Meyer and Land’s work (among subsequent others) on threshold concepts (TCs) has been influential in numerous subjects, particularly in higher education. However, despite its growing international interest, its application into the domain of music in schools is a highly under-researched area. This article draws on the notion of TCs focusing on the context of lower-secondary school (Key Stage 3: ages 11–14) group composing. Using video-recorded and interview data from three case-study schools in the English Midlands, examples of TCs are presented and how formative assessment was, or could have been, a key process in them being crossed is discussed.

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.

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.

Looking back to the editorial in the very first edition of BJME, back in 1984, there are a number of striking resonances which belie the thirty years which have passed since Volume 1, Issue 1. Take this paragraph as an example:

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.

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.

The traditional basics of elementary education – the three R's: Reading, Writing and Arithmetic – whilst problematic, not least in the poverty of alliteration involved, are seriously limiting in the promotion of technique at the expense of creative thinking. There appears to be a corresponding situation with current trends in musical analysis. Here, events have moved a notch further with the three S's: Schenker, Semiology and Set-Theory. No doubt the quality of alliteration has improved, but we should still be wary of adopting techniques which may be used as a substitute for the essential creative processes involved in coming to understand how music works. If a back to basics approach is seriously to be considered, then perhaps we should return to the three A's: Analysis, Awareness and Accessibility.

This article gives an historical survey of the growth of music consultancy in primary education and follows on from the same author's Music Consultancy in Primary Education published in Vol. 5 No. 3 of BJME. It is postulated that the move towards the teaching of music by the generalist class teacher, supported by the consultant, has evolved gradually as a result of ideological factors, falling rolls and cuts in expenditure. The case studies represent contrasting accounts of music consultancy in operation in two primary schools. The more balanced music education was provided by the class teacher at School A, where the staff and head teacher appeared to be more committed to and more capable of including music in the curriculum.

One hundred and sixty-five undergraduate music students studying in Scotland completed a 30-statement Q-sort to describe their self- and task-theories of musical performance. Statements reflected the importance of effort, confidence, technical ability, significant others and luck/chance in determining a successful performance. The Q-sorts were reduced to six underlying sorting patterns, or viewpoints. The relationship between sorting patterns and participants' primary genre affiliation was explored in order to identify whether self and task-theories were a function of genre affiliation. Some intuitive hypotheses of what performers of particular musical genres might think were supported by the data. However, results suggested that there was considerable diversity in self- and task-theory of performance within each of the genre affiliation groups, which supports previous research. Other background factors, such as gender, years of playing, chronological age and type of institution, were not significant predictors of self- or task-theory of musical performance.

This paper traces the relationship between music and national feeling which permeated popular education during the latter part of the nineteenth century, culminating in the publication of The National Song Book (Stanford, 1906). By the First World War there was hardly a school in the country which did not possess a copy. The roots of the idea of national songs are traced back to Herder and Engel, and in particular to William Chappell's Popular Music of the Olden Time (1858–9). The paper argues that music educationists developed distinct theories about the educative value of such songs in developing notions of nationhood, patriotism and racial pride. Specifically a line of development is traced in the development of The National Song Book through Charles Stanford, W. H. Hadow and Arthur Somervell, while taking cognisance of the dissenting views of John Stainer and Cecil Sharp. The paper concludes that The National Song Book proclaimed the hegemony of the literate tradition as opposed to the oral, and considers the view that national songs contained within them the danger of the manipulation of patriotism.

This discussion develops a perspective on the current relationship between music and the school curriculum in North America. The gap between rhetorical support for music education and the reality of educational and societal commitments is traced to fundamental philosophical dilemmas facing education in particular, and society in general. Several ‘new keys’ are offered for the future of music education including a radical proposal for ‘deschooling’ music education and a practical guide for ‘networking’ excellent programmes.

Research has shown that undergraduate disciplinary study provides new teachers with knowledge schemas derived from their discipline. The key question considered in this article is: what existing disciplinary knowledge do pre-service music teachers call upon to construct their schemas of global education? This is a critical question as global education is introduced to a range of national curriculums. Further, this article investigates ways music disciplinary schemas connect with knowledge, skills and values for pre-service teachers of high school music, and how this influences their approach, understanding and future teaching of global education. The conclusion is that global education, with its knowledge, skills and attitudes, pervades all school subjects and that teaching music incorporates global knowledge, skills and attitudes in quite specific ways.

This article explores ways in which the elements of north Indian classical music may be taught in a western context. It examines traditional methods of teaching in India and points out the difficulties of transferring such methods into Western music education. The basic materials of Indian music are examined, with a view to using them to heighten awareness of music in general, but not necessarily to produce solo performers. The article suggests ways in which Indian music can be explored without compromising its inherent complexity, sense of form and aesthetic beauty; while, at the same time, making it more accessible to a wide range of people.

Music education is a worldwide activity. Gatherings and conferences where music educators from around the globe meet together are always interesting arenas, with as many discussions going on in the various watering holes near the conference venue as take place in the sessions themselves. But what we actually mean by music education often becomes an absorbing topic in its own right, and one we have discussed previously in these editorials (inter alia Fautley & Murphy, 2015). Differences are not just about matters of delivery, however; they also reflect often complicated local contexts and histories. They are at once philosophical, concerned with policy, concerned with curriculum, with progression, with assessment, with delivery, with modality, with jurisdictional requirements, and with regulations. All this makes for an interesting subject base.

The 1995 Music National Curriculum orders represent a significant change from the Interim Report of 1990 in which the Music Working Group presented its findings and made recommendations to the Secretary of State for Education for a new curriculum. This article explores developments which have led from the original recommendations to the 1995 Curriculum. As it now stands, the curriculum does not develop children's musical skills and understanding in a systematic way. This is not helpful, even to the music specialist, but also it gives rise to another problem. At Key Stages 1 and 2, where there is possibly no music specialist to interpret it, and where generalist class teachers have traditionally felt ill-equipped to teach music, the 1995 curriculum – because it does not prescribe the work to be done in a systematic and developmental way – fails to make clear the achievements expected at the various levels. Therefore, it does nothing to persuade primary teachers that they can contribute usefully to the skill- and knowledge-development which is essential if children are to move systematically through their musical education. Indeed, the Programmes of Study are so lacking in any sense of development or skill-building that they are exactly the same for each of the first three Key Stages. This study looks at the causes of these difficulties and proposes an original scheme of work to address the problem of teacher confidence at Key Stage 1.

The aim of this study was to analyse whether specialised musical training influences auditory discrimination, working memory, learning strategies and academic performance. Sixty students (30 with at least four years of musical training and 30 without) of the same socioeconomic level were compared. Significant differences were found between students with and without musical training in terms of learning strategies, working memory and academic performance (p= <.05). This study shows the benefits of musical training offered at specialised centres, the development of students’ cognitive skills and the contributions of neuroscience to improving professional practice.

One of the fascinating things about the articles in the BJME is that they come from many different countries, with many different music education systems in place in them. Each country has its own way of doing things, and its own way of thinking about what music education means in its own circumstance. One of the issues we face today is that with increasing globalisation unique ways of musicking can be under threat from non-indigenous commercial interests. For music education this can have implications. One of the questions that it raises is about the purposes of music education. Is music education about passing on a historic culture whose existence is threatened? Is it about learning to play western classical instruments? Is it about learning to play pop and rock music? These are not simple questions, and they do not have simple answers.

This article looks at some of the issues surrounding the notion of a European dimension and ways in which it might be developed and applied in Music education.