The Child as Musician

A handbook of musical development

Edited by Gary McPherson

528 pages | 59 figures, 7 black & white photographs | 246x171mm

978-0-19-853032-9 | Paperback | 01 June 2006

Also available as: Hardback

Price: £39.99

Add to Wish List

Fill in a Comment Card

The first book of its kind to focus on musical development from prenatal life to adolescence, making it ideal for use in a range of music education courses
Includes contributors from a range of countries and research traditions, each author synthesizing the literature from the UK, north America and Europe (as well as other regions such as Australia) bringing together the main research traditions
Includes research from a variety of disciplines including music, psychology, education, sociology, philosophy and medicine, presenting theory, both cutting edge and classic, in an accessible way for readers
Includes tables and figures summarising important key points and providing a theoretical framework for understanding the topic, enabling readers to more easily digest and comprehend difficult concepts and theoretical perspectives

How do musical skills develop in children? What factors influence their development? What factors inhibit their development? Why do we like certain music during childhood and adolescence? Can music affect the development of other cognitive abilities in children, and how? These are just some of the questions considered in this fascinating new work.

The Child as Musician is an authoritative and comprehensive handbook of musical development from conception to late adolescence. Within 24 chapters by leading specialists, it celebrates the richness and diversity of the many different ways in which children can engage in and interact with music.

The 24 chapters have been organized according to five sections:

The first section (Development) examines the critical months and years from conception to the end of infancy. It looks at how the musical brain develops, ways of understanding musical development, and the nature of musicality.

Section two (Engagement) scrutinizes claims about the non-musical benefit of exposure to music, for example that music makes you smarter. This is followed by four thorough reviews dealing with musical preference and taste, literacy, aesthetic identity and the perception of emotion in music.

Section three (Differences) focuses on those issues that help explain and identify individual differences. It includes chapters examining how children develop their motivation to study music, conceptions of giftedness and talent, and two chapters on children with special needs.

Section four covers skills that can develop as a result of exposure to music. It considers the informal activities associated with musical play and the use of computers and technology. There are also chapters dealing with the acquisition of vocal and instrumental skills, as well as the individual and social worlds of children's musical creativity.

The final section of the book discusses five different Contexts: The chapter on historical perspectives provides readers with information that will assist them in making comparisons between how children have learned and developed their musical capacities in the past, with current opportunities. This is extended by two additional chapters that focus on children's involvement in music in non-western cultures. The book concludes with two chapters focusing on youth musical engagement and the transition from child to adult.

Truly a landmark publication in music education and music psychology, this is a book that will fascinate both students and researchers - inspiring them to think deeply about the many different ways in which music can affect children's lives and the quality of life in communities throughout the world.

Readership: Students and researchers in music education, music psychology, and developmental psychology.

Edited by Gary McPherson, Zimmerman Endowed Chair in Music Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA

Contributors:
James Austin, College of Music, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA
Jeanne Bamberger, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA
Margaret S Barrett, Faculty of Education, University of Tasmania, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
Leslie Bunt, MusicSpace Trust, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK
Karren Burland, Dept of Music, University of Sheffield, UK
Pamela Burnard, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, UK
Gordon Cox, Institute of Education, University of Reading, UK
Jane W Davidson, Dept of Music, University of Sheffield, UK
Susan Hallam, Institute of Education, University of London, UK
David J Hargreaves, Centre for International Research in Music Education, University of Surrey, Roehampton, UK
Maud Hickey, School of Music, Northwestern University, Evanston, USA
Don A Hodges, School of Music, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, USA
Judith A Jellison, Music and Human Learning, University of Texas, Austin, USA
Gary E McPherson, School of Music, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
Kathryn Marsh, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia
Janet Mills, Royal College of Music, London, UK
Adrian C North, School of Psychology, University of Leicester, UK
Susan A O'Neill, Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby BC, Canada
Richard Parncutt, Institut fuer Musikwissenschaft de KF Universititaet, Graz, Austria
James Renwick, Balmain, NSW, Australia
E Glenn Schellenberg, Dept of Psychology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Emery Schubert, School of Music and Music Education, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Patricia Shehan Campbell, School of Music, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
Mark Tarrant, Dept of Psychology, Keele University, Keele, UK
Sandra E Trehub, Dept of Psychology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Robert Walker, School of Music and Music Education, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Peter Webster, School of Music, Northwestern University, Evanston, USA
Graham F Welch, Music and Drama, Institute of Education, University of London, UK
Aaron Williamon, Centre for the Study of Music Performance, Royal College of Music, London, UK
Susan Young, School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University of Exeter, UK

The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.

Subscribe to RSS feeds

The Child as Musician

A handbook of musical development

Share