bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Piano Technique and Fingering in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries: Bringing a Forgotten Method Back to Life
Authors: Gellrich Martin , Parncutt Richard
Published: December 2008

We develop a creative method for teaching and learning piano technique which motivates students to devote more time and energy to technical exercises. First, we describe the approach to technical exercises of pianists and piano students of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Second, we address a central feature of technical practice from earlier periods: fingering rules and systems. Third, we discuss whether and how older methods might be reintroduced to contemporary piano pedagogy and practice.
Gender in Secondary Music Education in British Columbia
Authors: Hanley Betty
Published: December 2008

This study is a replication of Dr Lucy Green's (1993) research using responses to an open-ended questionnaire to interpret music teachers' perceptions about boys' and girls' achievements in music classes compared to their results on the General Certificate of Secondary Education examinations (GCSE) in music. Using a revised questionnaire, the British Columbia study examined secondary music teachers' perceptions of gender issues and compared them with Grade 12 Examination results. The impact of gender beliefs was most evident in composition, where the provincial grades contradict teachers' perceptions of success and where the possible impact of technology on girls has not yet been acknowledged.
Musical Education of the Under-Twelves (MEUT) 1949-1983: Some aspects of the history of post-war primary music education
Authors: Cox Gordon
Published: December 2008

This article traces the history of Musical Education of the Under-Twelves (MEUT) from its birth in 1949 to its demise in 1983. Because it arose from a coalition of pre-war societies and associations it provides a valuable historical link, as well as an example of a later alliance with progressive ideas in education. The paper considers the following questions: What were the historical roots of MEUT? Why was MEUT formed? What new ideas were developed and debated, and how did these relate to traditional concerns? What accounted for the demise of MEUT? Through the investigation of such an association we can better understand how music as a curriculum subject changes over time.
Knowledge, meaning and ability in musical instrument teaching and learning
Authors: Cope Peter
Published: December 2008

Learning to play musical instruments has always been a minority activity in British schools. This is partly to do with resources but also to do with the type of curriculum on which the teaching of instruments is often based. In an earlier paper (Cope & Smith, 1997) we argued that this curriculum was based on a classical, scholastic model and suggested that the goal implicit in this approach, the concert player, was inappropriate for most children. This paper lays out an analysis of the knowledge components involved in playing an instrument and draws a number of conclusions about how this might inform the way in which teaching instruments can be approached.
Towards a Creative Approach in Scotland - a Personal Experience
Authors: Gebbie Caroline
Published: December 2008

Music education in Scotland has a long-standing tradition of community singing, originally taught using the sol-fa method. Virtually every Scottish secondary school possesses cupboards full of dusty piles of Burns song books and Hebridean folk tunes with the sol-fa and the rhythm printed underneath. Some may still be in use! Sol-fa is not nearly so prevalent in schools as it was twenty years ago, but for the majority of Scottish schools singing still forms the backbone of music classes. After all, there are definite advantages of ‘singing’ as opposed to ‘music’ classes; large numbers of children can be taught together, there is probably less preparation or effort involved for the teacher, and other staff, parents, and the pupils themselves may readily accept that music in school is singing.
The Addison-Gateshead Music Project
Authors: Addison Richard , Moseley David
Published: December 2008

Richard Addison initiated this research to evaluate the effects of his approach to the teaching and learning of music in the early school years. The project is designed to look for changes not only in music lessons but also in the general, non-musical learning and behaviour of children aged 4–8.

A team from Newcastle University is associated with Gateshead Education Authority in this research.

A description of the method is included, together with initial findings of the first year's work. These indicate significant improvements in children's musical skills, together with increased signs of confidence and co-operation in music lessons. Little evidence of change in other lessons was found.
Teacher as Guide: The Teacher's Role in the Secondary School Music Lesson
Authors: Cain Tim
Published: December 2008

This article is an attempt to explore what we Secondary School Music Teachers should do in our music lessons. To illuminate this problem the author postulates two rôles which he believes many music teachers adopt more or less whole-heartedly: the ‘Instructor’, who passes on a body of received skills, information and perhaps values; and the ‘Enabler’, who sets up conditions in which his or her pupils may discover music.

Although both rôles can be fruitful in some areas of the music curriculum, the author considers them inadequate, and attempts to describe a new role which teachers might find more helpful. He outlines ways in which the teacher who adopts this role might operate when teaching Composition, Literature Studies, Audition, Skills and Performance (C(L)A(S)P).
Selection Procedures Used by Peripatetic Instrumental Teachers
Authors: Cooper David J.
Published: December 2008

The article begins with a justification of peripatetic instrumental teaching in maintained schools, and counters the two-pronged attack of financial cuts by local education authorities, and the accusation of ‘elitism’.

