Music education

Music education comprises the application of education methods in teaching music. Music education encompasses many areas of teaching, including music history, music theory, instrumental proficiency, singing skills, and general music skills.

The incorporation of music training from preschool to postsecondary education is common in North America and Europe, because involvement in music is thought to teach basic skills such as concentration, counting, listening, self-discipline and cooperation while also promoting understanding of language, improving the ability to recall information, fostering creativity, and creating an environment more conducive to learning in other areas.

There are many additional benefits training young children, as well as older children and teenagers, in music. Brain activity is increased which, in turn, strengthens spatial-temporal reasoning and skills in abstract reasoning (skills used in math and science). The brain learns to organize better and perform several tasks at the same time, by practicing the many facets involved in playing a musical instrument.

The many personal benefits achieved are confidence, self-esteem, and a sense of accomplishment. It shapes and molds the character with self-assurance and stability; and has the added bonus of public performance, which helps to conquer the fear of getting up in front of people. Furthermore, learning a musical instrument fosters good habits like focus, mental discipline, staying with a task until it is complete, and allows for the expression feelings.

In elementary schools, children often learn to play instruments such as the recorder, sing in small choirs, and learn about the history of Western art music. Many music educators also incorporate application and history of non-western music to give a well-rounded musical experience and teach multiculturalism. In primary and secondary schools, students may have the opportunity to perform some type of musical ensemble, such as choir, orchestra, or school band: concert band, marching band, or jazz band. In some secondary schools, music classes may also be available.

At the university level, students in most arts and humanities programs can receive credit for taking music courses, which typically takes the form of an overview course on the history of music, or a music appreciation course that focuses on listening to music and learning about different musical styles. In addition, most North American and European universities have some type of music ensemble that non-music students are able to participate in, such as choir, concert band, marching band, or orchestra. Music education departments in North American and European universities often support interdisciplinary research in such areas as music psychology, music education historiography, educational ethnomusicology, and philosophy of education.

The study of Western art music is increasingly common in music education outside of North America and Europe, including Asian nations such as South Korea, Japan, and China. At the same time, Western universities and colleges are widening their curriculum to include music of non-Western cultures, such as the music of Africa or Bali (e.g. Gamelan music).

Both amateur and professional musicians typically take music lessons, short private sessions with an individual teacher. Amateur musicians typically take lessons to learn musical rudiments and beginner- to intermediate-level musical techniques.

17th century
Music education in North America can be traced to the colonies of the seventeenth century. In the South, there existed no organized music education system. However, rote learning played a major role in the transmission of music traditions. In the Northern colonies, music was already an important consideration in the lives of the Pilgrims. The Bay Psalm Book, especially later editions, provided methods for solmization along with performance instruction. Thus Northern colonists could succeed in teaching themselves rudimentary music skills, as related to psalm singing.

Standards
For much of its existence, music education standards in the United States were determined locally or by individual teachers. In modern times there has been a significant move toward regional and/or national standards. MENC: The National Association for Music Education, created nine content standards, called the National Standards for Music Education, adopted in 1994:
 * 1) Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
 * 2) Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
 * 3) Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
 * 4) Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
 * 5) Reading and notating music.
 * 6) Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
 * 7) Evaluating music and music performances.
 * 8) Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
 * 9) Understanding music in relation to history and culture.

Many states and school districts have adopted their own standards for music education. Often, these local standards are derived in some form from the National Standards. For example, in Florida, the Sunshine State Standards set grade-level expectations for music students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.

Instructional methodologies
While instructional strategies are bound by the music teacher and the music curriculum in his or her area, many teachers rely heavily on one of many instructional methodologies that have been developed throughout the 20th Century:

Kodály method
Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967) was a prominent Hungarian music educator and composer that stressed the benefits of physical instruction and response to music. Although not really an educational method, his teachings reside within a fun, educational framework built on a solid grasp of basic music theory and music notation in various verbal and written forms. Kodaly's primary goal was to instill a lifelong love of music in his students and felt that it was the duty of the child's school to provide this vital element of education. Some of Kodaly's trademark teaching methods include the use of solfege hand signs, musical shorthand notation (stick notation), and rhythm solmnization (verbalization).

