In our research and educational practice we sometimes use songwriting as an alternative way to acquire and communicate insights about the social world. While this approach differs markedly from scientific ways of knowing, it offers valuable and perhaps unique opportunities, in keeping with turns towards narrative/performative methodologies in…

Having previously been employed to investigate science and English classrooms and listening in the music classroom, theories of multimodality would appear to have much to contribute to an examination of group composing using Information and Communications Technology (ICT), owing to the multimodal nature of music software and group discourse. This…

The piano repertoire preparation of three undergraduate students at three different academic levels--the first, fifth and eighth semesters--was followed during an academic semester. A phenomenological approach was used to collect data in three stages: an introductory interview, observations of the repertoire under preparation and a final…

The field of creative music education is described as complex, unpredictable and versatile. The aim of this article is to explore this complexity and diversity on the basis of the continental "didaktik" tradition and Robin Alexander's generic model of teaching. The educational practice and orientation of the teacher are investigated in relation to…

This work explores the study of interaction through discourse as a means for analysing and understanding the process of teaching and learning music. Over the course of a didactic sequence, we assess classroom conversations dealing with the analysis of a music score constituted as the reference for the process of creating a joint music composition.…

In this paper, I suggest that it is perhaps time to consider the pedagogy of popular music in more extensive terms than conventional rock band practices have to offer. One direction in which this might lead is the expansion of the informal pedagogy based on a "garage band" model to encompass various modes of digital artistry wherever this artistry…

"You must take the A Train to go to Sugar Hill way up in Harlem" trills one of Duke Ellington's foremost contributions to the American songbook. Guests at the Cotton Club in the Sugar Hill neighborhood may have had the pleasure of watching Duke Ellington and his orchestra in a tightly arranged, polished performance, but never has Ellington's…

Although much has been written about professional development in general education and music education literature, little has addressed the benefits of music-making as meaningful professional development for music teachers. For music teachers, music-making and meanings of music-making have been connected with teachers' identity, well-being,…

This article reports that for the opening of a huge new life-sciences building on its campus, Syracuse University wanted to capture the sense of expansiveness shared by architecture and science. It commissioned the composer Robert Ward to write a musical composition, "In Praise of Science," which was performed at the building's dedication late…

Previous research in education has investigated the relationship between gender and perceptions of musicality, suggesting that teachers' assessments of boys' and girls' achievements in music are different and unequal. This empirical study attempts to explore that relationship in more detail, building on research from the late 1990s, by asking…

This article describes an approach to general music where assignments in music improvisation and composition are embedded into the curriculum, that is, creative assignments are given as an outgrowth of curriculum content and directly related to instruction and activities in conceptual learning and skill development in the classroom. Such an…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a composition program, Composers in Public Schools (CiPS), on cognitive skills essential for academic success. The underlying hypothesis is that composition instruction will promote creative expression and increase performance on music-specific skills such as music reading, as well as foster…

In this article, the author shares his experience with Burent Arel, an established composer of orchestral, chamber, and classical electronic music. At first, the author found the music of the 20th century deeply disturbing. Yet, Professor Arel converted him and his skepticism into evangelical fervor. Finally understanding the role of the artist in…

The body of research examining deliberate practice and self-regulation in musical instruction has grown extensively over the past decade. Compelling evidence indicates that students with higher levels of self-regulation develop superior performance skills and experience more fulfillment as musicians. But in order to develop the self-regulatory…

This exploratory work describes and analyses the collaborative interactions that emerge during computer-based music composition in the primary school. The study draws on socio-cultural theories of learning, originated within Vygotsky's theoretical context, and proposes a new model, namely Computer-mediated Praxis and Logos under Synergy (ComPLuS).…