Music is universally pleasurable and important, and no known society is without it. Flutes have been found around the campfire in Neanderthal cave sites in artifacts that date back 53,000 years (Leutwyler 2001). Young adults in particular listen to music almost nonstop, and their playlists form an important part of their identities. It only makes…

The purpose of this study was to explore educational and social environments of multiple American community ukulele groups. The foundations, objectives, and leadership of four community ukulele groups offer expansions to our understandings of the ways in which people are teaching and learning with the ukulele as well as what are hopefully valuable…

Learning musical instruments requires a significant amount of independent, unsupervised effort by students in the current post-secondary pedagogical context. A vital role of the teacher is therefore to help a student improve at the art of independent practice. The theory of contextual interference in skills learning has demonstrated better…

The purpose of this instrumental case study was to understand how learning to play the ukulele influenced the music identity of elementary education majors. Eighteen participants (17 females, 1 male) from two universities created YouTube playlists and recorded solo ukulele performances for their YouTube channel. Music identity perceptions were…

This article looks at some best practices for teaching the harmonica as demonstrated in schools in southern Germany. The author describes the role the harmonica has played in music education, offering a brief overview of the instrument's use in the United States. He shares what certain German educators are doing and how their techniques can be…

The case presented in this study focused on the experiences of students enrolled in a Saturday day music program situated in an underserved community. Students in this community represent a wide variety of cultural backgrounds, and we were interested in whether younger students in the program would benefit from receiving lessons from an older…

For various reasons, instrumentalist music education majors may find themselves teaching in an elementary general music classroom. Based on research and experience, this article will discuss why the transition from instrumental to elementary general music education may occur as well as offer suggestions to support instrumentalists new to the…

Results from recent research have demonstrated positive effects of somatic approaches, such as the Feldenkrais Method, somaesthetics, and body mapping in the field of music. However, the direct impact of such approaches on instrumental sound has not been studied so far. The present pilot study was thus designed to investigate the influence of…

We examined collective efficacy beliefs, including levels of within-group agreement and correlation with performance quality, of instrumental chamber ensembles (70 musicians, representing 18 ensembles). Participants were drawn from collegiate programs and intensive summer music festivals located in the northwestern and western regions of the…

Over the past several decades, music education scholars have put forth a variety of convincing rationales for world music education. Yet the gap between theory and practice in this area persists. In theoretical ways, practicing music educators acknowledge the value of world music learning experiences, but many remain reluctant to fully embrace and…

What can be done to re-orient a field of education like music, when far too many teachers teach the way they were taught using traditional procedures that stupefy and deaden students to the subject matter, rather than working creatively to invigorate and empower them to become thoughtfully engaged, independent music makers? The essays in this…

This paper addresses the integrated use of the arts and digital technology in mathematics education--specifically involving aspects of preservice teachers' mathematical activity while engaging in music production, in pedagogic scenarios conceived of as aesthetic mathematical experiences (AMEs). Theoretically, the research evokes notions such as…

This pilot study focuses on the use of mobile tablets to allow secondary students to compose in class with the application "GarageBand." The empirical research has two aims: to demonstrate the possibility of using mobile tablets as a composing device, and to examine professional practices for using mobile technologies in music learning.…

Music plays a major role in the education and development of all children. Although the use of music in the education process may seem obvious to most professionals, there are only a few studies that discuss the effect of music on the purposeful movement of students with visual impairments (DePountis, Cady, & Hallak, 2013; Desrochers, Oshlag,…

Categorized as developing nations, India and the Philippines are not generally known as centers for piano study. There has been little research investigating the traditions of piano education in these nations. In this study, I examined a number of issues related to piano pedagogy in each country. Data were collected from teachers in India (n = 45)…