The purpose of this study is to examine how a practical model, which integrates the pastness, or historical context, as described in the teaching guides for the courses of study, with the presentness, or the perspective of empirically grasping the “meaning and role of music” in everyday “places” can be a pragmatic appreciation practice to consider the “Meaning and Role of Music in Life and Society” in the music department of junior high schools.

  The author first relies on Tia DeNora, a British sociologist, to show the necessity of a perspective that empirically grasps the “meaning and role of music” in everyday “places” in this study.

  Next, the author presents a practical model based on DeNora's theory, examines it, and then clarifies how this practice can provide a pragmatic perspective compared to the teaching methods given in the teaching guides for the courses of study.

  The results reveal the following.

  The appreciation practice of empirically grasping the “eaning and role of music” in everyday “places” and considering the “Meaning and Role of Music in Life and Society” has prepared a view that can lead to music education with a pragmatic perspective by understanding the actual music culture today and acquiring a sociocultural perspective. In addition, because this practice itself is connected to music education with a pragmatic perspective, it is stronger and more expansive than teaching methods that focus on historical contexts and consider the “meaning and role of music” Moreover, it leads toward music education with a pragmatic perspective.

  This research aims to clarify the significances and directions of music classes using popular music by focusing on their sociological and political contexts. The problem with practices related to popular music is that they do not capture the original essences of the music. Therefore, this research looks at the sociological and political contexts and the essences of the music, using the method of musicology after post-modernism. In doing so, this paper relies on British sociologist and popular music researcher Simon Frith and discusses the essences of popular music while comparing with those contexts of classical music.

  Through discussions on issues surrounding sociological and political contexts, the following could be concluded. ① Popular music can not be thought of without considering sociological contexts. ② Popular music has transformational flexibility depending on mass media, so it tends to be linked to political contexts. To understand popular music from these essences gives students new viewpoints of understanding the music, so it has significance in that it may lead to the expansion of their view of music.

  From this point of view, this paper pointed out some problems in the field of listening and singing that are often dealt with, and clarified the specific directions. The following consideration results were extracted. ① Many music classes using popular music focus on historical contexts. ② Many are the main objective of understanding features of the music. In these respects, the present situations in which the essences of music were not captured became evident. I can point out that the viewpoint and the directions to overcome this situation not only to understand the music from the historical and cultural contexts noted in the Instructional Guidelines but also by understanding the music from the sociological and political contexts.