The primary purpose of this study was to examine composition practices in public schools across the state of Indiana, to investigate who incorporates composition and why they chose to use or not use composing tasks. A second purpose was to learn if teachers had an operational definition for composition. Three hundred thirty-nine teachers participated in a survey to answer questions about their use of compositon in the classroom. Respondents who used composition answered open-ended questions about learning goals for composing tasks and gave examples of typical classroom composing tasks. Although 88.5 % of the respondents indicated that they incorporated composition, only 5.9% reported using composition tasks often. General music teachers were slightly more likely to incorporate composition in their classrooms than were ensemble directors. There were no significant relationships found between years of experience or years at a school, certification, or school use of Standards and the relative use of composing tasks. An analysis of the responses to open-ended questions revealed that teachers used composing tasks for a great variety of purposes. No one definition of composition emerged from the analysis. Instead, respondents labeled a range of activities from dictation and practicing notation and improvising to complex tasks as "composition. " The article calls for developing an operational definition and pedagogy for composition in the classroom and discusses possibilities for future research.

What does it mean to teach musical expression to child performers? Is it teaching how to interpret a piece of music “correctly,” or is there more involved? In this case study, we explored the beliefs and practices of five teachers who specialized in teaching children to perform in a variety of musical performance areas, including violin, cello, piano, guitar, voice, and musical theater. To discover their pedagogy for teaching musical expressivity, we asked the initial questions, “How do these teachers define musical expression?” “What are the characteristics of an expressive performance for children?” and “Can musical expression be taught to children?” Data were collected through interviews with teachers and students, observations of lessons with children, and archival materials about each teacher’s studio practice. Transcripts of interviews, artifacts, and observed lessons were analyzed through emergent category coding and axial coding, using member checking and negative case analysis. Findings are discussed in relation to extant literature. Implications for teacher training and future research are explored.

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We investigated the efficacy of a phenomenological matrix of mindfulness as a framework for examining expectations, formal meditation experiences, and appraisals of first-year college music students ( N = 18) who participated in a 5-day mindfulness module offered through an introductory course in music education. Participants expressed hopes that meditation would help them manage stress and anxiety, improve their focus and relationships, and support their personal growth and motivation. With respect to lived experiences of formal meditation, we found that without explicit prompting, approximately 86% of coded phrases reflected dimensions of experience that could be mapped within the matrix, suggesting its efficacy for coding. Furthermore, almost all participants attributed mindfulness to improving their general wellness, with dereification, breathing, and nonaversive affect frequently mentioned as key factors leading to these improvements. Additionally, consistent with the neurophenomenological aims of the matrix, we list cognitive outcomes and neurophysiological mechanisms potentially attributable to the nature of selected appraisal statements by participants.