N RECENT YEARS we have been presented with a number of new methods and procedures in school music, some of which have been proclaimed at their entry into the field of music education as being not only novel but also revolutionary in character, with the inference that old and hitherto tried and accepted procedures in teaching school music are outmoded and of doubtful value to the degree that they do not conform to these new ideas. And in studying some of these new methods, there is a chance of being confused or misled in our thinking; for we find that their proponents base claims of validity on educational thought as propounded by leading educational philosophers. The tenets of these philosophers usually rest on sound research and have received general recognition; and so on the surface, at any rate, one may find himself in a precarious position if he has the temerity to question new music teaching procedures that have been predicated on such sound educational doctrine. However, a serious study of some of these new methods in order to find definite genetic meaning for them fails to discover the vital link between the recognized underlying educational theories and the applied teaching procedures. In other words, one can seriously question the interpretations of accepted educational philosophies by certain music educators, who are anxious to establish new and sometimes bizarre methods of teaching school music. It seems that in the short history of public school music, attempts quite often have been made to adapt from the general educational field new theories of education as they have appeared; and there has always been the danger that certain music teachers, with an eye to getting on a new bandwagon at the earliest opportunity, whatever its course, have failed to consider seriously its direction, so long as there is i chance to substitute procedures that will allow them to divert attention from mediocrity or to avoid facing the reality of their present failure to reach recommended standards of achievement. One is reminded of the dis-