Digital Commons Network^™

Hip-Hop, Medellín And Social Change, Veronica Henao Posada

Master's Theses

This study explores the ways in which the Hip-hop movement is producing social change in Medellín, Colombia. Looking specifically at a Hip-hop school called Cuatro Elementos Skuela, which exists autonomously and with very little state support in the Medellín neighborhood of Aranjuez, I argue that young people are contributing to the reconstruction of the city’s social, cultural and economic fabric. I start by explaining the historical context of Medellín, describing the different sets of conflicts that unleashed high levels of violence and caused the fragmentation of the social, cultural and economic fabric. Moreover, I review the role of the …

Pre-Service Music Teachers' Perspectives Of Experiences In An Informal Music Learning Group, Veronica Jane Sharpe

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Pre-service music teachers’ undergraduate preparation is often geared towards formal music making (i.e., large conductor-led ensembles). However, recent research suggests that many school-aged students are making music in informal settings (e.g. garage bands) outside of school. Despite a recent influx of research in informal music learning, there is little information on pre-service music teacher’s opinions towards and preparedness in incorporating informal music making into the classroom. The purpose of this study was to examine how pre-service music teachers’ informal music learning experiences shaped their perspectives on the importance of informal music learning and its role in the classroom. For this …

Every Town Is All The Same When You've Left Your Heart In The Portland Rain: Representations Of Portland Place And Local Identity In Portland Popular Lyrics, Meghan Andrea Kearney

Dissertations and Theses

This study looks at how place and local identity of Portland are described within music lyrics from Portland, Oregon popular indie-rock artists. Employing a constant comparative analysis on a set of 1,201 songs from 21 different popular Portland indie-rock artists, the themes of landscapes and climate were found to represent place, and themes of lifestyles and attitudes represented local identity. Reviewing the uncovered themes showed a strong connection between representations of place and local identity within lyrics and common stereotypes or understandings of the city of Portland and its indie-rock music scene. The results of this study illustrate how place …

Virtue Through Harmony: An Exploration Of The Ethical Role Of Music In Society, Sylvan Tovar

Senior Theses

Music can profoundly affect individuals and societies. Individuals use music to express themselves, their opinions, their worldview, their emotions, all channeled through the medium of sound. Societies use music to help give identity to their culture. Music has inspired people to take up arms for their country, or to revolt. It has gathered people of different backgrounds together under the banner of peace and of war. It has inspired people to march, it has driven them to yell, to scream, to dance, to pray, to kiss and hold, to break down and cry. Music can help people sleep, can affect …

The Orpheus Figure: The Voice In Writing, Music And Media, Jason R. D'Aoust

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study traces a historical trajectory of the voice as it encounters the Orpheus figure in writing, music, and other media. Following a critical discussion of Auerbach’s literary figuration, the author questions certain aspects of phonocentrism in relation to opera and texts using the voice for authoritative or rhetorical purposes. Grounded in the prefiguration of opera’s earlier displacement of the singing voice, the understanding of mass media and digital media then developed is critical of theories of immersion in media. The analyses of the series of works and figures (Orpheus, Ossian, and Tristan) in this study lead the author to …

The Halifax Pop Explosion: Music Scenes, Sloan, And The Case For A Halifax Sound, Danielle Hamel

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In the early 1990s, the Halifax music scene was catapulted into the limelight as Canada's answer to the Seattle grunge scene. Dubbed the Halifax Pop Explosion, the surge of bands that became popular during this time came of age in an already well-established music scene with nurturing local infrastructure. At the forefront of the city's mainstream success, the band Sloan and their peers had developed a particular style of songwriting and performance that led the media and local audiences to believe that a particular 'Halifax Sound' had emerged, a notion that still reverberates in the local music scene. Using the …

Comparison Of The Strength Of Harmony, Melodic Line, Rhythmic Variation, And Expressive Elements In Influencing Emotional Judgment In Music, Marilyn M. Moore

Masters Theses

Studies in the literature have been conducted that seem to establish that humans make consistent and similar emotional judgments when they are asked to describe an emotion that is being expressed musically. The present study targets four musical elements; harmony, melodic line, rhythmic variation, and expressive elements, to investigate which of these musical elements are most effective for influencing a listener to be able to recognize the composer's intended emotion of the music. There are eight original songs composed by the researcher, each song is assigned a specific intended emotional term. The eight songs are presented in five distinct conditions, …

