The "Three Artistic Processes" provide a powerful model for organizing standards-based music teaching and assessment as well as a vision of the musically educated student. They also clarify how student-centered music education helps children master 21st-century skills necessary for future success. This article outlines why and how music teachers…

This essay explores the role of music composition within the curriculum of a typical small liberal arts college and the faculty composer's role(s) in facilitating the study of composition. The relationship between composition and campus performance is discussed, particularly in light of the increased emphasis on performance in formerly all-male…

A description of a listening activity for "Children's Song," a piece by Chick Corea, is introduced and developed. The use of materials and strategies for music making in early childhood settings was developed as a result of a teacher training and consultancy program implemented in a network of early learning centers in Spain. The main…

One computer, one class, and one educator can be an effective combination to engage students as a group in music composition, performance, and analysis. Having one desktop computer and a television monitor in the music classroom is not an uncommon or new scenario, especially in a time when many school budgets are being cut. This article…

The purpose of this study was to investigate fourth-grade students' extrinsic motivators for joining and continuing in a school instrumental music program. Three research questions were investigated: (a) What extrinsic motivators have influenced fourth-grade students' initial interest and continuing participation in an instrumental music program?…

In the 1970s, Jose Antonio Abreu started the Venezuelan program that puts instruments into the hands of poor children and transforms their lives with free music education. Abreu, a musician and economist, sees in the arts not just a discipline and skill but a path to true selfhood. This is not the sort of talk one often finds in education.…

This study examined the programming trends of the elite wind bands/ensembles of the Atlantic Coast Conference universities. Using survey techniques previously employed by Powell (2009) and Paul (2010; in press), we contacted the directors of the Atlantic Coast Conference band programs and requested concert programs from their top groups for the…

Established a half-century ago, Riverbrook Residence, home to 23 women with developmental disabilities, is the oldest facility of its kind in New England, and perhaps in the country. Indeed, Riverbrook's executive director Joan Burkhard's vision, together with the care and dedication of the staff and the women's families, have created a rare and…

Many school bands organize their year around competitions, but Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the only contest is topping the previous season's performances for the student body and surrounding community. That is just how Michael Moran--Freedom's busy band and orchestra director, fine and practical arts department chair, and wind…

The challenges and joys of presenting high school and middle school musicals are myriad--and, due to the many variables involved, often unlike those of choral concerts, band concerts, or just about anything else that one may encounter as a teacher. With so many moving parts, it is easy to feel overwhelmed, especially if one is new to the game. In…

Barbershop music has undergone some thing of a revival in recent years; some would argue that it never went away. The author discusses how music teachers can make use of this uniquely American art form. Rick Spencer, director of music and education for the Barbershop Harmony Society, the world's largest all-male singing organization, encourages…

Increasingly, music teachers are required to assist, tutor, or teach reading skills in the music classroom. In the effort to meet such mandates, music teachers may be challenged to either relinquish valuable music instruction time or attempt to combine instructional strategies of both music and reading into singular lessons, units, and classroom…

Research about Jewish choral singers provides insight to a previously unstudied population of adult Jewish learners. Drawing on over 2,000 responses to the First-Ever Survey of Jewish Choral Activity, this article describes how Jewish choral experiences enable adults to deepen their involvement in Jewish life and learning. Survey results suggest…

This paper considers the spiritual nature of music making and in particular the activity of singing. As a music teacher for children aged 5-11, I have recently observed a change in the behaviour and self-esteem of certain children in school since they joined the choir. This has also inspired them to flourish in other areas of school life. This…

This article reports on the practice and evaluation of a music education model, In Harmony, which utilizes new technologies and current theories of learning to mediate the music learning experience. In response to the needs of twenty-first century learners, the educational software programs Teach, Learn, Evaluate! and Impromptu served as central…