The Music Of Our Lives

Kathleen Higgins argues that the arguments that Plato used to defend the ethical value of music are still applicable today. Music encourages ethically valuable attitudes and behavior, provides practice in skills that are valuable in ethical life, and symbolizes ethical ideals.

Music research has entered something of a Golden Age. Technological advances and scholarly inquiry have merged in interdisciplinary studies--drawing on psychology, neuroscience, evolutionary biology, anthropology and other fields--that illuminate the musical nature of our species. This volume develops, supports and challenges that body of research, examining key issues in the field, such as the difficulty of writing about music, the formation of musical preferences, the emotional impact of musical sounds, the comparison of music and language, the impulse for making music and the connection between music and spirituality.

Why do some children take up music, while others don't? Why do some excel, while others give up? 'Music in our lives' takes an innovative approach to answering these questions. It is drawn from a research project that spanned fourteen years, and closely followed the lives of over 150 children learning music - with enlightening conclusions.

First Published in 1988. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Music research has entered something of a Golden Age. Technological advances and scholarly inquiry have merged in interdisciplinary studies--drawing on psychology, neuroscience, evolutionary biology, anthropology and other fields--that illuminate the musical nature of our species. This volume develops, supports and challenges that body of research, examining key issues in the field, such as the difficulty of writing about music, the formation of musical preferences, the emotional impact of musical sounds, the comparison of music and language, the impulse for making music and the connection between music and spirituality.

Why do some children take up music, while others dont? Why do some excel, whilst others give up? Why do some children favour classical music, whilst others prefer rock? These are questions that have puzzled music educators, psychologists, and musicologists for many years. Yet, they are incredibly difficult and complex questions to answer. 'Music in our lives' takes an innovative approach to trying to answer these questions. It is drawn from a research project that spanned fourteen years, and closely followed the lives of over 150 children learning music - from their seventh to their twenty second birthdays. This detailed longitudinal approach helped the authors probe a number of important issues. For example, how do you define musical skill and ability? Is it true, as many assume, that continuous engagement in performance is the sole way in which those skills can be developed? What are the consequences of trends and behaviours observed amongst the general public, and their listening consumption. After presenting an overview and detailed case study explorations of musical lives, the book provides frameworks and theory for further investigation and discussion. It tries to present an holistic interpretation of these studies, and looks at their implications for musical development and education. Accessibly written by three leading researchers in the fields of music education and music psychology, this book makes a powerful contribution to understanding the dynamic and vital context of music in our lives.

The definitive chronicle of underground music in the 1980s tells the stories of Black Flag, Sonic Youth, The Replacements, and other seminal bands whose DIY revolution changed American music forever. Our Band Could Be Your Life is the never-before-told story of the musical revolution that happened right under the nose of the Reagan Eighties -- when a small but sprawling network of bands, labels, fanzines, radio stations, and other subversives re-energized American rock with punk's do-it-yourself credo and created music that was deeply personal, often brilliant, always challenging, and immensely influential. This sweeping chronicle of music, politics, drugs, fear, loathing, and faith is an indie rock classic in its own right. The bands profiled include: Sonic Youth Black Flag The Replacements Minutemen Husker Du Minor Threat Mission of Burma Butthole Surfers Big Black Fugazi Mudhoney Beat Happening Dinosaur Jr.

Have you ever awakened from a dream that left you feeling stunned—a dream so vivid or impactful—so unexpected—that it changes your life from that point forward? Imagine you could ask a question of a dream character, or the dream itself, and watch as a profoundly surprising response appears. Suppose you could take action in your dream to eliminate a recurring nightmare, heal a relationship, or even a physical ailment. The 100 dreamers in this book have! These are what might be called big dreams, stories of life changing guidance, insight and healing; some that reach beyond the senses and even beyond death. They are presented as guideposts along our life's journey, and introduced by 22 internationally acclaimed experts, psychologists, researchers, and best-selling authors from the International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD): Deirdre Barrett, Susannah Benson, Kelly Bulkeley, Laurel Clark, Gayle Delaney, Marcia Emery, Patricia Garfield, Robert Gongloff, Bob Haden, Robert Hoss, Ed Kellogg, Stanley Krippner, Justina Lasley, Jacquie E. Lewis, Tallulah Lyons, Wendy Pannier, Alan Siegel, Carlyle Smith, Gregory Scott Sparrow, Jeremy Taylor, Robert Waggoner and Kelly Sullivan Walden.