In music education, current assessment trends emphasize student reflection, tracking progress over time, and formative as well as summative measures. This view of assessment requires instrumental music educators to modernize their approaches without interfering with methods that have proven to be successful. To this end, the Longitudinal Scales…

The jazz ensemble represents an important performance opportunity in many school music programs. Due to the cultural history of jazz as an improvisatory art form, school jazz ensemble directors must address methods of teaching improvisation concepts to young students. Progress has been made in the field of prescribed improvisation activities and…

This article offers instrumental directors at all levels some suggestions for the use of movement to facilitate "beat competency". We use the term beat competency to refer to a musician's ability to play with a consistent sense of pulse and balanced subdivision, as well as the eventual ability to bring that sense of pulse to reading…

Students in performance situations sometimes experience physiological symptoms that inhibit their ability to perform as expressively as they otherwise might possess the understanding and ability to do. As students set out to perform with an expressive mindset, the brain's limbic system may detect some perceived danger in the situation and…

Composition with students on the elementary level sparks imagination and creativity while engaging students in an experience that can demonstrate personal musical growth. Traditionally, music educators have not been taught how to compose music, let alone lead their students in composing experiences. As music educators take the beginning steps of…

Choral music educators can purposefully create a learning environment that helps minimize the anxieties of young singers. According to Parker Palmer, "to teach is to create a space" that possesses three qualities: hospitality, openness, and boundaries. Choral music educators can influence these characteristics by applying five strategies…

To enhance music learning and performance, teachers can direct learners toward authentic, interpersonal goals. Teachers' aspirations for their students' positive musical experiences may be realized when learners seek to connect with their audiences and evoke responses in listeners. Instead of anxiety-promoting concerns over judgment,…

This article begins with a brief history of children's singing instruction in schools. When Kenneth Phillips began researching children's singing, he was surprised to learn that a strong program of child vocal pedagogy was in place in America's schools for about a hundred years--the 1830s to the 1930s. By the 1950s however, all that…

This article views "Music Educators Journal" ("MEJ") and the hundred years of music education it has served through the lenses of the depth and breadth of music education at the present point in the profession's history. "MEJ" has been an important component in our depth of understanding of the nature and values…

The field of music is constantly evolving, and technology is advancing at an unprecedented rate. To increase student interest in what is taught in the music classroom, lessons must invite eager participation. This is accomplished by being innovative with lessons--choosing to incorporate concepts that entice and please students while still…

In 1989, Bennett Reimer wrote that there are three ways through which people can experience music: performing, listening, and composing. Similarly, in the current National Standards document, MENC [now the National Association for Music Education (NAfME)] identifies performing, creating, and responding to music as the "fundamental music…

There are many assessment initiatives and policy changes happening in Illinois concerning learning and teaching expectations that involve K-12 students, teacher candidates, and current teachers. The Illinois State Board of Education has adopted new Math and English Language Arts standards for K-12 education known as the "New Illinois State…

In 1936 attorney Evan S. Pillsbury left a legacy to establish a foundation for the advancement of music education. To determine how the funds might be most usefully spent, the three appointed trustees sought the advice of conductor Leopold Stokowski. He told them that what he thought was most needed was an in-depth study of the spontaneous music…

A trained music educator accepted a band paraprofessional position and discovered some of the challenges inherent in the role. Certified for K-12 music, he was hired part-time in a large suburban instrumental music program. The job, although interesting and challenging, did not pay enough to sustain him financially. Other music educators warned…

Recent educational discourse is full of references to the value of critical thinking as a 21st-century skill. In music education, critical thinking has been discussed in relation to problem solving and music listening, and some researchers suggest that training in critical thinking can improve students' responses to music. But what exactly is…