Learning-practices of popular musicians are a prominent theme in Western music education literature; however, there appears to be a shortage of such literature in Asian countries. With the aim of comparing East and West, a qualitative study was conducted to investigate the learning-practices and involvement in music of Hong Kong popular musicians.…

Technologies such as YouTube, mobile phones and MP3 players are increasingly integrated into secondary school music in the UK. At the same time, the gap between formal and informal music learning is being bridged by the incorporation of students' preferred music into class activities. We conducted an ethnographic study in two secondary…

Current research in music education tends to put the emphasis on learning processes outside formal academic contexts, both to rethink and to renew academic educational formats. Our aim is to observe and describe three music learning cultures simultaneously, including formal, non-formal and informal settings: Classical, Jazz and Flamenco,…

Informal learning has become a prominent theme in music education literature in recent times. Many writers have called for a new emphasis on informal knowledge and pedagogy as the way forward for music education. The position taken in this paper is that a central issue for music education is the accommodation of a tension between types of…

This paper discusses recent developments in the senior music curriculum in New Zealand. I suggest that school music is in transition from its clearly defined origins to its "regionalisation" by new content and knowledge. The concepts of knowledge differentiation and verticality are considered in relation to the subject's now diverse range of…

This article explores the relationship between how popular musicians learn and how they subsequently teach, and considers the extent to which they incorporate their own informal learning practices into their work as teachers. A group of eight UK teachers was recruited and data collection, involving interviews and lesson observations, took place…

How do student teachers learn to use informal learning and pedagogy in their teaching? Through focusing on Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in England, this paper will explore the possibility of developing a meta-pedagogy which embraces informal learning and pedagogy in music. The paper is in two parts, the first of which examines the background to…

The embedding of informal practices in music education in school relates to significant issues concerning students' engagement, participation, inclusion and the role of the teacher. This article addresses these issues by presenting and discussing current music education in compulsory comprehensive schooling in Sweden. It does so by drawing upon…

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…

This work derives from a doctoral research study which looked at the differences in students' attitudes towards learning music in a Brazilian music higher education institution, while taking into account their different music learning backgrounds. The students' backgrounds (which consist of their set of musical experiences and music-learning…

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…

This paper explores firstly the sense in which improvisation might be conceived of as an informal music education process and, secondly, the effects of a course in free improvisation on student teachers' perceptions in relation to themselves as musicians, music as a school subject and children as musicians. The results of a study conducted in two…