This article explores how music and lyrics serve as modes of storytelling in the language classroom, integrating a multimodal approach and the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages. In the 'Sing My Story' project, language students creatively write their own lyrics, which are subsequently performed by either student musicians or target…

Playing video games is one of the most popular leisure activities across the world. Video game music (VGM) is a musical art form prevalent in popular culture, and there is potential to use it for the music education of students. Using informal music learning (Green, 2002) and online participatory culture (Jenkins, 1992/2013) theories as grounds…

The solfege course, which is carried out in conservatories where western music is taught in Turkey, covers solfege, theory, dictation and ear training studies in terms of content. Solfege course, which contributes greatly to the development of basic music knowledge and skills of students, also forms the infrastructure of other practical courses.…

The ability to identify errors by sight and sound--commonly referred to as "error detection"--is a musical ability needed in a variety of music professions. Instructors of undergraduate aural-skills courses often agree that strong error-detection skills are an essential outcome of these courses; however, error-detection activities are…

Mental training has been employed successfully by experienced musicians, but rarely explored with younger learners. Considering its benefits, however, including the use and development of predictive, feedforward processes, identified in neuroscience as being central to playing a musical instrument, this mixed qualitative-quantitative study…

It is almost as if there are two Bartóks -- the amiable collector of Hungarian folk music and the 'infernal' barbarian intent on destroying the music of the past (Gillies, 2010). These two sides of Bartók's character may be seen in such disparate works as "The Miraculous Mandarin" (1919) and his "Suite" No. 2, Op. 4 (1904-07).…

A mode is a socially and culturally shaped resource for making meaning. Examples of modes include written and oral language, visuals, audio, and gestures. In music learning, multiple modes may be used to help students develop greater musical understanding and achievement. This article details the three steps utilized in Project Stomp, a systematic…

This study explores how educators (n = 23) in a graduate-level "teaching with technology" course used the affordances of digital composing, and sonic composition in particular, to "sound out" reflection. Using the twin-lenses of sociocultural theory and social semiotics, findings suggest that sound operated as a: rhetorical…

Much like an effective speaker, a flexible musician is competent across multiple settings. The sociolinguistic theory of code-switching can be a useful tool to better understand how musicians acquire a set of skills and knowledge to support music-making in a range of activities in and outside of school and throughout society. In this article,…

One way to build a comprehensive, inclusive, and equitable music education is through the inclusion of popular music in curricula. However, it can be challenging for teachers to bring popular music into the classroom for many reasons. We suggest that since many teachers are educated in the Orff Schulwerk approach, this can be one way to teach…

Recognizing that music teachers may struggle to implement songwriting activities in a classroom, and that iconic notation provides an opportunity to increase access to school music for all students, the purpose of this article is to share one model of songwriting activities in a music technology class using chord diagrams, beat grids, and keyboard…

The purpose of this study was to investigate song teaching approaches and their effect on the singing accuracy of third grade elementary students using an original song with no repeated phrases. Students (N = 318) and teachers (N = 22) were from a large school district in the Western United States with a diverse demographic population. Three song…

The existence of thematic songs in theme books in Elementary Schools appears to be ineffective in supporting the attainment of learning objectives. In addition to the limited number of songs, the lack of appropriate lyrics and materials remains one of the causes. Due to this, the most possible alternative solution is for teachers to compose their…

Composition is an important and creative part of any child's music education, yet many music educators feel unprepared to teach composition to students with special needs. This article explores the value of incorporating music composition in a special education classroom and outlines two compositional lessons based on creating a musical scenery.…

In this article, we argue that it is possible to approach teaching from a fully affirmative perspective: as an educational practice that has its own internal logic and intrinsic value. By analysing a fragment from one of the Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts presented in this article as a teaching event, we show that when starting from…