The purpose of this collective case study was to examine how four elementary music teachers (from different U.S. regions) integrated modern band into their curricula. Data included semi-structured interviews, videos, emails, and a researcher journal. Teachers integrated modern band to improve student "buy-in" and to gain instruments. All…

The purpose of this study was to examine participating orchestras and performed repertoire at the American String Teachers Association's (ASTA) National Orchestra Festival from 2004 through 2020. Participating orchestras (N = 309) primarily consisted of string orchestras and high school-level orchestras with a majority originating from the…

Music can be a powerful activity and resource in a child's ongoing identity construction. Rather than something that people have, musical identities are understood to be something people enact and continually work on. The correlation between musical identities and developing music skills raises serious questions regarding the possibilities and…

One of the most distinctive musical genres that originated in Cuba over the past century is "cha-cha-chá," which is attributed to Enrique Jorrín during the 1950s. The popularity of this music has grown considerably since its genesis, as evidenced by the vast array of repertoire, the multitude of bands performing it, and its prevalence in…

This paper describes a fascinating connection between the physics of music and the famous chord in the dissonant rhythmic section of Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" (1913). The analysis of Stravinsky's chord will draw from the physics of harmonics, musical intervals, mathematics, and cognitive psychology. This highly interdisciplinary…

The purpose of this study was to examine effects of ensemble size and repertoire difficulty on listeners' perceptions of concert band performances. Undergraduate music majors (N = 210) viewed an audiovisual stimulus consisting of various images of large and small concert bands paired with identical audio performances of either an easy or difficult…

This paper reveals contemporary issues of music education in post-soviet Armenia. The author analyses the state of music education and draws special attention to the music education of adult beginners, which is a new challenge for the educational system of Armenia. In particular, the author reveals new problems in the performing arts, especially…

While many music teachers are familiar with strategies to prevent damage due to vocal abuse or misuse, they are generally not acquainted with other vocal problems that can affect their own or their students' singing ability. Such damage can also occur when playing a wind instrument. While vocal abuse and misuse are commonly understood in music…

In 1947 T. Carol Agee resurrected the Fort Collins High School Orchestra (FCHS) program after his return from WWII, and became the first music teacher to be hired as the full-time orchestra director at the school. He quickly created a "storied" program in the state of Colorado culminating, for him, in a 1955 Colorado Music Educators…

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…

The study established the validity and reliability of a weighted individual performance-based assessment tool within the utility scope of middle school orchestral strings. The following research questions guided this study: 1. What specific string-playing behaviors and corresponding criteria validate a weighted individual performance-based…

The goal of this dissertation project is to use embodied learning--an emerging approach to supporting student engagement--as a focal point to demonstrate how a multidimensional engagement framework can help us understand, evaluate, and design for new ways of learning. The project is situated in the context of third-grade students learning about…

Many K-12 teachers face hurdles when it comes to running a Modern Band, including the pedagogical challenges of facilitating large scale ensembles with unfamiliar repertoire and instruments. Approximation and scaffolding are two important tools teachers can use to help learners thrive in this environment. This article uses music examples to…

The purpose of this multiple-case study was to examine the career development, choices, and goals of elementary general music teachers who identified as instrumental majors during their undergraduate degree programs. Data collection included a questionnaire, interviews, participant journals, and observation field notes; data were organized using…

This article is based on a case study of how the Rocksmith entertainment music video game can be used in the context of studying electric guitar and bass as part of music teacher training. In empirical terms, we were interested in how music teachers' knowledge becomes articulated in the pedagogical discourse of our participants. As conceptual…