Much of the information concerning selection for instrumental tuition was gathered by means of a questionnaire amongst the peripatetic staff from nine L.E.A.s. A summary of the results appears in the article.

One of the main recommendations suggests the setting up of a ‘preliminary instrumental course’, which uses the results of the investigation to provide a more efficient method of selection.
The Guitar in English Music Education
Authors: Stimpson Michael
Published: December 2008

The development of the guitar in the twentieth century has been sufficiently significant to warrant inclusion at all levels of music education. This article considers the extent and manner of its educational involvement and questions whether the response to the instrument has reflected its true potential.
The Tower Hamlets Project
Authors: Nelson Sheila M.
Published: December 2008

‘Project’ is something of a misnomer for the complicated string teaching organisation which now involves some thousand young string players, twenty ILEA schools in and around the Tower Hamlets area, and 35 qualified string teachers, mostly on a part-time basis. At no time in the early days was any such structure projected: it has grown up as a result of experience and considerable generosity on the part of the ILEA in allowing scope for experimentation and expansion.
Pop Music, Preference and Personality
Authors: Neville J.
Published: December 2008

In an attempt to clarify thinking about the musical preferences of fourteen-year old schoolchildren, the author devised an experiment to test the hypothesis that musical preference relates to the personality types of extroversion and introversion, as defined by Eysenck. The results did not confirm this hypothesis, so other factors – the sex of the subjects, the kinds of music and the chosen items themselves – were analysed and their interaction evaluated. There was no hierarchy of factors and the conclusion is that fourteen-year-olds are able to make judgements based on musical criteria.
Improvisation: the State of the Art
Authors: Barry Malcolm
Published: December 2008

The writer examines the development of improvisation in Britain and especially jazz. The administrative and political implications of improvised music are explored and problems are identified to do with the freedom and excitement of such music and the dangers of education in improvisation.
Harmony + Improvisation = Jazz
Authors: Grigson Lionel
Published: December 2008

In the past, jazz musicians such as Miles Davis have had negative experiences of ‘straight’ academies and conservatories, and these institutions have been negative towards jazz. This may represent a conflict between creativity and recreativity. But as a teacher of jazz at the Guildhall School of Music the author is finding that this conflict disappears when students from jazz and classical backgrounds learn to improvise by the same approach. This approach works upwards from the harmonic basis of jazz, which in fact is the same as that of classical music. As, at the outset, both jazz and classical students often seem to lack a precise concept of underlying harmonic form, the author concludes that more needs to be done with harmony at an earlier stage in music education, and that jazz may be the best context in which for this to happen.
Music Appreciation Students and their Commitment to Music
Authors: Dunn Anne
Published: December 2008

This article is based on research undertaken in adult education institutes of the Inner London Education Authority, and gives statistical details of students attending Music Appreciation classes. Their reasons for attending such classes, preferences for types of music attendance at performances, membership of musical societies and reading of books and articles on music are included. They were also asked to give details of their home listening, as this provides further proof of the commitment given to music by people who meet together once a week to learn about the subject.

From these personal details it should be possible for a tutor to devise a curriculum of interest which would stimulate adults to be more deeply involved in music-making.
Music Profiles – a Pilot Scheme
Authors: Taylor Michael
Published: December 2008

This article arises from a project carried out at Hall Green School over the last few years. The author describes a form of profile assessment which he feels gives a more accurate picture of student activity and achievement in music than is possible with other methods. At the same time, the assessment process itself is linked with the classroom work and becomes a stimulating feature of the course, integral with the overall aim of encouraging individual development to the highest level.
The Harmony of Human Life: An exploration of the ideas of Pestalozzi and Froebel in relation to music education
Authors: Kendall Sue
Published: December 2008

Pestalozzi and Froebel were innovatory educators whose influence has spread widely and stood the test of time. They believed education to be a process of drawing out and exercising a child's own powers in order to achieve the fullest possible development of the whole person. Physical, intellectual, emotional and aesthetic capacities would only be developed effectively in interdependence rather than isolation, the child being essentially an active participant in his/her own education. In this article the principles and values which Pestalozzi and Froebel believed to befundamental to sound education are related to the task of teaching in general, to the teaching of music in particular, and to music as a unique medium of education through which those principles may be demonstrated.
Traditional Harmony Reconsidered
Authors: Braun Yehezkel
Published: December 2008

The author questions conventional attitudes to harmony teaching and describes his own approach based upon a careful observation of harmonic usage in masterworks. In particular he seeks to establish a view of chords as musical entities in their own right, not ‘group-related’ by principles such as ‘inversion’ but possessing a variety of possible functions arising from musical context rather than from established and immutable harmonic theory.
Education for Creativity
Authors: Jones Timothy
Published: December 2008

It is quite possible that the so-called ‘creative’ activities espoused by proponents of recent approaches to music education are endangering the production of great music by the next generation of composers because as children they are not being given the necessary foundation of skills to develop the craft of composition.

