Infant Music Development and Music Experiences: A Literature Review

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 9-17
Author(s):  
Kathleen Arrasmith

Each infant is born with music potential, and early exposure to music and social music interactions may positively affect music development. Researchers have found that infants perceive music, attend to music, respond to music, and engage in social music interactions. Caregivers may enhance their music practices by deepening their infant music development understanding. This literature review includes information about infant development, music perception and preference, music responses, and music-making with caregivers. With the intention of providing insights and practical suggestions that may inform interactions between infants and caregivers (such as parents, guardians, and music educators), the purpose of this literature review was to synthesize research on the topic of infant music development and music experiences. Recommendations for caregivers and music educators are discussed.

Author(s):  
Brydie-Leigh Bartleet ◽  
Dawn Bennett ◽  
Anne Power ◽  
Naomi Sunderland

Community music educators worldwide face the challenge of preparing their students for working in increasingly diverse cultural contexts. These diverse contexts require distinctive approaches to community music-making that are respectful of, and responsive to, the customs and traditions of that cultural setting. The challenge for community music educators then becomes finding pedagogical approaches and strategies that both facilitate these sorts of intercultural learning experiences for their students and that engage with communities in culturally appropriate ways. This chapter unpacks these challenges and possibilities, and explores how the pedagogical strategy of community service learning can facilitate these sorts of dynamic intercultural learning opportunities. Specifically, it focuses on engaging with Australian First Peoples, and draws on eight years of community service learning in this field to inform the insights shared.


Author(s):  
Lauren Kapalka Richerme

Authors of contemporary education and arts education policies tend to emphasize the adoption of formal, summative assessment practices. Poststructuralist philosopher Gilles Deleuze’s emphasis on ongoing differing and imaginative possibilities may at first glance appear incompatible with these overarching, codified assessments. While Deleuze criticizes the increasing use of ongoing assessments as a form of control, he posits a more nuanced explanation of measurement. This philosophical inquiry examines four measurement-related themes from Deleuze’s writings and explores how they might inform concepts and practices of assessment in various music teaching and learning contexts. The first theme suggests that each group of connective relations, what Deleuze terms a “plane of immanence,” demands its own forms of measurement. Second, Deleuze emphasizes varieties of measurement. Third, those with power, what Deleuze terms the “majority,” always set the standard for measurement. Fourth, Deleuze derides continuous assessment. His writings suggest that music educators might consider that assessments created for one musical practice or style should not transcend their own “plane of immanence,” that a variety of nonstandardized assessments is desirable, that the effect of measurement on “minoritarian” musical practices must be examined carefully, and that it is essential to ponder the potentials of unmeasured music making.


2021 ◽  
Vol 107 (3) ◽  
pp. 38-46
Author(s):  
Christopher Cayari

A virtual ensemble is a digital musical product that uses multiple recordings edited together to form a musical ensemble. Creating virtual ensembles can be a way for music educators to engage students through online music-making. This article presents eight steps for creating virtual ensembles in music education courses and classrooms. The steps are (1) identifying objectives and desired outcomes, (2) selecting repertoire, (3) developing learning resources, (4) creating an anchor for synchronizing, (5) choosing a recording method, (6) setting up a collection platform, (7) editing in postproduction, and (8) distributing the product. As online music production becomes more prevalent, projects like virtual ensembles can provide creative and exciting experiences for music teachers and students, whether produced in the classroom or through remote means on the Internet.


2021 ◽  
Vol 108 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-56
Author(s):  
Christopher Cayari ◽  
Felix A. Graham ◽  
Emma Joy Jampole ◽  
Jared O’Leary

The social climate in the past decade has seen a rise in visibility of trans students in music classrooms and ensembles, leading to a need for scholarship on how to serve this growing population. Literature is being published to address this topic; however, the lack of scholarship by trans educators might lead many music educators to conclusions and practices that can be, at the very least, discouraging to some trans students and may disrupt their learning experiences. This article was written by four educators who identify as part of the trans community (a genderfluid and gender-nonconforming individual, a trans man, a trans woman, and a gender-nonbinary person) to fill this gap in the literature by illuminating some of the pitfalls inherent in the lack of discussion on (and by) trans people in music education. In addition, this article provides five actionable suggestions for working with trans students: (1) Learn about the trans community, (2) inspect your language and biases, (3) represent the diversity of trans people in your teaching, (4) promote healthy music-making and identity development, and (5) model allyship.


