This article attempts to identify and evaluate the contribution made by Ferdinand Pelzer to English music education. Since the mid-nineteenth century Pelzer's work as a music teacher has largely been neglected; yet research into contemporary accounts suggests that his method of teaching singing was comparatively more successful than those of Mainzer, Wilhem and Hullah.

Dr Button also explains Pelzer's method, setting it against a background of growing interest in vocal music, the establishment of the first national system of education, and the adoption of the Wilhem–Hullah music system for use in elementary schools.

Why don't more primary teachers teach music? This article describes a study of forty non-specialist primary B.Ed. students over their year-long professional music course. Initially, most students have little confidence in their ability to teach music. As the course progresses, a smaller proportion of students who lack confidence teach music during school experience. A cycle has developed in which student teachers worried about music do not learn to teach it because teachers with similar worries often do not teach it. The author argues that students who lack confidence in music need more encouragement from all those involved in their professional preparation if they are to break out of this cycle.

This article deals with objectives in the teaching of musical instruments to children. Methods of establishing and re-establishing goals are suggested, and previous lists of objectives pertaining to music education in general, instrumental teaching and athletics are presented. Based on these lists, and on his experience as a teacher and consultant in instrumental methodology, the author presents a list of goals specifically formulated for the teaching of musical instruments to children. Some of the goals are far-reaching, dealing not only with progress on the instrument, but also with the overall musical and personal development of the pupils. The article concludes with a discussion about possible priorities among these objectives.

This article gives an historical survey of the growth of music consultancy in primary education and follows on from the same author's Music Consultancy in Primary Education published in Vol. 5 No. 3 of BJME. It is postulated that the move towards the teaching of music by the generalist class teacher, supported by the consultant, has evolved gradually as a result of ideological factors, falling rolls and cuts in expenditure. The case studies represent contrasting accounts of music consultancy in operation in two primary schools. The more balanced music education was provided by the class teacher at School A, where the staff and head teacher appeared to be more committed to and more capable of including music in the curriculum.

This article is concerned with the role of kinaesthesis and bodily movement in promoting musical memory. Seventy-two first-year secondary school children were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. They were then asked to listen to short extracts of music ranging from jazz through western classical to the Indian tradition, with a view to conveying to a deaf child the import of the music. Results indicated that a kinaestheic strategy significantly affected achievement on an unexpected recognition test taken one week later.

The study of avant-garde music has been largely neglected by instrumental tuition. Yet such work is not necessarily difficult on either the ears or the fingers – provided it is begun at the earliest stages of study. Indeed, it is the delayed introduction that is the cause of many of the problems seen in accepting and enjoying contemporary music. There is need for systematisation and for the composition of suitable music.

In autumn of 1985, the Music Department of the Institute of Education, London University initiated an enquiry into music in schools. During 1986 the Gulbenkian Foundation generously supported the project, facilitating the appointment of a research assistant. The aim was to map out the current context and practice of music teaching in a wide range of school classrooms and examine the role of music within the wider school community. This article is a distillation of the published Report on the research.1

This is a study of the leadership qualities inherent in the staging of a school musical production. The development of the idea, from a hazy suggestion through to reality encapsulates many leadership issues which occur in a school over a long period of time. The leadership qualities this event required are compared and contrasted with those of other leaders in schools; particularly the Head and his or her deputy. The role of producer was completed largely intuitively. Now, with the aid of hindsight and a sounder knowledge of the theoretical basis of leadership skills, it is possible to evaluate fairly objectively the main issues involved in accomplishing this task.

The author describes a project which was created to encourage communication, through music and drama, between mainstream sixth form pupils and a local Special School. The course was offered as part of the Certificate of Pre- Vocational Education of the Joint Board of City and Guilds/B. Tech. and was open to all sixth form students irrespective of their musical expertise or experience. None had previously worked with handicapped children.

Dorothy Tipton is Head of Music at the Rowena School for Girls, Sittingbourne. Her interest in Special School work was awakened during a Diploma in Music Education course at Christ Church College, Canterbury, resulting in a dissertation on ‘Music in the Mainstream Classroom for children with Special Needs’ (1985). During this research close and lasting links were developed with the local Special School for the severely handicapped, St Bartholomew's School, Milton, Kent. In March 1988, project cards for Music non-specialist primary school teachers Exploring Sounds and Themes, devised by Dorothy Tipton, Alan Vincent and Vanessa Young, were published by Kent Education Committee.

Instrumental teaching methods in schools have resulted in a near total reliance on notation. Playing by ear has been undervalued by instrumental teachers, yet it is through such playing that some of the aims of music education can best be achieved.

In this article different ways of playing without notation are distinguished theoretically and exemplified through the experiences of some players who have learned in this way. A case is made for all musical playing to be viewed as ‘by ear’, including when notation is involved, so that the aural basis for musicianship is maintained and a wider view of performance encouraged. A possible model for teachers is offered based on imitation and invention.

The writers highlights the difficulties relating to the provision of music education in schools for the emotionally and behaviourally disturbed – formerly labelled maladjusted. Often considered un-teachable within junior and secondary schools, such children are assigned to EBD schools or units where, musically speaking, they seem to fall between the two stools of mainstream and special education, unable to reap the benefits of either. The case is argued for the inclusion of music within a programme of therapeutic education based on the writers research within these schools, and recommendations are made as to how music may be made more accessible within this context.

Music can communicate between human beings across barriers of time and space because it emanates from the very origins of human existence. It expresses the totality of all aspects of human life. Hence music education should be of primary concern and availability to everyone, not simply the ‘musical’. Increasing specialisation and fragmentation has reduced music to either utilitarian service or mere entertainment (muzak), whilst music education habitually misses the faculty of communication. This is happening at a time when, amidst the mounting alienation of society, people hunger for communication. The exclusive pursuit of brilliance, itself alienating, has eclipsed the real purpose of music education – the recognition and cultivation of the human soul.

This paper is an attempt to see whether lofty ideals of sound education are being achieved in primary education since music is a sine qua non. It defines primary school in Nigeria and the general objectives of primary education. It reflects on the type of education the Nigerian child received both in the traditional society and in the colonial era, and the methods used. What role did music play? Furthermore, it looks at the state of music now, and how things went wrong in the middle. It underscores the importance of music in the primary school curriculum and makes recommendations on improvement.

Liberty to select their own methods and attitudes is not commonly enjoyed by teachers in other lands; its existence in this country is not an immemorial right and dates only from the early years of the present century. In conferring this freedom upon teachers Robert Morant, now an almost forgotten figure whose highly unusual background is outlined, emphasised that freedom of choice implies a corresponding responsibility in its use. The fuller implications of that declaration are seldom realised and the injunction itself is regularly ignored. The special case of music is examined in relation to this circumstance.

This study discusses the deaf person's physical potential to perceive music, and also looks at the technical aids that can increase this capacity. A survey of educational approaches, ranging from preschool to adult education, reveals that the initial step of enjoyable noise-making links them all. Non-musical benefits gained from musical involvement are outlined, and finally the issue of aesthetic appreciation is addressed. How much can music mean to a deaf person?

I took office as Chair of the United Kingdom Council for Music Education and Training at what I hope will be viewed in later years as one of the most significant times of change in the history of music education in this country. I express this in terms of hope since I am sincere in my wish that music educators should not have to adapt to and survive such radical changes again in the foreseeable future. Time will tell.