Are there qualities of sound and the experience of listening that educators can extrapolate to inform the philosophy and practice of music education? In this essay, I imagine a music education where sound--how it behaves and how we experience it--serves not only as the subject of study, but generates the framework of the pedagogy. A sonic music…

At present, instrumental music education, defined in this paper as the teaching and learning of music through wind bands and symphony orchestras of Western origin, appears embattled. Among the many criticisms made against instrumental music education, critics claim that bands and orchestras exemplify an authoritarian model of teaching that does…

Although much has been written about Nietzsche's views on education over the years and much has also been written about Dionysus the god of wine and ecstasy, very little attention has been given to the meaning of, and need for, a Dionysian education. This article is an attempt to begin that project. Drawing Nietzsche's articulation of…

In this essay, a quintet of values in doing philosophy of music education are examined: the need for a broad view, a personal perspective, a constructive vision, a relevant plan, and the courage to speak about important issues in music education. The following questions frame the analysis of each, in turn: What do these values mean? What…

This paper is an evaluation of a selection of writings by Frede V. Nielsen and their significance for the philosophy of music education. The terms "Didaktik" and "Bildung," which played a central role in Nielsen's writings, will be introduced, situated within the historical context of classic theories of…

In this article, the authors link the discussion of differing musical experiences to Frede V. Nielsen's exploration of music as a multifarious universe of meaning, which, in encounter with the listener's receptive consciousness, presents different layers of musical meaning. The focal point of the article is that which Nielsen refers to…

Among other things, the work of Frede Nielsen gradually took the form of an analytical clarification of the integration between subject matter and pedagogy; in other words, how the reciprocal relation between musical subject matter and pedagogy can be unfolded in an inner (that is nondualist) state of things? This issue is ascribed key importance…

Is the most important function of education to provide students with basic skills and useful knowledge in order to eventually become employable? In many parts of the world knowledge league tables and policy documents inform us this is the case. As the question of what should form the educational content seems to be answered, teachers can…

This article explores how it might be possible to engage in world music ethically. I examine ways that traditional engagements can be problematic in order to push towards new possibilities for encounters and engagement. I begin by considering my own experience with world music. Moving to the theoretical, I consider "world music" study…

The concept of "gradually adaptive frameworks" is introduced as a model with the potential to describe the evolution of belief evaluative systems through the consideration of reasonable arguments and evidence. This concept is demonstrated through an analysis of specific points of disagreement between David Elliott's praxial…

In recent years, the internationalization of music education has become an important topic. Scholars of various research traditions try to find the best solutions for problems in music education theory and practice by taking a look at what other countries do. English as common language seems to facilitate this recent development. However, in spite…

On September 9, 2009, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that officials from Everett School District #2 in Mill Creek, Washington did not violate student Kathryn Nurre's constitutional rights to free speech by denying the Jackson High School Wind Ensemble the opportunity to perform an instrumental version of Franz Biebl's Ave…

In the face of globalization, speed communication, and the mashing up of once clearly drawn borders, it seems both pertinent and constructive that music education philosophers make use of comparative frameworks to make sense--and make new sense--of educational and musical events, products, and interactions. However, comparison that is merely…

This paper considers the issue of computer-assisted composition in formal music education settings from the perspective of critical theory. The author examines the case of MIDI-based software applications and suggests that the greatest danger from the standpoint of ideology critique is not the potential for circumventing a traditional…

This paper proposes a theory to explain the remarkable emotional power of our response to abstract music. It reviews and rejects metaphysical arguments derived from notions of a divine spiritual realm and from absolute forms of human reason. Its conclusion is that musical experience is always essentially inter-subjective and potentially…