Although creativity in music is a topic widely considered and studied among global music educators, it has received limited attention in China while quite a number of Chinese pianists have been recognized on the international stage. How do Chinese pianists and professors perceive creativity in piano performance? How would they nurture creativity…

Music self-efficacy has been acknowledged as a strong predictor of successful performance among musicians and music students, but is less researched among amateur musicians. The purpose of this study is to examine the connection between music self-efficacy and learning and playing habits of amateur musicians who had preferences for online music…

The purpose of this study was to examine the intergenerational interactions between preservice music teachers and senior adult musicians engaged in music teaching and learning in a New Horizons ensemble within one university's music teacher preparation program. This intrinsic qualitative case study included written reflections and observational…

Orchestra auditions form a critical career challenge for many aspiring classical musicians. Hence, emerging professional musicians--defined as promising musicians entering the professional circuit without having yet established full-time employment--require effective practice and performance strategies to manage the demands of auditions. The…

With the intent of informing the practice of music teachers navigating "multi-musicality" in their classrooms, this qualitative study, employing case study and narrative research tools, investigates the experiences of three musical "boundary crossers"--professional musicians whose work traverses the popular-classical divide.…

This study investigates the careers of 28 classical pianists in Australia to develop greater understanding of skills needed to build professional music careers and to highlight implications for higher music education training. Semi-structured interviews were analyzed for emerging themes using Subotnik and Jarvin's scholarly productivity or…

Multi-instrumental musicianship appears in various musical traditions, also frequently figuring in systems of music teacher education. Multi-instrumentalism covers forms of musical creativity and versatile professionalism that differ from ideologies of specialization often emphasized in instrumental music education. Thus, it is relevant to ask…

The purpose of this study was to develop a measure to investigate studio teacher's observational skill as a function of the observer's ability to identify effective pedagogical practices. A secondary purpose was to see if observational skill varied as a function of scores on a measure of empathy. Participants (N = 60) were saxophonists who…

This ethnographic study examines the development of agency in students with special needs during an experiment of classroom music teaching in a special school. The experiment took place from August 2015 to March 2016 and was based on Emile Jaques-Dalcroze's ideas of music and movement as a means of developing competencies, skills and understanding…

This article reflects upon the potential mediation of medical and social interpretations of disability through informing instrumental tuition with the strengths recognised in the learning profile of children with Down Syndrome. The learning profile is explored and critically discussed, and its reductionist, deficit-based potential identified;…

Self-observation has proven to be a powerful medium for personal and professional growth and development. This research makes use of self-observation through video to determine the latent structure that underlies the gestures to be learned and mastered by orchestra conducting students. Exploratory Factorial Analysis (EFA) techniques have been…

The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable rubric to be used for the evaluation of large ensemble wind band performances. The guiding questions for this study were: (a) what are the psychometric qualities (i.e., reliability and validity) of the scale developed to assess wind band ensemble performance at the high school level?…

Metaphors are an important linguistic device that can enable music teachers to explain expressive performance features in a way that makes sense to their students. This study extends the limited literature on the application of metaphors within advanced music instruction, providing new insights into the nature and function of metaphor in the way…

Perceptual Learning Style theory (PLS) claims that the presentation of information in either a visual, auditory or kinaesthetic format will improve the learning of selected individuals due to the dominance of one or more modality in their information gathering. The modality dominance of six Western classical pianists in higher music education was…

The laptop ensemble is a platform that has recently been made possible by computer technology that enables individuals to perform music collaboratively. Research in this area has largely focused on the performance aspects, with very few studies focusing on the development of musical competency through participation in a laptop ensemble. This…