Teaching Music magazine offers music educators a forum for the exchange of practical ideas that will help them become more effective teachers. Written in an easy-to-read, conversational style, the magazine includes timely information to interest, inform, and inspire music teachers and those who support their work. We welcome manuscripts for the Lectern section that describe effective and innovative instructional strategies or thoughtful solutions to problems faced by music educators at all levels, from PreK through college. Major article categories are General Music, Band, Orchestra, Chorus, Early Childhood, Advocacy, and Teacher Education/Professional Development. Of particular interest are articles relating to the following:
- An advocacy idea that worked for you—how you implemented it and what were the results.
- Lesson plan(s) that worked well with your students
- Classroom management
- Student recruitment and retention
- Students with special needs
- Conducting techniques
- Cross-curricular integration
- Multicultural music
- Assessment
All manuscripts are reviewed by the Teaching Music editorial staff. Accepted manuscripts are generally 1,000 to 1,400 words long (about 4 to 6 pages of double-spaced type) and are written in a direct, conversational style. Articles in second person often work well. Footnotes or endnotes are not used; any necessary references are incorporated into the text of the article, often in parentheses.
Teaching Music will not consider articles that have been simultaneously submitted to another publisher and will not normally consider reprints. Copyright for all articles accepted for publication is assigned to MENC. Payment is not possible for contributions to the magazine.
Once a manuscript is accepted, authors are encouraged to send in color photographs or other graphics that illustrate the main points of their articles. Photographers should obtain permission from the parents or guardians of minors whose photographs are submitted (click here for a release form). An accompanying e-mail should include the author's address, daytime phone number, and title or position. Please submit manuscripts electronically (preferably in Word or WordPerfect) to: Linda C. Brown, Editor, Teaching Music.