The sequence of musical development is revisited. The origins of the underlying and evolving theory are considered, along with organisation and classification of the data of children's compositions. The cumulative and recursive nature of the spiral is re-emphasised, and the dynamic relationship between the left and right side is clarified. The…

'The Sequence of Musical Development' by Swanwick and Tillman was published in the British Journal of Music Education (BJME) in 1986. This year marks its 35th anniversary and provides an occasion to look back on the article's content and legacy. It is also an opportunity to reflect on the antecedents for the article's underlying concepts, as well…

Living within state care can have detrimental effects on children's development, as substantial research has proposed. Recognising how music-making may support children's social, emotional and personal development, many cultural organisations have begun developing music projects that work specifically with care-experienced children. Although…

Despite a global interest in the musical experiences of young children, the everyday musical lives of young New Zealanders remain unexamined. Using data collected through the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal study, we explore the early musical experiences of approximately 6,800 infants and toddlers. Data collected from the primary caregivers…

Group teaching is rapidly spreading across the world, but little research has been conducted to investigate its impact on students' musical abilities in comparison to inclusion in group tuition contexts. This article investigates how music teachers from the classical orchestra instrumental tradition discuss group tuition. Three focus group…

An increasing amount of research emphasises the influence of body movement on the perception of music. This study contributes to the research by investigating whether varied qualities of body movement, when aligned to music may affect the way children attribute meaning to that music. To address this question, 34 children (aged 9-10) were divided…

This exploratory study describes the design and implementation of a sound-based intervention in the initial training of specialist music teachers at a Spanish university. It aimed to create spaces geared towards more creative and contemporary approaches to musical learning in order to gauge the perceptions of trainee teachers regarding this kind…

The Babysong Project arose out of the Baby Room Project and its aims included supporting baby room practitioners to develop 'communicative musicality' (Malloch & Trevarthen 2009), extending research knowledge about baby room practices and helping practitioners to explore opportunities to question and adapt their own ways of working with babies…

Music teacher identity is constructed at the intersection between musician and teacher. This study investigated the meaning of music-making among Korean novice music teachers and its role in constructing music teacher identity. Five music teachers participated in this study, and I used two data collection methods, reflective journaling and…

This article aims to capture how the Swanwick and Tillman (1986) spiral model of musical development influenced my work as an Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) music coordinator (advisory teacher). It discusses my professional position in a period of teaching prior to the implementation of the National Curriculum for Music, to illustrate…

Given the differences in continuing musical after primary school, this study works with the idea that the development of music-making habits requires flow, which, in turn, depends on family musical practice. Flow is the state of mind of immersion in an intrinsically rewarding activity, which represents an optimal challenge fostering persistence…

The purpose of this study was to explore musicians' approaches to performance during practice and identify the factors that underpinned their approaches. We hypothesised that musicians would be able to recall their focus, knowledge and thoughts of their own repertoire during music performance and that such data would reveal musicians' cognitive…

Playful practices have been linked to increased motivation, engagement, learning and skill development. However, limited research has explored what playful music learning might look like for primary schools, and how teachers might incorporate a range of playful music practices within their classrooms. Our conceptual model for playful music…

This article draws on qualitative data collected over a five-year period as part of a longitudinal mixed methods research project at a tertiary music institution in Australia. Forty tertiary string students consistently identified factors specific to the one-on-one instrumental teaching environment as influencing their perceptions as to the nature…

While mastery of aspects of music theory is relevant to rapid learning and understanding of a new choral part, many choirs comprise members with no formal education in music theory. Also, the language of music theory is not intuitive, with many terms having meanings different from those in common use, which can present obstacles for mature…