Music Pedagogy Commons^™

How Theories About Instrumental Practice Strategies In Western Music Evolved Since The 1700'S: A Select Annotated Bibliography, University Of Denver

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

As music teachers, we introduce our students to a variety of methods for learning their instrument. In addition, it is necessary to impart wisdom on how to practice those methods and strategic ways to approach the learning and preparing of pieces for performance.

This paper will endeavor to compare and contrast how those strategies and techniques have evolved over the past 300+ years to better understand what practice strategies are “tried and true”, which have been discarded over time, and what has been added to the pantheon of strategies and scientific studies as performance practice and our understanding of psychology …

The Kodály Method: Valid Or Missing The Mark For Developing A Musicking Musician?, Maggie Johnston

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

In the ever-evolving world of music education, a handful of “methods” have been identified as favorites, mainly Orff, Suzuki, Dalcroze, and Kodály. These are used in whole or in part in classroom and private music instruction, based on an expected understanding that they produce results. However, these methods are often used without regard for the quality of their delivery, and are relied upon without consideration for the context in which they are delivered. Many music educators are speaking up and analyzing their own teaching, conducting studies, and bettering their understanding of the principles behind these methods. It is from this …

Observed Internal Mechanisms Of Clarinet Performance: Annotated Bibliography, Michael Dirnberger

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

Woodwind instrumental pedagogy is a complex and broad field of study, and its traditions and misconceptions of teaching and playing are deeply ingrained in our modern methods of instrumental pedagogy. These lingering misunderstandings within our teaching traditions turn people away from the practice of instrumental music-making and hold others back from reaching their true potential. Comparing the observed physical realities of performing musicians with the physical effect produced by some of the most popular tools in clarinet pedagogy has revealed that the syllabic guide to pedagogy is not always using the most optimal syllables to guide students in the right …

Adult Recreational Music-Making And Its Place In Piano Pedagogy: An Examination Of The Value Of Rmm To Both Student And Teacher, Jen Bowlds

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

This project aims to answer the following research question: How can the piano pedagogy community embrace the Recreational Music Making movement to expand its reach among adults and transform the piano teacher’s sense of professional satisfaction and career sustainability? I will examine the opportunities that exist within piano pedagogy and the growth potential for RMM as a valuable pedagogical approach for adult group piano classes. As is routinely used in strategic business planning, a SWOT analysis will be conducted to determine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the RMM movement within the piano pedagogy field. A relatively new (and …

The Psychological Effects Of The Voice Change In Female Students And The Implications Of Current Pedagogy, Brendan A. Kennedy

Honors College Theses

The voice change process is a treacherous time, and the female voice change process is underrepresented in literature and often ignored in classrooms (Sweet, 2018). The purpose of this study is to explore the psychological effects of the voice change process in female students and identify current pedagogical trends as used by current secondary choral music educators. Participants included a) Choral music education students who experienced a female voice change and b) Current secondary choral music educators. Choral music education students responded to a background survey which collected voice change process self-efficacy data. Selected informants underwent semi-structured interviews about their …

Critical And Culturally Sustaining Music Pedagogy, Jason D. Vodicka

Visions of Research in Music Education

Whether by mandate or by personal aspiration, teachers across the United States are compelled to teach in a manner that is culturally relevant to their students. Culturally relevant pedagogy, and its recent iteration, culturally sustaining pedagogy, call for high levels of student achievement, the development of multiple cultural competencies, and the raising of sociopolitical consciousness. Culturally sustaining ped- agogy and critical pedagogy share a focus on connecting to students’ lived experience, empowering students in the classroom and in the world, and developing students’ critical consciousness. As asset-based peda- gogies, both approaches focus on what students know first. This essay defines …

Critical Pedagogy And Disability: Considerations For Music Education, Ellary A. Draper

