In this article, the author shares the views of John Williams, Hollywood's premier composer, who has written more than 300 scores, about the future of classical and film music. A gregarious person in a field requiring monklike isolation, Williams values the "association with the soloists, and the wonderful inspiration from players." His…

Using a constructionist framework in music, specifically through an emphasis on composition, is revolutionizing the field of music and education by bridging the gap between the novice and professional. Much of the research has been spearheaded by Jeanne Bamberger and others, who noted the computer's potential to highlight what it means to be a…

Pre-service teacher degree programs are increasingly crowded with subjects covering the wide gamut of knowledge a teacher requires. Ensuring musical knowledge and language for classroom teaching poses a difficult problem for teacher educators. This article examines the challenges of including in the pre-service classroom teaching program a music…

Padula, J. (2005) described how mathematics teachers can channel the passion of students interested in electronic music by teaching the mathematics that has been used to create it. She hypothesised that the study and enjoyment of music may help the study of mathematics since both mathematics and music are symbol systems and pattern (and its…

Many gifted children are exposed to music as listeners or performers or both. Children who are sophisticated listeners recognize the importance of and differences between the various works they hear and are knowledgeable about a sometimes large and significant repertoire. Children who are gifted performers are able to make a musical composition…

American composer Ruth Crawford Seeger grew into the role of music educator as a consummate musician with a deep interest in connecting children to their American musical heritage. This article examines the contributions of Ruth Crawford Seeger to American music education, principally through examination of primary and secondary sources and review…

The purpose of this study was to examine and describe children's music improvisations and the interactions that transpired within their four-person groups during regular weekly music classes as they planned and performed music improvisations in response to three different prompts: a poem, a painting, and a musical composition. Participants were…

This study investigated infant listening preferences for two versions of an unfamiliar Chinese children's song: unaccompanied (i.e., voice only) and accompanied (i.e., voice and instrumental accompaniment). Three groups of 5-, 8- and 11-month-old infants were tested using the Headturn Preference Procedure. A general linear model analysis of…

The many connections between music and mathematics are well known. The length of a plucked string determines its tone, the time signature of a piece of music is a ratio, and note durations are measured in fractions. One connection commonly overlooked is that between music and geometry--specifically, geometric transformations, including…

As music making and technology grow more entwined, it is important for teachers to become familiar with available hardware, software, Web apps, yMIDI, sequencing, sampling and other emerging products. If music students in today's digital world wish to make a career out of doing what they love--whether as performers or conductors, composers or…

The purposes of this content analysis of action research studies on teaching composition are two-fold: to examine action research studies on teaching classroom compositions to learn more about classroom composition pedagogy, including the values and beliefs that shaped the instruction and findings; and secondly, to demonstrate how narrative…

Founded in 1966, and premised on the idea that motivated sixteen-year-olds are capable of college work, Bard College at Simon's Rock is an educational "experiment" from the sixties that has endured and prospered. "Educating Outside the Lines" looks at Simon's Rock as a pioneer of the early college movement that has begun to…

This article reports on a particular aspect of a PhD study into pupil composing in music classrooms with information and communications technology (ICT). Two case studies based in England investigated the work of two groups of pupils in different phases of education, one aged 12-13 (secondary) and the other 10-11 (primary). A theoretical lens that…

Musical scores are some of the most important learning tools for musicians' acquisition of musical knowledge. However, despite their educational relevance, very little is known about how music students "conceive" of these cultural external representations. Given that these conceptions might act as mediators of students' learning…

The purpose of this research was to make observations and comparisons between original music composed by Mexican children, and traditional Mexican songs. Data were obtained through notated music compositions created by the children, and through videotaped interviews during which the children performed their compositions, talked about both their…