Explores music education within Zimbabwe focusing on the Shona children. Discusses educational research related to cognition. Highlights seven singing games used with Shona children and relates each game to cognitive research. Explains that the research is based upon videotaped sessions of children participating in the games. (CMK)

Discusses how young male voices change due to development during puberty, the make-up of their voices, and the effect male peers have on their decision to become a choir member. Explains how male adolescents can be encouraged to join the choir and how teachers can strengthen their male students' voices. (CMK)

Compares sex-related difference in public singing activities by examining period writings about singing activity in early 18th century Boston and current data on singing in the United States. Indicates a shift from male to female predominance, and expresses concern that choral singing involvement of both sexes will continue to wane. (LS)

Emphasizes the importance of student choirs as an ideal environment for music education in four articles by: Kenneth H. Phillips, Mary Goetze, Sally Herman, and Donald L. Neuen. Articles cover issues related to the growth of choral music, techniques to improve learning and performance in children's and junior high school choirs, and the qualities…

Recommends the use of barbershop harmony as a tool for learning basic music concepts. Claims that this style of four-part singing can help students become better singers, better listeners, and more sensitive musicians. (LS)

Six language-impaired children, aged 4-7, were studied in two routinized contexts (a lesson without music and a singing session) and child-teacher talk was analyzed. Results showed that the addition of music to a routinized context has the potential to increase the language-impaired child's ability to interact non-verbally. (Author/JDD)

Maintains that choral music conductors strive to choose a variety of musical styles, genres, and historical periods. Discusses three types of programming approaches: (1) chronological; (2) thematic; and (3) concept. Includes four tables illustrating selection and pacing of choral music during a concert. (CFR)

Discusses the selection of material for vocal performances by high school students. Describes adolescent voices as young with little vocal technique and only partially developed or unused register. Includes considerations of breath management, tessitura, energy, subject matter, and language. Provides a list of songs meeting appropriate…

Compares three strategies (rhythm-first notation, pitch-first notation, and unguided notation) for instruction in two-part dictation. Finds support for the hypothesis that attending to one variable first would raise scores for that variable only with rhythm, but not with pitch; rhythm-first strategies also improved pitch scores, but not vice…

Examines the effects of contextual sight-singing and ear training on pitch and rhythm error detection abilities among undergraduate instrumental music education majors. Shows that additional training produced better error detection, particularly with rhythm errors and in one-part examples. Maintains that differences attributable to texture were…

Discusses the usefulness of the Korean hand game called "Flying Wild Geese" in the social studies classroom that appeals to the young learner, enables students to gain an appreciation of another culture, and assists Korean American children to adapt. Describes how to play the game and provides suggestion on using the game. (CMK)

Stresses the importance of early musical experiences for children to assist in their musical development. Addresses how a child's home environment affects their musical development, the similarities between language acquisition and musical development, and the role parents and teachers have in developing young children's musical abilities. (CMK)

Proposes that high school choir teachers utilize multimedia technology in order to provide students with simultaneous aural and visual examples of various musical concepts. Offers examples using a multimedia approach to teach John Bennet's "Weep, O Mine Eyes" and Randall Thompson's "The Road Not Taken." Includes a list for selected software. (CMK)

Provides three strategies to help chorus teachers assist boys to develop their singing abilities by: (1) choosing the appropriate repertoire for the boys' abilities; (2) routinely separating the boys and girls during rehearsals; and (3) having boys do exercises that expand the upper parts of their singing ranges. (CMK)

Examines (1) the purpose statements and the contents of six selected songbooks for community singing published from 1913 to 1996 and (2) songs listed by E. D. Hirsch in "Cultural Literacy" and "The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy." Indicates that the idea of a common core of song repertoire that represents our heritage should be reexamined. (CMK)