The integration of expressive arts into trauma therapy has garnered significant attention for its ability to enhance healing and emotional processing. This article explores a proposed EMDR Drumming Protocol and therapeutic process for at-risk youth. It is a novel approach that combines the therapeutic power of Eye Movement Desensitization and…

In a series of three video-recorded assignments over a 6-week period, undergraduate music education students (N = 16) enrolled in an instrumental methods course described aloud what they were thinking about as they practiced a three-note melody on a secondary brass instrument. Later, I completed a content analysis of the students' practice…

This study aims to assess personal creativity and the development of higher-order thinking skills in improvisation. The authors evaluated higher-order thinking skills in music improvisation and creativity of improvised musical compositions. The results of the t-test showed significant progress in both creativity and thinking skills among students…

Conducting is a multifaceted and essential skill set expected of musicians from many specializations, but certainly for music educators who often fill ensemble leadership roles. For most undergraduate music majors, introductory conducting courses are their first experiences with conducting. Attending to all fundamental components of the…

Music education provided in the pre-school period serves many purposes such as distinguishing sounds, using their voice correctly, expressing themselves, let children get familiar with different musical cultures, gaining a sense of music and rhythm, and supporting the creativity of children. Developing all these skills is only possible by making…

Orchestral rehearsals in college focus exclusively on preparing concert programs. Drawing from the experiences of undergraduate string players and orchestral directors, I argue that this approach is educationally suboptimal because it fails to maximize the college orchestral rehearsal time as an educational space, forgoing the development of…

The purpose of this descriptive quantitative research study was to investigate the relationship between instrumental experience and sight-singing proficiency. This research was conducted in two phases: a quantitative survey of known high-achieving sight-singers and a comparison of sight-singing proficiency among participants with diverse musical…

Practice, skill and competition are important aspects of participating in school bands and orchestras. However, writers have questioned their value. In this philosophical paper, I mine the writings of the American pragmatists--in particular, their theories of habit and experience--to construct a theory of action for instrumental music education,…

This paper examines the impact of creating music in an improvisational jazz style on an amateur adult musician's mind, body, and spirit. Learning jazz improvisation skills can help build more empathetic human beings, when the focus of improvisation is on reacting to what you hear in a clear and concise manner. Life skills are developed by focusing…

Although the effects of focus of attention (FOA) on the performance of gross motor skills are now well understood, less is known about the role of FOA in naturalistic classroom settings where learners are engaged in the ongoing acquisition and refinement of complex motor skills. The purpose of this study, the first of its kind, was to explore how…

This paper examines what goes on in an improvising jazz combo in a secondary school in Scotland, where teaching follows Rogoff's three-stage sociocultural process, moving from an initial apprenticeship model through one of guided participation to one of participatory appropriation. Using a case study research design and interpretative…

A conversation between the Director of the University of Manchester's Science & Engineering Education Research and Innovation Hub and the Education Director of England's Halle Orchestra explores the relationship unfolding between science and music. The interview focuses on synergies between music and science and how the two subjects can…

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…

Music education researchers and conducting pedagogues have identified numerous behaviors that contribute to increased verbal and nonverbal teaching effectiveness of conductors on the podium. This article is a review of literature concerning several conductor behaviors that may (a) increase the effectiveness of rehearsals, (b) enhance the…

Group piano courses for undergraduate music majors have been charged with developing the piano skills used by professional musicians; however, the only information available on the use of piano skills by professional musicians has been limited to one profession: public school music teachers. No one has attempted to identify the piano skills used…