Picture books based on song lyrics can help mildly or moderately language disabled children increase their phonological, syntactic, and semantic competence. Song picture books can be very motivating to students as well. (CL)

Inherent in the basic principles of the symphonic wind ensemble concept are several important concepts about seating--concepts that are intended to apply only to the seating of a full symphonic wind ensemble and not to small or large chamber ensembles. (Author/RK)

The MENC Bicentennial Commission requested each state chairman to submit a list of projects that were representative of the activities in that state. Included here are 27 states and the music activities appropriate for the Bicentennial year. (Editor/RK)

A dance for early learners is given, as well as the music and with directions for making costumes. (DB)

Briefly described are ways of teaching the concept of harmony to young children through the use of keyboard instruments, resonator bells, diatonic and chromatic bells, and Orff melody instruments. (KC)

Factors to help students develop creative aesthetic discrimination in music are discussed, and the importance of educating students to be intelligent consumers of music is stressed. Considered are specific objectives in music education, sociological aspects, musical skills, and imagery. (CL)

An interview with Hap Palmer, one of the biggest-selling educational recording artists in the U.S., Europe, Japan, Mexico, and Australia. (Author/DB)

A brief description of the ways in which this organization supports the arts is illustrated by activities at a recent national convocation. (RW)

Experienced band directors know they need teaching strategies and activities that are not only innovative but also provide creative and engaging breaks in the routine for students. In addition, expectations based on the National Standards suggest new approaches to many of the performance-polishing strategies directors have come to rely on.…

Presents information on the state of the general music education in Germany in January 2005. Number of music classes of German students each week; Requirements for music teachers to teach in German schools; Student activities regarding music; Major accomplishment of German music education.

Musicians make music; that is, the performance of music involves applied knowledge or know-how. Can a discursive understanding of what the musician does be attained, and does the attempt to achieve this put at risk the very art it aims to capture? In other words, what can be said of the nature of performance and does what is said turn a living…

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 time of global awareness, music is an aural pathway for understanding the world in which people live. It is a means of social and self definition and a bridge that connects young people to the others in their neighborhoods, school groups, and wider world communities. When teachers lead children and youth into deep-listening experiences…

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…