ABSTRACT While writing is undeniably an essential part of higher education, in music education, musical performance skills form the core of assessing students’ results. However, higher music education is experiencing growing demands on research activities parallel to heightened requirements on music performance students’ abilities to formulate themselves around their main field of study. This paper

ABSTRACT Educators can develop musical learning experiences that help trans students explore, develop, and celebrate their genders and identities through music. This case study explored how a well-established YouTube musician, Amie Waters, used social media platforms and her music to express herself as she came out as a trans non-binary femme person to her audiences online. Amie found trans resources

Published in Music Education Research (Ahead of Print, 2022)

ABSTRACT This study examined the changes in perception toward systemic racism of twenty-six first-year students at a mid-sized university in central New Jersey. All were members of the first-year choir and, with their conductor, participated in a three-week workshop called ‘No Justice, No Peace.’ The goal was to examine social justice issues and systemic racism in society and to produce multimedia

ABSTRACT Current international trends in curriculum design tend to advocate an approach which defines broad ‘competences’ rather than disciplinary content or skills, encouraging the making of connections between subject disciplines. This article discusses the results of a survey of 75 secondary music teachers in Wales, a nation which is in the early stages of implementing a new curriculum framework

ABSTRACT One-to-one lessons based on the master-apprentice model are recognised in research and practice as an indispensable foundation for the training of professional musicians including singers. Given its primary importance to musician training, it is essential that researchers of this pedagogical model adopt methodologies and methods well-suited to illuminating the unique nature of one-to-one pedagogy

ABSTRACT Music is vulnerable to unconscious bias through visual extramusical factors. Traditional male/female gender bias affects instrument choice and impacts performance evaluation negatively. This study investigates gender bias in assessing harp performance. Harp performers (one male, one female) recorded three musical excerpts, all dubbed with the female performer’s audio. Listener-viewers assessed

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes, values, and beliefs of New York music teachers towards the inclusion of popular music in the classroom. This research was guided by the following questions: 1) To what extent are K-12 teachers interested in teaching a variety of popular music instruments and styles? 2) What attitudes and beliefs do music teachers express about popular

ABSTRACT Sociomusical identity pursues integrative goals, as it establishes bridges between musical identities from a perspective based on transculturation and post-ethnicity. The current study aims to observe the influence of social groups in the construction of sociomusical identity, using a simple random sample comprised of 417 students who attend Chilean schools classified in a condition of social

ABSTRACT In the study being reported here, heads of composition at a selection of music conservatoires (n = 6) in the UK were invited to share their experiences of teaching composition. Arising from the analysis of interview data, three main themes, termed 'pedagogical goals', emerged as important for undergraduate and postgraduate students to progress as composers. These included: becoming independent

ABSTRACT In numerous countries, primary school class teachers have problems regarding music teaching. It has been reported that there is a lack of both confidence and musical skills. However, the question often relates not only to a lack of self-efficacy beliefs but also to the organisation of the studies. This research looks for sources influencing the formation of self-efficacy beliefs through the

ABSTRACT Practices of Musikvermittlung have become significantly more relevant since the last turn of the millennium against the background of a dwindling audience for classical concerts in the German speaking countries. For classically trained musicians, whether in permanent positions, as soloists or in portfolio careers, activities in the fields of community engagement and education work are increasingly

Published in Music Education Research (Vol. 24, No. 4, 2022)

ABSTRACT This qualitative thematic analysis explores parents’ perceptions of Suzuki music learning. Although parents are part of the ‘Suzuki triangle’ alongside the child and teacher, there is little research that investigates the Suzuki parent role. This work explores self-reports of parents’ experiences, expectations, and needs during their child’s first year of lessons with an expert pedagogue.

