Careers in music have begun to gain attention within the Malaysian community. With formal music education available from primary to tertiary levels, students are increasingly likely to pursue music careers, a process that involves a series of cognitive and behavioural changes. Using Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) as a basis, semi-structured interviews were conducted in this study to identify cognitive, contextual, and affective attributes that influence music career choices in Malaysia. Thematic and socio-cultural analyses, supported by NVivo software, revealed several key factors: enthusiasm (cognitive), parental and environmental support (contextual), and spirituality (affective). These attributes are seen to greatly influence the tendency towards choosing a music career in the Malaysian context.

This study explores the saxophone’s complex role in music and investigates how it has come to be widely linked with jazz despite its extensive repertoire in classical and contemporary art genres. With over 29,000 non-pop works documented from 1844 to 2012 in Jean-Marie Londeix’s guide, the saxophone has a rich history beyond jazz. However, its jazz identity, shaped by icons like Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Kenny G, and Joshua Redman, remains dominant. This paper traces the origins of the instrument’s strong association with jazz and examines influences from the 1840s onwards, namely military bands, vaudeville, and the saxophone “craze” in early 20th-century America. This study uses a mixed-methods approach and combines quantitative analysis of discographies with qualitative insights drawn from existing literature, including previously conducted surveys and interviews with saxophonists, composers, and audience members. Delimited to Western perspectives, particularly Europe and North America over the past two decades, the research assesses current uses and perceptions of the saxophone. By integrating historical context and contemporary artistic practices, this study offers a nuanced understanding of the saxophone’s evolving cultural significance and its versatility across musical genres.

This study examines the vocal art in the Javanese adaption of the Ramayana, Serat Rama, authored by the 18th-century Central Javanese poet Raden Ngabehi Yasadipura. Employing Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutical approach, it explores the meaning and content of the work, including its musical elements. Analysis involved repeated readings and interpretations of the text at the word, sentence, and overall content levels. The findings of this study indicate that Serat Rama incorporates musical art through the inclusion of Javanese songs, specifically the macapat style. Out of the 11 types of macapat songs, nine are represented in Serat Rama: Maskumambang, Mijil, Sinom, Kinanthi, Asmaradana, Megatruh, Dhandanggula, Durma, and Pangkur. This study concludes that in Serat Rama, there are two educational elements: culturally insightful education and harmony education. The former is reflected in the carefully selected words forming song verses that communicate cultural insights. The latter is evident in the harmonious structure of the songs, where sentences are divided into two phrases to allow singers to pause and maintain harmony. In Javanese song theory, this concept of harmony is known as "padang-ulihan.”

Topic theory in musicology examines how musical elements and structures convey emotions or topics in music. Despite its potential to provide a framework for understanding musical expression, topic theory has rarely been applied to piano pedagogy. This study aimed to explore participants’ perceptions of Raymond Monelle’s topic theory, specifically the hunt, military, and pastoral topics, in piano interpretation and teaching. Participants included six music lecturers from Chinese universities and nine university music students from Bulgaria, China, France, Germany, and the United States. Data was collected through a listening survey and semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. The listening survey used excerpts from Dussek’s La Chasse, C.146, Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in A Major, Op. 101, Second Movement, and Liszt’s Années de Pèlerinage, Première année - Suisse, No. 3, Pastorale. The results showed that more than half of the participants matched the selected topics with the musical excerpts, with some confusion between the hunt and military topics. All participants agreed that topic theory enriches the interpretation of piano pieces and provides a complementary method in piano pedagogy. Two main themes emerged regarding the application of topic theory in piano interpretation: enhanced expression and imagination. Participants also believed that topic theory could serve as an analytical framework for interpreting musical works and increase the musical knowledge of both teachers and students.

