Music in worship: making spiritual connections through sound

Music has played a significant role in religion and spiritual settings over the centuries and continues to be included throughout church history, forming an important aspect of worship, contributing to spiritual growth and wellbeing. This article situates itself within a wider study on Spirituality and Wellbeing: Music in the community. Drawing on narrative reflection, the authors discusstheir experiences across Melbourne (Australia) and Potchefstroom (South Africa) and include some interview data from church musicians from the wider study in Melbourne in relation to how church music contributes to spirituality and impacts on wellbeing. As church musicians they argue that music in church settings can offer parishioners the opportunity to experienceand express spirituality in their life through sound. They recognize and acknowledge that music through singing, playing, improvising and listening is an aspect of spiritual connection that is not confined to the institution of the church or to a religion but is concerned with the connection wefeel and sense in mysterious and unknown places and spacesThe findings of this study are limited as it only focuses on the experience of the authors, hence, generalizations to other musicians or church settings cannot be made. The authors argue that music in church settings can enliven andtransform worship through music in which spiritual connections can be fostered between God and man that positively engender wellbeing.

Spirituality, music, and wellbeing : sharing insights from an Australian setting

The relationship between spirituality, music, health, and wellbeing is gaining much theoretical and research attention globally. These related concepts are complex and involve many facets and challenges. This paper explores the relationship between music and spirituality as a way to communicate actively with God, which interconnects with wellbeing and quality of life. The focus of this paper discusses one case study from my wider research project “Spirituality and Wellbeing: Music in the Community” that started in 2013, in Melbourne (Australia). Having gained ethical clearance, case study methodology (interviews, documents, and observation) was employed. For this paper, I only offer a discussion of semi-structured interviews with volunteer participants from an Anglican Church in the southeastern suburbs of Melbourne (Australia). Using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), I analyzed and codified the interview data to explore the lived experience of the participant’s perception and how they make sense of it. As IPA is phenomenological, it takes into the account my own ideas through a process of interpretation when analyzing the phenomena under study. The interview data are reported under two overarching themes: music and spirituality and music and wellbeing. The data provides insights into the various ways music contributes to participants’ spiritual journey and growth. I argue that music is a powerful vehicle that connects people with God and others as it fosters an enhanced sense of spiritual growth and self-wellbeing.

Spiritual connections made through music making: sharing faith and music in an Australian setting

The musical involvement of people over the centuries is fundamentally interwoven with spiritual experiences (Seifert 2011). This paper discusses the connection between music and spirituality in an inter-denominational group in the southeastern suburbs of Melbourne. With ethical clearance, through semi-structured interviews with two church leaders and the music worship team, subsequently employing Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), I analysed and codified the data gathered. Two overarching themes are discussed: insights into music and spirituality; and connecting music to worship with self and others. The findings show that music in worship may provide a rich pathway for people to explore, experience, and express their spirituality, and to connect to the wider multicultural society. It also adds to the current debates on whether music has spiritual significance for some people apart from community expressions of spirituality through music. Limitations of the current study are knowledged and generalizations cannot be made regarding connections to music and spirituality. However, the findings do indicate that music in worship can enrich one’s spiritual experience and connection with God and others.

Inspired by the past, driven by the passion: music in state-supported education in New South Wales and Victoria 1848-1920

This investigation considers the development of class music teaching in New South Wales and Victoria during the first seventy-two years of state-supported primary education. The first chapter describes the English background including music teaching methods (resulting from the mid-nineteenth century English choral singing movement) and the subsequent development of music teaching in English elementary schools. The promotion of school music is then considered on a broadly chronological basis in the two states and several themes are identified in relation to school music policy and practice. These include the status of music (core curriculum or extra-curricular subject), who should teach music (generalist or specialist teachers), what teaching methods and music notation should be used (staff or Tonic Sol-fa), musical training for generalist teachers, and curriculum content in relation to the aims and objectives of school music. Comparisons are made between developments in both states and between both states and English school music. The final chapter demonstrates the relevance of many of the historical themes identified for music education today. The thesis concludes by identifying a recurring problem from the past. namely the lack of co-ordination between various aspects of school music policy, as the most serious problem to be overcome in the future.

