Solos for Young Violinists is a graded series of works ranging from elementary to advanced levels representing an exciting variety of styles and techniques for violinists -- a valuable resource for teachers and students of all ages. Many of the works in this collection have long been recognized as stepping stones to the major violin repertoire, while others are newly published pieces for further choices of study.

The Recital Books congratulate students for a job well done by providing correlated repertoire to their Lesson Books that are based on concepts they've already learned. As a result, the pieces are quickly mastered. Included are such familiar favorites as "Clementine" and "Arkansas Traveler," and originals with a classical feel like "Divertimento in D" and "Rondo."

Beautifully presented and intelligently paced, the Lesson Books combine unusually attractive music and lyrics. The books feature note reading, rhythm reading, sight-reading and technical workouts. Each piece on the CD was recorded at a performance tempo and a slower practice tempo.

This book explores historical and philosophical connections between music, leisure, and education. Specifically, it considers how music learning, teaching, and participation can be reconceptualized in terms of leisure. Taking as its starting point "the art of living" and the ethical question of how one should live, the book engages a wide range of scholarship to problematize the place of non-professional music-making in historical and contemporary (Western) conceptions of the good life and the common good. Part I provides a general background on music education, school music, the work ethic, leisure studies, recreation, play, and conduct. Part II focuses on two significant currents of thought and activity during the Progressive Era in the United States, the settlement movement and the recreation movement. The examination demonstrates how societal concerns over conduct (the "threat of leisure") and differing views on the purpose of music learning and teaching led to a fracturing between those espousing generalist and specialist positions. The four chapters of Part III take readers through considerations of happiness (eudaimonia) and the good life, issues of work-life balance and the play spirit, leisure satisfaction in relation to consumerism, individualism, and the common good, and finally, parenting logics in relation to extracurriculars, music learning, and serious leisure.

Originally published in 1867, this book is a collection of songs of African-American slaves. A few of the songs were written after the emancipation, but all were inspired by slavery. The wild, sad strains tell, as the sufferers themselves could, of crushed hopes, keen sorrow, and a dull, daily misery, which covered them as hopelessly as the fog from the rice swamps. On the other hand, the words breathe a trusting faith in the life after, to which their eyes seem constantly turned.

Music education has historically had a tense relationship with social justice. One the one hand, educators concerned with music practices have long preoccupied themselves with ideas of open participation and the potentially transformative capacity that musical interaction fosters. On the other hand, they have often done so while promoting and privileging a particular set of musical practices, traditions, and forms of musical knowledge, which has in turn alienated and even excluded many children from music education opportunities. Teaching multicultural practices, for example, has historically provided potentially useful pathways for music practices that are widely thought to be socially just. However, curricula often map alien musical values onto other musics and in so doing negate the social value of these practices, grounding them in a politics of difference wherein "recognition of our difference" limits the push that might take students from tolerance to respect and to renewed understanding and interaction. The Oxford Handbook of Social Justice in Music Education provides a comprehensive overview and scholarly analyses of the major themes and issues relating to social justice in musical and educational practice and scholastic inquiry worldwide. The first section of the handbook conceptualizes social justice while framing its pursuit within broader social, historical, cultural, and political contexts and concerns. Authors in the succeeding sections of the handbook fill out what social justice entails for music teaching and learning in the home, school, university, and wider community as they grapple with issues of inclusivity and diversity, alienation, intolerance, racism, ableism, and elitism, or relating to urban and incarcerated youth, immigrant and refugee children, and, more generally, cycles of injustice that might be perpetuated by music pedagogy. The concluding section of the handbook offers specific and groundbreaking practical examples of social justice in action through a variety of educational and social projects and pedagogical practices that might inspire and guide those wishing to confront and attempt to ameliorate musical or other inequity and injustice. Consisting of 42 chapters by authors from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, England, Finland, Greece, The Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, and the United States, the handbook will be of interest to a wide audience, ranging from undergraduate and graduate music education majors and faculty in music and other disciplines and fields to parents and other interested members of the public wishing to better understand what is social justice and why and how its pursuit in and through music education matters.

Guitar Basics is a landmark method for young guitarists. It starts at absolute beginner level and progresses to Initial/Preparatory Grade. The method is set out in sixteen stages and contains original pieces and traditional tunes in an array of styles including classical, folk and world music as well as well-known favourite film and TV themes such as James Bond, Batman and The Flintstones. There is a thorough introduction to standard notation, with sections on chords and TAB, whilst ensemble pieces are ideal for group teaching, including 'Wider Opportunities'. Accompaniment parts and teachers' notes are available in Guitar Basics Teacher's Book, and the fun backing tracks are available to download online. The companion book, Guitar Basics Repertoire, provides over 40 fun solos and ensemble pieces for both individual and group learning. It is designed to consolidate material learnt in the Guitar Basics Tutor and present new topics, including accidentals, moving up the neck, two-part music, arpeggios and plucked chords.

Composing with Constraints: 100 Practical Exercises in Music Composition provides an innovative approach to the instruction of the craft of music composition based on tailored exercises to help students develop their creativity. When composition is condensed to a series of logical steps, it can then be taught and learned more efficiently. With this approach in mind, Jorge Variego offers a variety of practical exercises to help student composers and instructors to create tangible work plans with high expectations and successful outcomes. Each chapter starts with a brief note on terminology and general recommendations for the instructor. The first five chapters offer a variety of exercises that range from analysis and style imitation to the use of probabilities. The chapter about pre-compositional approaches offers original techniques that a student composer can implement in order to start a new work. Based on lateral thinking, the last section of the book fosters creative connections with other disciplines such as math, visual arts, and architectural acoustics. The one hundred exercises contain a unique set of guidelines and constraints that place students in a specific compositional framework. These compositional boundaries encourage students to produce creative work within a given structure. Using the methodologies in this book, students will be able to create their own outlines for their compositions, making intelligent and educated compositional choices that balance reasoning with intuition.