ABSTRACT This study aimed to empower piano students and explore their understandings of how teaching and learning of musical interpretation of Western classical music could be developed to foster autonomy and a personal, authentic artistic voice. Two research questions were formulated: How have students experienced teaching and learning of musical interpretation? How do students envision a meaningful

ABSTRACT This article concerns assessors’ use of predictions of applicants’ ability to learn when assessing admission tests for specialist music teacher education in Sweden. The data consist of stimulated-recall interviews with video-recorded admission tests as stimuli, and the analyses are based on discourse psychology with a focus on the variations, functions, and effects of the assessors’ statements

ABSTRACT Providing students with opportunities to experience culturally diverse music traditions is an important, yet complex task for music educators. In this study, the author participants (four tertiary music educators from different places in the world) facilitated a series of online workshops based on songs from culturally diverse settings with a group of pre-service teachers at a Spanish university

ABSTRACT Pupils’ experiences of four music pieces were compared regarding two didactical approaches to music listening in Croatian schools: the predominantly cognitively oriented standard (STA), and the experimental cognitive-emotional (CEA). The research comprised 557 pupils, 10 and 11 years old. After the initial listening to a music piece pupils mostly reported to like its musical components which

ABSTRACT This study explores music teachers’ beliefs of student agency in whole-class playing and investigates what characterises student agency through teachers’ values, actions and observations within this unique multimodal and -dimensional learning environment. Our abductive analysis of 11 interviews reveals that the role of teacher support is significant in enacting students’ agency. This study

ABSTRACT This article examines how specialist music secondary schools in England present themselves on their websites and social media platforms. We consider visual communication codes and how such patterns reflect cultural distinctions and social boundaries. Multimodal critical discourse analysis is used to demonstrate how the choice of semiotic resources convey the meaning of specialisation in a

Published in Music Education Research (Vol. 24, No. 3, 2022)

Published in Music Education Research (Vol. 24, No. 5, 2022)

ABSTRACT This paper presents findings from ethnographic case study research that investigated teacher practices and student engagement in classroom music. The data collection was undertaken in a primary (elementary) and a secondary school in Australia and focussed on the classroom practice of two teachers and four classes of students aged 10 to 16 years. The two teachers invited to participate in the

Published in Music Education Research (Vol. 24, No. 3, 2022)

ABSTRACT This study presents an analysis of hidden elitism in music education through the free choice argument – that individuals are fundamentally free to choose to study music – as a meritocratic power structure. Qualitative Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) is applied to understand music education as a social system with a special structure in which its purpose regulates its functions and makes them

ABSTRACT The benefits of musical play in cognitive development have recently received an upsurge of interest in the field of early childhood music education research. This study examines the positive learning transfer from a musical play early-learning system® to cognitive development. Specifically, we investigated the effects of early musically enriched multicultural play activities on linguistic

ABSTRACT Global and societal changes present profound challenges and complexities for the future of music education practice and research. In these times of rapid change, four members of the MER editorial board reflect on the need to challenge normalising discourses of music education and encourage new understandings and/or territories within the field. In this viewpoint paper, we proffer four provocations

ABSTRACT As in many other countries, Finnish primary school teacher education has reduced substantially the amount of music studies during recent decades. From the perspective of the National Core Curriculum, there is a reason to reflect on teacher education and primary school student teachers’ skills to teach music. The present study investigates 392 student teachers’ musical skills in five different

ABSTRACT Twenty years have passed since Green’s [2002. How Popular Musicians Learn: A way Ahead for Music Education. Aldershot: Ashgate] publication which proposed a model of informal learning based upon five key principles. The discussion it ignited within the discipline was vast, the debate is still on-going, and the approach is still being implemented internationally. It is timely to explore literature

ABSTRACT This article investigates policy and provision of music in initial teacher education (ITE) in Ireland and Northern Ireland through a novel approach to comparative music education in ITE. Employing literature reviews and a survey of music ITE policy and provision in the two jurisdictions, it draws on a range of primary and secondary sources and presents a summary of comparative findings from

ABSTRACT Achieving fluency in sightreading—particularly rhythm reading—is cited by researchers as a universally problematic component of formal music education. This study employed an experimental design to examine the efficacy of focused practice on rhythm reading with targeted feedback. College music majors (n = 28) were sent a novel, challenging piece of sheet music every day for five days, and

ABSTRACT Swiss educator, Émile Jaques-Dalcroze observed over 100 years ago that often music conservatoires focus primarily on the development of technique and repertoire, at the expense of musicianship. His embodied approach to music education aims to connect all our faculties, emotional, corporeal and intellectual, through experiencing music making, in and through movement. This arts practice research

