Growing Musicians

Growing Musicians: Teaching Music in Middle School and Beyond focuses on teaching adolescents within the context of a music classroom, regardless of content area (orchestra, band, choir, or general music). It provides a look at the importance of music courses in the lives of adolescents as they navigate the path between being a child and an adult. As every music student is completely unique, there is no one-size-fits-all prescriptive way of working with this age group. Rather, music educators must approach adolescents with high musical standards and aspirations to learn and achieve within music; a willingness to honor the individuality of each adolescent musician; a sense of structure, but an ability to be flexible; a desire to foster and promote a safe classroom environment where students feel empowered to be themselves and speak openly about what they think and believe; an understanding that music classes are not only safe places where students learn how to become better musicians but also better people through musical experiences focused on humanity and empathy; and a dose of humor, or at least the ability to acknowledge that adolescents are extremely funny whether or not they realize it. In addition, this book encourages pre-service and practicing music educators to mindfully examine and better understand their own teaching practices.

A Friendly Guide to Launching and Maintaining Your Musical Career It’s tough to make a living from one’s love of music, but Sheila E. Anderson shows readers how to do just that in How to Grow as a Musician. This encouraging yet realistic guide covers everything from developing and learning one’s craft to managing the business aspects of a musical career. This second edition expands on performance tips, self-promotion tactics, and steps to improve one’s networking skills to make fruitful connections. Anderson shares her insights as well as practical advice from successful musicians and other industry professionals on topics such as: Composing and recording Understanding and negotiating contracts Putting on a performance Getting and keeping gigs Utilizing social media And more How to Grow as a Musician is packed with candid views on everything from overcoming failure to the art of writing a song to doing that all-important ego check. Whether they’re just getting started or have been in the business for years, all musicians will reap the rewards of this thoughtful career guide.

In this collection of interviews, twenty-four instrumentalists and singers talk about the early influences that started them on the road to jazz and where that road has taken them.

Professional musicians tell how they developed as artists, how they approach performance, and how they handle the business side of the business—offering solace and heartfelt inspiration along the way. How to Grow as a Musician is packed with candid advice on everything from overcoming failure to the art of writing a song to doing that all—important "ego check." It also covers such vital practical areas as the role of contracts, self—promotion, getting and keeping gigs, and managing money. A special self—evaluation lets readers assess whether they have what they need to succeed in the music business.

This report examines the characteristics of the artist population in 1990 and compares them to the 1980 and 1970 census results. Artist occupations selected for study include: actors and directors; announcers; architects; authors; dancers; designers; musicians and composers; painters, sculptors, craft-artists, and artist printmakers; photographers; teachers of art, drama and music in higher education; and artists, performers, and related workers not classified elsewhere. The study examines: (1) "Growth in the Artist Work Force"; (2) "Geographic Trends"; (3) "Demographic Trends"; (4) "Trends Among Women and Minority Artists"; (5) "Age Trends"; (6) "Education Trends"; (7) "Full Time Work Last Year"; (8) "Earnings Trends"; and (9) "Occupation Profiles." Findings indicate that very significant changes have occurred over the target time period. Artists have become more geographically diverse over the two decades. Growth among artist occupations has substantially outdistanced that for the labor force as a whole and for all professional occupations, of which artists account for about one-tenth. Incomes for artists, however, lag significantly behind those for other professionals of equal education and training. The report includes extensive tables and graphs of statistical information. (MM)

This book sets out a contemporary perspective on music education, highlighting complex intersections between informal, non-formal and formal practices and contexts. At a time when the boundaries between music learning and participation are increasingly blurred, this volume is distinctive in challenging a ‘siloed’ approach to understanding the diverse international music education landscape. Instead, the book proposes a multi-layered continuum of practices that can be applied across a range of formal, informal or non-formal concepts to support the development of musical possible selves. It challenges existing conceptions of learning in music education in part by drawing on research in adult learning, but also by considering the contexts in which learning takes place, and the extent to which this learning can be classified as formal, informal or non-formal.