Mission

The purpose of the Center for Music Learning is to investigate the processes of human skill development, integrating the results of systematic research from multiple disciplines with effective practices in music performance and pedagogy. By bringing together expert teachers, performers, composers, psychologists, neuroscientists, and physiologists, the work of the Center encompasses the fundamental dimensions of human learning. Our goal is to inform the design of curricula, the implementation of instruction, and the assessment of learning, all premised on a deep understanding of cognitive-, perceptual-, and motor-skill development, and the shaping of attitudes and emotions that are a part of every meaningful learning experience.

The applications of our work promise not only to improve the quality of music instruction but to change fundamentally the ways that music is taught at all levels of study—in elementary and secondary education, in the studios of private teachers, and in colleges and conservatories—toward the development of individuals who are musically knowledgeable, literate, skillful, and confident, and who take pleasure in their experiences with music.