Isolated examples of genuine educational conviction have only served to legitimise these questionable trends by lending a certain historical authority to a modern philosophical disaster.

The major problem with the recent approaches is that they fail to recognise that craftsmanship is a fundamental requirement for genuine artistic achievement.
A Case for Music in Modern American Schools
Authors: Meadows Eddie S.
Published: December 2008

Music education in the United States is in the throes of critical public re-evaluation which appears to have been brought in primarily by two concurrent forces, both of which are still strongly affecting our lives today. During the past five years, large increases in government and private monies have forced public and private educational systems across the country to make major adjustments in the curriculum; from elementary grades to master's degrees, decisions have had to be made as to which subjects will be offered to students and which will not. In addition, the slow and steady deification of technology and its myriad offspring has effected a subtle yet very sure excommunication of the arts from mainstream society. In this article Dr Meadows draws attention to the threats posed by educational budgetary cutbacks, and argues the case for continuing recognition of music's importance in the school curriculum.
Project Experience
Authors: McCullough Ellen
Published: December 2008

Children, who otherwise would not have had music teachers, experienced music though ‘Project Experience’, a co-operative music education laboratory designed by the University of New Mexico Department of Music and the Albuquerque, New Mexico, Public School District. ‘Project Experience’ provided university music students with the opportunity to teach music to children prior to student teaching practice; raised the consciousness of parents, teachers, and students about the importance of music in the schools; and assisted in easing the pinch upon a school district forced to tighten its financial belt.
Concept-learning and Action Learning in Music Education
Authors: Regelski Thomas A.
Published: December 2008

Music education at present suffers from a dilemma that few in the field seem to realise or appreciate. To put it in perhaps overly simple terms, the issue involves whether the music teacher should teach music or concepts! In this day of growing interest in cognitive psychology, few would deny any longer the involvement and relevance of concepts and conception in any form of musical functioning. But the writers of methods texts and materials, and theorists of teaching alike, often give evidence of being woefully confused about the process of conception, the nature of its ‘products’ and therefore of the precise involvement of concepts in musical functioning.
An Analysis of Instructional Procedures in a College-Level Dalcroze Eurhythmics Class
Authors: Stone Sally
Published: December 2008

By developing techniques for describing the varieties of behaviours and experiences in a college-level Dalcroze Eurhythmics class and by using those techniques to record practices in two semesters of Eurhythmies classes, this study addressed both the need in the arts for systematic procedures for documenting the nature of arts experiences and the need to codify features in a Dalcroze Eurhythmics class.

The findings yield a description of regular practices in one particular classroom which may provide a base for future research. The findings also suggest that description of surf ace phenomena does not capture all that we need to know about the instruction process, and it may not yield an understanding of what occurs in a Eurhythmies class.
Microelectronics in Special Education
Authors: Ellis Phil , Dowsett Rosemary
Published: December 2008

The place of music in the general school curriculum has undergone considerable change in the last few years. During the 1970s, the Schools Council Project ‘Music in the Secondary School Curriculum’ identified a number of approaches, all having a common philosophy – to engage all children in practical musical activity of an expressive, aesthetic nature. More recently, the HMI document ‘Curriculum Matters 4 – Music from 5 to 16’ has brought many of the ideals of this project into sharp focus, with its emphasis on composing, performing and listening as practical, integrated activities. The aims of music education, as stated in this document, highlight the changing direction of music in the curriculum; and the new GCSE should reflect this, so becoming a more relevant examination for a broader cross-section of pupils than has hitherto been possible.

With this changing emphasis in mainstream education, it is worth considering if any developments are possible in terms of general music activities for children with special needs. Is it possible for them to experience a more practical music curriculum; to engage in the process of composition and have heightened listening experiences as a result? Here microelectronics can make a significant contribution, just as it is beginning to do in mainstream education. By using some of the new technologies, pupils with a variety of handicaps are able to explore, create and perform a wide range of music.
Creative Performance Arts Degree Courses
Authors: Peacock David
Published: December 2008

Young musicians wishing to study music in higher education now have a variety of options open to them. One of these, a relatively recent development, is Creative/Performing Arts degree courses, where students can study music in an interdisciplinary setting. This article sets out to trace the emergence of such courses and to present in a descriptive and informative way their philosophy, admissions procedures, general principles of organisation, curricular content and approach, assessment policies and graduate employment possibilities.
Percy Scholes on Music Appreciation: Another View
Authors: Jorgensen Estelle R.
Published: December 2008

