Chinese Music Therapy and Clinical Music Education in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

With an overall pooled estimate of 7.2% attention, deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is considered a global psychopathological burden in the younger generation, and a prevalence of 6.4% makes it the leading mental issue in China. On the basis of comparative research and meta-synthetic construction, the present article suggests to differentiate between ADHD as a primary psychiatric disorder, ADHD-typical symptoms caused by disturbing environmental conditions, and multifaceted ADHD resembling syndromes generated by adverse developmental processes and inadequate educational facilities. This differentiation has a decisive impact on treatment modes such as (i) clinical music education, e.g. piano tuition, (ii) cultural participation and self-adjustment through arts-based cognitive behavioural therapy, (iii) avoidance of disturbing stimuli as well as music-based resilience techniques, and (iv) Chinese music therapy including sound-meditation, focused listening training, creative self-actualisation and music-based self-regulation. Interdisciplinary approaches combining music therapy and music education are discussed, alongside cross-cultural application and flexible settings, online music therapy included.

Practice and performance management strategies of emerging professional musicians in preparation for orchestra auditions

Orchestra auditions form a critical career challenge for many aspiring classical musicians. Hence, emerging professional musicians—defined as promising musicians entering the professional circuit without having yet established full-time employment—require effective practice and performance strategies to manage the demands of auditions. The purpose of this collective case study was to gain an in-depth and contextualized understanding of such practice and performance management strategies in relation to mock orchestra auditions. Data were collected using an intensive qualitative approach, combining semi-structured interviews with regular structured monitoring interviews, with eight musicians. Content analysis revealed that participants, on average, engaged in 33 hr of music-related activities per week, during which they adopted self-regulating strategies (i.e., strategic goal setting, structuring practice, monitoring practice, and reflecting on progress) to a varying degree. Furthermore, participants used different performance management strategies to cope with the pressure of auditions (i.e., practicing under pressure, imagery, relaxation, cognitive reframing, routines, attentional control, and substance use). Overall, the data suggest that the emerging musicians possessed several different practice and performance strategies but showed great variation in the use of such strategies and had a preference for long practice hours. Potential implications for music education organizations aiming to prepare students for auditions are discussed.

Faculty Perspectives on the Master’s Degree in Music Education

The purpose of this study was to examine music education faculty members’ perceptions of the master’s degree in music education (MME). A total of 76 music teacher educators completed a researcher-designed survey instrument. Participants believed their MME students’ top four motivations for pursuing MME degrees were to become a better teacher, to gain a higher salary, to create a possible pathway to doctoral study in the future, and to gain academic stimulation through graduate level coursework. Faculty also indicated the MME degree was focused on both teaching/pedagogy and research. Participants explained that their students primarily learn about research through reading and discussing research articles in class, and that their students learn about pedagogy primarily from reading pedagogical articles and reflecting on personal teaching videos. In addition, participants presented various opinions regarding the purpose of MME degrees. Implications for music teacher educators are discussed.

Idris Sardi’s Influence on Musical Development and Education in Indonesia

Idris Sardi is known as a music maestro in Indonesia. This study aims to reveal the influence of Idris Sardi on the development of music and its implications in music education. This study uses a qualitative method with a narrative approach. The data were collected through observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation. The research informants were carefully selected from the family, violin students, and colleagues of Idris Sardi in Jakarta and Bogor, West Java. The data were analyzed by organizing data and creating codes, describing codes in chronological categories and themes, developing interpretations, and visualizing data. The results showed that Idris Sardi was influential in developing (1) keroncong music by varying the tempo and expanding the repertoire; (2) the violin playing techniques included unique characters such as vibrato, glissando, and octave variations; (3) ethnic and popular music were made through orchestrations and collaboration with orchestral music. The implications in music vocational education were (1) problem-based learning by creating a new keroncong style to be accepted by society; (2) the improvement capability by exploring skills to play the violin; (3) life-based-learning by raising local and popular music to be qualified while enhancing the level of society’s music appreciation. In conclusion, Idris Sardi provided a strong influence on the music development in Indonesia, and the implication could be a new strategy to improve the quality of music education.

A Review of the Literature on the Relationship of Music Education to the Development of Socio-Emotional Learning

Social-emotional learning (SEL) is a topic of increasing focus in the education sector. SEL is the process by which children acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to effectively recognize and manage emotions, to formulate positive goals, to feel empathy for others, to establish and maintain functioning social relationships. It develops to take responsible decisions, determine students’ successful academic performance, transformation into adulthood, useful work, a good quality of life, and well-being. By the end of the 20th century the educational role of music has come into the spotlight, and in addition to the impact of music on the development of general skills, its social and emotional effects are also the subject of research. This paper undertakes to explore the literature about the connections between music education and social-emotional skill development. For the collection and analysis of information, online sources of peer-reviewed scientific journals in addition to the university library were used. The study also examined the relationship between social-emotional learning and the world-wide well-known Kodály Concept and the effect of Kodály’s vision of music education as a forerunner of socio-emotional skills development. The relationship between social-emotional skills and music was explored by reviewing the international music-specific literature from music psychology, music education, music therapy, and music for health and wellbeing. In order to illuminate the problem and to develop a holistic approach, the 100 studies presented here summarize research findings made and presented in different countries around the world.