The attainment of Zimbabwean independence in 1980 resulted in a variety of pressures on the curriculum for the education of music teachers. These pressures included dissatisfaction with the Eurocentric bias of the existing curriculum and demands for shifting the bias of education towards the promotion of previously marginalised aspects of Zimbabwean culture. This paper outlines the effects of these pressures on curricular innovations in Zimbabwean traditional music at Hillside Teachers' College, Bulawayo, and explores the possibilities for the future development of traditional music curriculum.

Recent technological developments and the increasing impact of the media mean that listening to music and creative music making constitutes a major and integrated part of many young people's lives.

The aim of the present article is to describe the process of computer-based composition, and how this is perceived by young composers. This paper describes a three-year empirical study of 129 computer-based compositions by 15 to 16-year-olds. Computer MIDI-fti.es were system- atically collected covering the sequence of the creation processes step by step; interviews were carried out with each of the participants; and observations were made of their work.

All the participants succeeded in creating music, and in the subsequent analysis, six qualitatively different ways of creating music were identified which could be divided into two main categories: HORIZONTAL and VERTICAL. These categories, devised by the authors in this context, refer to compositional strategies, not to structures in the music itself. In the horizontal categories composition and arranging are separate processes, whereas in the vertical categories composition and arranging are one integrated process.

A perplexing aspect of music education is pupils performing a piece of non-European music such as samba without their knowing anything of the origins of the music or its cultural significance. Pupils may be unaware of who plays the music in its original context, and may retain inherited and stereotypical notions about the particular culture in which they have been engaged. A project, lasting a year, was initiated to ascertain the effects that an extended programme of work based on samba might have on students training to be teachers of music. The purpose of 'Free Samba' was twofold: to examine what musical skills students felt they had acquired; and to assess the value of learning not only the music but the cultural context of the music as well. The outcome of this study raises the question of whether it is possible to develop a true understanding of music without knowledge of its cultural context.

The development of musicians and the continuity of the musical art should be the main thrust of music education. The institutions of education should therefore be equipped to mould the development of music in society and to make the strongest input into musical expressions that are fashionable, acceptable and available. Formal music education came to Nigeria by way of Western institutions, drawing from the cultural traditions of Western societies. On the other hand, the media and other agencies have brought in other types of music acceptable in Western societies outside their academic sectors. Musical and cultural contact has given birth to the contemporary popular music of Nigeria that integrates Nigerian and non-Nigerian elements. With the growth of city life, commerce, industry and communication, this music has grown in popularity, in some cases sweeping every other thing aside. The attendant ‘pop phenomenon’ also means that cultural intrusion from outside Nigeria has grown more menacing. Who controls the popular music in Nigeria today? This paper tries to answer this question and in addition presents some data on the prevailing perspectives in the hope that the Nigerian Government and all music educators should range plans and solutions against them.

This paper gives the first insight into the establishment and development of the Strathclyde Consortium for Action Research in Learning Approaches and Teaching Techniques in Inventing (SCARLATTI) Project, and reflects on the changes to the music curriculum in Scottish secondary schools over the last twenty years. There is evidence to support the view that Inventing is an area of the curriculum which is causing music teachers some anxiety (Sheridan, 1992) and this paper examines the teaching and learning of the skills required of both teachers and pupils for the Inventing element of Standard Grade music (Byrne, 1996). The authors have launched an action research music project (Bresler, 1995; Adelman & Kemp, 1992; Treacher, 1989) which it is hoped will refocus the thinking of music teachers in schools by creating a dynamic network to provide a forum for the discussion of ideas and a means whereby experiences and materials can be shared, and new approaches and methods considered and implemented. A feature of the SCARLATTI project is a World Wide Web discussion group that will provide a communication link for schools involved in the project as well as a platform for teachers to air issues, ideas and views.

Adolescence is characterised by a distinctive phase of vocal development which bridges childhood and adulthood. Various research studies over the past twenty years have demonstrated that the physical maturation of the adolescent voice mechanism produces a systematic change in both the male and female singing voice. Longitudinal research data indicate that there are distinctive features to each stage of adolescent voice change and that, with an appropriate matching of repertoire, it is possible for all young people to continue to sing successfully throughout this period. The traditional and stereotypical notion that adolescent male voices ‘break’ is untenable in the light of this research evidence and it is suggested that a concept of adolescent singing voice ‘transformation’ or ‘change’ is a more accurate representation of the physiological reality. It is a weakness of the revised National Curriculum for Music (1995) that it makes no appropriate reference to this unique period of adolescent voice change and, as a result, teachers receive inadequate statutory guidance on the development of singing at Key Stage 3.

This study investigates the in-service training needs of the primary school generalist teacher in Botswana. The findings established that singing is a major cross-curricular activity in schools. Dance on the other hand, despite being the most popular form of entertainment in and outside school, is not regarded as an aspect of music education. Instrumental teaching is virtually non-existent. Teachers' interests in further musical training are influenced by a misconception that singing should be the main activity in music lessons. As a result most are only interested in improving their skills in areas that will improve their singing, such as theory of music to aid sight reading.

This article considers ideas and issues raised by an examination of the function of education, particularly music education in Ghana. There are many musical traditions in Ghana that the people want to pass on to the younger generation. How are these to be taught or learned? Where are the duties and boundaries of formal education to be drawn? What can be expected of parents and family? What is the situation for the teacher, given that few teachers return to their native area after training at a centralised institution? The article is based around an interview with the Paramount Chief (Naa) Puoure Puobe Chiir VII of Nandom in the Upper West Region of Ghana. He is one of twenty-five members of the National Council of State of Ghana (a non-elected Upper Chamber) and, as mentioned in the interview, vice-president of the National House of Chiefs and Chairman of its Research Committee.

The teaching of choral conducting does not feature widely within higher education in the UK (Durrant, 1994, 1997). However, in recent years interest has been shown by the Association of British Choral Directors (ABCD) in the establishment of centres of choral conducting education in particular institutions around the country. Following recent research on the development of a model of effective choral conducting (Durrant, 1996; Apfelstadt, 1997), this article focuses on some of the key learning processes, methods and procedures that would be central to the development of a choral conducting curriculum in existing and potential higher education courses and programmes. The intention in the design and development of such courses is not primarily to create conductors of elite choral ensembles, but rather to ensure that those entering the teaching profession and directing amateur choral groups in churches and the community have the requisite choral conducting knowledge and skills to facilitate systematic and sustained improvement in the quality of choral activity at these levels.