Concept Teaching in Instrumental Music Education

Abstract

This article is a review of research literature on the teaching of concepts in instrumental music education. It is organized in four parts (a) the value of concept teaching in large instrumental ensembles, (b) time spent teaching concepts during rehearsals, (c) approaches to concept teaching, and (d) implications for music education. Research has indicated that there is value to teaching conceptually. Time invested in teaching concepts has not been found to detract from performance goals; on the contrary, performance may be enhanced. Musical concepts may be taught via positive and negative instances of concepts, music terms and descriptions, modeling, and music literature. More research on concept teaching in instrumental music is warranted.