Music Pedagogy Commons^™

How Composers Compose: In Search Of The Questions, Bernard W. Andrews

Research & Issues in Music Education

The Genesis Project is a multi-phase research project designed for the purpose of developing an in-depth understanding of the nature of musical creativity by investigating how composers compose. In this first phase of the project, an understanding of the four dimensions of musical creativity: 1) the person, 2) the compositional process, 3) the pre-requisite training, emotions and context, and 4) the musical piece itself, provided a theoretical framework for investigating how composers compose new music through expert review. Questions in each of these dimensions were generated from the literature, examined by a panel of composers and educators, and then refined …

K-4 Pre-Service Classroom Teachers' Beliefs About Useful Skills, Understandings And Future Practice In Music, Francine Morin

Research & Issues in Music Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate K-4 pre-service classroom teachers’ beliefs about useful skills, understandings, and future practices in music. Questionnaire (N=74) and interview (N=35) data were gathered from teacher candidates enrolled in music methods courses at a large, western Canadian university. Music skills and understandings such as singing, listening, and integrating music across other subject areas were rated as "most useful," indicating a definite valuing of pedagogical content knowledge over content knowledge like music fundamentals, music history, or playing accompaniment instruments. Future music practices discussed by pre-service teachers were closely aligned to the beliefs they hold about …

Comparing Two Approaches For Teaching Rhythm Reading Skills To First-Grade Children: A Pilot Study, Delores Gauthier, Robert E. Dunn

Research & Issues in Music Education

This pilot study compared two approaches for teaching rhythm reading skills to first-grade children. Two intact first-grade classes participated in six lessons focusing on simple rhythms (4 beats using eighth and quarter notes). The lessons were based on the same musical materials; only the approach was varied. After random assignment, Class 1 experienced the “Subdivision Approach” where the quarter note is the beat, and eighth notes are subdivisions of the beat. Class 2 used the “Additive Approach” where, in this case, the eighth note is the “shortest sound” and a quarter note is the equivalent of two short sounds.

Pre- …

Canons In Harmony, Or Canons In Conflict: A Cultural Perspective On The Curriculum And Pedagogy Of Jazz Improvization, Kenneth E. Prouty

Research & Issues in Music Education

This essay examines how jazz educators construct methods for teaching the art of improvisation in institutionalized jazz studies programs. Unlike previous studies of the processes and philosophies of jazz instruction, I examine such processes from a cultural standpoint, to identify why certain methods might be favored over others. Specifically, jazz education is treated as a fusion of two distinct historical and cultural forces: those of musical academia, and of the jazz community. I argue that methods of teaching improvisation reflect a dual identity, in which these two cultural traditions sometimes exert an uneven influence upon the learning environment. Improvisational curricula, …

Teaching Instrumental Music To Deaf And Hard Of Hearing Students, Phillip M. Hash

Research & Issues in Music Education

Many Deaf/Hard of Hearing (D/HH) individuals have successfully participated in instrumental music programs for over 100 years. In spite of proven success, however, many directors are reluctant to involve students with hearing loss in school bands and orchestras. Reasons may include a lack of knowledge regarding the needs and capabilities of these learners, or the fear that D/HH musicians will negatively impact the performance quality of the ensemble. By becoming familiar with the characteristics and abilities of D/HH students, as well as methods for instructing these individuals, music educators will be better prepared to serve this population. This article provides …

Historical Research In Music Education And The Historiography Of Kant, Spengler And Foucault, George N. Heller

Research & Issues in Music Education

This essay examines historical research in music education in connection with historiography and the writing of history, using the works of three exemplary writers recently reviewed in book-length studies. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) representing classic, enlightenment philosophy as it pertains to historiography was primarily a philosopher who wrote tangentially on history. Oswald Spengler (1880-1936), a modernist German historian and philosopher famous for his pessimistic tome, The Decline of the West (1924-26), was primarily a historian with an interest in philosophy. Michel Foucault (1926-1984), who stated the case for post-modern historiography from a French perspective, seems to have been interested in history …

Effects Of Sequenced Kodaly Literacy-Based Music Instruction On The Spatial Reasoning Skills Of Kindergarten Students, Marlene Hanson

Research & Issues in Music Education

This study was an investigation of the effects of sequenced Kodály literacy-based music instruction on the spatial reasoning skills of kindergarten students. Subjects in the pretest-posttest control group design were 54 kindergarten students who were enrolled in three kindergarten classes in a rural elementary community school. Experimental group one (n = 18) received Kodály music instruction and experimental group two (n = 18) received computer instruction (with no classroom music training) for 30 minutes twice a week. The control group (n = 18) received no classroom music instruction or computer instruction. The instructional-treatment period spanned seven months from October, 2000 …

Notes From The Editor, Bruce Gleason

Research & Issues in Music Education

RIME marks another step in the grand experiment of on-line research publishing—an idea that is gaining stature in academic circles with the advent of quality journals. While on-line research reporting formats will probably never subsume print journals (I can detect a future music education historian quoting me here), RIME was founded with the premise that there is indeed room for a quality web-based music education research journal.

Cultural Contexts Of Exclusion: Women College Band Directors, Elizabeth S. Gould

Research & Issues in Music Education

Despite gender affirmative employment practices, women constitute little more than 5% of all U.S. college band directors. Researchers have investigated this situation in terms of historical precedent, traditional socialization, discrimination, segregation, professional identity, and lack of role models. They have not, however, addressed the culture of conducting college bands. Cultural analysis is essential because the percentage of women conducting college bands in the U.S. has remained virtually static during the past thirty years. It is appropriate because it provides a multi-layered, broader view of the problem which make possible explanations that may be more appropriately generalized and less subject to …