Intergenerational music teaching and learning among preservice music teachers and senior adult musicians

The purpose of this study was to examine the intergenerational interactions between preservice music teachers and senior adult musicians engaged in music teaching and learning in a New Horizons ensemble within one university’s music teacher preparation program. This intrinsic qualitative case study included written reflections and observational data of 16 current undergraduate music education students and verbatim interview transcripts of 5 current and former students serving as teaching assistants who taught and conducted their university’s New Horizons ensemble. Findings distilled from the data included (a) how younger-aged preservice music teachers responded to generational differences while learning how to interact with senior adult musicians, (b) the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) learned and developed by participants as a result of teaching in a New Horizons ensemble, and (c) the connections made by participants teaching senior adults to their future careers as professional music educators. Future discussion and directions from this study highlight emerging connections of research between adult and community music settings and music teacher education. Implications include (a) how to create best practices so that the missions and objectives of both music teacher education programs and cooperating community adult ensembles support and enhance each other, (b) fostering outcomes that prepare music education majors for experiences in adult music education, and (c) reimagining New Horizons and music teacher education partnerships that result in more national, racial, cultural, and musical diversity and inclusion.

Adult Musicians' Perceived and Measured Pulmonary Function

The research questions for this study were 1) what was the measured pulmonary function of a group of senior adult musicians, and 2) was there a perceived and measured difference between senior adult musicians' pulmonary function scores before and after a rehearsal? The participants in this study were 57 adult musicians in two senior citizen bands in north Texas. Participants completed spirometry tests administered before and after band rehearsals on two occasions to ascertain repeated pulmonary function scores. Results showed that the participants were able to complete the spirometry task at the most basic level. On most pulmonary function measures, younger participants, males, and non-smokers tended to have higher scores. Seven percent of the participants perceived short-term increases in breath capacity after participating in a given rehearsal, and 35% of the participants perceived increases in breath capacity since joining the band. No statistically significant difference between the mean pulmonary function scores were found before and after rehearsal. Implications are addressed concerning the issues related to the measurement and pedagogy of adult music making.