Improvisation, the third content standard for the National Standards for Music Education (Music Educators National Conference, 1994), has received less attention from music teachers. This article advocates for more improvisation specifically free improvisation in general music classrooms. The nature of free improvisation, and its evolution in the Unites States and Europe is presented, followed by a rationale in incorporating free improvisation in general music classrooms. It is emphasized that free improvisation can be a successful entry point for those teachers who do not have ample time or do not feel comfortable using improvisation activities. Free improvisation has two distinct and valuable features: it can be played by anyone regardless of age and musical capability, and it is the accumulation of musical identities of all the participants involved in making the music. This author asserts that free improvisation is inherently democratic, and by using it teachers can create a space for students to feel more self-assured, and autonomous.

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Even though scholars have pointedly embraced ethical matters in music education within the global context, there has been relatively little attention paid to the concept of cosmopolitanism. While keeping in mind that the concept of cosmopolitanism is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that can be read and implemented in many ways, the aim of the current narrative inquiry is to highlight the significance of the human connection—a notable feature of moral cosmopolitanism, and by extension, cosmopolitanism from below—inherent in, and possibly the most prominent aspect of music education practices, regardless of their position in the formal–informal spectrum of such practices. In this context, music education becomes a lifestyle—whose participants cultivate their ethical sensitivities toward human connection—that has the capacity to alleviate the human sufferings occurring globally. By telling the life stories of Behzad Khiavchi, the lead musician of a trans-Iranian band, this article aims to highlight the cosmopolitan collective imperative, a fundamental characteristic of music education, as the harbinger of a more caring world.

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