Article describes how the author overcame his handicap as a deaf student by playing percussion instruments in the university concert band. Most important was the director's attitude that he should nether encourage nor discourage but rather let the student find his own footing. (Author/MM)

A rationale and specific suggestions for the limited and well-chosen use of opera to illuminate historical and cultural phenomena. A bibliography includes sources for background information on plots, music and composers. (JB)

The view that the musician conveys the expressiveness of music she performs by undergoing those emotions and showing them, or by simulating such things, is implausible. If expressiveness is an objective property possessed literally by musical patterns and structures, or if it supervenes on such properties, the performer conveys that expressiveness…

In this article, the author addresses the best ways to be prepared for sight-reading at a festival. The best way to learn how to sight-read is to practice sight-reading consistently throughout the year. In theory, this is a great idea. In practice, it is more difficult due to performance demands and other time constraints on the rehearsal.…

The prism concert concept was introduced in this country at the Eastman School of Music in 1975. The development of Eastman's inaugural prism concert is commonly attributed to Donald Hunsberger and Gustav Meier, conductors of the wind ensemble and orchestra, respectively. The basic idea is that different styles of music performed by different…

This study aimed to assess the perceived impact of music students' active engagement in music making. Seventy-eight music students were asked to report on the impact that their participation in music making had on their lives. The data were analysed using Atlas.ti software. The findings fell within three categories: music making as a musical act,…

The use of peer mentoring in a successful high school jazz band was explored during one academic year of instruction using ethnographic techniques. Participants included primary informants (student jazz band members, director, assistant director, adult mentors) and secondary informants (guidance counselor, principal, parents, non-jazz band member…

Elementary general music teachers typically teach hundreds of students every week. Each child has individual learning needs due to a variety of factors, such as prior experiences with music, music aptitude, learning style, and personality. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore ways that experienced teachers used assessments to…

Panchito's Necropolis explores children's talk about musical thinking through the study of their reflections on their own improvised music. He accepts the possibility that children's discourse on music is the beginning of their philosophizing about music, an idea that is related to the larger issue of how to develop a music education perspective…

In this article, the author discusses a rehearsal technique that would teach the content outlined in the National Standards for Arts Education and improve performance at the same time. A major component of this rehearsal technique needs to be increasing students' listening and analytical skills, and one way to do that is to ask questions…

How one teacher selectively programed films for teaching music. (HB)

Suggested activities for individualizing music instruction. (HB)

The document offers suggestions for teaching a unit on self awareness through the use of silent communications for gifted and talented students. The unit focuses on movement and drama and begins with warm-ups followed by five lessons that cover awareness activities for self evaluation, using drama to analyze one's own limitations, developing group…