was also influenced by…

Renewed interest in the relationship between music education and cultural identity draws its vigor from strongly divergent sources. Globalized education and globalized musical culture supply new paradigms for understanding the central tasks of music education and their responsibility to a multicultural ethic of diversity, hybridity and difference.…

A particularly innovative use of laptops is to enhance the music appreciation experience. Group listening and discussion, in combination with a new Web-based application, lead to deeper understanding of classical music. ["Appreciating Music: An Active Approach" was written with Joshua Austin.]

This book offers teachers a practical and theoretical classroom guide to the many ways music and stories may be explored, both independently and in tandem, to give students a better understanding and appreciation of each art form separately and of their power together. The crucial aspect of activities described in the book is original productions…