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.

From amongst the literature of music education in the twentieth century a variety of styles and approaches can be discerned that employ differing ways of communicating ideas to teachers. The work of Yorke Trotter is highlighted here as being particularly effective in discussing musical and educational challenges in a way that could directly inspire the development of classroom practice. The paper looks at the legacy of Yorke Trotter's thinking, and observes that the writings of Schafer, Paynter and Aston provided similar motivation for the teachers of the 1960s and 1970s. The contrast between this professional reflection and the Government directives of the early 1990s is discussed, and the importance of continuing educational debate in music teaching becomes evident.

Attempting to explain the mis-match between women's low profile in most music professions and females' success in formal music education, I looked for differences in the attitudes, experiences and expectations of music students. This was done by using repertory grids with relatively small numbers of A-level and undergraduate music students, and postgraduate student teachers with music degrees. Constructivist psychology, of which repertory grid technique is a practical example, offers approaches in harmony with feminist preferences for the meaning people attach to their situation and the usefulness of their interpretation over notions of truth. Thus participants' responses dictate any groupings to emanate from analysis, rather than their being placed in pre-determined categories.

The outcomes of the study suggested, however, that little differentiates female and male musicians, as represented by these music students. Conversely, the results implied that the sexes are inclined to think similarly, insofar as likenesses in their attitudes could be associated with their instrument, and, crucially, that each sex tended to look to mo dels I mentors who reflected their sex as well as instrument. The sexes' inconsistency of achievement might then be explained by differences between sex-role models.

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.

This paper originates from a research project investigating the effects of a ‘holistic’ approach to music education in the secondary school. It is based upon a case study involving the work of one secondary school music department where a ‘holistic’ approach to the music programme is adopted in that the work in the curriculum at Key Stages 3 and 4 is used as the basis for extended curricular work. It is concluded that the holistic approach offers an interesting and in many ways educationally beneficial alternative to the more traditional separatist approach to the curriculum and extended curriculum.

Recent technological developments and the increasing impact of the media mean that listening to music and creative music making constitutes a major and integrated part of many young people's lives.

The aim of the present article is to describe the process of computer-based composition, and how this is perceived by young composers. This paper describes a three-year empirical study of 129 computer-based compositions by 15 to 16-year-olds. Computer MIDI-fti.es were system- atically collected covering the sequence of the creation processes step by step; interviews were carried out with each of the participants; and observations were made of their work.

All the participants succeeded in creating music, and in the subsequent analysis, six qualitatively different ways of creating music were identified which could be divided into two main categories: HORIZONTAL and VERTICAL. These categories, devised by the authors in this context, refer to compositional strategies, not to structures in the music itself. In the horizontal categories composition and arranging are separate processes, whereas in the vertical categories composition and arranging are one integrated process.

Adolescence is characterised by a distinctive phase of vocal development which bridges childhood and adulthood. Various research studies over the past twenty years have demonstrated that the physical maturation of the adolescent voice mechanism produces a systematic change in both the male and female singing voice. Longitudinal research data indicate that there are distinctive features to each stage of adolescent voice change and that, with an appropriate matching of repertoire, it is possible for all young people to continue to sing successfully throughout this period. The traditional and stereotypical notion that adolescent male voices ‘break’ is untenable in the light of this research evidence and it is suggested that a concept of adolescent singing voice ‘transformation’ or ‘change’ is a more accurate representation of the physiological reality. It is a weakness of the revised National Curriculum for Music (1995) that it makes no appropriate reference to this unique period of adolescent voice change and, as a result, teachers receive inadequate statutory guidance on the development of singing at Key Stage 3.