This article examines the issue of self-assessment of musical performance and the role of the learner in this process, with particular reference to the Australian context. Initially, traditional methods of assessment are discussed and references made to alternative methodologies in action. Following this, the rationale for and structure of a new method of self-critical assessment is outlined. The initial trial is discussed along with the evaluative questionnaire. The resultant data are then analysed and discussed, as are the implications for adopting and for developing this method.

This study investigated the differences between the functions of music listening at home and at school, and the potential effects of age and nationality on these differences. 120 participants completed an individual structured interview schedule, which consisted of ten open-ended questions. These covered the role of music listening in young people's leisure interests as a whole, and more specific aspects of listening at home and at school. Sixty participants were from schools in the UK, and sixty from schools in Portugal: within each nationality group, thirty were aged 9–10 years and thirty aged 13–14 years. The findings showed that music listening was an important leisure activity, especially for the older children, and that most children showed moderate positive attitudes towards school music. Home music listening and school music fulfilled different functions: participants reported that home listening was linked with enjoyment, emotional mood and social relationships, whereas school music was associated with motivation for learning and being active, and particular lesson content. There were few clear-cut national differences, and music was generally undervalued in both countries.

This paper is based on a five-year research project looking at the work of music teachers in Northern Ireland. It considers the original inspirations for their choice of career and investigates which aspects of their work continue to motivate them. It discusses the tensions that can arise between their aspirations and the realities of the classroom, and suggests that the reasons for these may often be found in their own élitist background, in the importance they attach to the musical as opposed to the educational aspects of their work and in their general lack of vision for future career development.

Recent research on musical practice has focused on metacognition and the strategies that musicians adopt in their preparations for performance. This study explored the development of metacognition and performance planning strategies in musicians from novice to professional level. Twenty-two professional musicians and fifty-five novices were interviewed about their practising. The novices were also tape-recorded learning and performing a short piece. The professional musicians demonstrated extensive metacognition in relation to their preparations for performance encompassing technical matters, interpretation, and issues relating to learning itself, e.g. concentration, planning, monitoring and evaluation. Although there were similarities in the strategies adopted there was considerable variation because of individual need. In the novice musicians, there was a complex relationship between the development of expertise and the use of planning strategies.

The question of when it is convenient to start with vocal and instrumental lessons is a much-debated issue. This article studies a group of conservatoire students and looks at the relationship between their current level of vocal and instrumental performance and the age when they started formal lessons. It concludes that, for the whole student population, those with highest grades started earlier. Looking at separate instruments, however, we see both a positive and a negative relationship between an early start and a high level of performance in the conservatoire. Additionally, there are large differences between students. The findings are discussed in the context of expertise theory.

This analysis of the challenges facing teachers of composing for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is based on a survey of teachers' opinions and classroom observation. The article answers three questions: can all GCSE students compose; how do you teach composing at GCSE; and is GCSE coursework a good test of composing ability? Reference is made to the nature of teaching mixed ability classes, how ability affects the development of composing skills, and the effects of different teaching methodologies on the students' progress. The article questions whether the GCSE examination is a realistic test of compositional ability at age 16.

This paper presents an overview of boys' and girls' musical learning inside and outside school. This involves a sampling survey of 877 pupils (414 boys and 463 girls) in nine Chinese secondary schools. The paper argues that patterns of gender stereotyping associated with music among Hong Kong students have some similarities with those in the Western world. The impact of gender beliefs was most evident in types of instrumental learning, types of music activities, and listening and singing preferences. The subjects' attitudes towards the promotion of popular and Western classical musics in school emerged as statistically significant, while their attitude towards Chinese classical music was non-significant.

Dunwich Revisited was a curriculum-based music project run at Debenham CEVC High School between December 1999 and March 2000. All pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9, together with a Year 10 GCSE group, participated in the composition of an electroacoustic piece based on Dunwich (a place with a remarkable history on the east coast of Suffolk). A distinctive feature of the project was the use of a range of technologies to compose, develop and perform musical ideas. The final piece was performed by thirty-five pupils at the Celebration of Schools' Music held at Snape Maltings Concert Hall on 7 March 2000.

This article shares insights from this curriculum project drawn from a range of qualitative data collected by Jonathan Savage, the Head of Music, and Mike Challis, an electroacoustic composer who is also a member of the school staff. These insights are placed within the context of other recent research evidence describing the relationships between composition, performance and listening as prescribed in the English National Curriculum for music. The article considers how these technologies, some old and some new, can have an impact on music teaching and learning in the classroom environment.

