The document summarizes and compares the philosophies of aestheticism and praxialism in music education as described by Bennett Reimer and David Elliott. Both philosophies view music as a multidimensional human practice involving music making and listening. However, they differ in their approaches with aestheticism being more cognitive and non-participatory, focusing on listening, while praxialism emphasizes the participatory and contextual nature of music as an activity done by musicians. Both aim for all students to be involved in music education.

1. James Ackman, Ph.D.
Online Facilitator
Boston University

2. “Aesthetic education as I conceive it, therefore, is
changeable and flexible, attempting to capture the
best thinking about music and to apply it to the
practice of music education.” Bennett Reimer (A
Philosophy of Music Education: Advancing the
Vision, 10.)
…”MUSIC is a diverse human practice and
musical practices pivot on musicianship.
Musicianship is directed toward the practical end
of constructing musical works overtly and
covertly. Music is something that people do.”
David Elliott (Music Matters: A Philosophy of
Music Education, 161)

3.  Musical sounds (as various cultures construe what these are)
create and share meanings available only from such sounds.
 Creating musical meanings and partaking of them require an
amalgam of mind, body, and feeling.
 Musical meanings incorporate within them a great variety of
universal/cultural/individual means (ideas beliefs, values,
associations, etc.) transformed by musical sounds.
 Gaining its special meanings requires direct experience with
musical sounds, deepened and expanded by skills, knowledge,
and understandings, attitudes and sensitivities education can
cultivate.
(Reimer, 11)

4.  Music is a diverse human practice
 Music is something that people do
 Music is (at least) a four-dimensional concept requiring
1)A doer (musicer or musicers)
2) Some kind of doing /musicing: Performing, Improvising, Composing,
Arranging, Conducting, Listening.
3) Something done (music)
4) The complete context in which the doers do what they do
 (Elliott, 39-41)
 Musicing is contextual in nature-the development of musicianship is
intimately related to the authenticity of the musical situations in which it is
taught, learned, and used.
 Music is a multi-dimensional human phenomenon involving two forms of
intentional human practice-music making and music listening.
 Elliott, (40-43)

5.  Reimer and Aestheticism = Cognitive and Non-
Participatory
 Elliott and Praxialism = Participatory and Non-
Cognitive

6. AESTHETIC PRAXIAL
Teaching music includes:
 All possible ways people interact with
music, including:
 Listening
 Performing
 Composing
 Improvising
 Listening
 Musical creation, in any of its
manifestations can be conceived as a
distinctive “way to know” (Reimer, 103)
 All the ways people think about and
know about music, including its history and
its cultural contexts
 (Reimer, 10)
Teaching music is a matter of artistic
“knowing in action” and
music requires:
 A doer (musicer or musicers)
 Some kind of doing (musicing)
 Performing
 Improvising
 Composing
 Arranging
 Conducting
 Listening
 Music education is…concerned with
developing musicianship and musical
creativity (261)
 The complete context in which the doers do
what they do
 (Elliott ,257)

7. AESTHETICISM PRAXIALISM
 Any single aspect of the music
program-performing groups, a
general music class, composition
lab, a listening focused course can
be in and of itself a valid instance
of aesthetic education.
 The music used in school,
therefore, should be far more
comprehensive than the narrow
spectrum of “school music”…and
should openly reflect the realities
of our multimusical culture. All of
the world’s musics provide
valuable sources for musical
learning and experiencing
 (Reimer, 10)
 A person learns to compose by
becoming thoroughly acquainted
with the culture-based ways in
which composers develop and
refine their works. A musician
learns by performing with those
who are dedicated to the
development of spontaneous
musical performances that are
cultural specific, such as 12 bar blues
or African drumming.
 Musicing is contextual in nature The
development of musicianship is
intimately related to the authenticity
of the musical situations in which it
is taught, learned, and used.
 (Elliott, 40-1 and 100-1)

8.  Listening is an act of
creation
 Each listener must strive
to hear the complexities of
the music and make some
kind of sense of it
 Meaning is music is not
something outside of the
music awaiting
expression. It is what
comes into being through
the creative act of
expression (e.g. listening)
 (Reimer, 116-20)
 Listening is a covert form
of thinking in action and
knowing in action
 Like all forms of music
making, it (listening)
depends on practice
specific forms of musical
knowing
 Listening, like performing,
is a context dependent
process
 (Elliott,80-3)

9. AESTHETICISM PRAXIALISM
Music is
sound
Interacting with music
includes : Listening,
Performing, Composing,
and Improvising
Music
incorporates
all manner of
materials,
cultural
beliefs, and
emotions of
everyday life
Whatever the culture,
music shapes individual
and communal
experience into unique
meanings able to be
created and shared by
those who participate in
that culture.
Aesthetic education is applicable to all
children in school-not just the small
percentage who demonstrate unusually high
competence in music.
Music is
a diverse
human
practice
Music is something that
people do and includes:
Performing, Improvising,
Composing, Arranging,
Conducting, and Listening
The development of
musicianship is
intimately related to
the authenticity of the
musical situations in
which it is taught,
learned, and used.
Music is a multi-
dimensional human
phenomenon
involving two forms
of intentional human
practice-music
making and music
listening.
Musicianship is a multidimensional
form of “sound artistic” thinking.

10. ∆ Praxialism and Aestheticism include music making
(music) as fundamental concepts
∆ Musical, cultural, and social contexts are
fundamental aspects of both aestheticism and
Praxialism
∆ Both philosophies contain the over-arching theme
that all students should be involved in music
education.

11.  Elliott, David J. Music Matters: A New
Philosophy of Education. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1995.
 Reimer, Bennett. A Philosophy of Music
Education: Advancing the Vision, 3rd ed. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003.