Research suggests that when we treat our non-obligatory activities playfully, we are more likely to engage with them and derive meaningfulness from them. Play is of interest to the field of music education on at least two counts: the perceived relationship between play and music, and the perceived educational aspects of play related to human…

Transcultural pedagogy, or what is often described as world music pedagogy, in U.S. and Canadian classrooms often utilizes an extractive logic, serving to essentialize culture, invisibilize logics that are incongruent to European, Canadian, and U.S.-centric epistemologies, and uphold the goal of white assimilation under the guise of…

While the proper teaching of technique is vital to the execution of a beautiful sound, many teachers forget an incredibly important fact: Most beginning students have very little idea what their instrument is supposed to sound like. It is in the teacher's interest to control the conversation by putting fine examples in front of the student. The…

The second half of jazz's history has been defined by its expansion from more informal spaces into academies and concert halls. Integral to this cultural transformation has been the advent and standardization of collegiate jazz education. This paper explores the pedagogical and institutional responsibilities of institutional jazz education through…

In this article I explore the construct of the 'natural' voice within the context of the natural voice movement, before invoking perspectives on voice from the posthumanities and D/deaf studies in discussion of "The Walk," a performance between a puppet, a natural voice choir, a refugee choir and a large audience that occurred in London…

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…

Ireland's music is at times energetic and spirited, and other times pensive and even plaintive, depending upon the occasion. It is linked to the heritage of many North Americans, both in the United States and Canada, who trace their family histories to Ireland, and it is both centuries old and newly composed, as is the composition by Francis Ward,…

Modes have historically been at the centre of music until the end of the Renaissance period, and were ignored for a while with the tonal system in the Baroque period and afterwards. However, in the contemporary period, with the search for new music, they started to gain popularity again and continued to be used as major and minor tonalities.…

The aesthetic experience of the body in music and performance education offers a remarkable perspective in terms of musical understanding. Somatic approaches and practices for mindbody integrity play a facilitating role in this process. The aim of this conceptual article is to examine theoretical and practical applications within the conceptual…

TeachersPayTeachers.com is an online marketplace where sellers offer learning activities, lesson plans, decorations, and related materials for use in school classrooms. The marketplace includes thousands of music education materials that are used by teachers throughout the United States. The purpose of this study was to explore the content of what…

There are currently very few brass bands in schools in Australia, however they were the predominant music ensemble in Australian schools up to the 1970s. The aim of this article is to document the popularity of British-style brass bands in Australia, and the corresponding development of brass bands in schools during the 20th century. The history…

The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model of contextual influences on musical engagement in a person's life. I developed this domain-specific conceptual model based on Bronfenbrenner's (2001) bioecological theory of human development. The model accounts for multiple, interacting contexts that may influence an adolescent's musical…

'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…

Music, when approached as a part of a classical liberal arts education, is a profoundly humanizing endeavor which can facilitate individual musical and moral growth within communities of practice. A classical approach to music education contrasts with common progressive and critical curriculum frameworks through a philosophically realist analysis.…

Teaching for musical meaning can be a multifaceted topic, since a universally accepted definition of musical meaning is elusive; yet musical meaning remains at the heart of music literacy. Music literacy is equally complex, as changes in technology constantly reorganize how musical sounds are produced, recorded, and transmitted. Today, musical…