Percy A. Scholes' (1877–1958) defence of music appreciation remains one of the most clearly articulated among the twentieth-century approaches to school music. His published work is eminently readable, spiced with wit, and attractive to non-musicians. Scholes has gone beyond philosophical argument to practical strategy, as his published work attests. Nevertheless, his ideas ought not either be accepted at face value or ‘written off’ as a ‘failure’ without careful examination of them.1

This paper attempts to reconstruct Scholes' ideas about music appreciation evidenced in his published work; to examine his assumptions about the rationale, objectives, instructional methods and curriculum for music appreciation; and to suggest implications of this analysis for future research and practice.
Research, Problem-solving and Music Education
Authors: Kuzmich Natalie
Published: December 2008

The article supports the following thesis: that creative problem-solving approaches to learning can be incorporated into any methodology; can, and perhaps, should become an essential component within a music programme because, creative problem-solving is a direct route to understanding fairly sophisticated musical manipulations or procedures; it involves students in decision-making activities and the responses are sources of feedback to student and teacher; it permits multiple results; hence, it reflects needs, interests, and abilities of students; it enhances learning and makes more relevant the things that have to be learned; it encourages direct contact with the expressive character of music.
Music Education in the Nordic Countries
Authors: Paynter John
Published: December 2008

Possibly because very few teachers in Britain are fluent readers of Scandinavian languages while, on the other hand, the majority in the academic professions in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Iceland speak and read – not infrequently write – English, the flow of thinking about music education and its developments often appears to be one way.

Yet although it may be true to say that, over the last twenty years or so, music educators in the Nordic countries have drawn quite a lot of inspiration from beyond their own borders (Finland and Sweden tending to look towards Hungary; Norway, Iceland and Denmark perhaps turning more often to Britain and the United States), it would be a serious error to imagine that they have no significant ideas of their own! Indeed, an enormous amount has been achieved in these countries from which the rest of us can usefully learn.
Music Education in Teacher Training in Denmark
Authors: Fahnøe Preben
Published: December 2008

From time to time the standard and content of musical education in Danish Teacher Training Colleges has been the subject of strong criticism. It has been argued that the courses are out of date; that they should be modernised, and that the quality of instruction should be improved. Yet the criticism is often imprecise – possibly because those who make it are not themselves sufficiently well-informed about the details of the existing courses and the problems faced by those who have to teach and administer them. The author, a very experienced musician, author of numerous music-education publications, and himself a Lecturer at a Teachers College, discusses the principles and problems of organising music as a specialist area of the teacher-education programme.
Book and Tape
Authors: Fahnøe Preben
Published: December 2008

The author writes about his development of the ‘play along’ principle for instruction in instrumental skills (in this case, Blues Guitar). He sees this as an extension of the earlier ‘Music Minus One’ publications, and describes the musical and educational reasoning behind the format of his ‘Book and Tape’.
The Development and Structure of the Icelandic Community Music Schools
Authors: Edelstein Stefán
Published: December 2008

In spite of its small population, scattered over a wide and largely rural area, Iceland has developed an extensive and exciting infrastructure of music education through a large number of local Music Schools. Although such schools have existed for fifty years, it is only within relatively recent times that the system has been able to be developed to its present extent. Expansion has been made possible through the collaboration of state and local authorities which between them cover all tuition costs. However, the scheme is once again threatened by cuts in funding so that, currently, no increase in student enrolment is possible. The author, who is Head of the Department of Music Education at Reykjavik College of Music, describes the history and development of the Music Schools and gives some interesting statistics of the national and regional take-up of this important music-education provision.
The Training of Piano Teachers at Reykjavík College of Music
Authors: Haraldsson Halldór , Lram
Published: December 2008

Reykjavík College of Music offers a unique course of instruction for piano teachers. An important feature of this three-year course is the opportunities it gives for students to work with pupils of all abilities: from beginners to the higher grades. Students teach their pupils under supervision of professors of the College, and assessment includes practical teaching and the presentation of concerts by the students' pupils. The author describes the course, its contents and examination procedures, and stresses the need to develop individuality and open-mindedness in those wishing to make their careers as piano teachers.
Composing in the School: Composing for the School
Authors: Macgill Andrew
Published: December 2008

This article describes some of the experiences of, and lessons learnt by a composer working as Head of Music in a secondary school. The article highlights in particular aspects which are considered to be of value to teachers and other colleagues now embarking on a new era of musical education in schools, notably aspects relevant to the composing component in public examinations. The text includes details of a recording of newly composed music.
An Australian Rationale for Music Education Revisited: A Discussion on the Role of Music in the Curriculum
Authors: Gifford Edward F.
Published: December 2008

