Teaching General Music: Approaches, Issues, and Viewpoints

by Carlos R Abril (Editor), Brent M. Gault (Editor)

General music is informed by a variety of teaching approaches and methods. These pedagogical frameworks guide teachers in planning and implementing instruction. Established approaches to teaching general music must be understood, critically examined, and possibly re-imagined for their potential in school and community music education programs.
Teaching General Music brings together the top scholars and practitioners in general music education to create a panoramic view of general music pedagogy and to provide critical lenses through which to view these frameworks. The collection includes an examination of the most prevalent approaches to teaching general music, including Dalcroze, Informal Learning, Interdisciplinary, Kodály, Music Learning Theory, Orff Schulwerk, Social Constructivism, and World Music Pedagogy. In addition, it provides critical analyses of general music and teaching systems, in light of the ways children around the world experience music in their lives. Rather than promoting or advocating for any single approach to teaching music, this book presents the various approaches in conversation with one another. Highlighting the perceived and documented benefits, limits, challenges, and potentials of each, Teaching General Music offers myriad lenses through which to re-read, re-think, and re-practice these
approaches.

Genres: Education

392 pages, Paperback

Published February 3, 2016

Reviews

[Enya Murray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts of this text was very informative and relevant. Others seemed to drag on and the relevance was hard to find.

[Ulises Lima · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great approach to approaches of music education

[Dan Graser · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this wonderful new volume, Abril and Gault have gathered together several chapters and articles from the top minds in the music education field form a very useful and current reference for the several Approaches, Issues, and Viewpoints relevant to the teaching of General Music. With such a variety, there is of course a bit of unevenness as some authors view their subject from several thousand feet above whereas others get down to very practical day to day suggestions for implementation of their methods. However, the student (future or current music educator) will walk away from this book with a firm idea as to the modern approaches of familiar methods such as Dalcroze, Orff, and Kodály as well as ideas for implementation of multicultural and technological elements into the classroom. Particular highlights for me were Jackie Wiggins' excellent summary of social constructivist learning, Marja-Leena Juntunen's thorough description of a modern Dalcroze approach, Cynthia Taggart's excellent suggestions for Music Learning Theory, and Peggy Bennett's timeless reminder to, "Question the Unmusical Ways We Teach Children Music." This is an excellent book for all music educators to work through especially if they have some misconceptions or blindspots as to approaches and methods that their school didn't particularly emphasize. Excellent reading!