Joel Krosnick, a top performer of avante-garde music, urges students to recreate the fantasy that the composer visualized in creating the music through gestures, expression, and coloration. (AM)

This article provided some basic suggestions on how to get the most out of rehearsal time. (Editor/RK)

Offers ideas for teaching musicians to be improvisors. Suggests that structure, organization, and continuity are problems that can be solved by learning to improvise. Recommends exercises in building phrases to help students acquire a sense of the developing whole. Concludes that improvisation can be taught by showing students how to teach…

A year-long music instruction unit introduces students to information about the lives of nine great composers of the classics and to their works. Each month a different composer is featured. No special training for teachers is necessary. (PP)

Finds a number of Beethoven's military marches in contemporary arrangements. Although greatly revered for his classical music, Beethoven composed a variety of excellent marches. Usually penned for a specific historic occasion, they fit well into interdisciplinary study units and add variety and color to local music programs. (MJP)

Provides an insightful summation and critique of David Elliott's "Music Matters: A New Philosophy of Music Education." Praises the book for its broad selection of thinkers and diverse array of topics. Claims, however, that the book places undue emphasis on performing and stoops to ridiculing rival theories. (MJP)

Observes that the form and structuring of musical rehearsals should be determined by the compositional structure of the work. Explores various rehearsal formats for choral fugues, renaissance chansons, and folk songs. Maintains that this approach develops comprehensive musicianship, promotes aesthetic experience, and makes efficient use of…

Profiles music scholar Charles L. Seeger and his contribution to U.S. musical life. Seeger played a significant role in introducing vernacular music to schools, extending the definition of U.S. music in the curriculum, presenting music as a cultural subject, and promoting musical diversity in the classroom. (MJP)

Attempts a deeper understanding of, and justification for, music education by concentrating on its application in two historic periods. Contrasts the utilitarian approach of Greek civilization with the religious and liturgical concepts of the Medieval period. Asserts that historical awareness is an integral component of music education. (MJP)

Profiles Wynton Marsalis and discusses his work with children and music. Describes the motivation behind, and development of, the Public Broadcasting System's four-part special "Marsalis on Music." Marsalis discusses his early exposure to music and the influence of his parents. (MJP)

Presents 44 entries from a modern composer and music professors' journal, culled from 1993 to the present. Includes comments and criticisms of composers and musicians, as well as philosophical and practical observations. (MJP)