Issue 7.  December 2001.

7.1:	Unselfconscious Motion: Educating musicians to excel in the Creative Industries in the first quarter of the twenty-first century.

Dr Steve Dillon 

Unselfconscious motion is the term coined here to describe the seamless movement of 21st century music makers between time, space, media and context. The paper draws from current long termed doctoral research into the meaning of music and a colloquium of artist educators and discusses a need conceptualisation of skill and meta skill development and expanded notions of musical form and educational constructs. The paper argues that the needs of the Creative Industries require meaningful engagements with artistic products that communicate and express something to our community and for the community, ground students in real world music making experience and push the boundaries of musical knowledge. A framework and philosophy of curriculum is described and supported by evidence drawn form the case study and the musical life of the author as example of a musicians work in the 21st century. Through this process it is argued that the key to educating musicians for excellence in the twenty first century hinges on a reflective and dynamic curricular that is reverent to community, critical and reflective of its past, present and future and that continually seeks to extend the boundaries of expressiveness.

 

Issue 6.  June 2000.

6.1:	Why use music technology in the classroom.

Karen Henderson

As music educators, we have a responsibility to present to students different ways of viewing the world of music. The potential of music technology is to allow exploration of new areas of music both in a mechanical and creative sense. With the increasing penetration of technology into all fields, music software developers have become today's instrument makers and are no less part of the creative process. This process of building the tools of music technology is proceeding at a growing pace, so it is an opportunity for teachers to catch onto this wave and harness some of its creative power to ignite the spark of enthusiasm in their charges. This article explores some of the ways this is possible.

6.2:	The Computer or Digital Appliance?

Andrew R. Brown

Not everyone likes using computers. Come to think of it very few people do, most simply put up with it. We need to rediscover dedicated digital music appliances as an alternative to beige boxes. In this article Andrew argues that despite the proliferation of personal computers in music education, we should not loose sight of the benefits of dedicated hardware - even if it seems less cost effective in the short term.

Issue 5.  March 1999.

5.1:	The teacher as builder of music learning contexts.

Steven C. Dillon

This paper examines the role of the teacher in constructing meaningful learning experiences for students of music in the classroom. Utilising data drawn from a larger doctoral participant-observation-case-study, the research discusses the role of the teacher as 'builder' and interpreter of context, experience and reflection. It argues that the teacher can facilitate both analytic and intuitive concepts in music through attention to the process as a system of context, experience, perception in and upon action, and structured reflection. It is proposed, that the multiple role of the classroom teacher; is to act as 'gateway' to deeper musical experience in ensembles and studio learning, to provide access to a variety of musical experiences and to unify the understanding of music learning through reflection. The paper utilises both conceptual data drawn from literature, narratives, interviews and observations of students and teachers involved in making music.

5.2:	Music Technology - The Broader Issues

Bradley Merrick

This article emphasises that contexts of learning are relevant to the individual musical development of our students, and that Music Technologies are an exciting medium as pat of that context which provide the flexibility to cater for the differentiated needs of the students, providing them with worthwhile and motivational learning experiences. I argue that through the development of better technology based teaching practice, educators will also develop a higher level of technology based self efficacy within the profession.

Issue 4.  October 1998.

4.1:	An Introduction to Music Analysis with Computer

Andrew R. Brown

While there is are a small group of dedicated musicologists working with computing tools for musical analysis, the computer is more commonly used by musicians for sequencing, recording, or publishing. Musical analysis can be aided by the computer using those same sequencing, recording and publishing tools to capture and examine music in familiar notations. Statistically analyse music can be achieved by converting music to numbers and utilising the comprehensive resources of spreadsheets. Specialized programs music for analysis do exist, some of which will be mentioned below. They perform specific functions directly related to musicological theories. This article introduces the issues and tools of musical analysis with computers, exploring the potential and sign-posting the pitfalls.

4.2:	The Student as Maker: A case study analysis of the meaning attached to early childhood musical encounters.

