Volume 2, No. 1 September 2004

Bruce P. Gleason, Editor

Welcome to the second edition of Research and Issues in Music Education (RIME),
an on-line peer-reviewed journal devoted to thorough research and commentary that advances the practice and pedagogy of music teaching. 

Our international editorial board, comprised of noted scholar-practitioners
is dedicated to these purposes, and has worked diligently to bring this forum to fruition.  I personally look forward to this new venue, and welcome your insights, comments, and article submissions. 

Notes from the Editor, Bruce Gleason 

This second issue of RIME is dedicated as a memorial to the life and work of George Heller who served as an invaluable consultant in founding this journal, and who passed away this past July. His work, especially in historical research has been acknowledged throughout the profession, but I will use this space here to recognize his kind, mentoring gestures. My e-mail “inbox” contains scores of gracious messages from him in response to my countless “what-do-I-do-now?” queries over the four years it took to get to our present point.  George’s practical, straight-ahead life approach, combined with his research, editing and publishing knowledge were generous gifts to the profession, to the journal and to me.  I will always be indebted to him, and I am grateful that something at some point told me to ask him to write for the inaugural issue last year. Here’s to you Dr. Heller.  Thank you; I will ever be grateful that our paths crossed.  

Along with publishing work of a more traditional vein, one of the goals of RIME is to publish articles that lie somehow outside the parameters of established research—either by research design and approach, or by content and subject matter. I am happy to be presenting the second issue of RIME, and am especially pleased to be publishing four unique articles on diverse aspects of music teaching and learning.

In this edition of RIME, four scholars share their work in music
education, and add substantive information to the process of teaching and learning music through analytical-literature review, experimental, qualitative and descriptive formats:

Bernard W. Andrews investigates the processes composers utilize
when composing music.  Reporting on the multi-phase Genesis Project, he examines research literature within four dimensions of musical creativity: 1) the person, 2) the compositional process, 3) the pre-requisite training, emotions and context, and 4) the musical piece itself.  From these dimensions, which provided a theoretical framework, questions were generated from the literature, examined by a panel of composers and educators, and then refined by international researchers.  Participants in the study deliberated on the questions and refined them to establish those most appropriate for developing an understanding of the compositional process. The questions will be directed toward composers in later phases of the project.

Delores Gauthier and Robert Dunn compare two approaches
for teaching rhythm reading skills in six lessons to first-grade children in two intact classes. The results of this study indicate that, for this particular set of subjects, the Additive Approach, whereby the eighth note is the “shortest sound” and a quarter note is the equivalent of two short sounds, was more successful than the Subdivision Approach, where the quarter note is the beat, and eighth notes are subdivisions of the beat. The results suggest that with modification, the research approach appears to be a useful one that may successfully be employed in a larger project, and that further study is merited.

Francine Morin examines K-4 pre-service classroom teachers’ beliefs
about useful skills, understandings, and future practice in music. Through questionnaires and interviews, participants rated music skills and understandings such as singing, listening, and integrating music across other subject areas as "most useful," indicating a definite valuing of pedagogical content knowledge over content knowledge like music fundamentals, music history, or playing accompaniment instruments. Recommendations for designing music courses for K-4 classroom teachers and future research are offered.

Kenneth E. Prouty examines the cultural considerations
that have led to current thought and practices in curriculum and pedagogy of jazz improvisation. By considering cultural aspects within musical academia, as well as those of the jazz community, he argues that methods of teaching improvisation reflect a dual identity, which influences ways in which students and teachers interact with each other, with the institution, and with the larger community of jazz performers.