One of the outcomes of the National Music Administrators' Conference held in Brisbane, Australia, in 1980 was a ‘Rationale for Music Education’ in Australian schools. This paper uses this Rationale as a stimulus for the discussion of the role of music in the curriculum. The issues raised here are neither new nor distinctively Australian. However, an attempt has been made to evaluate critically what Eisner would categorise as the ‘contexturalist’ and ‘essentialist’ justification for music in education. In an age of accountability and timetable restraints, teachers and administrators must explain their curricula to different audiences. Therefore, the ability to justify music in the curriculum must become part of the teacher's professional equipment.
Music Assessment Antipodean Style
Authors: Murphy Frank
Published: December 2008

In the last few years, New South Wales has witnessed a change in the method of assessing pupil achievement in the final stage of secondary education. What was once done through a public examination is now carried out through a combination of the former method together with school-based assessment. This article considers the procedures which have been developed for the two music programmes which are offered in Years 11 and 12, and concludes with an examination of the advantages and disadvantages of the current approach.
Pop Music in the Middle School – Some Considerations and Suggestions
Authors: Cross Rod
Published: December 2008

Most young people these days enjoy listening to music. It may well be their main interest and one of their favourite pastimes. Some may express a preference for classical music, others for minority interests, such as folk, country, blues, jazz, or big band. For the vast majority, however, it is likely that their taste will be partly, if not exclusively, for pop, i.e. that brand of music which originated with Bill Haley'1956 recording of ‘Rock Around The Clock’, and which now applies to all music loosely associated with the Top Forty charts. In this article the author describes a course, with 10 and 11 year old pupils, which examined the history, styles and social significance of pop music.
Music Consultancy in Primary Education
Authors: Allen Sandy
Published: December 2008

This article gives an account of a study in which the practice of music consultancy in primary education was examined. Its aims were to discover to what extent the claims made for music consultancy can be substantiated by empirical evidence, and to identify the factors which contribute to its success. The trends indicated that schools having a music consultant tend to achieve a slightly more favourable standard of music education, in terms of frequency of activities undertaken, than schools with no postholder for music. Little evidence was found, however, of the qualitative benefits thought to be conferred by the classteacher, supported by the consultant, being responsible for music teaching. Several interrelated factors were identified as having possible influence on the efficacy of music consultancy in promoting a satisfactory standard of music teaching among class teachers.
Harmonic Landscaping Applied to the Study of Written Harmony
Authors: Campbell Laura
Published: December 2008

Music examinations frequently require students to harmonise chorale melodies ‘in the style of J. S. Bach’, but the manner in which the skill is taught generally emphasises the adding of chords below the melody note by note ‘arithmetically’, and may thus fail to develop inner hearing and a sense of overall harmonic direction. Using the system of ‘harmonic sketching’ which she developed originally as an approach to keyboard harmony and described in detail in her book Sketching at the Keyboard, Laura Campbell extended the technique to the harmonisation of chorale melodies, in the process comparing her students' choices of outline harmony with those employed by Bach in four settings of the same chorale. In this article she describes the experiment and comments upon its results, showing how the ‘sketching’ method, which reveals the fundamental ‘harmonic landscape’ of a melody, is an especially valuable tool in the acquisition of written harmony skills.
A New Look at Musical Improvisation in Education
Authors: Addison Richard
Published: December 2008

After a brief summary of the development of ‘Creative Music’ in schools in the U.K., the author suggests that the emphasis on Improvisation, advocated by Orff and others, has been lost in favour of the Composition/Product model.

An attempt to define ‘Improvisation’ leads to various considerations of its value and purpose in various educational settings, and in Music Therapy. Links with ‘play’ in young children, and with practices in Movement/Dance education are drawn.

Practical examples are suggested, and a ‘spectrum’of degrees of ‘improvisation’ opportunity are suggested. Participants perceptions of improvisation and composition are described, and finally the case for improvisation as an essential part of any music curriculum is made.
Composing Music: Case Studies in the Teaching and Learning Process
Authors: Bunting Robert
Published: December 2008

This article studies the compositions of two 15–16 year olds over a period of 12 months: following a similar study by the same author in BJME (1987) 4.1. Identifying traits common to the work discussed in both articles, the author points the way towards some new models for assessing pupils' progress: one of composing as a design process, the other describing musical ability as a style of thinking rather than a set of technical skills.
Above all, Learning an Instrument must be Fun!
Authors: Schenck Robert
Published: December 2008

