Over the past three decades it has become customary to regard music education as a form of aesthetic education. Recently a number of writers have expressed some objections to this view which they maintain has acquired the status of an accepted orthodoxy. In a healthy educational climate it is right that any orthodoxy should be questioned and aesthetic education has often become the subject of an international debate The purpose of this paper is not to add another voice to that debate but to re-examine the concept of aesthetic education with reference to the teaching and learning of music in educational institutions.

Many discussions on this issue become clouded because the term ‘aesthetic education’ is used in different ways and in different contexts In a broad sense the aesthetic is not necessarily associated with the arts and is taken to be a dimension of experience in any discipline; accordingly, aesthetic education is across the curriculum. Most frequently, it implies an education in the fine arts, the aim of which is the development in children of a particular style of thinking or mode of intelligence. A third view arises from the notion of aesthetics as a form of enquiry best described as the philosophy of art; aesthetic education thus conceived involves the study of topics such as artistic meanings, judgements and values.

An examination of these different conceptions of aesthetic education raises a number of philosophical and educational issues that have implications not only for the organisation and practice of music education in schools but also for the education and professional development of teachers.

The claims of certain reports increasingly appearing in the media suggesting that ‘music makes kids smarter’ invite critical evaluation. Several other recent studies have been re-examining the hypothesis that musical listening and learning it using methods like Kodály's may enhance spatial reasoning and social and cognitive growth. In weaving together these interrelated themes, the intention of this article is not only to sensitise music educators to an awareness of transfer's significance and singular character, but to advise discretion in the interpretation of research results. Since the mechanisms of transfer are still not fully understood, future enquiry will have to accommodate many problems facing researchers in the field for whom the formulation of a comprehensive theory of transfer is, as yet, a distant prospect.

This article describes three projects organised by the Royal Opera House Education Department between 1985 and 1997. Following the descriptions each project is analysed in terms of students, artists and teachers with a view to placing the work within an overall conceptual framework suggesting that arts education provides an interface between the professional work of artists and educational settings. It proposes that arts education can be most effective when students are encouraged to see themselves ‘as artists’ and by creating their own work they can then engage with the work of other artists, both living and from other generations.

This comparison case-study examines the compositional processes of a high school and a collegiate composer engaged in a similar task. Procedures included interviews with the composers, observations, and the collection of compositional sketches and ‘audio-journals’. Analysis involved the preparation of field-notes and interview transcripts, document analysis and study of the field note/interview text. Two professional composers and the researcher analysed the compositions to locate similarities and differences.

Important similarities were the use of an exploratory phase at the piano and the acknowledgement of both inspiration and revision as components of the composition process. Differences were found in the uses of time and structure.

Experience as a music lecturer in higher/further education and as an instrumental teacher suggests that instrumental pedagogy – focused on strings – and music analysis could usefully be brought closer together to enhance performance. The benefits of linkage include stimulating intellectual enquiry and creative interpretation, as well as honing improvisatory skills; voice-leading analysis, particularly, may even aid technical issues of pitching, fingering, shifting and bowing. This article details an experimental curriculum, entitled ‘Voice-leading for Strings’, which combines voice-leading principles with approaches to string teaching developed from Nelson, Rolland and Suzuki, supplemented by Kodály's hand-signs. Findings from informal trials at Lancaster University (1995–7), which also adapted material for other melody instruments and keyboard, strongly support this perceived symbiotic relationship.

For some years, music technology has been incorporated into the secondary music Post-Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course at Kingston University. Student evaluations of this work have been supportive in the main, but identified continuing challenges in relation to establishing a sense of ease with its application in education. A range of course developments were devised in response, and closely monitored in 1997. The first half of this article outlines the rationale behind them. It draws upon a range of texts that document the reception of IT in schools and colleges, and on an interpretative response (based on theories of cognition), which the writer feels holds much relevance for music educators. The second half outlines course developments, and includes feedback from students and partner schools. Eighteen months on, the fundamental strategy is still in place, and staff have found it consistent with the requirements for ICT outlined in circular 4/98 by the DfEE.