Book reviews: Sound Teaching

Most music teachers learn their craft by trial and error. PGCE training and other forms of pedagogical qualification offer general principles, but the affective, personal, subjective and creative nature of music-making has never fit well within the systematic, broad-church approach to general pedagogical training. Sound Teaching seeks to bring together teachers and researchers in an exploration of the most effective methods for teaching musical skills, informed by sound research.

The collection is derived from a conference where practitioners shared knowledge, ideas and experience, and the book seeks to reproduce this tone of open conversation between invested parties committed to teaching and performing music. In this, the contributors are largely successful, and the book reads easily in a jargon-free flow that makes direct suggestions for how to translate the research findings into practice. The short chapters each follow a summary of the research with a prose conclusion that is oriented towards ‘Implications for Practice’ and finally a list of bullet points summarising the ‘Main Points’ of the article in the same vein. Teachers who are more interested in practical inspiration for new approaches to teaching particular musical skills than in the process of the research will benefit from orienting their attention towards these summaries. Since each chapter stands alone, readers may start with chapters more closely aligned with their own areas of interest before dipping into others.