This article deals with objectives in the teaching of musical instruments to children. Methods of establishing and re-establishing goals are suggested, and previous lists of objectives pertaining to music education in general, instrumental teaching and athletics are presented. Based on these lists, and on his experience as a teacher and consultant in instrumental methodology, the author presents a list of goals specifically formulated for the teaching of musical instruments to children. Some of the goals are far-reaching, dealing not only with progress on the instrument, but also with the overall musical and personal development of the pupils. The article concludes with a discussion about possible priorities among these objectives.
Music in the Certificate of Pre-Vocational Education: A Music Course for Special People
Authors: Tipton Dorothy
Published: December 2008

The author describes a project which was created to encourage communication, through music and drama, between mainstream sixth form pupils and a local Special School. The course was offered as part of the Certificate of Pre- Vocational Education of the Joint Board of City and Guilds/B. Tech. and was open to all sixth form students irrespective of their musical expertise or experience. None had previously worked with handicapped children.

Dorothy Tipton is Head of Music at the Rowena School for Girls, Sittingbourne. Her interest in Special School work was awakened during a Diploma in Music Education course at Christ Church College, Canterbury, resulting in a dissertation on ‘Music in the Mainstream Classroom for children with Special Needs’ (1985). During this research close and lasting links were developed with the local Special School for the severely handicapped, St Bartholomew's School, Milton, Kent. In March 1988, project cards for Music non-specialist primary school teachers Exploring Sounds and Themes, devised by Dorothy Tipton, Alan Vincent and Vanessa Young, were published by Kent Education Committee.
Music in Schools: A Study of Context and Curriculum Practice
Authors: Swanwick Keith
Published: December 2008

In autumn of 1985, the Music Department of the Institute of Education, London University initiated an enquiry into music in schools. During 1986 the Gulbenkian Foundation generously supported the project, facilitating the appointment of a research assistant. The aim was to map out the current context and practice of music teaching in a wide range of school classrooms and examine the role of music within the wider school community. This article is a distillation of the published Report on the research.1
Freedom and its Price
Authors: Rainbow Bernarr
Published: December 2008

Liberty to select their own methods and attitudes is not commonly enjoyed by teachers in other lands; its existence in this country is not an immemorial right and dates only from the early years of the present century. In conferring this freedom upon teachers Robert Morant, now an almost forgotten figure whose highly unusual background is outlined, emphasised that freedom of choice implies a corresponding responsibility in its use. The fuller implications of that declaration are seldom realised and the injunction itself is regularly ignored. The special case of music is examined in relation to this circumstance.
Comments from the Chair. Observations on Music Education in the United Kingdom 1988/9
Authors: Odam George
Published: December 2008

I took office as Chair of the United Kingdom Council for Music Education and Training at what I hope will be viewed in later years as one of the most significant times of change in the history of music education in this country. I express this in terms of hope since I am sincere in my wish that music educators should not have to adapt to and survive such radical changes again in the foreseeable future. Time will tell.
Ferdinand Pelzer: An Introduction To A Neglected Achievement
Authors: Button Stuart W.
Published: December 2008

This article attempts to identify and evaluate the contribution made by Ferdinand Pelzer to English music education. Since the mid-nineteenth century Pelzer's work as a music teacher has largely been neglected; yet research into contemporary accounts suggests that his method of teaching singing was comparatively more successful than those of Mainzer, Wilhem and Hullah.

Dr Button also explains Pelzer's method, setting it against a background of growing interest in vocal music, the establishment of the first national system of education, and the adoption of the Wilhem–Hullah music system for use in elementary schools.
Women Composers and the Music Curriculum
Authors: Cant Stephanie
Published: December 2008

Despite the long-established move towards the inclusion of composition as an element of music in schools, many teachers continue to be wary of it. Lack of confidence amongst women music teachers in their own abilities as composers may be a key to this situation. It is suggested that this arises as a result of rarely seeing music by women composers played and studied with the same attention afforded to music written by men. The popular mythology that only men have the ability to compose is challenged, and an argument is made for the inclusion of music by women composers (past and present) in the curriculum of schools and colleges. Practical suggestions are made as to how this can be achieved despite the current lack of resources.
A Music Education Pioneer – Dr Satis Naronna Barton Coleman
Authors: Southcott Jane
Published: December 2008

The work of American music educator Satis Coleman is little known. In the first half of this century she devised a music education programme that led children through music instrument making and playing, singing, moving and creating to develop a ‘seeking attitude’ to music and to life. Many of her ideas are pertinent today and her work seems, in many respects, far ahead of its time.
Playing by Ear: A Classroom Activity
Authors: Toplis Gloria
Published: December 2008

