Attempts to relate subjective emotional quality with specific vocal production techniques of Hupa Brush Dance songs. (ERB)

Presents the history of Choctaw hymn singing and compares it with non-Christian singing of the Mississippi Choctaw. (ERB)

Reviews a number of single picture book editions of songs and suggests ways to involve children in this genre. (DD)

In this article, the author describes the evolution of a promising practice, his story of how he developed theory out of his teaching experiences. He tells his story in support of educators who struggle to bring meaning, joy, and understanding to children who are currently being stifled by prescriptive and restrictive regulatory mandates that…

One of the most critical limitations in music education is that we have classroom teachers who rarely, if ever, sing with their students. The gap between those in education who sing and offer musical activities to their students and those who do not is greater than ever. The "non-singer" mentality persists in educational communities and is not…

A key element of a well-received performance is the efficient flow of performers on and off the stage. This important detail is often neglected until the last minute, with results that are, to say the least, unpredictable. While moving a large number of students on and off the stage will always take time, slow movement and ragged appearance while…

In this paper, the notion of "doing boy" through performance is explored. The point is made that singing is a potential gender performance but the treble voice of the 8-year-old to 14-year-old boy is a biologically determined as well as socially constructed feature of young masculinity. A complication is the degree to which the boy's treble voice…

Circles are everywhere and endlessly intriguing. We know, sense, and feel them in time, space, sound, and the cycles of nature. A person's life contains spirals, repetitions, going out and coming back. Poets write of circles; composers write song cycles. Circles are at the root of the curriculum, concepts deep yet accessible, infinite in their…

This article describes how putting physics words to well known songs can provide a valuable, innovative and fun approach for presenting, promoting and learning physics.

Purpose: Voice therapy with a semi-occluded vocal tract has a long history. The use of lip trills, tongue trills, bilabial fricatives, humming, and phonation into tubes or straws has been hailed by clinicians, singing teachers, and voice coaches as efficacious for training and rehabilitation. Little has been done, however, to provide the…

In this article I explore how myth and song intersect in J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy--"The Fellowship of the Ring," "The Two Towers," and "The Return of the King"--and Donald Swann's song cycle setting of Tolkien texts, "The Road Goes Ever On." In so doing I am drawn back to Tolkien's "The Hobbit," the novel from which "The…

In this brief column, three teachers submit recommendations on strategies and activities for teaching poetry. Walter H. Johnson suggests that using sonnets as an introduction to poetry can be a rewarding way to combine poetry terminology, a bit of literary history, and the search for meaning in poems. Joseph Sottile describes a classroom activity…

Yoga has much to contribute to singing. The main physical disciplines of yoga are strength, flexibility, alignment, body awareness through breath control, and concentration. These basics also constitute the core of good singing. With instruction incorporated into the regular warm-up, one can introduce beginning yoga ideas into choir practice. Yoga…