Starting pitch selection--whether intentional or habitual or otherwise--has been theorized to vary according to multiple variables. The purpose of this study was to explore starting pitch selection in undergraduate nonmusic major singers by using four well known songs and nonsinging tasks. Participants were actively singing in a college choir and…

Learning within public education takes place in diverse settings other than traditional classrooms. Constructivism, the dominant learning theory in Texas public education classrooms, falls short of giving those who lead musical ensembles (such as band, orchestra, choir) a solid epistemological foundation. The edusemiotic concept of coordination…

Although academic discussions of whiteness in music education have been prevalent for over a decade, critical examinations of whiteness in world music education have been disproportionately lacking. One specific world music ensemble that warrants examination is the steelband within American schools. The steelpan was introduced in the United States…

A growing number of autistic pupils attend mainstream schools which raises questions around their educational and social inclusion. The current study explored the benefits of participating in a novel music and dance programme for autistic children and their peers, aged 5-8 years. It sought to discover whether music and dance tasks can be memorable…

The purpose of this study was to explore several Midwestern middle and high school music educators' perceptions of student-centered teaching approaches, including their perceived suitability for regular use in their ensembles, and the factors thought to influence that suitability. Each case was analyzed individually but only the emergent themes…

This article describes how I, an American music teacher educator, visited the classrooms of eight Musical Futures Champion Teachers in the United Kingdom and observed their teaching with a focus on informal music learning and nonformal teaching. Musical Futures, a professional development organization in the UK, is the original organization that…

Music-kings and -queens are musicians who facilitate experiences in spaces where community music (CM) and music education (MusEd) make music. These musicians lead and facilitate musicking to enrich people's music, social and cultural lives. This paper specifically explores two diverse projects occupying in-between musicking spaces that have been…

In this presentation, I examine some tensions of implementing structural changes in the instrumental classroom in pursuit of equity. Using structuration theory (Giddens, 1984) as a framework to identify and label social structures, I explore the experiences of a high school orchestra teacher and three of his students during a period when the…

This collective case study aimed to explore the various expected roles for parents of preschool children in group music lessons in the Klang Valley of West Malaysia, the area located around Kuala Lumpur. We collected data by conducting two semi-structured interviews with 10 parents and three teachers of three preschool group music classes. Four…

In this study, the aim is to present a STEAM-based music activity for gifted students and to determine the students' awareness of the process at the end of the activity. The study group of the research consists of exceptionally gifted students who applied to STEAM Based Music Activities Workshop in the Halil Inalcik Science and Art Center.…

School curricula in the United States tend to focus on students' visual sense, making the teaching and learning of aural art a unique and challenging endeavor. In this philosophical inquiry with practical applications, I propose that the music curriculum be reevaluated with an ear toward the quality of sounds students hear daily as a foundation…

Band directors have a strong sense of the traditions of band when they begin teaching. They learned these traditions as students in band and through music education coursework. They also have unique personal histories that influence the ways in which they perpetuate or alter these traditions. The variety of personal and professional experiences…

In this literature review, I examine the importance of using nonverbal communication in the music classroom. I first offer insights from the general literature on communication, which has highlighted how nonverbal skills help people to connect and communicate more effectively with others. I then make connections to music education, where we…

To address the gap in students' exposure to and knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) content, Young Academic Music (YAM) was designed to integrate music, math, and computational thinking in a way that teachers can implement as a supplemental curriculum in their kindergarten classrooms to meet the needs of their students.…

In this study, we examine how musical play affect the development of musical abilities of first-grade pupils of elementary school. The research consisted of three parts: the initial testing of pupils' musical abilities, holding ten hours of music lessons in which the emphasis was placed on conducting musical play, and the final testing of pupils'…