Music Matters: A New Philosophy of Music Education

As a first year music educator, the insights this book provided were invaluable to me. I would highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone.

Thank you for the book- condition just as listed!

Music Matters is a truly revolutionary book. David Elliott was the first person to challenge the "good 'ole boy" status quo developed by Bennett Reimer. The book is blunt and serious, while maintaining the positive, constructivist attitude that is necessary to promote change in our failing music education programs across the country.I bought Music Matters during my second year of public school teaching in the urban schools of Miami. David Elliott's book single-handedly prevented early music teacher burnout in me. The book revived my damaged and jaded view of the current state of music education in the public schools and provided hope for positive change in the future.The book is not "easy reading" by any means, but Elliott places discussion questions at the end of each chapter, and the central "praxial" ideas (meaning "to-do") connect each chapter throughout the book. I recommend that the reader take notes and write down critical questions while reading each chapter. It also helps to go back and re-read sections as you mature and develop more insight into your own personal philosophy of music education.I HIGHLY recommend this book as a first step toward developing and cultivating a post-modern philosophy of music education. Band, Orchestra, Choral, and General Music teachers can all benefit from the ideas presented in this book. One of the great things about Elliott is that he encourages critical, scholarly debate of his ideas. That is something that Reimer and his indoctrinated cohorts have never liked! The idea that musics beyond Western-Classical tradition can be used as a viable curriculum in the classroom is another reason to keep this book handy at all times. Furthermore, Elliott's ideas for apprenticeship and developing a reflective-practice musical curriculum are essential reading to any music educator. I truly believe the ideas Elliott espouses are crucial to the rebuilding and reinforcement of music education programs across the world.A 5-star rating for a 5-star book and 5-star pedagogue!

It is exciting to finally see American educators recognize the brilliance of Canadian scholars like David J. Elliott. I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Elliott speak at the Canadian Music Educators'Conference Research Forum back in 1991 and his ideas as well as others like Harold Fiske and Robert Walker were a refreshing change from the long-held music education philosophies of American Bennett Reimer and Englishman Keith Swanwick. Elliott was just formulating his ideas back then but he was most inspirational. As a music specialist, I have created a curriculum based on teaching multiculturalism through composition in my elementary program. I'm glad to finally see a multicultural philosophy for the arts that offers an alternative to the Eurocentric Aesthetic viewpoint.

With little experience in the current music classroom, it boggles me that David Elliott is still thinking about music education. While we love the idea of praxis in education as well as constructivist ideas, it is nothing new. Elliott's book poses these ideas as if they are his own-- when they have been practiced in other subject areas for a while now. His "teachings" on how the brain works in this book are inaccurate and poorly researched, and there is very little discussion of technology and contemporary music practice.Don't buy this book-- wait for another one to come out that is more up to date. Hopefully, Elliott will have gained more experience in the current classrooms with the current type of student attending school today. He just completely misses it, it seems.I have taken his class where he undoubtedly made his students buy his book-- and even Elliott himself says the book is outdated. No lie!

The book is pretty extensive and is ideal when writing university assignments on music education. I didn't give it 5 stars because since it was second hand it was not in perfect condition. The corners on some pages where bent. However, that is a minor issue considering it was 10 euro including shipping. Great book overall.