The Swanwick/Tillman Spiral of Musical Development: impacts and influences – Guest Editorial

Abstract

A musical development sequence is proposed based on the psycho logical concepts of mastery, imitation, imaginative play and meta cognition, drawing on the work of Moog, Piaget and the observations of British writers. An interpretation of over seven hundred children's compositions is undertaken yielding an eight-mode spiral of develop ment that may have consequences for music teaching; for overall music curriculum planning ,for appropriate responses to individuals, for generating progression in a session or project.