Music education
The music studied by new generations: preferences and stereotypes (2024). Revista Española de Pedagogía (Spain, Q2)
For young people, music is not only an object of aesthetic consumption; it also fulfills a social function, to which they attribute various values that influence their identity and social relationships. Thus, the objective of this article is to evaluate how their musical preferences are structured and what differences exist based on gender and age range, as well as to study what stereotypes they associate with the styles they listen to most according to these variables. To this end, an updated and adapted questionnaire by Cremades et al. (2010) was used, which was answered by 1,020 young adolescents from a district in the city of Madrid: 540 women (52.9%) and 480 men (47.1%) between the ages of 12 and 20. The results reveal which styles of urban popular music young people prefer. They also show that older adolescents listen to a wider range of styles and that women favor musical trends and Latin music. In regard to stereotypes, “generation,” “personality,” and “behavior” are those most associated with their preferences, which is related to the development of the adolescent's own identity. In conclusion, we believe that, based on our knowledge of the meaning young people give to music, it is necessary to promote listening and critical thinking in the music classroom as a way of developing competent listeners with sufficient musical and social knowledge of the music they prefer.
Bibliometric study of scientific output in music education in Spain (2024). Revista Española de Pedagogía (Spain, Q2)
The objectives of this study were to identify the main journals with the highest scientific output by Spanish authors on music education, to rank the most cited articles and Spanish authors with the highest number of scientific contributions, and to determine the most researched trends in music education over time in Spain. To configure the sample, all articles authored by Spanish authors published in the WoS and Scopus databases (peer-reviewed) from 1978 to 2022 were selected. The final sample included 1,001 articles, 1,372 authors, and 293 journals. The analysis of the information was based on productivity and dispersion indicators (Price, Bradford, and Lotka bibliometric laws), impact indicators (JIF, H index), and collaboration indicators, scientific mapping, and multivariate technical analysis of multiple correspondence factor analysis. The results reveal an annual growth rate of music research carried out by Spanish authors of 11.96%, with greater growth since 2000, which has become exponential since 2010. Asymmetrical productivity was found in both journals and authorship, with a large proportion of articles concentrated in a small group of journals and authors. Likewise, it was observed that the most relevant trends in music education up to 2022 were related to methodology, teacher training, technology, creativity, innovation, performance, emotions, music therapy, interculturality, and inclusive education.
Please, don't stop the music: A meta-analysis of the cognitive and academic benefits of instrumental music training in childhood and adolescence (2022). Educational Research Review (United Kingdom, Q1)
A large body of literature has investigated the impact of music training on cognitive skills and academic performance in children and adolescents. However, most studies have been based on cross-sectional designs, which prevent us from determining whether the differences observed are a result of participation in musical activities. Previous meta-analyses of longitudinal studies have also found inconsistent results, possibly due to their reliance on vague definitions of music training. In addition, more evidence has emerged in recent years. The current meta-analysis investigates the impact of early programs involving learning to play musical instruments on cognitive skills and academic performance, as previous meta-analyses have not focused on this form of music training. Following a systematic search, 34 independent samples of children and adolescents were included, with a total of 176 effect sizes and 5,998 participants. All studies had pre-post designs and at least one control group. Overall, a small but significant benefit (Δ = 0.26) was found with short-term programs, regardless of whether they were randomized or not. In addition, a small advantage at baseline was observed in self-selected studies (pre = 0.28), indicating that participants who had the opportunity to select the activity consistently performed slightly better before the start of the intervention. Our findings support a nature-nurture approach to the relationship between instrumental training and cognitive skills. However, evidence from well-conducted studies remains limited, and further studies are needed to draw more firm conclusions.