Advanced Conducting Project, R. David Cooper

Conducting Student Scholarship

An analysis of several pieces :

• Mother Earth, A Fanfare, David Maslanka
• Introit, Fisher Tull
• Danza #2, Bruce Yurko
• Suite Francaise, Darius Milhaud
• Aspen Jubilee, Ron Nelson

The Virtual Guru And Beyond: The Changing Role Of Teacher In North Indian Classical Music, Wallace Harvey

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

This project, which encompasses both written and performed aspects, is an exploration of the North Indian classical music tradition as it is taught in twenty-first century California, and a de-exoticization of a musical style that most Americans are unacquainted with. A brief overview of the basic theory, history, and practice of North Indian classical music is followed by a comparison of oral and written musical traditions. A specific composition from the North Indian classical tradition is included as an example of the form and how that form is transmitted. Emerging modes of transmission include multimedia and network technologies; their use, …

Evaluation Of Alternate Mouthpiece Material Types To Minimize Vibrations And Heat Loss - The Research And Execution Of Prototypes, Kristen Bobuk

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This paper is based on the idea of current horn mouthpieces being made solely out of brass with a limited market of stainless steel and titanium with plating being silver or gold. This is an opportunity to explore alternate materials; specifically steel, cast iron and aluminum for the base material and chrome, copper and nickel for plating materials. Readers will learn about metal properties such as hardness, thermal conductivity and specific heat and learn why certain materials are more beneficial than others.

The Effect Of Music Training On Emotion Perception In Childhood, Emese Maroti

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Numerous studies found evidence that music training can enhance cognitive abilities both for children and adults. However, no evidence was found yet, whether music training can enhance abilities in emotion perception. I tested 8-9 year-old children on emotion perception in visual and musical contexts. The tests did not show significant difference between the musically trained and non-trained group neither in visual nor in musical context, however, when emotion scores were analyzed separately for each piece of music, musically trained children's responses reflected stereotypical modes of approaching emotional meanings in music, moreover, musically trained children's judgments were more uniform as there …

Congruent And Incongruent Effects Of Ethnic Music On Ethnic Menu Item Selection, Ryan David Muniz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated what impact ethnic music had on ethnic menu item selection. College students were randomly divided into three groups and listened to one randomly assigned sound treatment in sensory booths. Three hundred and five participants completed the questionnaire with measures of expected price value and willingness to pay value. One of the groups listened to an Italian folk music, the second group listened to a Thai folk music, and the third group listened to a restaurant background noise in order to examine if the music will impact each participant menu items selection and perceived price values. The result …

The Choral Hierarchy Examined: The Presence Of Repertoire For Women's Choirs In Monographs On Choral Literature And Choral History, Lauren Elizabeth Estes

Theses - ALL

Women's choirs have been perceived as less prestigious than and inferior to mixed choirs. There is a well-documented choral hierarchy in academia that favors mixed choirs above other choir types. Most frequently, the delineation of the choral hierarchy places women's choirs at the bottom. Books about choral literature and choral history are influential media for those selecting repertoire for choirs. In this study, the monographs recommended as resources on choral literature and choral history by the American Choral Directors Association were surveyed to ascertain the quantity and kind of repertoire included for women's choirs as compared to the quantity and …

Music And Art: Exploring Cross-Pollination., Chelseigh Robinson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

As a music student who was always more attracted to the “academic” side of music rather than the performance side, I have come to hold a great respect for music history. This interest only grew when I got the opportunity to study music for a semester in Edinburgh, Scotland. Being surrounded by so much history, both musical and artistic, only fed my passion. I began to notice many similarities between the development of music and art both during lectures at the university and in my leisure time in galleries. I noticed that composers and visual artists in the same time …

An Examination Of The Requirements And Preparation Required Fortubists Desiring A Career In The Military, With Emphasis On Premier Band Auditions, Patrick Charles Rettger

Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to explore the differences between the various military bands in the United States with respect to tuba players. Fourteen military tuba players were interviewed. Based on their responses, each branch’s similarities and differences are presented. The research then focuses specifically on the audition process for premier band tuba players. These positions are highly coveted; yet they are not ideal for everyone. A survey was sent to all of the current and a number of prior service premier band tuba players asking them to list important band excerpts for tubists to know for military band …

