USF University of South Florida College of The Arts School of Music
 
  Center for Music Education Research
 
 
 
 
Music Education Research International MERI

Editorial & Table of Contents - Volume 4 (2010)

Editorial:

This volume continues to include articles of excellent scholarship. I appreciate the hard work of both the authors and of the reviewers. Although authors in this volume are affiliated with the Center for Music Education Research, their papers still had to go through rounds of rigorous blind reviews and revisions. The decreasing acceptance rate is evidence that we are committed to produce the best scholarly articles in all volumes. In addition, I would like to acknowledge the technology systems staff of the College of The Arts, University of South Florida, where this journal resides. Appreciation is due to Hong Chen, as she assisted with the editing process and translated abstracts into Chinese, which has allowed the content of this publication to reach a wider audience. The Chinese abstract appears at the end of each paper.

This annual volume includes four outstanding studies, two of which address the growing attention and needs of musical involvements of senior citizens. Bugos looks at the effects of music instruction on processing speed, verbal fluency, and cognitive control using tightly monitored quantitative procedures. Lehmberg and Fung offer a review of the literature on the benefits of music participation for healthy senior adults. Hernly’s study provides insights into the influence of knowing a variety of notation systems in notating West African music, which could serve as a basis for teaching, learning, and performance practices. Zelenak’s study contributes to the development and validation of a newly established instrument to measure self-efficacy in music performance, which secondary school music teachers may find very useful.

We aim to disseminate recent research that contributes to global views of music education, which contains two different meanings. First, a global view pertains to various peoples, musics, or activities in music education worldwide. It cuts across geographic, cultural, political, and international boundaries. Second, a global view is a comprehensive view in music education. It refers to a broad definition of music education, in all settings (e.g., community, home, school, individual, group), at all age levels from prenatal through the entire lifespan, and with regard to all aspects of music. I sincerely hope that you will find this and future volumes of the journal interesting and useful.

C. Victor Fung
Editor, Music Education Research International

Table of Contents:

Jennifer A. Bugos
The benefits of music instruction on processing speed, verbal fluency, and cognitive control in aging (pp. 1-9)

Patrick Hernly
Effect of knowledge in music notation systems on college music majors’ transcription of West African drumming music (pp. 10-18)

Lisa J. Lehmberg & C. Victor Fung
Benefits of music participation for senior citizens: A review of the literature (pp. 19-30)

Michael S. Zelenak
Development and validation of the Music Performance Self-Efficacy Scale (pp. 31-43)