Music is one of the most universal ways of expression and communication in human life and is present in the everyday lives of people of all ages and from all cultures around the world. Music represents an enjoyable activity in and of itself, but its influence goes beyond simple amusement. Listening to music, singing, playing, composing and improvising, individually and collectively, are common activities for many people: these activities not only allow the expression of personal inner states and feelings, but also can bring many positive effects to those who engage in them. There is an increasing wealth of literature concerning the wider benefits of musical activity, and research in the sciences associated with music suggests that there are many dimensions of human life (physical, social, psychological—including cognitive and emotional) which can be affected positively by music. The impact that musical activity has on human life can be found in different processes, including a transfer of learning from the musical to another cognitive domain. Abilities that have been developed through music education and training may also be effectively applied in other cognitive tasks. Engagement in successful music activity may also have a positive impact on social skills and social inclusion, thus supporting the participation of the individual in collective and collaborative musical events. The promotion of social participation through music can foster many kinds of inclusion, including intercultural, intergenerational, and support for those who are differently abled. The aim of this Research Topic is to present a diverse range of original articles that investigate and discuss, in different ways, the crucial role that musical activity can play in human development and well-being.

Resonances: Engaging Music in Its Cultural Context offers a fresh curriculum for the college-level music appreciation course. The musical examples are drawn from classical, popular, and folk traditions from around the globe. These examples are organized into thematic chapters, each of which explores a particular way in which human beings use music. Topics include storytelling, political expression, spirituality, dance, domestic entertainment, and more. The chapters and examples can be taught in any order, making Resonances a flexible resource that can be adapted to your teaching or learning needs. This textbook is accompanied by a complete set of PowerPoint slides, a test bank, and learning objectives.

Music has a universal and timeless potential to influence how we feel, yet, only recently, have researchers begun to explore and understand the positive effects that music can have on our wellbeing.This book brings together research from a number of disciplines to explore the relationship between music, health and wellbeing.

This book is about links between music and health. It focuses on music and public health, and, in particular, the potentially positive and negative effects of listening to and making music on the health of the general population. The book starts out by discussing the protection music offers against adverse effects of stress. It then discusses social aspects of music production and listening and examines religious music within the framework of social functioning. It offers insight into the physiological and psychological effects of music listening, the biological effects of singing, and the use of music in therapeutic situations and the rearing of children. The book concludes by discussing the significance of music for musicians and their health. Although it may seem that music has only good health effects, and therefore all professional musicians should be healthy, not all music effects are positive. The book describes situations in which music has negative health effects and makes clear that there is a pronounced difference between living with music for joy and to earn one ́s living from making music. In the latter situation, performance anxiety may become a factor that affects health adversely.

This book explores the power music has to address health inequalities and the social determinants of health and wellbeing. It examines music participation as a determinant of wellbeing and as a transformative tool to impact on wider social, cultural and environmental conditions. Uniquely, in this volume health and wellbeing outcomes are conceptualised on a continuum, with potential effects identified in relation to individual participants, their communities but also society at large. While arts therapy approaches have a clear place in the text, the emphasis is on music making outside of clinical contexts and the broader roles musicians, music facilitators and educators can play in enhancing wellbeing in a range of settings beyond the therapy room. This innovative edited collection will be of great interest to scholars and practitioners of music, social services, medical humanities, education and the broader health field in the social and medical sciences.

How can ethnographic studies be generalized, in contrast to concentrating on the individual case? Noblit and Hare propose a new method for synthesizing from qualitative studies: meta-ethnography. After citing the criteria to be used in comparing qualitative research projects, the authors define the ways these can then be aggregated to create more cogent syntheses of research. Using examples from numerous studies ranging from ethnographic work in educational settings to the Mead-Freeman controversy over Samoan youth, Meta-Ethnography offers useful procedural advice from both comparative and cumulative analyses of qualitative data. This provocative volume will be read with interest by researchers and students in qualitative research methods, ethnography, education, sociology, and anthropology. "After defining metaphor and synthesis, these authors provide a step-by-step program that will allow the researcher to show similarity (reciprocal translation), difference (refutation), or similarity at a higher level (lines or argument synthesis) among sample studies....Contain(s) valuable strategies at a seldom-used level of analysis." --Contemporary Sociology "The authors made an important contribution by reframing how we think of ethnography comparison in a way that is compatible with the new developments in interpretive ethnography. Meta-Ethnography is well worth consulting for the problem definition it offers." --The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease "This book had to be written and I am pleased it was. Someone needed to break the ice and offer a strategy for summarizing multiple ethnographic studies. Noblit and Hare have done a commendable job of giving the research community one approach for doing so. Further, no one else can now venture into this area of synthesizing qualitative studies without making references to and positioning themselves vis-a-vis this volume." -Educational Studies

The second edition of The Oxford Handbook of Music Psychology updates the original landmark text and provides a comprehensive review of the latest developments in this fast-growing area of research. Covering both experimental and theoretical perspectives, each of the 11 sections is edited by an internationally recognised authority in the area. The first ten parts present chapters that focus on specific areas of music psychology: the origins and functions of music; music perception, responses to music; music and the brain; musical development; learning musical skills; musical performance; composition and improvisation; the role of music in everyday life; and music therapy. In each part authors critically review the literature, highlight current issues and explore possibilities for the future. The final part examines how, in recent years, the study of music psychology has broadened to include a range of other disciplines. It considers the way that research has developed in relation to technological advances, and points the direction for further development in the field. With contributions from internationally recognised experts across 55 chapters, it is an essential resource for students and researchers in psychology and musicology.

Music therapy is growing internationally to be one of the leading evidence-based psychosocial allied health professions to meet needs across the lifespan. This is a comprehensive text on this topic. It presents exhaustive coverage of music therapy from international leaders in the field

The Oxford Handbook of Human Development and Culture provides a comprehensive synopsis of theory and research on human development, with every chapter drawing together findings from cultures around the world. This includes a focus on cultural diversity within nations, cultural change, and globalization. Expertly edited by Lene Arnett Jensen, the Handbook covers the entire lifespan from the prenatal period to old age. It delves deeply into topics such as the development of emotion, language, cognition, morality, creativity, and religion, as well as developmental contexts such as family, friends, civic institutions, school, media, and work. Written by an international group of eminent and cutting-edge experts, chapters showcase the burgeoning interdisciplinary approach to scholarship that bridges universal and cultural perspectives on human development. This "cultural-developmental approach" is a multifaceted, flexible, and dynamic way to conceptualize theory and research that is in step with the cultural and global realities of human development in the 21st century.

Building on her earlier work, 'The Power of Music: A Research Synthesis of the Impact of Actively Making Music on the Intellectual, Social and Personal Development of Children and Young People', this volume by Susan Hallam and Evangelos Himonides is an important new resource in the field of music education, practice, and psychology. A well-signposted text with helpful subheadings, 'The Power of Music: An Exploration of the Evidence' gathers and synthesises research in neuroscience, psychology, and education to develop our understanding of the effects of listening to and actively making music. Its chapters address music’s relationship with literacy and numeracy, transferable skills, its impact on social cohesion and personal wellbeing, as well as the roles that music plays in our everyday lives. Considering evidence from large population samples to individual case studies and across age groups, the authors also pose important methodological questions to the research community. 'The Power of Music' defends qualitative research against a requirement for randomised control trials that can obscure the diverse and often fraught contexts in which people of all ages and backgrounds are exposed to, and engage with, music. This magnificent and comprehensive volume allows the evidence about the power of music to speak for itself, thus providing an essential directory for those researching music education and its social, personal, and cognitive impact across human ages and experiences.