Part-work is a skill through which an individual performs and maintains one musical part while another part is performed at the same time. Rich and varied part-work experiences feature prominently in the musical lives of children. Despite this, elementary general music teachers often frame part-work as a skill needed in the short term to perform…

The early childhood stage is a time of basic foundation in which children are engaged in pretend play and creative activities. The objective of this study was to explore the role of pretend play on the creativity development of preschool children. Data were collected from four purposefully selected preschool children (two male and two female)…

The present study aimed to increase understanding of how singing activities may be initiated in primary school, and what support and assistance teachers require to conduct singing activities as an integrated part of the school day. Five music teachers participated in a focus group interview. The following main themes were identified: 1)…

Early nonsectarian Sunday Schools provided instruction in spelling, reading, writing, and singing in the years prior to the introduction of free, public education in the United States. This study explores the Sunday school as a laboratory for public school music education. Several of the first Sunday school tunebooks included theoretical…

The purpose of this survey study was to investigate the self-reported practices of P-6 elementary general music teachers (N = 275) regarding their experiences with American folk songs with racist origins. A secondary purpose was to examine P-6 elementary general music teachers' familiarity with and incorporation of anti-racist pedagogical…

Children's literature, including picture books, can be appropriate for any age level and can help students understand complex concepts, such as music. It can also engage students in music learning. Students garner a deeper comprehension of both the text and music when bringing children's literature to life, and reading aloud enhances students'…

This literature review offers compelling evidence for the significant role music and song can play in cultivating student engagement in elementary school science lessons. With students disengaging from science education, there is concern about the lack of necessary scientific literacy skills required in today's world. To explore whether music and…

The purpose of this philosophical inquiry is to problematize the assumptions underlying elementary music teachers' choice to both erase folk songs from their curricula and to replace lyrics with racist associations. Erasing is defined as a process in which music educators remove certain folk songs with racist origins entirely from their…

Elementary music educators use a variety of strategies in classroom instruction. The purpose of this case study was to explore student perceptions of Curwen hand signs, a common instructional strategy in elementary music classrooms. Second- and third-grade students reported various challenges, benefits, and influential factors surrounding hand…

Pronunciation is a crucial component of language acquisition, vital for achieving clarity and fluency in communication. This study, utilizing cycles of action research, aimed to evaluate the impact of songs on the pronunciation skills of Thai EFL learners. Additionally, this study explored the participants' perceptions of using songs in their…

Despite existing literature documenting patriotism and nationalism in education and children's knowledge of patriotic and national songs, the impact of patriotism and nationalism in American elementary music education through patriotic and national songs has not been examined in the context of current national standards. This examination is…

This study explores the co-development of music theory resources for Grades 7 and 8 at the Malta School of Music using a case study methodology. The first author collaborated with learners to create and refine music theory guides, testing sample chapters in classrooms and incorporating iterative feedback. Data collection included focus group…

In this study, we explored associations between perception of musical features (pitch, tonality, timing, timbre, and loudness), vocal abilities (singing accuracy, melodic achievement, and rhythmic performance), and cognitive levels (reading accuracy and comprehension, grammar, and math) among children ages 6 to 12. Musical perception abilities…

This article presents a project, Shapes of Water, funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, which gave music education students the opportunity to compose children's songs about climate change with the help of artists from two fields (contemporary circus and music) and a scientist (chemistry). The article outlines the ways in which the composing…

The limited time for music education in generalist primary and early childhood teacher education courses remains a persistent challenge in initial teacher education. An initiative for student-owned ukuleles was launched at an Australian university to enhance the skills and confidence of pre-service primary and early childhood generalist teachers…