Topic theory in musicology examines how musical elements and structures convey emotions or topics in music. Despite its potential to provide a framework for understanding musical expression, topic theory has rarely been applied to piano pedagogy. This study aimed to explore participants’ perceptions of Raymond Monelle’s topic theory, specifically the hunt, military, and pastoral topics, in piano interpretation and teaching. Participants included six music lecturers from Chinese universities and nine university music students from Bulgaria, China, France, Germany, and the United States. Data was collected through a listening survey and semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. The listening survey used excerpts from Dussek’s La Chasse, C.146, Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in A Major, Op. 101, Second Movement, and Liszt’s Années de Pèlerinage, Première année - Suisse, No. 3, Pastorale. The results showed that more than half of the participants matched the selected topics with the musical excerpts, with some confusion between the hunt and military topics. All participants agreed that topic theory enriches the interpretation of piano pieces and provides a complementary method in piano pedagogy. Two main themes emerged regarding the application of topic theory in piano interpretation: enhanced expression and imagination. Participants also believed that topic theory could serve as an analytical framework for interpreting musical works and increase the musical knowledge of both teachers and students.

This article examines the role of the Kajarī festival and folk songs in the socio-cultural lives of rural women in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, India. It explores how the festival provides a unique space for rural women to assert their autonomy within a patriarchal society. Through ethnographic fieldwork, including the documentation of rituals, folk songs, and cultural activities, this study analyses the Kajarī festival as a place-making process. It argues that women use the performative space of Kajarī songs to express themselves and their experiences using strategies rooted in their traditions and rituals. The paper concludes that the Kajarī festival and its songs function as a critical outlet for emotional expression, social interaction, and self-expression, offering women a form of agency within their rural context.

This study examines the vocal art in the Javanese adaption of the Ramayana, Serat Rama, authored by the 18th-century Central Javanese poet Raden Ngabehi Yasadipura. Employing Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutical approach, it explores the meaning and content of the work, including its musical elements. Analysis involved repeated readings and interpretations of the text at the word, sentence, and overall content levels. The findings of this study indicate that Serat Rama incorporates musical art through the inclusion of Javanese songs, specifically the macapat style. Out of the 11 types of macapat songs, nine are represented in Serat Rama: Maskumambang, Mijil, Sinom, Kinanthi, Asmaradana, Megatruh, Dhandanggula, Durma, and Pangkur. This study concludes that in Serat Rama, there are two educational elements: culturally insightful education and harmony education. The former is reflected in the carefully selected words forming song verses that communicate cultural insights. The latter is evident in the harmonious structure of the songs, where sentences are divided into two phrases to allow singers to pause and maintain harmony. In Javanese song theory, this concept of harmony is known as "padang-ulihan.”

Malaysia has one of the most comprehensive Chinese language education systems outside China. Both Malaysia and China place great importance on music education to cultivate national pride and identity among students. However, students' preference for popular music often leads to decreased interest in conventional music education in the classroom. Moreover, some argue that the lyrics of popular songs can negatively influence students' values. This study explores and compares the views of music teachers in Zhengzhou, China, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, regarding the impact of popular music on student learning in school and their strategies for addressing potential challenges it presents in the classroom. While the 12 teachers interviewed agreed on the potential of popular music to engage students, they also acknowledged its drawbacks. Differences in their viewpoints are attributed to factors such as experience, school support, curriculum goals, individual backgrounds, and teaching abilities. Based on the findings, the study presents several recommendations to improve student learning outcomes while also addressing problems associated with the influence of popular music. These include comprehensive teacher training programmes, increased instructional time, greater social recognition of music education, and the continuous development of innovative teaching methods.

This study aims to determine the competencies essential for elementary music teachers by exploring effective practices and insights of experts in music education. Using a three-round Delphi method with twelve music education experts, the study collected and refined competencies across three stages. In Round 1, qualitative data were thematically analysed to identify competency domains. In Round 2, participants ranked these domains and competencies by importance, with agreement levels assessed using Kendall’s W. Round 3 sought consensus by allowing participants to review collective rankings and explanations. Results revealed seven key domains, with Musical Skills emerging as the most essential, with the ability to play an instrument being the most important competency.