Welcome to the Music Matters Website!
This website is a companion piece to the Music Matters: A Philosophy of Music Education 2nd Edition published by Oxford University Press. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting updates, an online...
View ArticleDiane Ravitch’s Grand Synthesis Explains the Collapse of Test-Driven School...
This spring, once again, Diane Ravitch nailed the spirit of our education age. Addressing the Network for Public Education (NPE) conference, Ravitch came with an uplifting message. Corporate reform has...
View ArticleMusic Matters Section Summary, Part One: Foundational Matters
The second edition of Music Matters: A Philosophy of Music Education is divided into three parts (see the Table of Contents). In the coming days, as we build to our release date, we will be posting a...
View ArticleMusic Matters Section Summary, Part Two: Musical Processes and Products in...
The second edition of Music Matters: A Philosophy of Music Education is divided into three parts (see the Table of Contents). In the coming days, as we build to our release date, we will be posting a...
View ArticleMusic Matters Section Summary, Part Three: Music and-as-in Education
The second edition of Music Matters: A Philosophy of Music Education is divided into three parts (see the Table of Contents). Over the last few days, we have posted summaries of the first two parts....
View ArticleMusic Matters: A Philosophy of Music Education is now available
We are excited and proud to announce that the second edition of Music Matters: A Philosophy of Music Education has been released and is now available for purchase. New to this Edition: Expanded...
View ArticleTalent or Practice? Both and Much More
As most music educators know, there’s a longstanding debate about whether the ability to perform music at an expert level is due more to talent or practice. A recent article in the NY Times (July 14,...
View Article“Teaching”: What Does it Mean?
When people use the word “teaching” in everyday talk, or when they attempt to define what teaching means, they often overlook some basic facts about the verb “to teach.” In Chapter 1 of Music Matters,...
View ArticleMusic and its wider relevance
While the music education profession has made great progress over the last 25 years, we still face many questions which remain unanswered: What is the relationship between music and literacy? Music and...
View ArticleWhy Does Music Actually, Really, Definitely Matter?
Perhaps you’ve read current music education advocacy claims like these: “ . . . to improve the reading, science, and math skills of American children . . . we should be providing them with more music...
View ArticleSo, Did Bach Really Compose That?
Doubts about the authenticity of some of J.S. Bach’s compositions have risen again. Alex Ross writes: “the attribution of the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor … has been repeatedly questioned, with many...
View ArticleMusic, personhood, and eudaimonia
Educative and ethical music making and teaching based on a praxial philosophy of music education can be carried out in a variety of ways that create places and spaces in schools and community settings...
View ArticleWhat Schools Are For?
The renowned educational researcher and theorist John Goodlad investigated the processes needed for renewing schools and teacher preparation. In MM2, we oftentimes refer to Goodlad’s meaningful ideas...
View ArticleMusic = ax2 + bx + c. Huh?
As music education professor and music psychologist Don Hodges says “we should teach music for all the wonderful humanizing benefits that accrue, and if—big “IF”—academic achievement is affected...
View ArticleMusic Education and Advocacy
My father was an exceptionally good jazz pianist. He was a self-taught amateur. He played every night at home after his daily work and at sing-along parties with our neighbors on Saturday nights. And...
View ArticlePersonhood matters
In MM2, we write about the nature of personhood. One among many points we make is that “the kind of care that was needed to make us who we are…is, in turn, the kind of care we owe, or will owe, to each...
View ArticleThe Activity Gap
Kudos and congratulations go to The Atlantic writer Alia Wong. In her article “The Activity Gap,” Wong rightly analyzes many of the issues we find in public schooling today, particularly social...
View ArticleIs the musical medium the message, or not?
The Canadian philosopher and public intellectual Marshall McLuhan famously posed the idea that “the medium is the message.” In brief, McLuhan means that the way in which we choose to communicate...
View ArticleYour brain on music
Neurologist Oliver Sacks stated the following in 2009. It is worth repeating. “… our exposure to different types of music, and hence our musical literacy, has certainly expanded, but perhaps at a cost....
View ArticleMusic education, accountability, and responsibility? Words matter
If we don’t think about it much, there’s nothing wrong with being held “accountable” for what we do as music educators. But what happens when we think carefully about the meanings and implications of...
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