Music Advocacy

This book is a summary of the practice of music advocacy. It is a compilation of research and experience gained from 30 years experience by one of the nation's most successful advocates for music education. It provides the music educator, administrator, school board member, and community advocate with step-by-step procedures for saving and building school music programs.

Across the US, school budgets are tightening and music programs, often the first asked to compromise in the name of a balanced budget, face a seemingly grim future. Monetary restrictions combined with an increasing focus on test scores have led to heavy cuts in school music programs. In many cases, communities and teachers untrained in advocacy are helpless in the face of the school board, with no one willing and comfortable to speak up on their behalf. In Advocate for Music!: A Guide to User-Friendly Strategies, Lynn M. Brinckmeyer, respected educator and past president for the National Association for Music Education, provides a manual for music teachers motivated to advocate but lacking the experience, resources, or time to acquire the skills to do so effectively. It will serve as a toolkit for advocating, and also for sharing resources, strategies and ideas useful for educating everyone - from community members to political representatives - about the immediate and long-term benefits of music education. In Advocate for Music!, Brinckmeyer draws on a lifetime of arts advocacy to provide answers to the questions so many teachers have but are afraid - or simply too busy - to ask. A simple, hands-on guidebook for becoming an effective advocate for the arts, Advocate for Music! is structured around six key questions: what is advocacy? Why focus on it? Who should do it? How does one do it? Where should we advocate? And when should we advocate? Readers will have access to step-by-step guidelines and strategies on how to engage others, and themselves, in a variety of levels of advocacy activities. In addition to granting access to compelling research projects, the book will provide models of letters, webinars, research findings, printed documents, websites and contact information useful for communicating with local, state and national decision makers. Working in an informal, hands-on manner, Brinckmeyer lays out advice on who to work with and what to do: providing concrete examples of advocacy tactics from ideas on how to cooperate with the gym teacher to a sample speech for the holiday concert. As she walks the reader through the a myriad of real-life examples and practical answers to her central questions, Brinckmeyer shows that every educator, parent, family member, and administrator can and should be engaged in advocating to maintain, and support, the right for today's children and adolescents to have access to high quality music education. Advocate for Music! is an important book not only for all pre-service and inservice music teachers, but aso for state MEA leaders and staff, administrators, parents, community members, and all those involved with arts or education associations.

A Concise Survey of Music Philosophy helps music students choose a philosophy that will guide them throughout their careers. The book is divided into three sections: central issues that any music philosophy ought to consider (e.g., beauty, emotion, and aesthetics); secondly, significant philosophical positions, exploring what major thinkers have had to say on the subject; and finally, opportunities for students to consider the ramifications of these ideas for themselves. Throughout the book, students are encouraged to make choices that will inform a philosophy of music and music education with which they are most comfortable to align. Frequently, music philosophy courses are taught in such a way that the teacher, as well as the textbook used, promotes a particular viewpoint. A Concise Survey of Music Philosophy presents the most current, prevalent philosophies for consideration. Students think through different issues and consider practical applications. There are numerous musical examples, each with links from the author’s home website to online video performances. Examples are largely from the Western classical canon, but also jazz, popular, and world music styles. In the last two chapters, students apply their views to practical situations and learn the differences between philosophy and advocacy. "Hodges has written an excellent resource for those wanting a short—but meaningful—introduction to the major concepts in music philosophy. Applicable to a number of courses in the music curriculum, this much-needed book is both accessible and flexible, containing musical examples, tables and diagrams, and additional readings that make it particularly useful for a student's general introduction to the topic. I especially like the emphasis on the personal development of a philosophical position, which makes the material especially meaningful for the student of music." —Peter R. Webster, Scholar-in-Residence, Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California, USA

(Meredith Music Resource). This book is a unique resource for both novice and experienced band directors, gathering effective teaching tools from the best in the field. Includes more than 40 chapters on: curriculum, "then and now" of North American wind bands, the anatomy of music making, motivation, program organization and administrative leadership, and much more. "A wonderful resource for all music educators! Dr. Jagow's book is comprehensive and impressive in scope. An excellent book! Bravo!" Frank L. Battisti, Conductor Emeritus, New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble

In the 1960s, as gentrification took hold of New York City, Jane Jacobs predicted that the city would become the true player in the global system. Indeed, in the 21st century more meaningful comparisons can be made between cities than between nations and states. Based on case studies of Melbourne, Austin and Berlin, this book is the first in-depth study to combine academic and industry analysis of the music cities phenomenon. Using four distinctly defined algorithms as benchmarks, it interrogates Richard Florida’s creative cities thesis and applies a much-needed synergy of urban sociology and musicology to the concept, mediated by a journalism lens. Building on seminal work by Robert Park, Lewis Mumford and Jane Jacobs, it argues that journalists are the cultural branders and street theorists whose ethnographic approach offers critical insights into the urban sociability of music activity.

Music Education: Source Readings from Ancient Greece to Today is a collection of thematically organized essays that illuminate the importance of music education to individuals, communities and nations. The fourth edition has been expanded to address the significant societal changes that have occurred since the publication of the last edition, with a greater focus on current readings in government, philosophy, psychology, curriculum, sociology, and advocacy. This comprehensive text remains an essential reference for music educators today, demonstrating the value and support of their profession in the societies in which they live [Publisher description].

Instrumental Music Education: Teaching with the Musical and Practical in Harmony, Third Edition, is intended for college instrumental music education majors studying to be band and orchestra directors at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels. This textbook presents a research-based look at the topics vital to running a successful instrumental music program, while balancing musical, theoretical, and practical approaches. A central theme is the compelling parallel between language and music, including "sound-to-symbol" pedagogies. Understanding this connection improves the teaching of melody, rhythm, composition, and improvisation. The companion website contains over 120 pedagogy videos for wind, string, and percussion instruments performed by professional players and teachers, over 50 rehearsal videos, rhythm flashcards, and two additional chapters: "The Rehearsal Toolkit" and ''Job Search and Interview." It also includes over 50 tracks of acoustically pure drones and demonstration exercises for use in rehearsals, sectionals, and lessons. New to This Edition: A new chapter on teaching beginning band using sound-to-symbol pedagogies Expanded coverage for strings and orchestra, including a new chapter on teaching beginning strings A new chapter on conducting technique Expanded material on teaching students with disabilities Concert etiquette and the concert experience Expanded coverage on the science of learning, including the Dunning-Kruger effect and the effective use of repetition in rehearsal Techniques for improving students’ practice habits

This book is about making the journey as a music teacher, about the critical real-world problems and conflicts music teachers face that rarely seem to get any notice in college or graduate school music courses. How should a music teacher balance learning and performing? What is the best way to handle an angry parent? What are the consequences of the grades teachers assign? What are the best ways to discipline students? How should teachers relate to the administrators and to other teachers? What if the school is breaking copyright laws? These are just a few of the issues covered in this book. The emphasis here is not on the solution, but on the process. There are many viable approaches to nearly every obstacle, but before any meaningful long-term solutions can be made, teachers must identify their own personal philosophy of music education and recognize those traits that are admirable in another's style. This book is one that will engage you and help you become a more effective music teacher.