The Art of Teaching Music

"The particular strength of the volume is its usefulness across all levels of music education. . . . Recommended." --Choice, November 2008

"... foremost a book about wisdom: a direct albeit thoughtful attempt to capture the profession for those who, by virtue of time or the nature of their work, may not have a full sense of the music education field. Jorgensen presents us Music Education." -- Patrick Schmidt, Westminister Choir College, Rider University

"... offers sound advice for the new teacher or the student who is about to become an in-service teacher. However, the veteran music teacher will also find 'The Art of Teaching Music' to be refreshing, in that it affirms and validates much of what good music teachers know through experience and have been doing by connecting to philosophers and pedagogues inside and outside of music education." -- Frank Abrahams, Westminister Choir College, Rider University, Princeton, NJ

"I have had the pleasure of reading the book manuscript, 'The Art of TeachingMusic,' by Estelle Jorgensen. The content explores a variety of ideas that are coveredin the myriad of courses experienced by undergraduate students andintroduces new ones that are critical to the development of musicians andprospective teachers. Some of these ideas might be alluded to or briefly discussedin methods classes, but not at the level of thoughtful detail as they are entertainedand examined in the book. This level of depth would require students andteachers to discuss, dialogue, debate, and reflect over time within and acrosssemesters and courses." -- BETTY ANNE YOUNKER, University of Michigan, Philosophy of Music Education Review

"The beauty of this book lies in its embrace and discourse of the wys in which people become music educators, develop their craft over the course of their lives, and influence those around them." -- Greg A. Handel, Northwester State University of Louisiana, Natchitoches, MUSIC EDUCATORS JOURNAL, March 1, 2009

"The particular strength of the volume is its usefulness across all levels of music education. Jorgensen offers not only artistic fundamentals unique to those involved in music but also material that will cause readers to reflect on personal characteristics. Detailed notes and references add to the book's value as a study tool.... Recommended." -- V. S. Xenakis, State University of New York College at Cortland, Choice, November 2008

"This book will turn heads and quite likely deepen the thoughts of working musicians who teach. I do not doubt that it will, as Jorgensen declares, open wide the conversation on teaching that is waiting to happen." -- Patricia Campbell, University of Washington

Author of Transforming Music Education (CH, Jul'03, 40-6313) and editor of Philosophy of Music Education Review (1993- ), Jorgensen (music, Indiana Univ.) offers here a philosophical, rather than a how-to, study organized around the discussion topics she uses in her foundations classes. The topics include, for example, teacher, leader, composer, and reality, and the discussion centers on the skills and values individuals need to move from music student to performer to music leader to teacher. The particular strength of the volume is its usefulness across all levels of music education. Jorgensen offers not only artistic fundamentals unique to those involved in music but also material that will cause readers to reflect on personal characteristics. Detailed notes and references add to the book's value as a study tool. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals.V. S. Xenakis, State University of New York College at Cortland, Choice, November 2008