ABSTRACT Despite a growing interest in posthuman research methodologies within educational research, there has been limited research to date which applies this theory to music education. We consider that there is much that posthumanism and music education may offer each other, particularly within the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic which challenges us to innovate rapidly within our educational

ABSTRACT Music education in England has been in a state of flux for a number of years due to the complexities and variability of its delivery. Many of the issues surrounding music education in England are associated with policy and practice in schools, and the complexities of funding and deployment of music activities. This creates contextual, structural and political boundaries, especially on partnership

ABSTRACT The paper looks into the analysis of theoretical findings for comprehending the transmedia and transmedia competence in the light of pre-service music teachers’ training. The paper’s objectives are to substantiate the transmedia educational projects in music art and disseminate the experience of its development and implementation for enhancing pre-service music teachers’ transmedia competence

ABSTRACT COVID-19 forced extreme measures in cities worldwide, including school shutdowns and limited social contact. Semi-structured interviews with 14 Israeli music teachers were conducted to expose the challenges of teaching musical instruments and vocal during social distancing, focussing on struggles and technical challenges, teacher-student relations, and creative leveraging. The study explores

ABSTRACT Practice occupies an essential and significant place in every musician’s life, yet the practice habits of highly experienced, professional musicians, remain under-researched. As such, this study sought to contribute to the emerging body of knowledge into professional musicians’ practice. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with six such musicians, and through the qualitative content

ABSTRACT Research on professional learning and social networks among music educators points to the importance of closely-situated colleagues. However, the co-teaching dyad (i.e. a pair of music educators teaching elective instrumental music classes during the school day) has not been investigated in music settings. Research is needed on the co-teaching arrangement and how it interacts with advice-seeking

ABSTRACT Based on narratives on six choral conductors’ unfolding careers, the article investigates significant moments in professional trajectories – turning points – and how these shaped ongoing practices. The empirical material comprises interviews with conductors that represent different pre-conducting platforms – musicologist, music therapist, music educator, instrumentalist, singer, and church

ABSTRACT Investigations of the English Cathedral Choral tradition have ranged from studies of the pedagogical practices and environmental affordances and constraints that support choral excellence to the introduction of female voices into a male-dominated musical practice. Studies of choral participation have investigated the health and wellbeing outcomes of choral participation across the lifespan

ABSTRACT Music has been welcomed to juvenile justice institutions as a transformative practice supporting the rehabilitation of youth offenders to citizens. However, acknowledging that such institutions are not neutral instruments of the law but political arenas within which notions of ideal citizenship are imposed and contested, the transformative work of music in these settings is related to profoundly

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to conduct a qualitative study examining ‘real-world’ jazz performance contexts within an Australian tertiary music course. Course projects were designed to offer students opportunities to gain a better understanding of the intersections of working and performing with their teachers in an improvised music ensemble. The study investigates reflection of students’

ABSTRACT This study aims to analyse the extent to which gamification tools and multimedia resources (i.e. Cuadernia, Kahoot, Quizizz, and Socrative) can serve in learning strategies for education, achievement, participation and motivation during student teacher training in the subject of Musical Education and its Didactics and within the general context of higher education. We use a quantitative methodological

ABSTRACT The purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate choral directors’ experiences as they navigate Whiteness through their own personal philosophies and practices related to repertoire selection and how those lived experiences may or may not impact their students. Twelve practicing choral directors from middle school through university settings were interviewed. Three important themes

ABSTRACT Creating accessible events is a pressing issue for many music organisations. In the United States, the term accessibility has strong ties to disability, and it is an important concept because what is deemed accessible directly impacts who is included and excluded from music experiences. Music Community Lab (MCL) runs a series of events in New York City called Monthly Music Hackathon NYC. They

ABSTRACT As a result of a documented decline in student engagement with curricular music in recent decades, which has called into question traditional approaches to music learning and teaching, theorists have advocated for a reconceptualisation of ‘curriculum’ in music education. This expanded understanding challenges teachers to reject the ‘instruction manual’ approach, to engage more actively and

