The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of an information and communications technology (ICT)-based individualised music education programme on primary students' musical competence. A 2 × 3 aptitude treatment interaction factorial design was used to assess the impact of the programme as a function of students' musical aptitude (MA)…

The purpose of this research was to investigate music performer/music teacher identity by examining double majors in various stages of their programs of study aspiring to become a performer and music educator. Unlike their single-major peers, double majors cope with additional challenges as they simultaneously develop both identities, determining…

This article serves to extend a critique initiated by Allsup and Benedict in their 2008 PMER article, "The Problems of Band." Using the work of Michael Foucault as a theoretical and methodological basis, I consider ways in which today's large ensemble paradigm, particularly that of the wind band, has resulted in an ongoing antinomy in…

The HONK! Festival of Activist Street Bands (honkfest.org) is an independent, grassroots, non-commercial weekend festival held each autumn in Somerville, Massachusetts. It is a moving spectacle of colourful marching bands, gigantic puppets, creative bikers, jugglers, hoopers, flag twirlers and stilt walkers, interspersed with unions, activist…

It is widely assumed that there is a blanket norm requiring the performer to present the work "in the best light possible," and that the performer "make the ends of the work his own" or "live the work" in performance. Through careful consideration of a particular performance, I suggest that this is an inadequate conception of a performer's…

This study compared selected musical, educational, and social characteristics of high schools ranked highest in "Newsweek" and "U.S. News & World Report." Questions addressed were (a) How are the top-ranked schools similar or different in educational, musical, and social characteristics? (b) What music courses are offered…

What scientific evidence can music educators share with their community stakeholders concerning how and why music moves us so powerfully? Five key points derived from recent psychological and neuroscientific findings are (1) Network Science is a new technique that allows researchers to examine the brain's interconnectivity as people listen to…

Practice is a major element in cultivating musical skill. Some psychologists have proposed that deliberate practice, a specific framework for structuring practice activities, creates the kind of practice necessary to increase skill and develop expertise. While psychologists have been observing behavior, neurologists have studied how the brain…

A rapidly growing industry creates and markets a vast range of screen media products designed specifically for babies and children under the age of three. Marketing of these products targets parents and is based on both implicit and explicit educational claims. Although the majority of products target literacy and numeracy, music presentations are…

Do performers who feel sad move differently compared to those who express sadness? Although performers' expressive movements have been widely studied, little is known about how performers' experienced emotions affect such movements. To investigate this, we made 72 motion-capture recordings of eight violinists playing a melodic phrase in response…

Paul Richards is one of those individuals who make a difference and is as far from institutional as one can be. The author met up with him at the Learning Disability Today conference in London to talk more about his work and life. Paul coordinates the service user involvement across Southdown Housing Association, based in Sussex.

The purposes of this study were to investigate the musical backgrounds, self-expressed reasons for participation and possible implications for music education of collegiate recreational music makers ("N"=19) and their practices as they exist in two contrasting modes of musical engagement on the campus of a large urban research…

In the last decades there have been several attempts to use computers in Music Education. New pedagogical trends encourage incorporating technology tools in the process of learning music. Between them, those systems based on Artificial Intelligence are the most promising ones, as they can derive new information from the inputs and visualize them…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the occurrence of flow experiences among high school music students attending a two-week summer instrumental music camp. Specifically, the study sought to determine if: (1) students do indeed experience flow in summer camp settings; (2) what activities are conducive to flow; (3) what is the relationship…

A national survey by Custodero & Johnson-Green (2003) examined how parents experienced music with their infants, and found that many reported playing and singing music frequently. More than half of the parents described playing recorded music for their children daily, and parents who had played an instrument and taken music lessons themselves…