Conflicting philosophies exist in education today between those who believe that the traditional approach to curriculum is the best and those who believe there are better ways. At the core of both approaches is the sincere desire to give children the best education in the world. In this article, the author uses integration to bring the study of…

THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF THIS DOCUMENT: Our former Elementary Instrumental Music Program for 4th-6th graders was costly and ineffective. Students were bused to a high school in the middle of the instructional day--costs (time and transportation) were not compensatory with the program, which was experiencing a significant drop-out rate.…

The paper presents a method for teaching music to the severely emotionally disturbed high school learner, a typology for relating the learner to the type of method to be used, and three case studies illustrating use of music as a way to provide students with the least restrictive environment. The music program involves group singing and playing…

Suggests ways to solve problems resulting from imbalanced instrumentation in school concert bands. Identifies sources of imbalance. Encourages band directors to plan for correct instrumentation, to match students' characteristics and abilities to instruments, and to recruit students to play needed instruments. Discusses the benefits of balanced…

Presents an interview with Rebecca Bower, principal trombonist with the Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) Symphony Orchestra. Reviews her career as a music student and performer and her experiences in battling sex stereotypes. Explains Bower's belief that students' instrument choices should have nothing to do with gender. Stresses her advice to female…

Thanks to an entrepreneurial principal, nearly 75% of a rural New York State school's upper-division students participate in band. To ensure access, the principal bargains with second-hand dealers for instruments (using fees from photo profits) and charges kids a fee of $1 to $15 yearly. Consulting with the music teacher avoids duplication and…

Activities in music class allow students, especially students with hearing impairments, to explore new means of expression and to enhance existing ones. Additional benefits may include increases in auditory awareness, cognitive ability, attention span, memory recall, and vocabulary. Students with hearing impairments can learn and flourish in music…

Have you ever thought of using music as a subject for art? When the author discovered that her third graders studied jazz in music class every February, it seemed an opportune time for her to simultaneously focus on music in art, specifically through the work of African-American artist Romare Bearden. To familiarize her third-grade students with…

The article offers tips on introducing percussion activities in elementary music class. Percussion equipment should be treated as musical instruments and not toys, teaching correct names, playing techniques and notation for the instruments. Active listening experiences for students should be planned, including band music. Band music incorporates…

Community dynamics play a major role in determining the duties of music educators. What music educators do each day can vary greatly depending on their location. A middle school band director's job description in suburban New York is likely to look nothing like that of a music educator in rural Iowa. There is a substantial lack of literature to…

Violins, earthquakes, and the "singing rod" demonstration all have something in common--stick-slip frictional motion. The application of stick-slip friction can be extended to a ringing wineglass, exotic percussion instruments, car racing, and the latest research on the interplay between surfaces at the atomic level. These examples all involve two…

With all the music that is available for instrumental performance in the schools, the music of Thailand is under-represented. Yet Thailand has a rich instrumental tradition. This article focuses on the possibilities of adapting the Thai "mahori" and "kruang sai" ensembles to the western instrumentation available in school music…

The Pan African Society of Musical Arts Education (PASMAE) initiated the concept of Music Action Research Teams (MAT cells) at the grass-roots level for the collaborative sharing and learning of educators throughout Africa. The current number of 27 cells in Africa is a modest realization of the society's aims. However, it is strongly felt that if…

In this article the author shares the story of the Whittier Drum Project and how it succeeded. The Whittier Drum Project has brought the community together through the talents of youth and their dedication to drumming, and has used drumming to link professionals to their own communities. The author adapted the model to meet the therapeutic needs…

What follows is a description of a simple experiment developed in a non-mathematical general education science course on sound and light for fine arts students in which a guitar is used with data collection hardware and software to verify the properties of standing waves on a string.