In 1985 the National Early Music Association published a report on Early Music in Schools. This painted a gloomy picture on most fronts but reminded us that the National Criteria in GCSE offered us a chance to use early music in new ways. Unfortunately, in general, we have taken little advantage of these opportunities, and this article examines some of the reasons for this.

The paper describes a research project undertaken recently in four primary schools. The study involved an investigation of those factors which motivated the members of a study group of 48 pupils to start learning to play a musical instrument. The findings of the research identify the importance of interest factors and the encouragement of the teacher as determinants of pupils' decisions. There is some indication of differences in the criteria used by girls and boys, particularly with regard to the socialisation aspect of instrumental learning.

The unit for Research into Applied Musical Perception (RAMP) was set up in the Music Department of Huddersfield Polytechnic in 1985. Led by Professor George Pratt, then newly appointed as Head of Department, one of its primary tasks has been to explore the possibility of creating a course of aural training for undergraduates that would be radically different from those of conventional examining boards: a course that would be of more direct interest and use to musicians. An initial report on the research was published in BJME in July 1987 Vol. 4, No. 2 pp. (115–138), and a book, Aural Awareness: Principles and Practice was published in May 1990 by Open University Press. In this article Professor Pratt and his current Research Assistant, Simon Cargill, give a taste of the Huddersfield course as it now operates.

This article reports qualitative findings of an interview study in which 42 students (aged 10–18) from a specialist music school were encouraged to talk about various experiences in their lives which the individual children perceived as having been potentially significant influences on their progress in learning musical instruments. The parents of half the children were also interviewed. Observations concerning the following sources of influence are reported: the family background; sibling influences; listening to music. The insights of children and their parents, which complement and add depth to quantitative findings concerning the biographical precursors of musical excellence, help to provide a rich source of descriptive information about the circumstances in which children become competent young musicians.

This article reports further qualitative findings of an interview study involving 42 students (aged 10–18) attending a specialist music school, and parents of half of them. The students were encouraged to talk about events and experiences that influenced their progress in learning musical instruments. Observations by the children and their parents concerning perceptions of instrumental teachers, various aspects of practising activities, and attitudes towards performing. These insights complement previous quantitative and qualitative findings (Sloboda and Howe, 1991; Howe and Sloboda, 1991) and contribute descriptive knowledge of the precursors of musical accomplishments.

Music and language are often seen to be similar, and this has led to numerous music education methods based on language models. This paper describes a commonality between music and language at a semiotic level, compares their relevant syllabuses, and discusses a number of possible transfers between language teaching and music education.

It is surprising that Mr Rainbow, a Curwen disciple, should offer to write on Kodály's Concept. He did not write his article on this subject, of course, but only dealt with some of the techniques used by Kodály educators to make Kodály's ideas work in practice. Although this fact in itself reveals that the writer cannot differentiate between Kodály's programme and technical means, the title of his article is still misleading, since no one wishing to study the Concept will learn about it from Mr Rainbow's account.