This article is a field investigation of the musical memories of preschool teachers and child minders, their experiences and interest in working with music in preschools. It is part of a larger international research project at Mälardalens University, Sweden. The original component of analysis is adults' memories of play. (Sandberg, 2001.) Participants also interpreted their own musical memories and defined music. Under the umbrella entity, WRP (Women's Researchers in Play and Disability) participating project partners were from the USA, Brazil, South Korea, Taiwan and Sweden. Participants reported their memories using an instruction sheet, a drawing sheet and a questionnaire.

Over the past few years, instrumental performance has been subject to considerable research in this journal and elsewhere. A great deal of this research has concentrated on the practice strategies and individual lessons, which most students undertake in preparing as performers. Little has been done on raising standards of performance on a larger scale within the context of a large music department. This article describes the outcomes of a two-year programme undertaken with undergraduates at Barnsley College. It looks specifically at the scope for curriculum changes over that period and the way the various individual aspects of performance lessons are brought together through a weekly class which focuses on the demands of a public performance and the strategies required to prepare for that event.

This article reviews research regarding the question whether presenting music live, audio-visually or only aurally makes any difference for listeners' experiences. Most factors that characterise live performance could be supposed to enhance listeners' cognitive, affective and evaluative experiences. However, it is often hard to predict the exact influence of the visual stimuli that relate to audio-visual, and mostly also to live musical presentation. Many studies show that live music has positive effects on listeners' experience. However, there is little systematic research that compares live music with other modes of presentation. Studies comparing the effects of audio-visual and aural presentation have yielded rather mixed results. There is an obvious need for well-controlled studies on the effects of live music and on audio-visual music presentation based mainly on musico-psychological rather than visual-artistic principles. The research needs to take account of the variables that are crucial for understanding the effects of different modes of presentation.

This article explores the opportunities that the aesthetic experience of music offers pupils in their developing awareness of the subjective self and its relation to the objective universe of which it is a part. How does creatively produced music, having challenged the local frameworks or ‘conceptual spaces’ within which it is defined, remain intelligible to its audience? It is suggested that a principle of intelligibility that transcends this formally defining framework rests on a direct and unified perception of affective, subjective reality, shared by human beings; a perception that embraces both composer, performer and listener. This realisation is developed through the relationship that we have, as subjective individuals, to the objective universe of which we are a part. Aesthetic experience gives rise to a sense of transcendent reality, within which the subjective individual and objective world are unified, and which is identified as a central element in our sense of the reality of God.

Interpretation of musical works depends on meanings, which, on a pragmatist view, are necessarily tied with cultural habits and practices. This entails that a piece of music is always interpreted differently by people raised in different cultural contexts. A musical work is always a result of this process of interpretation. Strictly speaking, works of music are therefore different works in culturally different contexts even if they were presentations of the same notes. The following discussion of the conditions of cultural exchange in music illuminates some pragmatist viewpoints on the topic by using Keith Swanwick's ideas as a point of comparison. The discussion shows that a contextual starting point leads towards a more ‘child-centred’ education.

This article uses case-study research to examine approaches to adoptive parenting, with particular reference to children's musical instrument learning. Drawing on video and interview evidence, we consider the effects that family narratives about adoption, genetic inheritance and environment have upon different family members' perceptions of themselves and of each other. We conclude that the supportive parenting style demonstrated in our case-study family provides an environment in which musical learning can flourish, and we draw parallels with research in the psychology of music, to illustrate the importance of family support for young musicians.

This article originates from a research project investigating the effects of gender on achievement in music education in one secondary school. The study showed a correlation between gender and achievement in music with some surprising insights into possible causes of male under-achievement in education at Key Stages 3 (11–14 years) and 4 (14–16 years) generally. It is argued that because of national testing and school performance tables, the debate on male under-achievement in this country may have become so focused on core subjects that a very important link in the argument is being overlooked – a link provided by music and the other creative arts.

Since its inception in 1997, the SCARLATTI Project at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow has sought to investigate and document the teaching approaches and methodologies adopted by music teachers in Scottish secondary schools and to share good practice, findings and thoughts among the profession. Here, as a follow-up to a previous article (Byrne & Sheridan, 1998), readers are brought up to date on developments since then, highlighting some problems and some successes. The article also focuses on issues related to the delivery of core or key skills through music and introduces a new composing thinking tool for novice composers. Finally, a report on a small-scale study on music teachers' teaching styles is given. Having collected ‘data on the teachers' backgrounds, qualifications, experiences and accomplishments in the creation of music through improvising and composing’ (Byrne & Sheridan, 1998: 299) these are analysed and some initial thoughts offered.