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Contemporary Issues

Has music education changed since 1970? On students who rock. . .

David Bornstein recently wrote two opinion pieces for the New York times regarding music education. The first “Beyond Baby Mozart, Students Who Rock” focuses on Bornstein’s perspective on the state of music education and the Little Kids Rock organization. The second “Rock is Not the Enemy,” does a nice job of integrating a wide range of reader comments from the first opinion piece. In the first opinion piece Bornstein writes: Music education hasn’t changed fundamentally since the 1970s. Students are… Read More »Has music education changed since 1970? On students who rock. . .

New Directions in Music Education: 2011 (Revitalizing Middle and High School Music)

If you teach music at the secondary level or have interest in doing so at some point, consider attending the 2011 New Directions in Music Education: Revitalizing Middle and High School Music Conference at Michigan State University this Oct. 6-8 The New Directions conference is designed to appeal to pre-service and practicing music educators as well as those in higher education. Here is the conference program – it looks fabulous. Additional information can be found on the New Directions conference… Read More »New Directions in Music Education: 2011 (Revitalizing Middle and High School Music)

Women, music, and music education: FTM11 Conference

When you think of the history of music education do the names Frances Clark, Lila Belle Pitts, and Julia Crane ring a bell? How about Mabelle Glenn, Marguerite Hood, Eunice Boardman, or Consuela Lee? All of these women and of course countless others had, and continue to have, a tremendous impact on music education. In light of the upcoming Feminist Theory and Music Confernce or FTM11 conference at Arizona State University, we might pause to reflect on ways that music… Read More »Women, music, and music education: FTM11 Conference

Musical Expression & Perception in the New York Times

The New York Times article To Tug Hearts, Music First Must Tickle the Neurons by Pam Belluck is a fantastic look at issues of musical expression and perception that could lead to engaging discussions and projects in a variety of music class and ensemble settings. In addition to having students read and discuss the article it might be worth modifying some of the included experiments in contexts ranging from composition to performance. The article could also serve as a springboard… Read More »Musical Expression & Perception in the New York Times

Music-focused Television Shows

MENC has the results of an informal poll on music-focused television scripted and reality shows. It seems, based on the additional comments, that many people take the shows at face value when considering their use to (or problems for) music education. I was surprised that few responses discuss the use of these shows in the classroom or the role that music educators can play in recontextualizing them or re-mediating the meanings that students make from their engagement with these shows.… Read More »Music-focused Television Shows