The Role Of The Musical - Self In Promoting Career Longevity Among Music Therapists, Peter Davis

Theses & Dissertations

To attend to the musical and clinical needs of music therapy consumers, music therapists must attend to their own music so as to nurture their musical-self (Bruscia, 1987; Priestley, 1994; Robbins & Robbins, 1998). Yet, despite the fact that music is the basic tool music therapists rely upon to conduct their work (Aigen, 2005b; Brookins, 1984), the topic of nurturing the musical-self has received scarce, if any attention in the music therapy literature. The purpose of this study was to understand the views of professional music therapists in regard to the role of the musical-self in promoting career longevity among …

A Stylistic Analysis And Performance Guide For James Sclater's "Variations And Toccata On A Theme By Paganini", David Michael Ward

Dissertations

This document exists as a resource for understanding and performing the piano music of the American composer James Sclater. It focuses specifically on the Variations and Toccata on a Theme by Paganini (2002), his most important solo piano composition. Sclater’s extensive output includes works for orchestra, voice, opera, band, chorus, as well as compositions for soloists and chamber music.

After a brief biographical summary and some historical background for the subjects under discussion, the main portion of the study provides a stylistic analysis of Sclater’s Variations and Toccata on a Theme by Paganini, a significant and heretofore unexamined piano work …

Exodus Concerto For Guitar And Chamber Orchestra, Spencer Joel Kappelman

Masters Theses

Exodus is a four-movement composition for solo guitar accompanied by a chamber orchestra. This piece is composed in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree Master of Music with a concentration in Music Composition from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Exodus was composed during the 2010-2012 academic years.
This paper provides a narrative analysis of Exodus in terms of its musical content, and relationships to other composers of the last century. Similarities to these composers refer to form, orchestration, melody, harmony, rhythm, and meter.

The Role Of Music-Specific Representations When Processing Speech: Using A Musical Illusion To Elucidate Domain-Specific And -General Processes, Christina M. Vanden Bosch Der Nederlanden

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

When listening to music and language sounds, it is unclear whether adults recruit domain-specific or domain-general mechanisms to make sense of incoming sounds. Unique acoustic characteristics such as a greater reliance on rapid temporal transitions in speech relative to song may introduce misleading interpretations concerning shared and overlapping processes in the brain. By using a stimulus that is both ecologically valid and can be perceived as speech or song depending on context, the contribution of low- and high-level mechanisms may be teased apart. The stimuli employed in all experiments are auditory illusions from speech to song reported by Deutsch et …

Second Lines, Story Circles, And Freedom Songs: A Call And Response, Ann-Meredith Wootton

Capstone Collection

Community Is Survival

In New Orleans, all the grandmothers tell the story about the live oaks. Our roots don't grow deep into the swamp, but they grow wide – weaving, growing, and binding together with all of the surrounding trees, so that when the hurricane winds come, we will not fall. Together we can stand up against the strongest Gulf force winds (and the many faces of the Cradle to Prison Pipeline) – pushing, pulling, and leaning on one another when we need – and survive to see another day.

Live oaks also carry the story tradition of being a …

For The Love Of Music: A Story Of Organizational Culture And Change, Malii Brown

Capstone Collection

For the Love of Music: A Story of Organizational Culture and Change is an examination of culture and possibilities for change at an organization that manages one top-tier, U.S. classical music orchestra. The research was carried out for the purpose of making and refining meaning from collective employee experiences at a canon cultural organization whose practices reflect and influence our society beyond the context of music. The inquiry at the heart of the work is, ‘How does the organizational culture of the subject organization, Orchestra, Inc.[1], affect its readiness for organizational change?’ The research methodology consisted of organizational culture assessments …

Boundary Issues In Music Therapy Internship Supervision, Michelle Lasco

Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the prevalence and frequency of boundary issues within music therapy internship supervision. An online survey was used to obtain data from 243 board- certified music therapists who finished their training within the past five years. Participants were asked for demographic information, and asked to respond to questions about boundary issues and challenges during their internship. The study found a relatively low frequency of boundary issues; however some issues occurred more often than others, most notably social media connections and social outings beyond the internship site. Social media connections that were initiated by the supervisor, the gender mix …

Beginning Clarinet Fundamentals And Ways To Instill Them At A Young Age, Jade Reynolds

