Didaktik of music: a German concept and its comparison to American music pedagogy

Abstract

Didaktik of music is the science and art of teaching music in terms of determining goals, contents and methods. It is both a scholarly field of research and a teacher’s craft. Didaktik raises issues which neither curriculum research nor pedagogical methodology address in the same way. The main intent of this article is to present important issues concerning the German Didaktik of music, and to make comparisons to the approaches in the United States. By framing Didaktik in view of American music education as a prominent and familiar system, both practical and theoretical issues may be clarified. The concept of a comparative Didaktik of music is also introduced, allowing for more specific questions of pedagogy and curriculum to be raised which do not feature in studies to date.