Urges that research in elementary music education focus on discovering better ways of teaching and learning music and that findings be incorporated into the curriculum. Suggests questions for research, including when should abstractions be taught? what aspects of singing can be taught? and do all children listen similarly? Recommends replication…

Reports on a study that presented rehearsal excerpts demonstrating the presence or absence of specific teaching attributes, asked subjects to evaluate them in each category, and compared subjects' ratings with data demonstrating the presence or absence of those attributes. Presents results based on the evaluation of 10 categories of student and…

Recounts story of one child in class for severely emotionally disturbed children and how her singing comforted others in foster care. Illustrates the unique rite of passage that occurs when one child who has been tossed out into the world to survive on her own begins to heal another child. (Author/JDM)

Describes the collaboration between the school districts in western New York and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO). Explains that when the Orchestra was forced to close, the schools bonded with the BPO and had "community nights" in which students performed before the concerts, involving parents and the community, to help raise…

Discusses the Montessori music curriculum, describing a series of lesson plans to present a comprehensive view of music in the classroom. Describes selecting simple melodies, integrating music into the day, using songs to initiate deeper studies in all parts of the prepared environment, teaching singing, and encouraging children to write their own…

Offers suggestions for instrumentalists who have become choral instructors explaining that their first goal should be to learn how to identify and understand an ideal vocal sound. Finds that the hardest aspect of choral instruction is developing a teaching approach. Offers five steps to assist instrumentalists in molding their own approach. (CMK)

Reviews the research in choral music education from 1983 to 1995 in order to detect trends in the field, significant clusters of interest on specific topics, the decline of interest in previously popular topics, or the emergence of new areas of interest. Provides extensive references. (CMK)

Presents a model of musical culture development. Cites a study comparing musical development in 1- to 6-year olds taught with usual methods and those taught in optimal conditions; the study found that the teacher in optimal conditions was able to build up the rudiments of musical culture, including musical knowledge and skills, habits, and…

Recommends using "activation exercises," or warm-ups, to awaken students' voices, minds, and breathing mechanisms when singing choral music. Describes three activation exercises: (1) plainchant melodies; (2) the five-note scale; and (3) tongue twisters sung to melodies or scale patterns. Explains why the first and third exercises work.…

Explores kinesthetic and musical intelligences. Emphasizes the importance of understanding the physical reality of the body and sensory receptors as well as the dimensions of feeling and expression. Summarizes Tomatis's interpretation of the auditory and vestibular functions of the ear. Conveys the community and spiritual values of music, dance,…

Compares a singing approach to a nonsinging approach in an elementary directed listening program to determine whether there was a significant difference in aural thematic recognition and thematic preferences between groups. Indicates that subjects who sang thematic material had a higher aural recall rate and finds no difference with regard to…

Offers an interview with Sir David Wilcocks, an organist, conductor, and music educator, in which he discusses different organs, what influenced him to become a musician, his experience of teaching a boy's choir, the characteristics of a great ensemble, musical compositions, his "Glories of Shakespeare" collection, and the importance of…

Discusses how music educators can address Content Standard 6 of the National Standards for Music Education that concentrates on teaching students to listen, analyze, and describe music. Provides six approaches that help students access new pieces of music through listening, such as responding enactively to musical cues and focusing on cultural…

Examined impact of a 5-week music/movement program involving relaxation, kinesics, singing, visual contact, and tactile stimulation on first-time mothers' use of music and movement with their infants. Found that the program extended mothers' use of relaxation to music and rhythmical movement with their infants but not the use of song and massage…

Examines Western adaptations of music from other cultures. Argues against performing multicultural music according to the Western musical system. Provides suggestions for authentically performing multicultural music, including interacting with the music and learning about its cultural origins. (CMK)