The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of orchestration on musicians' and nonmusicians' (N = 40) perception of musical tension. Participants were asked to register their perceptions of tension using the Continuous Response Digital Interface dial while listening to three orchestrations (full orchestra, brass quintet, and solo piano)…

This case study about a teenage musician, Wade Johnston, suggests how YouTube has affected music consumption, creation, and sharing. A literature review connects education, technology, and media. Informal learning, digital literacy, and twenty-first century technology are also connected in the review. Data reveals how Wade started his channel,…

This qualitative case study explores how students' perceptions of sexual identity affect how they participate in popular music processes used in school. Seventeen high school students were invited to form five single-gendered and mixed-gendered rock bands. The data collected included fieldnotes and audio recordings of observed rehearsals and…

The purpose of this study was to discover relationships in student perceptions of what it means to be a "good musician" across grade level, with regard to gender, and according to different school music affiliations among an intact school culture. The specific problems were to determine (1) what percentage of students choose to…

This paper explores the emotions connected with music performance. Performing music provides the potential to attain wellbeing via the hedonic and eudaimonic routes, appealing to pleasure, engagement and meaning (Seligman, 2002). To date, most research exploring emotions amongst performers has focused on these components separately, exploring…

While it seems many music educators share an enthusiasm for music festivals, others do not. Discrepancies seem to be rooted in the perceived educational outcomes in terms of musical knowledge gained, motivation, competition, psychological impact and social considerations. Advocates believe competitive festivals provide a "superlative"…

The study of music contributes to transmitting cultural heritage, learning self-discipline and teamwork, developing creativity and self-expression, developing multiple intelligences, engaging in problem solving and abstract thinking, and influencing academic achievement. Whether a performance has "musical meaning" at the core of music education…

How might songs, like John Lennon's "Imagine" or Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the wind", offer ways to explore alternative ways of being in the world, to challenge the status quo? How might these songs become springboards for original pieces that capture students' ideas about world issues? In this article, I observe what happens…

The "Mozart effect" occurs when performance on spatial cognitive tasks improves following exposure to Mozart. It is hypothesized that the Mozart effect arises because listening to complex music activates similar regions of the right cerebral hemisphere as are involved in spatial cognition. A counter-intuitive prediction of this hypothesis (and one…

This study examines the role that adolescents' competence beliefs and subjective task values for music have in relation to their aspirations and expectations for becoming like their musician role models. A total of 381 adolescents (aged 13-14) completed a questionnaire about their competence beliefs and values for music, the musicians they admired…

In this article, the author describes a true story about Dwayne Carter Jr., a rapper most music educators probably don't know but one who is beloved throughout the world as "Lil Wayne." Critics overwhelmingly proclaimed Lil Wayne the top rapper in the hip-hop game, and the album and his work leading up to it were universally regarded as some of…

The purpose of this study was to explore the motivations of adults in choosing to participate in community orchestras. This paper identifies many of those motivations and examines the reasons and implications of why the adults in the study chose to continue to play in community orchestras. The investigation was conducted in 2007 via a case study…

In the past few decades, the steel band art form has experienced consistent growth and development in several key respects. For example, in the United States, the sheer number of steel band programs has steadily increased, and it appears that this trend will continue in the future. Additionally, pan builders and tuners have made great strides in…

Physical education teachers and coaches of athletic teams are well aware of the values of strong team spirit, and they depend on cohesion among team members to successfully achieve their goals. "High-performing teams... do not necessarily have the best individual talent and ability available, which means that other variables--such as motivation,…

The article reports on a 2-year higher education music programme for young rock musicians in Sweden called BoomTown Music Education. The pedagogical philosophy behind this programme is developed from the findings of two Swedish music education researchers, and the programme exemplifies how knowledge about popular musicians' learning strategies in…