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Contemporary Issues

Let’s play! Learning music through video games and virtual worlds

Tobias, E. S. (2012). Let’s play! Learning music through video games and virtual worlds. In G. McPherson & G. Welch (Eds.), Oxford handbook of music education (Vol. 2, pp. 531-548). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199928019.013.0035 This chapter examines the ways video games promote musical learning and engagement. It begins by outlining the background and current scope of music-focused video games. It then situates video games in terms of new literacies. Next, it provides a theoretical framework that supports… Read More »Let’s play! Learning music through video games and virtual worlds

Breaking Winds Bassoon Quartet: A model for contemporary musicianship and additional directions for school ensembles

During my presentation at the NAfME Composition Academy this past Music Education Week I mentioned the Breaking Winds Bassoon Quartet, but forgot to include a link to their Kickstarter Project Page in my handout. There was quite a bit of discussion related to arrangement throughout several of the composition academy presentations. Dr. Rob Deemer and Dr. David Stringham in particular provided some excellent strategies for including arrangement processes in music programs and our own music making as educators. The BWBQ… Read More »Breaking Winds Bassoon Quartet: A model for contemporary musicianship and additional directions for school ensembles

Expanding Secondary Music Curricula: A look at students engaging with popular music, technology, and creating original music

Tobias, E. S. (2012). Hybrid spaces and hyphenated musicians: Secondary students’ musical engagement in a songwriting and technology course. Music Education Research, 14(3), 329-346. A research article I wrote entitled Hybrid spaces and hyphenated musicians: Secondary students’ musical engagement in a songwriting and technology course is now available in the journal Music Education Research. Below is the article’s abstract: This case study investigates how secondary students (three individuals and three groups) engaged with music and acted as musicians in a… Read More »Expanding Secondary Music Curricula: A look at students engaging with popular music, technology, and creating original music

2nd Symposium on LGBT Studies & Music Education in october 2012

The 2nd Symposium on LBGT Studies and Music Education will take place  in collaboration with the Consortium for Research on Equity in Music Education (CREME) October 18-19 2012. This purpose of the second symposium is to encourage, promote, and disseminate discourse regarding intersection of LGBT topics and music education. The symposium seeks to reveal how LGBT issues operate within music education in terms of research, curriculum, teacher preparation, and the musical lives and careers of LGBT music students and teachers.… Read More »2nd Symposium on LGBT Studies & Music Education in october 2012

Awareness of State School Board Association Perspectives on Music Education?

In December of 2011 the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA) released a report entitled “The New 3 Rs: Reducing, Restructuring and Redesigning.” The NYSSBA New 3 Rs website includes the following text in refererence to the report: “The New 3 Rs analyzes the impact of the state’s new property tax cap on school districts, provides recommendations for state lawmakers to allow schools to operate more efficiently, and suggest ideas for local school boards to consider in order to… Read More »Awareness of State School Board Association Perspectives on Music Education?