scholarly journals What is music education for? Understanding and fostering routes into lifelong musical engagement

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 160-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie E. Pitts
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Musical Engagement

Researching the musical lifecourse in music therapy, community music and music education: Unique roles, convergences and blurring of philosophies and practices

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie Peters ◽  
Deborah Seabrook ◽  
Lee Higgins
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Music Therapy ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Community Music ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Musical Engagement ◽  
Different Populations ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
Health And Well Being

This article presents a diversity of approaches and a heterogeneity of research methods used, where the aim is to contribute to understandings of how musical engagement across the lifecourse may foster health and well being. Multiple perspectives and methodological approaches located in the disciplines of music therapy, community music and music education will be described, including identifying affordances and constraints associated with documenting lifelong and lifewide musical pathways. The research presented examines how lifelong musical engagement in different contexts might contribute to health and well being for different populations. The authors describe and situate their disciplines, present different methodological approaches that might contribute to lifecourse research in music and provide examples of particular projects.

Parenting Musically

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Huisman Koops
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Musical Development ◽  
Media Messages ◽  
Musical Interactions ◽  
Musical Engagement ◽  
Intuitive Parenting ◽  
Education Psychology

Parents use music in family life to accomplish practical tasks, make relational connections, and guide their children’s musical development. Parenting Musically portrays the musicking of eight diverse Cleveland-area families in home, school, and community settings. Family musical interactions are analyzed using the concepts of musical parenting (actions to support a child’s musical development) and parenting musically (using music to accomplish extramusical parenting goals), arguing the importance of recognizing and valuing both modes. An additional construct, practical~relational musicking, lends nuance to the analysis of family musical engagement. Practical musicking refers to musicking for a practical purpose, such as learning a scale or passing the time in a car; relational musicking is musicking that deepens relationships with self, siblings, parents, or community members, such as a grandmother singing to her grandchildren via FaceTime as a way to feel connected. Families who embraced both practical and relational musicking expressed satisfaction in long-term musical involvement. Weaving together themes of conscious and intuitive parenting, the rewards and struggles of musical practice, the role of mutuality in community musicking, and parents’ responses to media messages surrounding music and parenting, the discussion incorporates research in music education, psychology, family studies, and sociology. This book serves to highlight the multifaceted nature of families’ engagement in music; the author urges music education practitioners and administrators to consider this diversity of engagement when approaching curricular decisions.

Musical Creativity and Well-Being

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond MacDonald ◽  
Graeme Wilson ◽  
Felicity Baker
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Music Therapy ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Spinal Injury ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Community Music ◽  
General Music ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Musical Engagement

Participating in musical activities involves an immersive spectrum of psychological and social engagement. Connections between musical participation and health have been discussed for centuries, and relationships between the processes of music making and well-being outcomes have garnered considerable research interest. This chapter reviews studies investigating such associations to identify how creative aspects of musical engagement in particular can be understood to enhance health. The chapter begins by offering some suggestions about why these processes may have beneficial effects. Three key contexts for beneficial musical engagement (music education, music therapy, and community music) are examined: an organization (Limelight) that delivers music activities for individuals from disadvantaged groups; group improvisation music therapy sessions for individuals with cancer; and songwriting sessions for individuals following spinal injury. The relative contributions of creative process and creative product are considered, and psychological concepts such as identity, flow, agency, and scaffolding are suggested as important. The discussion extrapolates wider implications of this work to include general music making beyond clinical, educational, and community contexts.

Tuning in on motivation: Differences between non-musicians, amateurs, and professional musicians

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 864-873 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alva Appelgren ◽  
Walter Osika ◽  
Töres Theorell ◽  
Guy Madison ◽  
Eva Bojner Horwitz
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Intrinsic Motivation ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
Professional Musicians ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Musical Engagement ◽  
Age And Sex ◽  
Musical Activities

The drive to learn and engage in music varies among individuals. Global motivation to do something can be intrinsic, for example, the joy and satisfaction in an activity. But motivation behind our action can also be extrinsic, such as the desire for fame, status or increased financial resources. The type of motivation probably influences to what degree individuals engage in musical activities. In this study, we examined the associations between the level of musical engagement and self-rated global motivation, factoring in age and sex, in a sample of 5,435 individuals. Musical engagement ranged from no music activity to amateurs and professional musicians. We found that intrinsic motivation increases with level of music activity and that motivation differs depending on sex, with females scoring higher on intrinsic motivation than males. Such differences may be considered in adjusting the forms of support offered to young musicians in music education. The phenomenon of motivation is complex, and we have highlighted areas that require further investigation, but this study has elucidated some differences in motivation types found in men and women, and between non-musicians, amateurs and professional musicians.

Meta-Analytic Evidence of the Criterion Validity of Gordon’s Music Aptitude Tests in Published Music Education Research

2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josef Hanson
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Music Aptitude ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Aptitude Tests ◽  
Affective Outcomes ◽  
Musical Engagement ◽  
Music Audiation ◽  
Study Heterogeneity ◽  
Data Points ◽  
Education Journal

This meta-analytic study examined the validity of Gordon’s music aptitude tests as predictors of other musical variables. The four tests analyzed were the Music Aptitude Profile (1965), Primary Measures of Music Audiation (1979), Intermediate Measures of Music Audiation (1982), and Advanced Measures of Music Audiation (1989). Separate analyses were performed for tonal, rhythm, and composite constructs of music aptitude. From 47 music education journal articles that met requirements for inclusion, 215 independent data points representing 6,086 participants were collapsed into an overriding set of five criterion categories: (a) aural perception, (b) achievement, (c) creativity, (d) affective outcomes, and (e) musical engagement. Moderators potentially affecting validity included audiation type, sampling method, grade level, criterion test type, and year of publication. Results revealed estimated true criterion-related validities of .45 (tonal), .46 (rhythm), and .53 (composite). Gordon’s music aptitude tests were consistently but not always strongly associated with many desirable musical outcomes. Analysis of correlations by subtest and criterion category produced mixed results, and high levels of between-study heterogeneity could not be explained through meta-regression moderator analysis.

