In its short history, Talent Education, also known as the Suzuki Method, has had a profound impact on the teaching of music to the young. However, despite continued guidance from its founder, Shinichi Suzuki, misconceptions about the method persist among both its practitioners and critics. One route to understanding of pedagogical theory is to look at its origins. To that end, this thesis makes a study of history of the method and its founder, drawing on available sources. Further investigation is carried out on the philosophy and teaching techniques. An exploration is then undertaken of the possible antecedents of Suzuki's method taking into account the prevailing ideas and practices of his cultural environment as they relate to the history, philosophy and teaching techniques of Talent Education. Findings indicate that, while Suzuki's method is clearly appropriate to contemporary society, it represents, in many of its aspects, a continuation of several beliefs and practices of traditional Japanese arts.

This study examined the role Canadian music plays in the preparation of secondary school music specialists in British Columbia. Programme content was explored through an analysis of course calendars, a review of student, faculty and guest recital repertoire, and interviews with post-secondary instructors and senior music education students. Fourteen music specialists completed a checklist in order to determine what Canadian materials are being used in the classroom. Follow-up interviews were conducted with three teachers to further explore the selection of teaching materials. An official from a local school board and a participant in the development of music curriculum documents were also interviewed to ascertain the value placed on Canadian music by local school boards and the Ministry of Education. Findings identified a need for increased Canadian content in all facets of post-secondary teacher training in order to expose secondary music specialists to available Canadian resources. Implications for further research are discussed.

No description available.

This essay explores the benefits and limits of teaching and learning music in a changing technological environment, where both students and instructors are faced with the perpetual problem of keeping up with new methods of practicing music for the purpose of maintaining competence. The essay critically reflects on the argument that present societies overvalue technical instruments, at times giving consumers a false hope of achieving quick results in a brief period of time, and with the unintended consequence that playing techniques can be compromised. The idealizing of mechanical devices has become strongly associated today with sophisticated taste and class. Following Mumford and Postman, the essay argues that these technological tools should be seen as posing a challenge to instructional values and to human agency. This essay concludes that while we cannot help the fact that tradition is constantly being renewed, in part through technological change, the role of teaching that learning music needs to be focused on are historic values which incorporate experience and reciprocity.

Educational philosophy generally and the Philosophy of Music Education in particular have been slow to consider in any real depth the findings of those sciences most concerned with explaining human nature, that is, the attributes (capacities, aptitudes, predilections, appetites) we have in common because we share the same genome, much of which we also share with other species. There are several such sciences which may collectively be called Darwinian Science in that they all take as axiomatic Darwin‘s explanation for how life evolves according to the law of natural selection – a simple, mindless and purposeless algorithm that has played out for over four billion years and which continues to do so, driving not only biological evolution but, as this study argues, cultural evolution as well. Evolutionary Psychology (including Biomusicology and Evolutionary Aesthetics), Cognitive Neuroscience and Gene- Culture Coevolution Theory are the overlapping fields that this study draws from in developing an understanding of the adapted mind useful for engaging with questions germane to the Philosophy of Music Education, principally those concerning the nature and value of music and how best it should feature in general education. These are questions that have not hitherto been addressed from a Darwinian perspective. This study develops such a perspective and applies it not only to questions around music‘s educational values and possibilities, but to more encompassing philosophical questions, wherein the goals of music education are made accountable in relation both to Dewey‘s ideal of society as a function of education, and to an ecozoic vision of a sustainable planetary habitat of interdependent and interconnected life forms. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

No abstract available. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1983.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Mus)-University of Natal, Durban, 1976.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation. / School of Music

Pianists from Buenos Aires, both artists and students, have seemed to this writer to possess common qualities of spirit, fluency and command. The research project was organized to investigate facets of Argentine culture and the training of pianists in Buenos Aires which may have contributed to this perception. Observations of musical education in Buenos Aires were conducted in August and September of 1986. Learning situations observed included piano lessons in private studios, public and private conservatories and preparatory schools. Also observed were aural perception training and general music education in private elementary schools, public high schools, pre-professional schools, public and private conservatories and preparatory programs. The social, political, cultural and economic conditions that existed were also studied in order to better understand the climate in which musical training occurred.Those factors in the culture and training of pianists in Buenos Aires that would seem to have a discernible effect on students within that system include: 1) The Argentines' sense of cultural identity is consciously enhanced by deliberate inclusion of Argentine culture in the Music Education curriculum and the conservatory syllabus. 2) Important to the sense of command and success is the will to succeed in the struggle against the economic and political hardships of life in Argentina. 3) Music education is highly structured and weighted toward aural perception training. Aural skills were taught thoroughly and with great consistency of method in every class visited. 4) The piano teaching was carried out with expert technical guidance, beautifully played demonstrations and much singing of phrase and tone. 5) The central government established for the conservatories a ten-year Programa de Piano, which insures consistent standards of achievement in technique and literature throughout the country. 6) The Argentine government offers totally free public education. Any students able to pass the entrance examination at the conservatory can avail themselves of the country's best education in music. / School of Music

Little is known about post-secondary band students' growth in musical independence, nor have the relationships between ensemble placement, year in school, gender, and instrument family been documented. Little research is available regarding the effects of instrument family (on which the student performs) or gender on the development of musical independence among music majors. Additionally, previous studies have identified a drop in music achievement test scores for college music majors as they progress from their freshman to sophomore or sophomore to junior years. This study attempts to address and evaluate these issues.The introduction presents a brief overview of the purpose and importance of the study. The review of related literature explores musical independence and the assessment of musical independence, as well as relationships between musical independence, ensemble placement, related listening skills, gender, and instrument family.Richard Colwell's Music Achievement Test 3 and Music Achievement Test 4 were administered to 354 band students at Ball State University, Florida State University, and Wichita State University. Test scores and demographic data including school, student identification number (usually a social security number), top ensemble in which the student participated (1st, 2nd, or 3rd), college major (music major or non-music major), year in school (freshman through graduate student), gender (male or female), and instrument family (woodwind, brass, or percussion) were collected. Data was entered into Statview II, a statistical analysis program for the Macintosh computer. Data was analyzed using ANOVA, Scheffe, and permutation analysis. Conclusions were drawn and recommendations for additional research were made. / School of Music