Visions of Research in Music Education

Developed by Brazilian Paulo Freire to teach economically disadvantaged adults to read, critical peda- gogy has since inspired others to adapt the model to other subject areas. In the area of music education, Frank Abrahams created the Critical Pedagogy for Music Education (CPME) model and has written about the use of CPME in teacher preparation programs. Scholars in disability studies have also been inspired by critical pedagogy, writing about disability pedagogy. Notably, people with disabilities have historically been omitted from models of critical pedagogy. This article discusses the intersections of critical pedagogy, music education, and disability, and makes recommendations to …

Critical Pedagogy: Commitment, Connection, And Communication, Anthony Bernarducci

Visions of Research in Music Education

Commitment, Connection, and Communication: These words summarize a triangle of opportunity and are the foundations of a Critical Pedagogy. In practice, commitment, connection, and communication are key words for music educators in their daily work with students. This article explores the eight steps of applying Critical Pedagogy—as outlined in Abrahams’s (2005a) model of Critical Pedagogy for Music Education—in relation to communication with administrators, and the ways in which it may aid in connecting within a community.

Critical Pedagogy As A Pedagogy Of “Love”, Marissa Silverman

Visions of Research in Music Education

Thanks in part to the research and scholarship of Frank Abrahams (e.g., 2005, 2006, 2007, 2019), his welcoming of scholars into the field, as well as his dedication to the development and growth of the music education profession, music teaching and learning maintains particular positions connected to critical pedagogy and the work of Paulo Freire. The purpose of this paper is to extend Abrahams’ work by examining critical pedagogy as a pedagogy of “love” (e.g., Darder, 2000, 2011, 2017, hooks, 2004, Martin, 2004). Additionally, this paper examines personal and political natures of critical pedagogy as love for music teaching and …

“O Captain, My Captain”: A Pedagogy Of Transformation In The Teaching Of Frank Abrahams, Nicholas Ryan Mcbride

Visions of Research in Music Education

Countless scholars have utilized Critical Pedagogy as a philosophical frame to reorient teaching and learning as, among other things, a conversation between teacher and student. As an educator and theorist, Frank Abrahams has championed a Critical Pedagogy for Music Education that aims for the “acquisition of a critical consciousness, the ability to create meaningful teaching and learning experiences, and the attainment of agency” (Abrahams, 2017, p. 25). For nearly 25 years, I have been in conversation with Frank. He has been my teacher, my colleague, and a dear friend. In these roles, he has lived the pedagogy he teaches, embracing …

Learning To Drive, Daniel Abrahams

Visions of Research in Music Education

Parents serve in many roles, one of which is a mentor. At an early age, I accompanied my father to school and helped sort paperwork, observed choir rehearsals, attended concerts, and watched him mentor undergraduate and graduate students. Unbeknownst to me, I entered into an apprenticeship in the music education community. The present text reflects on how Frank Abrahams transformed my identity as a music educator through mentorship and our collaborative nature outside our father-son relationship. His actions personify not only those of a dad but those of a critical pedagogue. Furthermore, his actions created transformative spaces for me to …

Mentorship In Music Education: Youth Chorale As An Incubator For Young Conductors, Ming Luke

Visions of Research in Music Education

Straddling the role of conductor-teacher can be a daunting task for young artists. Providing space to hone both musical and pedagogical skills can lead to transformative moments for young conductor- teachers. As someone who experienced this complementary space first-hand, I can attest to the sustainable effects on one’s teaching and artistry. Moreover, coupled with the potential for merging the development of musical and pedagogical skills is the need for mentorship and modeling. In this article, I outline the ways in which a community youth chorale, the Westminster Conservatory Chorale, served as an incubator for young artists to practice balancing conducting …

Quite Frankly: Learning From The Pedagogical Art Of Joyful Disgruntlement, Gareth Dylan Smith