Author(s):  
Amy M. Burns

If the music classroom is meant to be a creative, safe, music-making space, how do educators balance technology in that space? Technology can be used in the simplest teacher-directed ways, as well as in a more student-centered “doing music” environment, depending on how the teacher wants to utilize it and how the students respond to it. Using approaches like Dr. Ruben Puentedura’s SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition) model and Liz Kolb’s Triple E (Engage, Enhance, Extend) Framework can help elementary music educators realize how much technology they want to use and when it would be the best tool for the students’ learning styles.


Author(s):  
Birch P. Browning

This chapter describes the many possible definitions of the term curriculum, including the series of courses needed to complete a program or the educational materials for a topic of study. From a wider perspective, curriculum encompasses all the decisions about the goals, content, and methods and materials of instruction that are directly related to the intentional outcomes of instruction. The decisions about what is included reflect the values and philosophy of education held by those who make curricular decisions. The programs and methods of the well-known childhood music educators Dalcroze, Kodály, Orff, Suzuki, and Gordon are discussed. The author also covers the Comprehensive Musicianship Through Performance (CMP) series for secondary students in depth and discusses various scholars’ visions for music curriculum. Effective music curriculum must prepare students for musical independence via authentic music-making: listening, performing, composing, and improvising.


2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-139
Author(s):  
Eeva Siljamäki ◽  
Panagiotis A. Kanellopoulos

This systematic literature review aims to identify and critically examine the prevailing general trends of music education research that addresses issues of improvisation from 1985 to 2015. The study examined the main features of studies with impact that focus on musical improvisation and have been published in peer-reviewed music education journals. Data were organised on the basis of the following: 1) General publication features; 2) Topic; 3) Methodological approach; 4) Participant features; 5) Type of improvisation; 6) Definition of improvisation; 7) Findings; 8) Suggestions for practice. The study also takes a close look at the construction of the discourses through which improvisation has been framed in the field of music education, providing insights on how such discourses create particular pedagogical visions of improvisation. To this end, we have created a map of the different visions of improvisation pedagogy that the studied works point towards. These visions have been clustered in the following five categories: (i) from rupture of certainties to creative problematisation; (ii) return to the “natural” beginning—in search of humanness; (iii) improvisation as a learning tool; (iv) conserving and enlivening traditions; (v) improvisation as an impetus for creativity. The map proposed in this study is meant as a possible representation of the general trends that underpin music education research focusing on improvisation. This map can also be seen as a “tool” through which music educators can situate their practice and reflect on their particular ways of working with improvisation, possibly envisioning alternative ways forward.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Chorna ◽  
M. Filippa ◽  
J. Sa De Almeida ◽  
L. Lordier ◽  
M. G. Monaci ◽  
...  

The primary aim of this viewpoint article is to examine recent literature on fetal and neonatal processing of music. In particular, we examine the behavioral, neurophysiological, and neuroimaging literature describing fetal and neonatal music perception and processing to the first days of term equivalent life. Secondly, in light of the recent systematic reviews published on this topic, we discuss the impact of music interventions on the potential neuroplasticity pathways through which the early exposure to music, live or recorded, may impact the fetal, preterm, and full-term infant brain. We conclude with recommendations for music stimuli selection and its role within the framework of early socioemotional development and environmental enrichment.


2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 22-31
Author(s):  
Elizabeth S. Palmer

Within the past few years the notions of a postracial America and achieved equality have been topics of discussion in various public and social circles. The visibility of racial and ethnic minorities, women, those in the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer) community, and individuals with disabilities feeds a narrative of equality within a postracial America. However, the aforementioned groups still face discrimination. Social justice offers equity within social spaces by challenging injustices inflicted on disfranchised groups. Given the complex nature of injustices against disfranchised people, how can music educators address these issues that appear to be extramusical and beyond our control? This literature review defines social justice and explores social justice issues in (a) music education, (b) higher education, and (c) pathways toward more socially just practices.


1993 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-261
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Oehrle

Music making in Africa has been, and is, an essential aspect of living. The philosophy and process of music making in South African schools bares no relevance to this idea. The present situation is that South African music educators are propagating western music education methods, while so-called ‘western’ music educators are turning to Africa to find answers to their perplexing problems. This paradoxical situation highlights the importance of evolving a philosophy and process of intercultural education through music for South Africa which draws upon research into music making in Africa.


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