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Physical Movement In Rhythm Instruction In Early Instrumentalist Development, Jessica Horne-Greene

Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this study was to investigate if including physical movement in instruction improves instrumental music student's rhythmic abilities. Within the rhythmic instruction, the research study specifically focused on student's rhythmic ability and note reading improvements. Participants in this study included instrumental music students in grades four, five, and six, in a middle-class school district (N=18). The control group was given four weeks of traditional rhythm instruction, with a traditional counting method. The experimental group was given rhythm instruction incorporating physical movement over a period of four weeks. Prior to the lessons, both the experimental and control groups were …

Music And Conflict Resolution: Can A Music And Story Centered Workshop Enhance Empathy?, Parfait Adegboyé Bassalé

Dissertations and Theses

The Story and Song Centered Pedagogy (SSCP) is a workshop that uses songs, stories and reflective questioning to increase empathy. This preliminary study tested the prediction that being exposed to the SSCP would increase empathy using, the Emotional Concern (EC) and Perspective Taking (PT) subscales of the renowned Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) (Davis, 1990). Subjects self-reported their answers to the IRI before and after undergoing the SSCP intervention. Comparing their pre and post intervention results, no statistically significant changes were noticed for the EC and PT scales (p-value = 0.7093 for EC; p-value = 0.6328 for PT). These results stand …

The Political Economy Of Cultural Production: Essays On Music And Class, Ian J. Seda Irizarry

Open Access Dissertations

Overview

As an activity that produces wealth, musical production and its effects have largely been neglected by the economics profession. This dissertation seeks contribute to a small but growing literature on the subject by analyzing musical production through a particular class analytical lens of political economy.

A first problem that has encountered many within political economy, specifically within its radical variant of Marxism, is how to understand music in relation to the social totality. In the first essay of this work I provide a critical review of the literature that approaches music through the "base-superstructure metaphor", a tool of analysis …

Galina Ustvolskaya (1919-2006): Analytical Approach To The Pitch Content Of Selected Compositions, Lindsay S. Murrell

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Galina Ustvolskaya was overshadowed throughout her lifetime, both personally and professionally, by her compositional colleague, Dmitri Shostakovich. This dissertation seeks to establish Ustvolskaya’s separate identity, making her idiosyncratic compositional design the forefront of the research. A contextual transformational approach suits her compositional design built upon the element of repetition. Employing Joseph Straus’s analytical approach to the music of Ruth Crawford Seeger, this dissertation will explore a selection of Ustvolskaya’s work, demonstrating the evolution of her compositional design.

The melodic foundations of Ustvolskaya’s compositional approach are based upon compact motives established at the onset of each work. The motives are then …

"Take A Sad Song And Make It Better": Exploring Rewards Related To Liking Unfamiliar Sad Music, John Hogue

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis tested some of Levinson's (1997) ideas on why people like music that makes them sad. A path model of this effect was interpreted from Levinson's theory, and 5 of the paths were tested. These paths were that music would directly create a communion with the song, that happiness and sadness would mediate this effect, that absorption would moderate the direct path, that absorption would moderate the songs' ability to evoke the emotions, and that satisfaction would moderate the emotions' influence on liking the songs.

A pilot study was conducted to determine if the songs evoked their intended emotions. …

Advanced Wind Conducting Project, Brett Thomas Hosterman

Conducting Student Scholarship

Contents include:

1. Introduction
2. "An American in Paris" by George Gershwin, arranged by John Krance
3. "Danse Bacchannale from "Samson and Delilah" by Saint-Saëns
4. "Flourish for Wind Band" by Ralph Vaughan Williams
5. "Cajun Folk Songs II" by Frank Ticheli
6. "Russian Christmas Music" by Alfred Reed
7. Endnotes/References.

Study Of The Acquisition Of Development Of Melodic Notation In First- To Third-Grade Children, Kaylan Rose Wells

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the cognitive development in music of first- to third-grade children, with particular interest in the mean level of development for each age and the role that gender may play. Participants included 224 students (115 girls and 109 boys) from grades 1-3. Using a developed research protocol, a trained committee of music educators rated children’s drawings for cognitive development with respect to melodic line. The study found significant difference among grade levels with F= 6.9702, df= 2, 222, p = .0012 at the .01 level using a three-group ANOVA. However, there were no …