Although there is a consensus that it is important to teach jazz and the skill of improvisation inherent within it, many feel unprepared to do so. This article presents a simple way for beginners to improvise through the blues scale and harmonic progression at any present skill level in kindergarten through high school general music coursework.…

June Boyce-Tillman and Keith Swanwick's article on musical development is the second most widely cited paper in the history of the "British Journal of Music Education." It appears in many discussions of musical development. A selection of the diverse domains where the paper is cited includes: instrumental teaching, Special Education…

The primary objective of this study is to review and characterize research-based music assessments that might be used to guide and assist teachers and students in transforming their attitudes and perceptions, ability to express their ideas and concepts during the assessment process openly. This study employed descriptive and autoethnographic…

John Kratus' 2019 Music Educators Journal article "A Return to Amateurism in Music Education" contained what many may interpret as radical ideas to focus music education curriculum and instruction on amateurism. But upon further research, leaders within the profession have consistently affirmed the goals of amateurism. The purpose of…

This article discusses transformative learning in secondary general music (SGM), while considering students' transitions from elementary to secondary music classes. SGM is uniquely situated for expanded pedagogies and musicianship, yet a gap in music activities persists between elementary and secondary classes and between home and school. The…

Strings teaching and learning has tended to emphasize performance rather than the quality of experience for the children. School instruction has become rigid and focused on technical accuracy. Alternative teaching strategies must be pursued in order to provide a challenging yet enjoyable experience of playing and learning the bowed string…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which passed in late 2015, is the first major federal law in more than 30 years offering states a significant degree of flexibility to broaden--rather than narrow--curricula, and strongly encourages states to ensure all students have access to a well-rounded education, which includes the arts and music. Armed…

Success in music theory studies appears to be simply a matter of learning the rules and applying them. This is not the case with aural skills, which include labelling a scale played on piano, or writing a rhythm heard on a drum. Student success in aural tasks is not always consistent, and the student skill seems to fade over time if there is no…

Ensemble directors have a special interest in helping students learn to practice effectively. Practice is also an essential component of musical development. Music educators need to both teach effective practice strategies and guide students toward meaningful, thoughtful practice. Metacognition strategies are one way to accomplish this. Current…

This article presents an interview with Willie L. Hill Jr., founder and director of the Society for Jazz Education. Currently a professor of music education at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and the director of the UMass Fine Arts Center, Hill has served as director of education for the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. He is a past…

This article describes an approach to general music where assignments in music improvisation and composition are embedded into the curriculum, that is, creative assignments are given as an outgrowth of curriculum content and directly related to instruction and activities in conceptual learning and skill development in the classroom. Such an…

Research exploring learning outcomes in instrumental music has tended to focus on attainment ignoring other outcomes including long-term commitment to engage with music. This research addresses this issue. One hundred and sixty-three instrumental music students completed a questionnaire which sought information about their practising strategies,…

This 21st Century Skills Map is the result of hundreds of hours of research, development and feedback from educators and business leaders across the nation. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has issued this map for the core subject of the Arts.

In this article, the author discusses a rehearsal technique that would teach the content outlined in the National Standards for Arts Education and improve performance at the same time. A major component of this rehearsal technique needs to be increasing students' listening and analytical skills, and one way to do that is to ask questions…

Music educators understand the importance of the arts in schools. Other members of the school community--teachers, administrators, and parents--may share this view, yet be unaware of all that transpires in the music classroom once the door is shut. Music educators should consider how they can open their doors to help the community understand how…