Orff Schulwerk
The Orff Schulwerk is considered an "approach" to music education. It begins with a student's innate abilities to engage in rudimentary forms of music, using basic rhythms and melodies. Orff considers the whole body a percussive instrument and students are lead to develop their music abilities in a way that parallels the development of western music. The approach encourages improvisation and discourages adult pressures and mechanical drill, fostering student self-discovery. Carl Orff developed a special group of instruments, including the glockenspiel, xylophone, metallophone, drum, and other percussion instruments to accommodate the requirements of the Schulwerk courses.

Suzuki method
Ths Suzuki method was developed by Shinichi Suzuki in Japan shortly after WWII, and it uses music education to enrich the lives and character of its students. The movement rests on the double premise that "all children can be well educated" in music, and that learning to play music at a high level also involves learning certain character traits or virtues which make a person's soul more beautiful. The primary method for achieving this is centered around creating the same environment for learning music that a person has for learning their native language. This 'ideal' environment includes love, high-quality examples, praise, and a time-table set by the student's developmental readiness for learning a particular technique.

Dalcroze method
The Dalcroze method was developed in the early 1900's by Swiss musician and educator Émile Jaques-Dalcroze. The method is divided into three fundamental concepts - the use of solfege, improvisation, and eurhythmics. Sometimes referred to as "rhythmic gymnastics", eurhythmics teaches concepts of rhythm, structure, and musical expression using movement, and is the concept for which Dalcroze is best known. It focuses on allowing the student to gain physical awareness and experience of music through training that takes place through all of the senses, particularly kinesthetic. According to the Dalcroze method, music is the fundamental language of the human brain and therefore deeply connected to who we are as human beings.

RITMìA
RITMìA is an innovative form of music education conceptualised by Sonia Simonazzi, an Italian bassoon player. Its aim is to provide children from the ages of three to ten with notions in music appreciation, theory and practice that go beyond traditional approaches to music teaching. Its intention is give a deeper, richer significance to music instruction by integrating sound stimulation (using a particular range of musical instruments the children can listen to and play) with body movements and yoga.

Tobin method
The Tobin Method has been under development since the early sixties. The main criteria was that the primary classroom teacher should be enabled to teach the rudiments of music to a high level, without it being necessary to play an instrument other than pitched percussion instruments such as hand-chimes. The method uses a number of innovative techniques based around colour, pattern, games and stories, and provides a fun way to learn all aspects of music theory to a great depth. The method provides a logical, clear, and highly visual way of explaining the many aspects of music theory, and a seamless way of transferring these theoretical skills to instrument playing.

Integration with other subjects
Some schools and organizations promote integration of arts classes, such as music, with other subjects, such as math, science, or English. It is thought that by integrating the different curricula will help each subject to build off of one another, enhancing the overall quality of education.

One example is the Kennedy Center's "Changing Education Through the Arts" program. CETA defines arts integration as finding a natural connection(s) between one or more art forms (dance, drama/theater, music, visual arts, storytelling, puppetry, and/or creative writing) and one or more other curricular areas (science, social studies, English language arts, mathematics, and others) in order to teach and assess objectives in both the art form and the other subject area. This allows a simultaneous focus on creating, performing, and/or responding to the arts while still addressing content in other subject areas.

The Tobin Method specifically encourages and supports integration of music teaching with other subjects through its multi-sensory approach. Very young children quickly understand the meaning of communication (reading and writing) through its music shorthand method. Students of the system also quickly pick up rudimentary numeracy skills such as fractions and lengths, due to the method used to explain time signatures and note lengths. The use of colour and pattern provides a strong link to the arts, and the many games introduced by the system provides a good link into dramatic arts.

