What does it mean to teach musical expression to child performers? Is it teaching how to interpret a piece of music "correctly," or is there more involved? In this case study, we explored the beliefs and practices of five teachers who specialized in teaching children to perform in a variety of musical performance areas, including violin,…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the occurrence of flow experiences among high school music students attending a two-week summer instrumental music camp. Specifically, the study sought to determine if: (1) students do indeed experience flow in summer camp settings; (2) what activities are conducive to flow; (3) what is the relationship…

During evening practice sessions, 32 nonpianist musicians learned a short melody on piano, and then either learned a second short piano melody, learned a difficult unfamiliar piece on their principal instruments, practiced familiar material on their principal instruments, or engaged in no other music-related motor behavior prior to sleep; practice…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of an information and communications technology (ICT)-based individualised music education programme on primary students' musical competence. A 2 × 3 aptitude treatment interaction factorial design was used to assess the impact of the programme as a function of students' musical aptitude (MA)…

Rates of music participation are low in developed nations. This may be attributed in part to the failure of school music to engage children sufficiently to motivate them to continue learning and participating in music. We tested the "Harmonix" program of classroom music education, which is currently being designed to maximize engagement…

The role of music in Grenada, West Indies has traditionally been to pass on knowledges, values, and ideals; and to provide a means of connecting to one another through expressing commonality of experience, ancestry, and nationhood. This paper explores how Eric Matthew Gairy, during his era of political leadership in Grenada (1951-1979), exploited…

The purpose of the study was to investigate undergraduate music education majors' confidence in teaching improvisation, according to the NAfME (1994) K-12 Achievement Standards. Specific research questions were: 1) How confident are music education majors in implementing the 11 improvisation achievement standards for grades K-12? 2) How confident…

Practice is a major element in cultivating musical skill. Some psychologists have proposed that deliberate practice, a specific framework for structuring practice activities, creates the kind of practice necessary to increase skill and develop expertise. While psychologists have been observing behavior, neurologists have studied how the brain…

A rapidly growing industry creates and markets a vast range of screen media products designed specifically for babies and children under the age of three. Marketing of these products targets parents and is based on both implicit and explicit educational claims. Although the majority of products target literacy and numeracy, music presentations are…

Extracurricular music activities are those performed outside regular and obligatory school programme. Students' aesthetic education is the goal of art extracurricular activities. The point and purpose of these activities is to uphold favourable conditions for the realisation of various cultural-art activities through which the insight into…

This article poses six functions of conducting as a new foundation for music educators. Two traditional functions focus on music: the mechanical precision function indicates beat, tempo, meter, rhythm, cues, entrances and cutoff releases, and the expressive function indicates dynamics and other expressive characteristics interpreted in a score.…

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the role aural imitation ability, jazz theory knowledge, and personal background variables play in the development of jazz improvisation achievement. Participants (N = 70) included 26 high school and 44 college instrumentalists with varying degrees of jazz improvisation experience. Data were…

The study was conducted to establish which variables cause the interrelations between musical self-esteem and performance-anxiety levels of students receiving professional music education at different institutions to vary. In relation to this framework, "musical self-esteem" and "performance anxiety" scores of students…

MacPhail's Online School Partnership has been providing lessons and working with schools outside the Twin Cities metro region since 2011. This report looks at how well the program is being implemented, how well the collaboration between MacPhail and schools functions, and how it can be strengthened.

Listener perception of musical expression in collaborative performance was explored in this study. Performances of two duos (a violinist and pianist, and a vocalist and pianist) were recorded. The level of expressivity of the violinist and vocalist remained stylistically appropriate during pieces; however, the pianist alternated between very…