Music Practice Commons^™

A Poet's Voice: Music In Service To Poetry: Elements Of Text Painting In Juliana Hall's Song Cycle "How Do I Love Thee?", Hayley Z. Coughin

Dissertations, 2020-current

American composer Juliana Hall has established a reputation as one of the leading composers of contemporary American art songs, having composed over 60 song cycles, totaling over 300 works for the voice. Hall’s song cycle How Do I Love Thee? expresses a narrative arc told through five selections from Victorian-era poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnets from the Portuguese. The poems selected include Sonnet 3: “Unlike,” Sonnet 43: “How Do I Love Thee?,” Sonnet 37: “Pardon,” Sonnet 21: “Say Over,” and Sonnet 41: “Thank You.” Hall’s cycle describes the relationship between the lover and the object of their love, including …

Creative Practice For Classical String Players With Live Looping, Caleb Yang

Music Theses

In recent years, string pedagogy discussions have highlighted the greater need for creative practice as classical string players. Since the second half of the nineteenth century, string methods have shifted towards a limited scope of improvisatory techniques, parallelling the decline of improvisation in Western classical music performance practices. This thesis explores live looping as a practice tool to facilitate learning concepts and help string players develop musicianship skills including improvisation, participate in non-classical genres, and explore their creative voices. Examining the results of string educators that incorporate live looping into their own teaching reveals the tool’s effectiveness in bridging curricula …

A Performance Practice Guide For :Only.Just.Almost.Never For Solo Vibraphone By Jay Alan Yim, Dustin Ray Haigler

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

Currently, there exists little scholarship on Dr. Jay Alan Yim’s percussion music, and none exists for :only.just.almost.never for solo vibraphone. Establishing a performance practice guide will allow future percussionists a glimpse into the compositional process of Yim and allow them to expand their repertoire to include this challenging music. The purpose of this project is to create a comprehensive performance practice guide for :only.just.almost.never for solo vibraphone by Jay Alan Yim.

Resources Required

This project relies mainly on the score of :only.just.almost.never for solo vibraphone. I have also conducted multiple interviews with Yim regarding his compositional process, sketches, and …

Guitar Thinking, Jonathan De Souza

Soundboard Scholar

Playing the guitar develops physical skills but also ways of listening and thinking about music. For example, guitarists often conceptualize chords as two-dimensional shapes—an approach that is foreign to pianists. What does it mean, then, to think like a guitarist? This article approaches “guitar thinking” through music theory and cognitive science. Psychological experiments help to reveal auditory, visual, and tactile aspects of guitar playing and to show how guitarists respond to the instrument’s affordances (i.e., its possibilities for action). Additionally, recent research in music theory models fretboard space and examines patterns of body-instrument interaction. To demonstrate this mode of analysis, …

The Most Common Vocal Fault In The Baritone Voice, Matthew Derek Cyphert

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The purpose of this research project is to create an approachable guide to avoiding the most common vocal fault found in the baritone singing voice. The specific fault being discussed has been coined the “baritone swallow.” This document will explore the history of the baritone singing voice along with information regarding vocal fach identification, an in-depth study of this common vocal fault frequently experienced by baritone singers, and a fault-specific guide to identifying and addressing the “baritone swallow.”

Momentary Endurance: The Effects Of Mouthpiece Pressure And Capillary Refill Time On Short-Term Muscle Recovery In Trumpet Players, Taylor Gustad

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The topic of proper mouthpiece pressure usage has been widely pushed off to the margins of trumpet pedagogy, only receiving the passing mention in a limited number of method books. This research paper contains a cross sectional view of the few, but most prominently used method books in the trumpet community that shows the prevalence of this issue, as well as steps to bring in new and useful information in this field. There are several aspects of mouthpiece pressure that should be studied; however, this paper focuses on its connection to momentary endurance and capillary refill time.

