The purpose of this case study was to examine how one music teacher responds to student's cultural backgrounds through a middle school instrumental music programme in the US. The study sought to uncover the events, situations and circumstances that served as catalysts for curricular change and the rationales that gave it purpose. It also examined…

The "Sing Up" National Singing Programme for primary schools in England was launched in November 2007 under the UK government's "Music Manifesto". "Sing Up" is a four-year programme whose overall aim is to raise the status of singing and increase opportunities for children throughout the country to enjoy singing as part of their everyday lives, in…

The Sankofa Drum and Dance Ensemble is a Ghanaian drum and dance ensemble that focusses on music in the Ewe tradition. It is based in an elementary school in the Greater Toronto Area and consists of students in Grade 4 through Grade 8. Students in the ensemble study Ghanaian traditional Ewe drumming and dancing in the oral tradition. Nine students…

In this study, the author collected narratives from her students in a music teacher education programme. Using narrative analysis, students' assumptions and thoughts about music teaching, music learning and music making were uncovered. Through the presentation of a case study of one student, the author demonstrates some of the ways that the…

Current preservice teacher education students are tomorrow's teachers and what they believe about the priority and challenges of music education in elementary schools is important, as it will impact on their attitudes and practice when they are teaching in schools. This study examines the state of primary music education and investigates the…

The scope of music education research has expanded significantly over the last 50 years. Nevertheless, many studies remain atomistic, with limited contexts for questions, methods, findings and implications. Such approaches may seek to validate instructional strategies within an established music education system, rather than developing a continuum…

In western musical contexts at global and local levels, musicians are becoming increasingly involved in what might be termed multicode music making and are expanding their musical competences. In this article I consider the practical and cognitive implications of such an expanding of competences for music education at various levels. Combining…

Sight reading is a functional skill which is essential for all musicians involved in particular fields of western classical music culture. In the last decade, expertise theory has shown that time spent on activities is a good predictor for later achievement in a domain. However, this study is based on the hypothesis that general and elementary…

Individual music practice is a vital aspect of a student's development as a musician. Research indicates that expert music performers utilise substantial planning and a systematic approach to practice sessions, including problem identification, strategy planning and evaluation (Hallam 2001b), all of which are components of self-regulated thinking.…

Two practical problems faced by national youth organisations devoted to the transmission of European classical music-making across the generations are: (1) how to assist individual pre-professional young musicians to enter their desired career path; and (2) how, in the interests of social justice, to provide access to music-educational…

This article investigates the transition and transfer process from primary to secondary school in music from the teacher perspective. Thirteen secondary music teachers from 13 secondary schools throughout England were interviewed along with seven primary-school teachers representing five primary schools. This paper reports interview data from both…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between teacher language use and student quality of experience during choral rehearsals. Particularly at the middle school level, few data exist about the ways in which instructional discourse during rehearsals affects student experience. Existing research suggests the use of…

This article investigates the way future teachers can be encouraged to frame their pedagogy for music teaching through reflection. During student teachers' first experience of teaching music to children in preschool settings, data were gathered through questionnaires, real time and video observations of teaching, discussions and reflective…

As a framework for our study, a broad set of themes related to the retention of students in music programmes are presented to enhance our understanding of how to retain band students. Data were collected from grade seven students comprising four focus groups. We used ethnodrama, an arts-based educational research approach, to represent results as…

The current study is a survey of the achievement goals of music students and the manner in which their strategies and instrumental performance relate to these goals. In the context of advanced instrumental learning, the rationale for the present study was to contribute to the literature on motivation in music students, and thereby, help teachers…