The value of playing by ear in instrumental learning has recently been well documented. By-ear reproduction of music is an activity which commands a high level of motivation from people of all ages, but it is seldom pursued in the classroom as an exercise in its own right, independent of improvisation. It is, in fact, ideally suitable for group work in the classroom, where it can be both satisfying for its own sake, and a means by which pupils gain essential aural skills.
Glasnost and Perestroika in Russian Soviet Music Education
Authors: Lepherd Laurence
Published: December 2008

There is considerable concern in the Russian Federation of the Soviet Union about the state of music education in general schools, the schools most children attend. Many observers draw attention to the decline in musical standards in these schools since the Revolution of 1917. Glasnost – ‘openness’ and Perestroika – ‘reconstruction’, are key factors in contemporary Soviet society which are affecting attempts to raise the standard. In particular, the Kabalevsky system developed in the 1970s and implemented in the 1980s is the focal point of reconstruction and, because of openness, is also the focal point of criticism.

In this article the author outlines some of the features of current music education in general schools. The influences of glasnost and perestroika on development are discussed and some international implications are suggested.
Planning for the Unpredictable: Opening address, UKCMET Music Education Conference, Huddersfield 1989
Authors: Swanwick Keith
Published: December 2008

Distinctive features of music education in Britain are analysed. There is a tradition of being non-explicit, preferring the intuitive to the specified. In the best and worst senses, we are a nation of amateurs: making music because it seems worthwhile; our youth and adult music-making traditions are witness to this. We are also aesthetically ambitious and worry about the mechanisation of the curriculum and losing a sense of delight and spontaneity. All of these may seem threatened by the National Curriculum. Yet it is important to be more consistent and organised in the music curriculum. There will still be scope for the unplanned, the unpredictable. There always is.
Music History – On the Decline?
Authors: Ritterman Janet
Published: December 2008

The position of music history, traditionally regarded as a central element of the music curriculum in higher education as well as in secondary schools, has seemed to be challenged both by recent changes in the curriculum content and by reappraisals of the philosophy and practice of advanced musical study. This article, an expanded version of a paper given in the session on Curriculum Developments in Higher Education at the first British Music Educators' Conference in Huddersfield in July 1989, assesses the impact of these changes and relates them to changing attitudes within the discipline of musicology as well as within other historically based areas of enquiry.
GCSE and Early Music
Authors: Bence John
Published: December 2008

In 1985 the National Early Music Association published a report on Early Music in Schools. This painted a gloomy picture on most fronts but reminded us that the National Criteria in GCSE offered us a chance to use early music in new ways. Unfortunately, in general, we have taken little advantage of these opportunities, and this article examines some of the reasons for this.
Starting to Learn to Play a Musical Instrument: a Study of Boys' and Girls' Motivational Criteria
Authors: MacKenzie Clayton G.
Published: December 2008

The paper describes a research project undertaken recently in four primary schools. The study involved an investigation of those factors which motivated the members of a study group of 48 pupils to start learning to play a musical instrument. The findings of the research identify the importance of interest factors and the encouragement of the teacher as determinants of pupils' decisions. There is some indication of differences in the criteria used by girls and boys, particularly with regard to the socialisation aspect of instrumental learning.
Up and Running: An Update on the RAMP Unit's Work at Huddersfield Polytechnic
Authors: Cargill Simon , Pratt George
Published: December 2008

The unit for Research into Applied Musical Perception (RAMP) was set up in the Music Department of Huddersfield Polytechnic in 1985. Led by Professor George Pratt, then newly appointed as Head of Department, one of its primary tasks has been to explore the possibility of creating a course of aural training for undergraduates that would be radically different from those of conventional examining boards: a course that would be of more direct interest and use to musicians. An initial report on the research was published in BJME in July 1987 Vol. 4, No. 2 pp. (115–138), and a book, Aural Awareness: Principles and Practice was published in May 1990 by Open University Press. In this article Professor Pratt and his current Research Assistant, Simon Cargill, give a taste of the Huddersfield course as it now operates.
Young Musicians' Accounts of Significant Influences in their Early Lives. 1. The Family and the Musical Background
Authors: Howe Michael J. A. , Sloboda John A.
Published: December 2008

This article reports qualitative findings of an interview study in which 42 students (aged 10–18) from a specialist music school were encouraged to talk about various experiences in their lives which the individual children perceived as having been potentially significant influences on their progress in learning musical instruments. The parents of half the children were also interviewed. Observations concerning the following sources of influence are reported: the family background; sibling influences; listening to music. The insights of children and their parents, which complement and add depth to quantitative findings concerning the biographical precursors of musical excellence, help to provide a rich source of descriptive information about the circumstances in which children become competent young musicians.
Music and Play
Authors: Addison Richard
Published: December 2008

The writer looks at the meanings of the word ‘play’ and its properties, and draws attention to the common elements and the differences to be observed in the play of young people and adults respectively. He applies these observations to music, giving examples.

