FMQ - music education Articles

WolofMuskari – Finnish music education in the Wolof language

Music playschool, or “muskari” in Finnish, is an iconic element of the Finnish music education system, and the most popular pastime for children under school age in Finland. Technically, it is goal-oriented music-based early childhood education that provides developmental support by means of music. But does this Finnish concept translate into other cultures? Oh yes! This article tells the story of WolofMuskari, a music playschool that merges Finnish music education with the all-encompassing music-making typical of West African cultures.

Marjo Smolander

March 15, 2024

Features

Sakari Oramo takes responsibility for music – now as a professor

Sakari Oramo is one of Finland’s international star conductors and is known for his extended engagements with orchestras and for his sense of responsibility. During the Year of the Coronavirus, his duties with his orchestras in London and Stockholm were suspended almost completely, but his new job as Professor of Orchestral Training and Orchestra Conducting with the world-famous conducting class of the Sibelius Academy has kept him busy. Here, he is responsible not only for Finland’s reputation in orchestra conducting but also for our standard of orchestral playing, which has recently become a cause for concern.

Kare Eskola

May 28, 2021

Features

Music is life! - For pedagogue-composer Soili Perkiö, music is not about accomplishment

When reading the National Biography’s entry about Soili Perkiö, the living legend of Finnish music education, I begin to feel dizzy just seeing her list of publications. How is it possible for one person to achieve so much in a lifetime? The answer is simple: this pedagogue with a decades-long career at the Sibelius Academy, beloved composer, enthusiastic collector of instruments and active member of various associations, is someone who gets fired up through working with others.

Amanda Kauranne

September 25, 2020

Features

A drum teacher’s spring time inspiration

When instrument lessons were abruptly converted into remote teaching in Helsinki in March 2020, drummer and drum teacher Tommi Rautiainen decided to invite guest teachers to his courses. Soon his students found themselves receiving coaching from international drummer legends.

Patrik Stenström

September 25, 2020

Features

Opus1.fi materials databank: lowering the threshold to composition

Composing music is a discipline traditionally veiled in mystery. It is commonly believed that composers are born, not made, or at the very least they must discover a passionate calling for composing at an early age. Composing has also been regarded as the exclusive privilege of highly trained professional composers. Finland’s new National Core Curricula have introduced another perspective on composition. The opus1.fi databank provides teaching materials and support for the new needs of introductory teaching of composition

Jyrki Lähteenmäki

September 25, 2020

Features

A celebration of historical Finnish women who wrote music, Part 6: Sofie Lithenius

Sofie Lithenius (1847–1926) was a prolific and energetic primary school teacher and composer who played a unique role in the history of Finnish vocal music and music education.

Nuppu Koivisto-Kaasik

September 25, 2020

Features

“Time to do things differently” – Upheaval at Finland’s music institutes

The new National Core Curriculum for Basic Education in the Arts in Finland was adopted two years ago. This represented a considerable upheaval for music institutes; for instance, the level performance examinations that were standard for a long time have been largely discontinued. The reform facilitated developments that many had hoped for and also helped music institutes understand their operations in new ways. How has all this worked in practice, and what experiences have been gained?

Auli Särkiö-Pitkänen

September 25, 2020

Features

Music and identity building - World-first conservatory degrees of Sámi music completed

The Sámi people, whose home region, Sápmi, stretches over the northern parts of Finland, Sweden, Norway and Russia, are the only indigenous people within the European Union area. Music education in the Sápmi region has come forward in leaps and bounds over the past 15 years.

Tove Djupsjöbacka

September 25, 2020

Columns

Music – a meaningful resource at turning points and in times of crisis

Why does music prompt such a powerful emotional response? How does music reach our emotions and play on them? Music psychology researcher Suvi Saarikallio discusses the meaning of music for individuals and communities at turning points.

Suvi Saarikallio

June 18, 2020

Features

Finnish music institutes take a flying digital leap

When the Government shut down contact teaching in Finland because of the coronavirus pandemic in mid-March, music institutes also suspended their operations on site and went virtual. From the outside, it seemed that music institute teaching went online with amazing speed and ease. Yet this ease could not have been achieved without a huge amount of sweat and toil behind the scenes.

Hanna Isolammi

April 30, 2020

Columns

On my music and beyond: The world is a mosaic

"With my teaching this summer, I have found a new and hopeful vista opening before me," writes Kaija Saariaho. This column is part of the series On my music and beyond, where composers and other music makers write about their music.

Kaija Saariaho

August 22, 2019

Features

Näppärit: Social music-making

What if the aim of music education was not to focus on producing masters, but to create a lifelong, enthusiastic connection with music, where an essential part is making music together? This is exactly what the Kaustinen-based Näppäri method strives for.

Amanda Kauranne

September 6, 2018

Features

Composition teaching in transition

The Sibelius Academy is the only university-level music school in Finland. For decades, it used to be the only institution of any kind to provide tuition in composition. In 2018, composing is acquiring an important role at Finland’s music institutes, too, as in the revised curricula composing is identified as an activity that should be accessible to everyone. How can the Sibelius Academy respond to future challenges with the range of applicants becoming ever more diverse?

Pekka Hako

June 1, 2018

Features

Studies, principal goals and key figures at the Sibelius Academy in 2018

In the following, Dean Kaarlo Hildén explains the current focus areas at the Sibelius Academy. We also supply some indicators and a schematic of the modules offered by highest-level music education institution in Finland.

