International Journal of Music Education

The purpose of this qualitative inquiry was to investigate adolescent choral singers’ philosophical beliefs regarding music-making within three different, mid-sized, Midwestern mixed choirs in the United States. Eighteen participants were interviewed for approximately 40 minutes each. Audio files were transcribed and coded with four themes resulting: (1) music-making as a simultaneously feelingful experience for participants; (2) musical knowing as interpersonal knowing; (3) expressed music as expressed feeling; and (4) music-making as enlightening. Participants verified the data through member checks. The presence of a peer de-briefer helped the investigator work through potential ethical issues. The findings reflect many ideas within the field of music philosophy including aesthetic perception, expressiveness by convention, music-making as distinctly human and art as self-unification. Findings also aligned with past studies regarding participants’ expressed meaning of musical experiences including areas such as social growth, expression of emotion, increased self-confidence, and development of personal character. Future suggestions for study include investigating perspectives of individual performers and participants who engage in different music ensembles to strengthen understanding of contextual factors.

Several authors have recently investigated the psychological aspects that play a determinant role in choral singing during adolescence. One of these aspects is vocal identity, which influences the construction of gender identity according to adolescents’ needs and societal gender roles. This article focuses on gender aspects of vocal identity during adolescence and describes a case study carried out with male adolescent singers at a secondary school choir in Spain. Qualitative data were collected and analyzed in order to get a deeper knowledge about the relationship between boys’ vocal identity and their gender identity. There was enough evidence to show that male adolescents felt more engaged with choral singing when they realized that their vocal identity was a powerful tool for constructing their male gender identity.

One-to-one music lessons are a common and effective way of learning a musical instrument. This investigation into one-to-one music teaching at the secondary school level explores the teaching of musical expression by two instrumental music teachers of brass and strings. The lessons of the two teachers with two students each were video recorded over a six-week period. This data were transcribed, coded and content analyzed. The results showed that the teachers used a variety of strategies to teach musical expression and the teacher’s choice of approach seems less important than ensuring that the student has a good understanding of the approach. Furthermore, the traditional strategies for teaching musical expression may benefit from the inclusion of approaches designed to enable young students to begin to create personal meaning in their music making. Teachers, therefore, might consider reading research findings on creative learning and devise strategies for its application in their music studios.

Research in music education asserts that video review by performers facilitates self-directed learning and transforms performing. Yet, certain videos may be traumatic for musicians to view; those who perceive themselves as failing or experience performance-related failures are prone to feelings of distress and sadness that can negatively affect their music-making and well-being. In this study, the reactions of nine Canadian undergraduate pianists to reviewing themselves regularly on video are examined. The study was designed in two parts: first of all, to track the effects of watching self-referent videos of piano lessons and other performances; second, to highlight student responses to a Recital Review Protocol (RRP). The RRP was designed with instructors and students in mind, incorporating neuroscience strategies to reverse blood flow patterns in areas of the brain responsible for negative mood induction. The results from the first part of the study point to how regular video analysis is able to shift initial negative perceptions and transform practicing and performing. The findings from the second part indicate that more attention needs to be paid to students by instructors immediately after performances.

Artistic research output struggles for recognition as ‘legitimate’ research within the highly-competitive and often traditional university sector. Often recognition requires the underpinning processes and thinking to be documented in a traditional written format. This article discusses the views of eight arts practitioners working in academia by asking whether or not they view their arts practice as research and, if they do, how it is so. The findings illuminate ways in which artistic practice is understood as research and reveal how the process of analytical and reflective writing impacts artist academics, their artistic and academic identities and their environment. The findings suggest a frame within which to advocate the equivalence of artistic research with traditional scholarly research. They also suggest a rationale for arguing against this, focusing instead (or perhaps as well) on a wider understanding of what constitutes knowledge. This has implications for academics, for students and for universities in recognizing the research inherent within arts practice itself, and in recognizing the value of practice-led writing in understanding and communicating new knowledge, new methods, and new definitions of research.

The authors propose that best practices in music education require a conceptual understanding of music teaching and learning based on a perspective of social justice and equitable access for all students. Examinations of the relationship between the tenets of culturally-responsive teaching and three dimensions of music teaching and learning (musical content, instruction, and context) are presented: (1) historically, through the identification of neglected African American contributions to Appalachian music; and (2) pedagogically, through the chronicling of social justice content and culturally-responsive instruction as taught in an urban university and public middle school. The implications of issues of power and social justice for music education are further contextualized within the lens of critical pedagogy to uncover possibilities for a 21st century canon of music teacher preparation that will maximize the potential to transform music education practice.