He then considers how classroom teachers have used some of the ‘play’ principles in their work, and introduces the idea of drawing instrumental teachers into similar patterns of action – to be fully developed in the other articles in this group. He summarises recent writings on the subject and his own practical contributions over the last few years.
The Integrated Instrumental Teacher: Learning to Play Through Performance, Listening and Composition
Authors: Verney John P.
Published: December 2008

This article is written to show that composition can become an integral part of an instrumental teacher's methodology. Current musical education in schools in England and Wales is trying to give children a broad understanding of what music can contribute to the lives of all - listeners and performers. The starting point for this is composition. If instrumental teachers can introduce children to this discipline along with the disciplines of instrumental technique and a love of performing, we can create true, well-balanced musicians.

Through this approach it is possible that we can develop an integrated music curriculum that joins together the expertise of the classroom music teacher and the instrumental teacher, with resulting benefits to children, who can then see that music is not divided between the creative classroom and the re-creative instrumental and performing worlds.
Freedom and Structure: The Acquisition of Language in a Musical Education
Authors: Nicolls Janet
Published: December 2008

This article explores the development of musical language, as it takes place alongside the study of an instrument. More than simply the ability to read the printed score, musical literacy may be achieved creatively through improvisation and composition from the earliest lessons. The basis of this learning is through training the memory of the inner ear.
Orchestras and the Training Revolution
Authors: Renshaw Peter
Published: December 2008

Over the past decade, some major changes have taken place in the policies of Britain's symphony orchestras towards the communities within which they operate. Responding to local needs, most have now evolved enterprising educational activities. This ‘community’ brief has itself generated enthusiastic commitment from the participating musicians; but it has also highlighted the new responsibilities of orchestral management to the personal and artistic development of the players who must work in this somewhat different cultural climate. The author, Gresham Professor of Music and Director of the Department of Performance and Communication Skills at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, examines these issues and their implications for the future of orchestral musicians.
Difficult but Sensitive: Participant Observation Research in Music Education
Authors: Bannister Roland
Published: December 2008

There have been numerous calls for the use of qualitative research in music education. Music educators have been slow to heed these calls, despite the wide acceptance of qualitative methods in other areas of education research. This paper describes the place of qualitative paradigms in the gamut of research methodology and assesses the potential of the ethnographic techniques of participant observation and ethnographic interviewing for music education. In doing so it responds to Swanwick's (1984) critique of participant observation method by, (a) describing some of the techniques' philosophical bases, (b) citing several model ethnographies in other disciplines, and (c) reviewing some of the ethnographic research literature which, the author argues, has recognised the particular strengths and weaknesses of qualitative method and developed a strong philosophical and empirical rationale for its use. The author argues that ethnographic method has much to offer as we seek solutions to the problems of understanding music education in its social context in the late twentieth century.
The Impact of TVEI on Music Education: Music, Schools and TVEI – A Description of a Small-scale Research Project
Authors: Winter John
Published: December 2008

In 1989 an Institute of Education was offered a sum of money through TVEI to fund a small-scale study which was to involve secondary schools within travelling distance of the Institute. The intention was to survey LEAs to find out TVEI contacts within local authorities and to identify school music departments which had some direct experience of bidding successfully for TVEI funds. In addition to gaining a general, overall view, a small number of case studies were to be written up illustrating the findings in more detail.
Effects of microphysical drop size distribution on tornadogenesis in supercell thunderstorms
Authors: Snook Nathan , Xue Ming
Published: December 2008

Idealized simulations of tornadogenesis in supercell storms are performed using a grid of 100 m spacing. The cold pool intensity and low‐level storm dynamics are found to be very sensitive to the intercept parameters of rain and hail drop size distributions (DSD). DSDs favoring smaller (larger) hydrometeors result in stronger (weaker) cold pools due to enhanced (reduced) evaporative cooling/melting over a larger (smaller) geographic region. Sustained tornadic circulations of EF2 intensity are produced in two of the simulations with relatively weak cold pools. When the cold pool is strong, the updraft is tilted rearward by the strong, surging gust front, causing a disconnect between low‐level circulation centers near gust front and the mid‐level mesocyclone. Weaker cold pool cases have strong, sustained, vertical updrafts positioned near and above the low‐level circulation centers, providing strong dynamic lifting and vertical stretching to the low‐level parcels and favoring tornadogenesis.