Music education in the United States
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Music education in the United States can be traced through historical documentation to the colonial era. Among the Native Americans prior to European and African settlement, music education was entirely oral.
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[edit] History
The earliest systematic music education in the country was centered the training of singers for Protestant church services, to lead the congregation in psalm-singing. In the 18th century, the first singing schools in the country were founded, and a number of legendary traveling singing masters traveled New England, teaching in barns, schoolhouses and other informal locations; these masters included Francis Hopkinson] and William Billings. By the end of the century, more formal singing schools in cities like Savannah, Philadelphia and Boston become social singing societies.
Public education in the United States first offered music as part of the curriculum in Boston in the 1830s, and it spread through the help of singing teacher Lowell Mason and Swiss educational reformer Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. Music education, primarily vocal, remained most common in women's schools, though many private academies also existed, offering boys and girls instruction in orchestral instruments like the violin, cello and piano.
In the mid-19th century, educator Luther Whiting Mason established music education in the schools of Cincinnati, and become a prominent author of textboooks. His National Music Course, first published in 1970, was a widely adopted standard part of many American curricula. Music education continued to expand across the country, and gained in respect as an essential part of educational development. There was a music section in the National Education Association by the 1890s, and the Music Supervisors National Conference (later the Music Educators National Conference) was formed in 1934 to promote the cause of music education in public schools.
Vocal instruction dominated public schooling at all levels. Instrumental education was handled largely through private enterprise, until the early 20th century. Inspired by the band music of Frederick Innes, John Philip Sousa and others, many schools offered orchestral instrument bands. This accelerated following World War I, when many soldiers returned with knowledge and interest in the band music they learned as soldiers.
The first formal school for music educators was founded in 1884, in Potsdam, New York, by Julia Ettie Crane, but Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio in the 1920s became the first school to offer a four year degree in music education.
[edit] Modern elementary education
Elementary schools in the United States typically offer music classes several times a week, with classes ranging from thirty to forty-five minutes in length. Beginning in about fourth grade, performance opportunities are often provided in the form of choirs or orchestral (especially wind) bands.
[edit] Modern secondary education
Music is generally optional in high school in the United States, and may or may not be required in middle or junior high school. Concert bands and marching bands are also commonly offered, as are choirs and theatrical performances that often include music.
[edit] References
Patricia Shehan Campbell (2000). "Learning", in Koskoff, Ellen (ed.): Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 3: The United States and Canada. Garland Publishing, 274 - 287. ISBN 0-8240-4944-6.