Visions of Research in Music Education

In this article, I describe professional encounters with Frank Abrahams, personally and through Abrahams’ writing. The paper includes reflection on Abrahams’ tireless work in testing and pressing the boundaries of normative, small-c conservative music teaching and learning traditions, in Abrahams’ beloved Westminster Choir College and beyond. I recall watching Abrahams teach, both in formal classroom contexts and in other areas of working with students and peers, such as co-authored publications and conference presentations. I recount my role as an unwitting mentee in Abrahams’ careful modeling of critical pedagogical approaches within and without the classroom. Drawing on personal anecdotes and several …

Honor Their World: Advocacy In The Work Of Frank Abrahams, Ryan John

Visions of Research in Music Education

Frank Abrahams’s career in music education has been marked by a theme of advocacy for others. This article examines three areas of advocacy apparent in his work and publications: advocacy for students, advocacy for teachers, and advocacy for people historically marginalized in American society. Through books, articles, research, book chapters, music series, and his actions, Frank Abrahams has advocated for stakeholders in education and in society through music education for decades in his roles as a teacher, administrator, and author.

Editorial Volume 40: Frankly Speaking, Cara Faith Bernard

Visions of Research in Music Education

No abstract provided.

On Becoming Pedagogical: Encounters, Challenges And Freirean Criticalities In The Key Of F, Patrick Schmidt

Visions of Research in Music Education

What does it mean to be a pedagogue? To become part and contributor to pedagogical processes? In this article I look back at the work Frank Abrahams developed around the legacy of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire and its efforts fomenting conditions for critical pedagogies to flourish. Following Freire’s interest in connecting reality and theory, I construct a narrative from the word (Freire’s, Abrahams’ and mine) onto the world, highlighting in particular, the impact conceptual framing can have on programmatic development. As I see it, and experienced first-hand, the focus and nature of Abrahams’ work has always been pedagogical, highly conscious …

2022-2023 Master Class - Webb Wiggins (Harpsichord), Webb Wiggins, Dina Bikzhanova, Jonathan Dills, Sergei Skobin, Sungkyun Lee, Rosa Ortega, Frederic Renaud, Silvia Valdivia Villasante, Marina Machado

Master Classes

No abstract provided.

Haydn’S Schemata And Hexachords: Two Analytical Case Studies, Gilad Rabinovitch

HAYDN: Online Journal of the Haydn Society of North America

Two analytical case studies, from Haydn’s minuet al roverso (from the Symphony Hob. I: 47) and the opening movement of the String Quartet Op. 50, no. 6, show the interaction of galant schemata (Gjerdingen 2007) and the hexachordal solmization of the solfeggio tradition (Baragwanath 2020). Haydn plays upon conventional galant schemata—presumably elements of style shared by listeners who are closely familiar with the idiom (even if they do not have explicit schema labels); he also plays upon a more esoteric element of his own training and that of many other musicians in the period: hexachordal solmization. By considering both schemata …

Modernizing And Diversifying Western's Audio Engineering Curriculum: First Stage, Kyle Haddad

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

This was the first stage in a much larger study designed to update the audio engineering curriculum at Western University, to reflect modern trends and to diversify beyond the UK 1970s prog rock bias of traditional curriculum. An undergraduate student was hired from within the Popular Music Studies program here at Western University to work in the studio for the summer, and to provide recommendations for change in studio design at the end fo the summer based on that work. The student worked on his own material, and engineered record sessions for a PhD candidate currently at work on a …

Inner Song Phenomenological Description Of A Musical Object Of Phantasy, Ellen Moysan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is the phenomenological description of a musical object of phantasy I call “inner song,” i.e., the music that the musician “sings in his or her head” while practicing his or her instrument. It describes the specific inner song of a single musician playing a melodic instrument, and rehearsing in a solipsistic situation. The description is based on three resources: my personal experience as a cellist; the third person experiences of other musicians I have interviewed on that topic since 2010; and the Husserlian corpus. Each chapter starts with excerpts of interviews focusing on specific aspects the inner song. …