This study investigates how songs and songwriting can facilitate transformative learning experiences. Semi-structured interviews conducted with three professional singer-songwriters from different backgrounds helped define how songs and songwriting can nurture one's soul work, that is, emotions individuation, dialogue between conscious and…

The history of the Ithaca College Choral Program spans the history of the college itself. It formed in the late 1890s, briefly associating with the Westminster Choir College in the 1920s and 30s, and finally experienced continuous growth during the tenures of Lawrence Doebler and Janet Galvan. This present study will document the history of the…

Lowel Mason highlights the importance of integrating music learning into the curriculum alongside other fundamental skills such as reading, promoting his belief in the transformative power of music education and its impact on child development. Mason stated, "Children must be taught music as they are taught to read" (Pemberton, 1992).…

This article explores the triumphs and tensions inherent in coaching adolescent male singers, particularly when blending skill-building and performance preparation.

This document examines the current status of voice teacher education in the 21st century, focusing on the undergraduate experience as an important first step, and links that experience to current trends in pedagogical training as a whole. This document includes the results of a curriculum survey detailing the undergraduate vocal pedagogy courses…

This study looks at children's music making in a public setting designed for society writ large. Although known to most children in the city, the subway presents a unique environment, both structurally predictable yet sonically dynamic; it is in continuous transition. Adopting Winnicott's psychoanalytical perspective, we make a case for viewing…

Keeping one's self inspired in the music classroom is all about connections. Sometimes educators need to look at what they're doing from a different perspective. Luckily, there's no shortage of ways to revitalize one's classroom approach, and to help the author explores a few, he made use of some connections of his own, turning to five educators…

George F. Root, Lowell Mason, and William B. Bradbury opened the New York Normal Musical Institute in April of 1853 in New York City. Each term lasted about three months and provided the first long-term preparation program for singing-school masters, church choir directors, private instructors, and school music teachers in the United States.…

In this article, narratives of a salsa concert and a lesson with a Native American flute performer provide openings for exploring grooves and their application in the music classroom. The term "groove" is examined, along with some non-Western ideas about time as represented in the music of the West African Kpelle people. A sixth-grade…

In this article, the author states that she supports Wayne Bowman's (2006) concern with the impact narratives can have, including their potential to legitimize "existing patterns of privilege and possibility." She argues that "there is nothing inherently emancipatory about narrative." In fact, narrative "may, and often…

In this article, five highly experienced music educators tell what they love about teaching music. They are: (1) Rob Amchin, professor of music education at the University of Louisville, Kentucky (elementary general music specialist and percussionist--over 30 years of experience); (2) Susan Bechler, retired orchestra teacher for the Victor Central…

In spite of the popularity of TV shows like "American Idol" and "Glee," it can still be hard to convince boys that singing is cool. Therefore, choir directors who would like more boys to join their groups have their work cut out for them. Erin Belanger, music teacher at Stockbridge Valley central School in Munnsville, New York…

This issue of "Bank Street Occasional Papers" explores the value of time outside of school. Educators have given relatively little scholarly attention to young people's nonschool lives. Ignored or valorized, nonschool spaces show up in educational research only as a backdrop, implying that school learning is the yardstick by which to…

How might songs, like John Lennon's "Imagine" or Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the wind", offer ways to explore alternative ways of being in the world, to challenge the status quo? How might these songs become springboards for original pieces that capture students' ideas about world issues? In this article, I observe what happens…

It is the most fundamental aspect of music, yet so many students struggle with rhythm. How does one effectively teach budding young musicians to properly feel and read the rhythms all around them? Eileen Benedict, vocal music specialist at the Edith L. Slocum School in Ronkonkoma, New York, finds it best to start teaching her young students not…