This study investigated the differences between the functions of music listening at home and at school, and the potential effects of age and nationality on these differences. 120 participants completed an individual structured interview schedule, which consisted of ten open-ended questions. These covered the role of music listening in young people's leisure interests as a whole, and more specific aspects of listening at home and at school. Sixty participants were from schools in the UK, and sixty from schools in Portugal: within each nationality group, thirty were aged 9–10 years and thirty aged 13–14 years. The findings showed that music listening was an important leisure activity, especially for the older children, and that most children showed moderate positive attitudes towards school music. Home music listening and school music fulfilled different functions: participants reported that home listening was linked with enjoyment, emotional mood and social relationships, whereas school music was associated with motivation for learning and being active, and particular lesson content. There were few clear-cut national differences, and music was generally undervalued in both countries.

This analysis of the challenges facing teachers of composing for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is based on a survey of teachers' opinions and classroom observation. The article answers three questions: can all GCSE students compose; how do you teach composing at GCSE; and is GCSE coursework a good test of composing ability? Reference is made to the nature of teaching mixed ability classes, how ability affects the development of composing skills, and the effects of different teaching methodologies on the students' progress. The article questions whether the GCSE examination is a realistic test of compositional ability at age 16.

Dunwich Revisited was a curriculum-based music project run at Debenham CEVC High School between December 1999 and March 2000. All pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9, together with a Year 10 GCSE group, participated in the composition of an electroacoustic piece based on Dunwich (a place with a remarkable history on the east coast of Suffolk). A distinctive feature of the project was the use of a range of technologies to compose, develop and perform musical ideas. The final piece was performed by thirty-five pupils at the Celebration of Schools' Music held at Snape Maltings Concert Hall on 7 March 2000.

This article shares insights from this curriculum project drawn from a range of qualitative data collected by Jonathan Savage, the Head of Music, and Mike Challis, an electroacoustic composer who is also a member of the school staff. These insights are placed within the context of other recent research evidence describing the relationships between composition, performance and listening as prescribed in the English National Curriculum for music. The article considers how these technologies, some old and some new, can have an impact on music teaching and learning in the classroom environment.

This article explores the opportunities that the aesthetic experience of music offers pupils in their developing awareness of the subjective self and its relation to the objective universe of which it is a part. How does creatively produced music, having challenged the local frameworks or ‘conceptual spaces’ within which it is defined, remain intelligible to its audience? It is suggested that a principle of intelligibility that transcends this formally defining framework rests on a direct and unified perception of affective, subjective reality, shared by human beings; a perception that embraces both composer, performer and listener. This realisation is developed through the relationship that we have, as subjective individuals, to the objective universe of which we are a part. Aesthetic experience gives rise to a sense of transcendent reality, within which the subjective individual and objective world are unified, and which is identified as a central element in our sense of the reality of God.

This article uses case-study research to examine approaches to adoptive parenting, with particular reference to children's musical instrument learning. Drawing on video and interview evidence, we consider the effects that family narratives about adoption, genetic inheritance and environment have upon different family members' perceptions of themselves and of each other. We conclude that the supportive parenting style demonstrated in our case-study family provides an environment in which musical learning can flourish, and we draw parallels with research in the psychology of music, to illustrate the importance of family support for young musicians.

Since its inception in 1997, the SCARLATTI Project at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow has sought to investigate and document the teaching approaches and methodologies adopted by music teachers in Scottish secondary schools and to share good practice, findings and thoughts among the profession. Here, as a follow-up to a previous article (Byrne & Sheridan, 1998), readers are brought up to date on developments since then, highlighting some problems and some successes. The article also focuses on issues related to the delivery of core or key skills through music and introduces a new composing thinking tool for novice composers. Finally, a report on a small-scale study on music teachers' teaching styles is given. Having collected ‘data on the teachers' backgrounds, qualifications, experiences and accomplishments in the creation of music through improvising and composing’ (Byrne & Sheridan, 1998: 299) these are analysed and some initial thoughts offered.

This article examines the impact of the Music Code on the teaching of music in elementary schools during the last ten years of its operation. Secondly, it draws attention to the friction between the teaching profession and the wider musical world as a result of an almost exclusive use of tonic sol-fa to meet the requirements of the Code. Finally, the contribution of William Gray McNaught to music education in his role as editor of the School Music Review is evaluated.