Music advocacy
In some communities - and even entire national education systems - music is provided very little support as an academic subject area, and music teachers feel that they must actively seek greater public endorsement for music education as a legitimate subject of study. This perceived need to change public opinion has resulted in the development of a variety of approaches commonly called "music advocacy". Music advocacy comes in many forms, some of which are based upon legitimate scholarly arguments and scientific findings, while other examples rely on unconvincing data and remain rather controversial. Among the more recent high-profile music advocacy projects that have become the subject of widespread controversy are the "Mozart Effect" (which is now widely believed to be based on misinterpretation and exaggeration, or even pseudoscience), and the National Anthem Project, which seeks to harness American patriotic fervor during wartime with the hope that music education will be "saved" through the resulting increase in publicity for school music programs.

Many music scholars believe that music advocacy will only be truly effective when based on empirically sound arguments that transcend political motivations and personal agendas. This position regarding music advocacy has especially been advanced by music education philosophers (such as Bennett Reimer, Estelle Jorgensen, David Elliott, Wayne Bowman, etc.), yet a gap remains between the discourse of music education philosophy and the actual practices of music teachers and music organization executives.

Futurism in music education
In 1967, a uniquely innovative meeting called the Tanglewood Symposium was offered in the Boston area to chart the future course of music education (see Boston University Tanglewood Institute). Ever since, the 1967 Tanglewood Symposium has been regarded by many historians as the most significant event in the history of music education in North America. The Fortieth Anniversary of the Tanglewood Symposium occurs in 2007, and the Boston University College of Fine Arts has decided to offer Tanglewood II to commemorate the event and examine once again music in American life, expanding its horizons to global perspectives. Through a three-fold mission, the Symposium will explore fundamental questions, the last of which is primary: 1) Where have we been and what has been the effect of Tanglewood I on music education in the U.S.?; 2) What is the current status of music education that can be analyzed and evaluated for future planning?; 3) What are worthy goals for the next fifty years in music education? This event promises to offer a new perspective on the current state and future of music education in the USA and abroad (see Futures studies).

United States
Music education in the United States occurs in different classroom settings.


 * General music instruction.
 * Ensemble classes, such as a school chorus, concert band, or orchestra.

Musical ensembles may be considered a curricular class; additionally, there may also be auxiliary or extracurricular ensembles available.

England
The English education system in schools up to the age of 14 is defined by the National Curriculum. Under the National Curriculum music is a compulsory subject. The National Curriculum divides music education into three Key Stages which roughly align with the Primary/Middle/Secondary School division. In areas where a Primary/Secondary School division exists, both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 are taught at the Primary School level. Each Key Stage is divided into 5 programmes of study: performing, composing, appraising, listening and breadth of study. Each programme is of equal weight (e.g. composing is equally as important as listening). After 14 years of age (Year 10 onwards) the study of music is optional, but all schools are legally obliged to offer music education to those pupils aged 14-16 who desire it. Music is examined at 16 at GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) level and may be studied further at those schools and colleges that choose to offer the higher qualifications of AS and A levels in music.

The teaching of instrumental technique is an extracurricular activity. Pupils are often excused from lessons on a weekly basis for their instrumental lessons. The provision of these lessons depends very much on the Local Education Authority, and so varies wildly in different areas of the United Kingdom.

School ensembles generally rehearse at lunchtimes or after school. Each school is free to make its own arrangements regarding such teaching. A successful school orchestra is viewed as good material towards the "value added" criteria of OFSTED, the national school inspection authority.

International professional organizations

 * International Society for Music Education
 * International Association for Jazz Education
 * OAKE: Organization of Kodaly Educators

National professional organizations

 * MENC: The National Association for Music Education
 * MTNA: Music Teachers National Association
 * American Choral Directors Association
 * American String Teachers Association