Re-Situating Technology in Music Education

2017 ◽  
pp. 290-308
Author(s):  
Evan Tobias
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Social Reconstruction ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Conceptual Frameworks ◽  
Musical Engagement ◽  
Ways Of Being

Technology’s place in music education is largely related to how it is socially constituted. Despite how technology enables intersections of and blurred boundaries between ways of being musical, it is often situated in terms of hard boundaries and compartmentalized notions of musical engagement. Furthermore, music education often situates technology as tools without necessarily considering related social, cultural, or musical contexts. This chapter addresses how philosophical, pedagogical, and curricular perspectives play a key role in the types and degree of change that occur in relation to technology and music education. I propose that music educators reconceptualize curriculum and resituate technology to address social and cultural issues explicitly. I invite music educators to consider the potential of digitally mediated musical engagement within the contexts of curriculum as experience and as social reconstruction. I consider how such change might occur and conceptual frameworks that might help in forwarding such work.

Music education students’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: A quantitative analysis of personal narratives

2020 ◽  
pp. 030573562094422
Author(s):  
Robert H Woody
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Intrinsic Motivation ◽  
Extrinsic Motivation ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
Personal Narratives ◽  
Affective Characteristics ◽  
Musical Activity ◽  
Musical Engagement ◽  
Music Education Majors

In this study, I sought to identify the characteristics of musical experiences that contribute to young musicians’ motivation for musical engagement. A comprehensive review of the literature produced 15 characteristics in three broader categories of contextual, process, and affective characteristics. These formed the basis of the coding scheme used in a content analysis of narratives provided by 102 music education majors. Participants wrote two narratives: one about an intrinsically motivated musical activity and one about an extrinsically motivated activity. The resulting narratives were coded according to whether they showed each of the 15 characteristics. The work of a second coder indicated that the coding had very high reliability. The content analysis offered several important findings. The characteristics supporting intrinsic motivation were varied and multi-layered. They included Enjoyment, Social connection, Expression, Learner-directed/autonomy, Creativity/experimentation, and Identity. In contrast, the characteristics of extrinsically motivated activities were more simply—and sometimes even singularly—supported, and they emphasized Virtue/value and Achievement. Subsequent analyses and discussion focused on instances in which characteristics more associated with intrinsic motivation appeared in narratives about extrinsically motivated activities, and vice versa.

“The Violin in the Attic”

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Pitts
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Instrumental Learning ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Musical Education ◽  
Music Making ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Musical Engagement ◽  
Long Term Impact

The motivations and experiences of adults who participate in music making have attracted increasing research attention in recent years, but less is known about the probably far greater number who have “given up” playing an instrument or lapsed in their participation: what are the factors that cause people to cease their involvement in instrumental learning, and how are these different from the views of participation expressed by continuing players? Life history interviews with current and lapsed members of amateur performing groups are used here to explore the long-term impact of music education. Even when the opportunity to make music has been set aside, benefits remain of open-mindedness to the arts, support for children’s musical education, and understanding of the value of leisure and creativity. These findings lead to conclusions about how foundations for musical leisure and lifelong learning could be laid in formative education, and the routes back into musical engagement made more accessible in adulthood.

Learning through praise: How Christian worship band musicians learn

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Benjamins
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Worship Music ◽  
Contemporary Worship ◽  
Musical Skills ◽  
Informal Music Learning ◽  
Contemporary Christian ◽  
Musical Engagement

Popular music education continues to increase in North American educational settings. While popular music teaching and learning are recognized in a variety of contexts, contemporary Christian church praise bands have not been significantly addressed in music education literature. In addressing this gap, the purpose of this study is to examine the musicking practices occurring in the contemporary worship music (CWM) context and how these lead contemporary Christian musicians to acquire and develop their musical skills. Green’s five principles of informal music learning were found to apply in part, yet other distinctive features were also present in study findings. Themes such as elitism, excellence, hierarchies of musical engagement, and inclusion/exclusion of worshippers and the congregation also arose, providing interesting areas for future research.

Creative Music Making at Your Fingertips

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Mobile Devices ◽  
Mobile Technology ◽  
Pedagogical Change ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Creative Music ◽  
Daunting Task ◽  
Musical Thinking ◽  
Musical Engagement ◽  
Creative Music Making

Hand-held mobile devices such as iPads, tablets, and smartphones hold potential for creative music making experiences within P-12 and higher education contexts. Yet navigating this technology and associated apps while embracing pedagogical change can be a daunting task. The book explores the enormous potential of rather small technological devices to transform the music-making experiences of students. The authors provide evidence for, ideas about, and examples of the role that mobile technology such as an iPad, tablet, or other hand-held device plays in the development of musical thinking and musical engagement of our students—in or outside of school. The promise of mobile devices for music education lies in their possibilities. In this book and on the companion website, the authors share strategies that will spark your imagination to explore digital musicianship and the use of mobile devices for your students’ musical engagement.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document