This article is a field investigation of the musical memories of preschool teachers and child minders, their experiences and interest in working with music in preschools. It is part of a larger international research project at Mälardalens University, Sweden. The original component of analysis is adults' memories of play. (Sandberg, 2001.) Participants also interpreted their own musical memories and defined music. Under the umbrella entity, WRP (Women's Researchers in Play and Disability) participating project partners were from the USA, Brazil, South Korea, Taiwan and Sweden. Participants reported their memories using an instruction sheet, a drawing sheet and a questionnaire.

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of the parent as a supporter of practice during a whole-class beginner violin programme and whether it is considered most beneficial for practice to be undertaken at home, at school or in no formal manner. This mixed-methods research project involved a year-group of 31 pupils aged 6–7 years from a preparatory school in an affluent area of the south of England over a 10-week period. Two parent questionnaires were administered at the start and end of the programme and analysed together with pupil focus groups and teacher assessment. It was discovered that most pupils played at home only once a week, and this was only with parental help. Many challenges to practising at home were identified, and by the end of the programme parents considered that their children could have made as much progress without practising at home. Pupils considered the most desirable ways for their parents to support them were to watch and listen, and to play together. Parents were unsure what to do except for offering encouragement. Pupils were very clear that playing together at school was preferable to playing at home, and it was evident that finding a way to establish school practice sessions between lessons would be the most enjoyable arrangement and support the most progress.

There is much dialogue in the academy about the role of doctoral studies in relation to employment, career trajectories and graduate outcomes. This project explores the experiences of Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) graduates and students at the Queensland Conservatorium in Australia to reveal how the programme has impacted upon their professional activities, while also addressing assumptions promulgated through the literature on artistic practice and research education. The paper presents emergent themes and concludes by offering insights into artistic research in music more broadly.

Neoliberalism and neoconservatism are two political ideologies that currently shape state directives for education in many countries. In this article, I describe the confluence of neoliberal and neoconservative ideologies that led to the introduction, by the English state department for education, of a Model Music Curriculum for schools. I describe how neoliberalism has transformed the music education ‘ecology’ in England and created an environment that was receptive to the introduction of a curriculum on neoconservative principles. I consider the current position of progressive music education and why it seems unable to mount a sufficiently persuasive challenge. I make a case for the importance of analysis that explicitly focuses on political ideologies and their present-day rhetoric and discourses. Finally, I point to the general early years sector in England as an illustration for how to respond to state interventions in curriculum that might be emulated by the music education sector.

The issue of inclusion is currently a hot topic in music education both in the UK and elsewhere. There are many discussions about what it means, what it should involve, and how it can be enacted. This is to say nothing of the positive effects inclusion can have on the lives of young people in terms of personal fulfilment, as well as musical participation. For a journal concerned with educational research in music education, as is clearly the case with the BJME, there is, or there should be, more to it, however, than just these simple matters. After all, having children and young people in wheelchairs participating in a musical event is all very well – even if it does not happen often enough - but is this really all we mean by inclusion? And it is this aspect which needs problematisation for music education. After all, having young people who are disabled in some form, visible or invisible, taking part in music education should be something which just happens, we shouldn't need, pardon the phrase, to be making a big song and dance about it!

Much previous international research has demonstrated links between general school attainment and active engagement with music. The research reported here compared the change in examination outcomes in English and mathematics in national examinations at ages 11 and 16 of instrumentalists and non-instrumentalists. Data from 701 pupils showed statistically significant differences in examination outcomes between instrumentalists and non-instrumentalists, which was also related to the duration of learning and the instrument played. Instrumentalists had greater change scores in mathematics, but not English, although instrumentalists of lower socio-economic status showed greater change in both subjects. The implications for music education are discussed.

In a recent article, ‘Sttepping in the right direction? Western classical music in an orchestral programme for disadvantaged African youth’, ‘sttepping’ was noted as no spelling error. The same applies here; reference is to STTEP Music School, an outreach project at the University of Pretoria. STTEP teaches the playing of orchestral instruments, plus background areas like music theory, to disadvantaged learners. Ethnographic and case study research of STTEP, its teachers, pupils and administrators, over the period 2005–2009 was conducted within a sociological meta-theoretical framework. From the hybrid data obtained, conclusions have been drawn, including on observed effects of the African philosophy Ubuntu.

Music and language are often seen to be similar, and this has led to numerous music education methods based on language models. This paper describes a commonality between music and language at a semiotic level, compares their relevant syllabuses, and discusses a number of possible transfers between language teaching and music education.

