Tag Archives: Music education

by | February 6, 2024 · 6:00 am

Towards global knowledge, decolonization, and preservation

On 9 February 2024, RILM presents a panel titled “Towards Global Knowledge, Decolonization, and Preservation—Challenges and Opportunities Through Culture and Arts Education” as part of the UNESCO World Conference on Culture and Arts Education 2024. The four presentations in this side event are all rooted in the understanding that information literacy is a fundamental pillar in education—each presentation pivots on the notion of global knowledge as a foundation of culture and arts education. After RILM Director Tina Frühauf opens the panel with discussion of a broader theoretical framework, the second presentation by Executive Editor Zdravko Blažeković examines RILM as a model that underlines the importance of a global approach to information literacy. The following presentation by RILM Associate Editor Farah Zahra presents a local perspective, using the case of Iraqi literature and knowledge as an example. The final presentation by RILM Editor MU Qian highlights decolonization (understood here as an ongoing process) as an additional objective for the UNESCO Framework for Culture and Arts Education, taking the treatment of Uygur culture as a case in point.

For further information on RILM’s panel and information on joining the presentation, please visit https://www.rilm.org/wccae2024/

For more information on UNESCO World Conference on Culture and Arts Education 2024, visit https://www.unesco.org/en/wccae2024?hub=86510

Also, be sure to check out RILM’s resources for learning including materials for teachers, students, performers, and music researchers interested in RILM’s rich music databases, research tools, and full-text publications. Learn more at https://www.rilm.org/classrooms/

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by | January 24, 2024 · 6:00 pm

Mindfulness and music learning

The practice of mindfulness can stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, the part of the autonomic nervous system that counteracts the effects of stress in our minds and bodies. Research on mindfulness and meditation has shown that these practices have the capacity to decrease the size of the amygdala, known as the brain’s “panic button” in charge of responses associated with fear, anxiety and strong emotions.

Mindfulness has become increasingly common in the workplace, the healthcare profession, and many school programs.  In recent years, the incorporation of deep breathing techniques, mindful movements, and guided visualizations has also been used at all levels of music teaching, allowing students to leave stressors behind while fully engaging in the learning experience. For instance, when music students learn to utilize their breath as an anchor, they learn to connect to the present moment, to reflect on their playing with self-compassion, and to nurture deeper listening skills.

Some of the possible benefits of mindfulness for musicians include:

Improvement of students’ mood during lessons, making the learning process a positive experience.

Increased body awareness and mind/body connection, promoting healthy technique.

Decreased tension while playing. Increased active listening, shaping, phrasing and musicality.

Improvement in capacity to focus and concentrate during lessons and performances.

Improvement in memorization and reduction in performance anxiety.

Increased self-compassion and kindness in the face of mistakes.

Celebrate International Education Day (January 24) by reading “Mindfulness in music teaching: Practical applications to piano lessons” by Fernanda Nieto (MTNA e-journal 14.3 [February 2023], 28-29). Find it in RILM Abstracts with Full Text.

Below are further ideas from the text related to mindfulness and piano instruction.

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by | July 28, 2023 · 6:00 am

The brain, age, and music education

Music teachers often deal with clients that are children or young adults. Researchers from the field of neuroscience and the aging brain have, however, demonstrated that music education benefits the brain and cognition throughout a person’s lifespan. They also have noticed the existence of patterns of decline from early adulthood in processing speed and accelerating declines in memory and reasoning. The development and refinement of neuroimaging techniques within the last twenty years or so has allowed for exploration of how the behavior and neurophysiology of musicians may differ (if at all) from non-musicians. Music training affects a wide range of cognitive abilities associated with brain enhancement including verbal processing, intelligence, reading, auditory processing, decision-making, and so on. Researchers have also found enhancements in cognitive flexibility, working memory, and verbal fluency in musicians.

Music training also may induce neuroplastic changes and enhancements. Firstly, brain volume (gray matter and white matter) increases with musical training. Playing a musical instrument has been associated with increased white matter thickness in motor, premotor, and supplementary motor, prefrontal and parietal cortices–in other words, brain volume increases occur with musical training. Secondly, musical training changes connectivity and functional connectivity in the brain. Research has found that changes in the auditory-motor network for young adults over 18 beginning music training suggest that music training can influence brain plasticity even after brain maturation is almost complete.

In some cases, older adults with at least 10 years of musical experience displayed better performance in far-transfer tasks such as nonverbal memory, naming, and executive functioning tests than non-musicians or musicians with less than 10 years of musical experience. Other benefits include reduced age-related decline of fluid intelligence in older musicians, increased inhibition, and increased executive functioning. Overall, current research suggests that lifelong engagement in musical training maintains the brain in a younger state and enhances neural functioning.

Read more in “Music education and the aging brain” by Patricia Izbicki and Christina L. Svec (Contributions to music education 47 [2022], RILM Abstracts of Music Literature 2022-6592.

The above image is a mapping of human brain connectivity featuring dorsal and lateral views.

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by | June 14, 2012 · 1:00 am

Boomwhackers® music

The music department at the Deichmanske Bibliotek (Oslo Public Library) has recently developed a new package for music teachers in the Norwegian public school system. The service is based on Boomwhackers®, a set of colored plastic tubes that play various notes of the scale when struck.

Children quickly understand the simple notation system based on color, and under the guidance of a teacher begin quickly to play and even compose music. The package includes a set of Boomwhackers®, a detailed guide for teachers based on requirements outlined in the Norwegian national teaching plan of 2006, and a set of large-print sheet music of simple, well-known tunes.

The department also holds courses for teachers, in cooperation with the library’s department for school services, which is part of the Unge Deichman (Young Deichman) department.

This according to “Boomwhackers: A public library service for music teachers in the public school system in Oslo, Norway” by Ann Kunish (Fontes artis musicae LVII/3 [July–September 2010] pp. 291–95). Below, the Unge Deichman department demonstrates.

Related articles:

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by | March 4, 2011 · 1:00 am

Hellenic journal of music, education, and culture

Launched in 2010 by the Ένωση Εκπαιδευτικών Μουσικής Αγωγής Πρωτοβάθμιας Εκπαίδευσης (Enōsī Ekpaideutiōn Mousikīs Agōgīs Protovathmias Ekpaideusīs/Greek Association of Primary Music Education), Hellenic journal of music, education, and culture (ISSN 1792-2518) is an international, open-access, peer-reviewed journal that aims to reflect a wide variety of perspectives from disciplines within the fields of music education and musicology. Issues include articles, case studies, and book reviews; articles in Greek or English are accepted.

The journal is devoted to the dissemination of ideas relating to theoretical developments, and welcomes interdisciplinary contributions. The inaugural issue’s table of contents is here.

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