Anu Ahola

June 1, 2018

Columns

Happy birthday to Finnish music education!

The year 2017 not only marks the centenary of Finland’s independence but is also an anniversary year for Finnish music education.

Heidi Partti

December 7, 2017

Features

Early music training proves it is never too late

Pietarsaari, a tiny town on the western coast of Finland, boasts a degree programme unique for Finland, allowing students to specialise in Baroque music and complete a degree while working. The Baroque programme at the Novia University of Applied Sciences has proved attractive even for experienced musicians who are keen to learn more about early music.

Tove Djupsjöbacka

October 26, 2017

Features

Inspiring upper secondary education comes with music

Many of today’s Finnish professional musicians attended the Sibelius Upper Secondary School in Helsinki. In addition to general education and musical & dance tuition, the school provides contacts, networks and encounters.

Heidi Horila

August 11, 2017

Columns

Music education from Finland: Experiences, exploration and excitement

"Rather than focusing exclusively on musical skills, Finnish music education aims to consider students holistically as human beings, from their very first steps. (-) Music education is not about the subject; it is about the people," writes Petri Aarnio in his column.

Petri Aarnio

June 2, 2017

Features

Multiple modes of music education in Nepal

How does one organise arts education in a multi-ethnic society? Whose culture should be taught? What should be considered in drawing up a national curriculum for music? The Finnish-Nepalese-Israeli project Global Visions Through Mobilizing Networks is contributing to the development of music education in Nepal.

Lari Aaltonen

May 5, 2017

Features

Composing is for everyone

Composing is acquiring an important role at Finland’s music institutes and schools. In the revised curricula, composing is identified as an activity that is – or at least should be – accessible to everyone and whose positive impacts extend far beyond the realm of music itself.

Anu Ahola

April 13, 2017

Features

Music education in the Sámi homeland

The theory is that goal-oriented art education in Finland is provided for all residents nationwide, at school and through government-subsidised institutions. But in the Sámi homeland in the far north of Finland this is not always the case. In the field of music, this failing is being addressed through the Sámi music adult education project, supported by the European Social Fund.

Tove Djupsjöbacka

February 7, 2017

Features

Conceptions of gender in music education

Boys are conspicuous by their absence in basic music education. This phenomenon is not uniquely Finnish; it has been a source of concern for music education scholars internationally for quite some time. While music playschools have an equal number of girls and boys, in instrumental studies the gender balance tilts alarmingly, fewer than one third of students being boys.

Heidi Horila

July 10, 2016

Features

Learn music around the clock

Music student Perttu Pölönen had an idea. There are 12 notes in the classical Western scale -what would happen if you placed those notes on a clock face? With this in mind, Pölönen created the Musiclock, which was later reworked into an app. And there is still more to come.

Heidi Horila

June 4, 2016

Features

Democracy in the music education of the future

What does democratic education look like from the perspective of music? In October 2015, the ArtsEqual research initiative was launched to survey equality in various branches of the arts. At its centre is Resonaari, a music institute leading by example to show what potential musicianship may be found in the margins of society.

Tuulikki Laes

May 4, 2016

Features

Broader perspectives in teaching music

The International Minifiddlers distance-learning project is testing a new kind of learning environment for studying the violin. At the same time the East Helsinki Music Institute is searching for ways to bring high-quality music education within reach of even more people.

Elina Roms

January 4, 2015

Features

Music for life

Finland's music education has succeeded in combining the best features of the old Russian and Hungarian schools with the principles of the Nordic welfare state and democracy. Establishing a good relationship with music has become the basis of the new teaching methods. The audible result - quality - nevertheless continues to occupy a significant role.

Timo Klemettinen

January 9, 2006

Features

Conductor Education in Finland

Between the mid 1970s and the early 1990s Professor Jorma Panula and his students made the Finnish training for conductors both widely known and highly acclaimed. But where did it all begin - and what has happened since?

Anu Konttinen

January 9, 2006

Features

The land of music playschools

Singing, playing games, listening, exercise, and playing instruments - these are the core activities of Finland's many music playschools. The schools are bustling with activity, for they have become very popular in recent years. Finland is a real land of music playschools.

Mari Koppinen

January 9, 2006

Features

Good music education produces lifelong music-lovers

Finland prides itself on being an exemplary country as regards its music education. Foreigners sigh with envy on hearing about our unique music institute system covering all levels from babies right up to PhD students and beyond. And although the music institutes nowadays receive considerable public funding, not one of them was founded by an order from on high; they have just sprung up in response to public demand wherever sufficient material resources have been forthcoming.

Anu Karlson

January 9, 1999

Features

Composers and kids

In a book entitled Mielen maisemat ja musiikki (Landscapes of the Mind and Music) Kari Kurkela addresses the problems encountered by the child in learning to play a musical instrument in the light of psychoanalysis and mythology. Lively interaction between training in sensitivity and the constructive channelling of aggression is, he claims, important: so important in fact that without these elements of creativity the child's playing will be reduced to little more than "potty training".

Jyrki Linjama

January 6, 1999

Features

“We are all composers” – a revolution in orchestral education work in the 1990s

“The orchestra as part of society” could well be the title of an ambitious project known for short as Education work that has so far got a dozen or so Finnish orchestras bursting with enthusiasm. The most important target group is schoolchildren.

Anu Karlson

March 12, 1997