ABSTRACT Student-centredness is being advocated for in research on higher music education (HME), yet its perils have been largely neglected by scholars. While issues of employability are important to address in order for music graduates to thrive in a neoliberal world, this article asserts that the underlying power mechanisms that are being criticised for stifling creative development in students may

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to analyse activities on sound qualities raised in Early Childhood Education textbooks from an educational-musical point of view. The sample consisted of 1391 activities in textbooks from the leading publishing houses in Spain. For data collection an ad hoc instrument called the Protocol for the Systematic Analysis of Musical Activities was developed. It has been used

ABSTRACT This study examined Finnish first-and second-year music education major students and primary education students who participate 25-credits minor subject studies in music, childhood and adolescent musical experiences and musical paths. The participants (N = 30) were asked to write an essay on the topic ‘Music and Me’. Using holistic content analysis, five different composite stories were formed

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to explore the impact of a new solfege course design, where movable numbers integrated into the fixed-do system, on students’ sight-singing skills. The procedure of this action research, carried out in two cycles, consists of three steps: ‘planning’, ‘acting and observing’ and ‘reflecting’. The course, which was designed in the planning step, was implemented by the

ABSTRACT Previous studies examining male elementary general music teachers have treated this population as a homogeneous group, ignoring or downplaying the social differences that exist among male teachers. This study considered how gender intersects with other identities, such as age, race, and sexuality, to impact the experiences and self-perceptions of three male elementary general music teachers

ABSTRACT Between 2007 and 2017, El Sistema – Venezuela’s national system of youth orchestras – enjoyed a seemingly unexplainable meteoric rise, followed by an equally spectacular sunset. Although it would be easy to dismiss this Sistema decade as being no more than a peculiar aberration of music education history, I assert that El Sistema more accurately represents a poignant return – or ritornello

ABSTRACT This article reports on a pilot project exploring the viability of a teaching-through-playing approach in chamber music instruction in higher music education. Literature suggests that teaching traditions such as the one-to-one setting need renewal, and socio-cultural theories of learning propose that collaboration and participation are a way forward. To explore this new approach, a multiple

ABSTRACT This article probes the socially embedded musical pathways and learning strategies followed by professional Palestinian Arab wedding musicians active in the Galilee region of northern Israel from the late 1960s until the present day, from their first childhood experiences of music until the point when they step onto the platform for the first time to perform for payment at a wedding party

ABSTRACT This article addresses migrant children’s entries into new education systems from the vantage point of musical participation. Through an ethnographic study of one Norwegian primary school, it investigates what scope for musical participation is available to newly arrived migrant children in a dedicated introductory class, and how their engagement with music contributes to a sense of belonging

ABSTRACT This article discusses approaches to improvisation from a learning perspective, using Irish traditional fiddle music as a case study. Within this genre, concepts of improvisation are largely implicit: many skilled musicians are engaged in spontaneous variation, without particular attention given to the phenomenon and without reference to the term improvisation. This is also evident in teaching

ABSTRACT Recently, there have been attempts to improve the support for beginning music teachers by investigating their difficulties during their first teaching years. The purpose of the study was to describe Korean novice music teachers’ perceptions of their first years’ challenges. In this study, data were generated through participants’ reflective journals, two individual interviews per participant

ABSTRACT This paper reports a qualitative study that investigates how five different video-based online prototypes impacted in-service music teachers’ professional knowledge and their learning experiences. Through an examination of participants’ posts and interviews, the findings showed that video-based professional development (PD) could impact teacher’s pedagogical content knowledge as they afforded

ABSTRACT Our study explored how adolescents’ experiences and musical preferences might relate to musical identity, and the likelihood of engaging in musical activities as adults. Participants were 170 first-year university students, both music majors and non-music majors. A questionnaire collected participants’ responses regarding beliefs about music, as well as self-reported ratings of musicality

ABSTRACT Entrepreneurship mostly occurs in business studies after general education. This study considers how the informant, Anna, first identified herself as a young music hobbyist, then as a musician and music teacher, and finally as an entrepreneur in music. The main question driving this narrative study is, ‘How might identity formation processes as a musician and a music teacher influence identity