The purpose of this study is to analyze how the music educational program of El Sistema Sweden is advertised and legitimized through moving images. The films are a major part of the information on the Swedish national website of El Sistema and are supposed to contribute to the picture that the organization and its founders wish to market. The use…

This article discusses the use of beta-blockers by performing artists, the reasons why they are taken, and the potential associated risks. We argue that there are high levels of usage within sectors of the professional performing arts community and that there may be high levels of risk in using these medications, particularly without medical…

Jazz big band is a common extra-curricular musical activity in Western Australian secondary schools. Jazz big band offers important fundamentals that can help expand a student's musical understanding. However, the teaching of conventions associated with big band jazz has often been haphazard and can be daunting and frightening, especially for…

In the present case study, we used observation and interviews to investigate the musical experience of a group of children of 3-4 years old. We look into the uniqueness of music in the child's environment which belongs to the media, family and school contexts. The present study allows us to understand some implications of musical experiences for…

The Rhythmic Arts Project (TRAP) curriculum integrates visual, tactile, auditory and speech experiences through rhythmic drumming actions to address life skills. We evaluated life skills before and after participation in TRAP in a school-based setting in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Participants were 23 children in grades 6-12 in…

Music is often regarded as a thing of the creative realm, something that sits to the side of the main core subjects, but music in the classroom shows music can be much more than a complement to a poetry unit. The author's journey through the Country Music Hall of Fame's Words & Music program revealed that delving into the world of songwriting…

Although recent advances make it easier than ever before for students with severe visual impairments to be fully accommodated in the music classroom, one of the most significant current challenges in this area is most music educators' unfamiliarity with current assistive technology. Fortunately, many of these tools are readily available and even…

This article presents a case study of a group of approximately 70-year-old women who are learning to play rock band instruments in a formal music school context. The study examines the individual and shared meanings that the participants assigned to taking part in the rock band. The study aligns with John Dewey's view that the meanings of present…

School music programs are changing. For years the music education profession has emphasized large ensemble experiences for reasons that include quality of music making, sense of community, and individual and collective pride for many of the students involved. As a high school saxophonist, I valued that experience, but other high school…

This article reveals the results of a comparative study of Estonian and Finnish general music education. The aim was to find out what music teaching practices and approaches/methods were mostly used, what music education perspectives supported those practices. The data were collected using questionnaires and the results of 107 Estonian and 50…

Music psychologists have established that some forms of musical activity improve intellectual performance, spatial-temporal reasoning and other skills advantageous for learning. In this research, the potential of active music-making for improving pupils' achievement in spatial- temporal reasoning was investigated. As spatial-temporal skills are…

The qualitative study referred to here investigated what a class of undergraduate pre-service music teachers could learn from conducting a piece of action research for primary 5 pupils in Hong Kong. Data were collected from lesson observations, post-lesson conferences with the pre-service teachers, their presentations and individual reflection…

This study explores the efficacy of using musical activities to enhance the character aspect of education of preschoolers in a Taiwanese school setting. The Taiwanese educational authority stipulates that character development activities should focus on the core values of caring, respect, courage, honesty, responsibility, and cooperation.…

Research on the improvement of learning shifted from a focus on the learner as individual to the concept of sociocultural learning in communities of learning, communities of practice or learning cultures during the 1990s. A similar shift in the focus of the development of a single construct of individual musical creativity to socially situated…

The purpose of this study was to explore the culture of choral singing among children and youth in Pretoria East, South Africa. The philosophical underpinnings of the choirs, the roles of choirs within local and national communities, and the perceived values and benefits of participation were examined. This collective case study required the…