Learning, linking and participating : transmitting African music in Australian schools

Considered in this paper is the concept of "change"for practising teachers who are teaching and learning African music in Melbourne, Australia. African music and culture is seen as an effective way for these teachers to experience a cross-cultural odyssey through both social and situated learning. This chapter reports on a music project where teachers perceived African music to be an effective way to leam link and participate with a new music and culture. The chapter summarises pertinent findings relating to why and how teachers are engaging with African music.

Kivy on justifying music in liberal education

Within analytical aesthetic circles, Peter Kivy is best known for re-igniting the debate inaugurated by Eduard Hanslick over the issue of whether or not music of the purely instrumental or absolute kind can be said to express a content, and, if so, whether or not listeners' emotional responses to it bear any relation to that content. Kivy's particular contribution countenances the possibility of interpreting the appearance of a musical work as expressive - be it the percussive Allegro barbara [1911] by Bela Bartok or the lyrical Adagio for Strings {1936] by Samuel Barber - without having to presume that music itself, being non-sentient by nature, possesses any emotional, subjective state.  This short essay, however, will critically examine a rather neglected facet of Kivy's prolific writings. In a relatively recent attempt to justify the place of purely instrumental music in liberal education without drawing upon the above-mentioned notion of expressiveness, Kivy reconceptualizes the matter in a manner that significantly shifts us from the dominant epistemological arena of debate. No longer are we to dispute the place of music within the terms set by the highly influential forms-of-knowledge approach revived by P.H. Hirst a generation ago and currently under revision by Jim McKenzie in terms of forms of argumentative discourse. But before first surveying and then critically assessing Kivy's proposal, perhaps we should briefly remind ourselves of the contrasting frame of reference associated with Hirst.

Teachers reactions to outcomes-based music education in South African primary schools

This article examines the reactions of specialist music teachers to the introduction of Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) in South Africa. OBE has been seen in post-apartheid South Africa as a way to transform education and address the imbalances of the past. The study reported here used questionnaires to explore attitudes of teachers at independent schools in Johannesburg in the first year of implementing OBE. Analysis of data revealed both positive and negative attitudes as well as the strong need for teachers professional development if OBE is to succeed.

Learners' perceptions about the relationship between music education and generic skills development : a case study within the Australian higher education sector

A major issue emerging from the research and debate concerning quality in higher education has been an emphasis on the value of the acquisition of generic skills by undergraduate students, as indicators of quality in education. Music educators have long recognised the contribution music makes to the general education of learners. Learning in and through music can present varied and complex means for the acquisition of generic life skills such as: problem solving, decision-making, critical thinking, oral and written communication and teamwork. This paper documents one particular course of action that was implemented within a university undergraduate primary teacher education program, to systematically gauge learner perceptions about generic skill development/enhancement before and after participation in the music component of the core arts education subject.

Mapping music education in Australia

Music education research in Australia has grown almost exponentially over the past 25 years. Particularly in the area of doctoral research studies, there has been a substantial increase in the number of theses completed from two in 1977 to 72 in 2002. In addition, there have been increases in professional research undertaken by university academics, in the number of nationally competitive research grants being awarded by the Australian Research Council and other research funding agencies, and in commissioned research studies. This article reviews the various types of music education research being undertaken in Australia and also discusses the dissemination of the findings of research through articles in national and international scholarly journals and papers presented at local and international conferences. One of the conclusions drawn is that Australian music education has ‘come of age’ in terms of both the quantity and the quality of its national research profile.

Travelling drum with different beats: experiencing African music and culture in Australian teacher education

This article reports on a study that examined the effectiveness of introducing African music and culture to Australian non-specialist primary teacher education students at Deakin University in Melbourne (Australia). The study demonstrates that African music enhanced the generic musical experiences, learning, motivation, interest, confidence and competence of students in their fourth year of teacher education. The research also addressed the significance and contribution of African music and culture as a cross-cultural experience for these beginning teachers who in turn could provide similar experiences for their own students. This study highlighted the author's role and cultural identity as a South African music educator in transmitting the music and culture represented in 'the travelling drum' to a cohort of students with a predominantly Eurocentric orientation. By extension, this curriculum initiative broadened students' understanding and application of indigenous methods of teaching and learning as part of a global experience. Such a curriculum represents a pathway to many other forms of non-Western indigenous knowledge of music, culture and pedagogy that can be mapped out as a journey along a multicultural route towards 'internationalising the curriculum'.