Music Pedagogy in relation to Musicology and Educational Sciences: three areas of intervention

There has long been an unnatural separation in the Western world between the pedagogic-didactic field and musicology, and the contemporary situation has not substantially changed. Musicology and pedagogic-didactic studies have chosen, and proceeded along, parallel paths which do not converge. The conceptual starting point is an awareness of two problems: on the one hand, musicology runs the risk of becoming self-referential if it does not open itself up to a vital relationship with the political aspects of education; on the other hand, the educational sciences develop models of music education the content of which is not updated on the basis of musicological knowledge. This disconnection causes the making of music to prevail over knowing music, instead of the two dimensions being integrated. This article describes the results of an Italian research project carried out by an Italian University Network for Music Education.