This article considers ideas and issues raised by an examination of the function of education, particularly music education in Ghana. There are many musical traditions in Ghana that the people want to pass on to the younger generation. How are these to be taught or learned? Where are the duties and boundaries of formal education to be drawn? What can be expected of parents and family? What is the situation for the teacher, given that few teachers return to their native area after training at a centralised institution? The article is based around an interview with the Paramount Chief (Naa) Puoure Puobe Chiir VII of Nandom in the Upper West Region of Ghana. He is one of twenty-five members of the National Council of State of Ghana (a non-elected Upper Chamber) and, as mentioned in the interview, vice-president of the National House of Chiefs and Chairman of its Research Committee.

The author, troubled by doubts about the value for pupils’ general education of violin teaching, sets about finding out, by interview and open discussion, what the problems are, for teachers and pupils alike; and having analysed them, sets herself the task of trying solve some of them.

Encouraging pupils to compose music that will help them overcome their own technical difficulties is a fruitful start, and one that can lead to further developments of great promise for the future of music education. By evaluating the processes and outcomes of this creative work it is possible to throw light and understanding on learning and teaching processes in both violin playing and composition.

As the time for the implementation of the National Curriculum in Music approaches, will the tail of assessment begin to wag the dog of class-room music and dissipate all that has been achieved in providing the dynamic, challenging and fulfilling experiences that now characterise many class music lessons? This article sets out some proposals for an assessment strategy which, it is hoped, is faithful to the intentions of the National Curriculum Music Working Group in allowing practical music to flourish but with a greater sense of direction and enhanced awareness of the power of musical expression for teachers and students alike.

The basic aim of this article is to argue that world music should be an integral part of any musical curriculum. An extensive example, drawn from Chinese traditional music, outlines potential benefits that the study of world music offers to the music teacher interested in it either for its own sake or as a means of developing pupils' skills at improvisations and composition. The featured example is a composition for erhu (Chinese two-stringed fiddle) by the folk musician Abing. Ideas are raised concerning musical context, analysis, melodic structure, tonality, metre, notation and ornamentation.

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.

This article presents part of a five-year Australian study, the purpose of which was to look at learning singing in a pedagogical environment designed using sociocultural theory. The classroom environment was transformed over 5 years in consultation with other staff members and used the reflective journals that students wrote during that time as a way of refining and changing the design. Themes emerging from the journals were analysed to inform changes to the design. One of the main themes to emerge was student reflections about the scientific concepts they were taught and the ways the concepts were introduced. These reflections became the basis for the discussion in this paper. The study demonstrated that the students' acquisition of scientific concepts of singing affected both their singing performance and their ability to learn in a positive way. The study suggests that scientific concepts of singing could become part of the students' toolbox that helps develop their singing by making meaning of what they are experiencing kinaesthetically and aurally while they sing.

Power relations operate in any educational setting, and there may be particular vulnerabilities in a tradition conducted in the relative isolation of the music teaching studio. These vulnerabilities have been highlighted dramatically in recent years through high-profile cases of power abuse, but power is implicated in a wide range of contexts related to the studio, including cultural, gendered, pedagogical, artistic, institutional and interpersonal issues. It may be impossible to divest power of its negative connotations, but there is a good deal of theory focused on power, even if its terms are broadly political or philosophical, and subject to debate. This theoretical paper explores power relations with regard to the music studio, investigating popular conceptions and everyday usage before turning to scholarship focused on interpersonal and broader social perspectives. Some reflections are offered on the uses and abuses of power in the studio. A better understanding of its dimensions and usage can support the ongoing development of studio practices and contribute to the conversation that we need to have about power.

In this article I expound my method of teaching the language of music to my pupils. I aim to enable them to express themselves through music, just as they are expected to use the tools of language for creative writing and art materials for original work.

My class organisation and the syllabus by which my pupils learn to compose is explained in some detail for years seven to nine and in more general terms thereafter.

I include examples of compositions, from Year Seven and from GCSE pupils. I hope I can encourage other teachers to adopt similar objectives and therefore reap similar rewards.

Although there are many examples of notable string programmes there has been relatively little comparative analysis of these programmes. This paper examines three benchmark string programmes (The University of Illinois String Project, The Tower Hamlets String Teaching Project and Colourstrings) alongside Music4All, an innovative string programme run over three years in five primary schools in regional Australia. The paper discusses difficulties encountered in the Australian experience and gives recommendations for future programmes including allowing adequate time and resources for the planning phase and the importance of ongoing professional development for staff.

Despite a renewed interest in educational practices to develop future music educators in South Africa for a rapidly changing professional landscape, little is known about the meaning students themselves ascribe to these practices towards their own development as music educators. This instrumental case study investigated the learning experiences of second-year BMus students creating a musical for pre-schoolers. Data were collected through interviews, observations and reflective journals. Six themes emerged through a thematic analysis of student experiences, namely interaction, preparation, skills development, stagecraft, performance and enjoyment. A conceptual model that explains the production of a musical as a pedagogical praxis connects these themes with existing literature on three teaching and learning approaches that framed the study, namely authentic arts-based pedagogy, project-based learning and community of practice.