Despite research indicating the advantages of collaborative learning, most formal music education continues to be in an individual format. However, collaborative strategies have been observed in other musical cultures. Through this research, we wished to study the differences in the management of group practices between three musical cultures…

This article conveys data collected in an ethnographic case study exploring monthly participatory community singing events in one city in the American Midwest. I analyze these data through the lens of a "traditional" choral conductor who, prior to undertaking this investigation, had little knowledge about participatory singing…

Curious as to why conducting gesture are both acknowledged and ignored by choral singers, this article investigates the enigmatic nature of the act of conducting. Education and research are biased toward gestural aspects of the choral conductor role. At the same time, research shows that gestural skills rank strikingly low compared with other…

This study aims to investigate leadership in orchestra conducting and interrogate educational principles to improve conducting pedagogy. Effective leadership implies a set of interpersonal, communicational, and emotional skills combined with a high level of expertise, which may enable the leader to not only achieve excellent outcomes but also…

Attending a concert may prove difficult for individuals with exceptionalities or disabilities and those who support them. While traditional performance environments may not feel welcoming or amenable for individuals with exceptionalities and their families, arts organizations have recently made efforts to produce concerts that address barriers to…

This study aimed to examine the association between musical activities and quality of life in older adults using a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire consisted of three parts: background variables, quality of life variables (measured from two aspects: appreciation of life and life-ability of the person), and musical activity variables…

This article presents the results of a qualitative study that explored how freedom in music can stimulate creative development in students. A series of musical and pedagogical activities, called Creative Freedom, which involved favourable conditions for autonomy and creative agency, was developed. This study was conducted between 2013 and 2018 in…

This instrumental case study explores and theorizes on the educational potential and value of free collaborative vocal improvisation, a process that enables equal access to music regardless of musical skills. The focus of the article is on the musical activities of an adult choir in Finland that applied tenets from improvisational theatre to…

This study explores young people's arts participation through music-making in Finland and the factors that may regulate that participation. It seeks to understand the construction of active modes of arts participation in and through adolescents' musical life courses. The interview study was conducted with young people (N = 18) participating in…

Wondering if there is more to learn from youth's descriptions of the importance of music in their lives, the authors interviewed 35 youth (aged 12-22 years) using a constructivist grounded theory approach. The data analysis process led to the realization that youth were often describing episodes of play. The researchers synthesized essential…

Spontaneous singing is widely acknowledged as an important part of young children's everyday musical experience. However, its fleeting and often private nature makes it difficult to study. Research into young children's singing at home frequently relies on data gathered through parental reporting, and studies are often limited to small sample…

The evolution of research careers is inherent to academic lives but rarely enters the research literature. In this autoethnographic paper, I reflect on composing, orchestrating, and performing my research journey. Shaped by intellectual and aesthetic pursuits, this journey is both experiential and conceptual, responsive to encounters with people…

This systematic literature review seeks to examine the pedagogical practices, professional relationships, and curricular development that impact teachers' and students' experiences in the postsecondary music education field as well as the theoretical frameworks and methodological design guiding the inquiry of included studies. A literature search…

This systematic literature review aims to identify and critically examine the prevailing general trends of music education research that addresses issues of improvisation from 1985 to 2015. The study examined the main features of studies with impact that focus on musical improvisation and have been published in peer-reviewed music education…

The purpose of this collaborative action research project was to examine eighth- and ninth-grade female (assigned at birth) students' perspectives of their singing voice when implementing a practitioner/researcher designed curriculum titled "Supporting Adolescent Female Vocal Development: Teaching Anatomy and Physiology in the Middle School…