Steven C. Dillon

This paper examines the meanings and contexts of early childhood music experience. The research draws its themes primarily from thirty interviews with students and teachers in a participant-observation-case-study that formed part of a larger doctoral study. Participants were asked about their first remembered music experience and music life story, and the data is primarily retrospective reflections on those experiences. The intention was to explore the meaning now given to those experiences by the individuals and their views on the processes that they experienced. The paper examines early childhood music experience with particular reference to the contexts of family, studio, instrumental music teachers and pre secondary school institutionalised music learning such as choirs, bands and primary school music.

The paper suggests that the meaning of music is located in three primary areas of the child's life: the personal, interpersonal or social, and universal, which is defined as what music brings to the child's perception of self, and of others perception of them.

Brad Merrick

Cooperative learning has been acknowledged in general educational practice for many years, with only some classroom teachers opting to develop their students abilities through meaningful interaction with their class members within the daily learning process. For many years classroom teachers have used cooperative based activities in conjunction with a variety of individualised and competitive strategies. In this article the consequences of computers in cooperative learning environments are explored.  It suggests that all teachers have a responsibility to change these 'consequences' through the use of effective and appropriate learning structures, such as cooperative learning.

 

3.2:	Histories and directions of music technology

 

Andrew R. Brown

When considering contemporary music technologies we commonly imagine electronic technologies, particularly the synthesizer, computer, and sound recording devices. These devices are products of the post industrial age in which we now live, an age that focuses on data processing and in which the sonic and structural boundaries of music have been exploded. In such an environment it is all to easy to be overwhelmed by the apparent choice of sounds and ways of dealing with them. A historical context humbles us that our time is not a peak of such development but a unique point along the meandering path of human desire to create meaning and expression from our world and abilities. This article both signposts the history of music technologies and provides some clues about making sense of the future.

Andrew R. Brown

As music educators strive for a relevant focus, they pursue music making activities in all their forms. Research and reflection upon our musical activities is a vital part of a complete music education. This article explores the way the internet revitalises music research in a making climate.
 

 

2.2:	The Synthesizer: Education's electronic xylophone?

 

Andrew R. Brown

The synthesizer is one of the more recent instruments of western music. While it has come a long way from the early valve instruments of the 1950s the modern digital synthesizer is still finding its place in our music education system. Despite recent performance manifestations on the borders of music education the synthesizer is more often found in the music classrooms of this country as a tool, replacing a piano, or as a MIDI device for sequencing. The synthesizer's performance role, explored by the ensembles above in varying ways, is largely left unexplored.  This paper explores ways of furthering the performance opportunities for synthesizer in education.

Steven C. Dillon

The student as maker discusses how the divisions between the pragmatic and aesthetic positions in music education might be dealt with in practice. It is suggested that a solution lies in a kind of re-integration of art and life and a recognition that a school community bears similarities to small communities the world over where art/music has a pragmatic function as well as a purely personal expressive one. Applying Csikszentmihalyi's (1996) system for the analysis of creativity to a school as a microcosm of creative music as a domain, the discussion seeks to highlight that music in its functional forms can be both aesthetic and educative. A brief 'vignette' drawn from a recent participant observation case study is used to illustrate the idea in practice. The discussion examines the role and effects of the ensemble within the school setting and the effects it has upon the musical and social development of its members. Most significant in this discussion is the recognition of the school as a context for music making and utilising this as a tool for educative purpose through structured reflection upon experience.

 

1.2:	Changing Technologies, Changing Minds: Taking account of music technologies in the curriculum

 

Andrew R. Brown

Changes in technologies relate to changes in thinking. Interaction with a technology reveals its assumptions to the music student, and can lead to a students adoption of new ways of understanding. This paper explores the impact of making changes to the technologies we use in music education and how we might be aware of resulting influences and manage them effectively. Two aspects of technological change are identified, the change in media and in metaphor. It is suggested that while changes in media are substantial, it is the associated changes in metaphoric potential which are significant. This paper also considers the effects of changing the technology of the curriculum itself from text to multimedia, and proposes that the curriculum as a text document needs to be augmented in its communicative powers by becoming a multimedia document.