Momentary endurance is …

Youth Musicians’ Executive Functioning And Its Impact On Emotional And Behavioral Health, Michael A. Tate

Dissertations and Theses

A growing body of neuroscience literature shows that music promotes brain development, as learning a music instrument involves multiple brain regions and neurocognitive systems. In partnership with a non-profit organization with a mission to strengthen New York City communities through music education programs, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of music training on children’s executive functioning (EF), as well as emotional and behavioral outcomes. We hypothesized that (i) children’s EF would develop more rapidly with exposure to the program; (ii) the intensity of practice would be associated with rate of growth of children’s EF, emotion regulation and behavior; (iii) …

Tradition, Pedagogy, And Internet Open-Access Music Libraries, Erin Tallman

Pomona Senior Theses

In this paper I take up the topic of open-access digital music libraries, specifically the ways performance and pedagogical traditions interact with and are impacted by open-access or public domain sheet music libraries on the internet. I first consider how traditions of performance and pedagogy have become misaligned in the case of viola repertoire and its historical context. I then turn to questions of copyright on the internet and copyleft practices as they relate to internet open-access libraries such as IMSLP, finding that they often are simply a new medium through which to uphold existing patterns, despite their apparent potential …

Constructivist Peer Review In Music Theory And Composition Courses: Technologies And Practice, Brendan Mcconville

Journal of the Association for Technology in Music Instruction

This article considers the supporting technologies and practices for effective semi-anonymous peer review in traditional music theory and composition-related courses: orchestration, arranging, and composition. A coordinated approach probes two questions nested within one broad case study: (1) does the use of peer review in music theory and composition-related courses create meaningful, constructivist-inspired learning experiences, and (2) what web technologies can efficiently and effectively accomplish its activities? The article first provides a constructivist theoretical framework; next, it explains the methodologies, technologies, and resulting feedback from using peer review in a three-course study; and finally it provides concluding remarks on the many …

An Application Of Natural Learning Processes In The Preparation Of Edward Gregson's Trumpet Concerto, James Jenkins

Doctoral Projects

Concerto for Trumpet and Strings by Edward Gregson is a substantial work of the late twentieth century underperformed among trumpet players. The primary reasons for its relative neglect are its technical challenges and the demands of endurance it places on the player. A well-designed approach to the preparation of this work will benefit students and professional players wishing to prepare for a performance of the work. This project will combine the knowledge of researchers and teachers in formulating specific practice approaches for the concerto’s challenges.

The findings of neuroscientists and psychologists, gained through testing and measurement, will be consulted along …

Travelin' To The Promised Land: Symbolism Of The Jordan River In African Spiritual, English Hymn, And American Folksong Selections, Hope V. Dornfeld

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

These program notes originally accompanied a performance of three vocal pieces: Deep River, On Jordan's Stormy Banks, and Poor Wayfaring Stranger. The notes analyze the role of the Jordan river in each piece, focusing on their historical context, first performances, and issues of authorship. As part of a performing arts research project, the program notes also address the method of expression and creative process that went into preparing the performance of these pieces.

The songs included in this presentation all speak to the journey from earth to heaven. In each piece, the Jordan River is found to symbolize a …

Developing Variation In The Late Work Of Morton Gould And Why It Matters, J. Wesley Flinn

Gamut: Online Journal of the Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic

American composer Morton Gould (1913-1996) was remarkably consistent stylistically over the course of his compositional career; this project examines certain motivic transformational techniques used in two of his last works, Stringmusic (1993, winner of the Pulitzer Prize) and Remembrance Day (Soliloquy for a Passing Century) (1995). These techniques, which can generally be filed under the principle of developing variation, are: 1. Mirroring and reversal; 2. Rotation; 3. Motivic expansion and contraction; 4. Additive sets; and 5. Asymmetric injection. After an overview of each technique, I give a full analysis of the fourth movement of Stringmusic using the approaches described …

Sacred Music In Colonial Era Hispaniola: The Evangelization Of The Taino People, Tito J. Gutierrez

Student Theses

During the 15th-18th centuries, the major European religious orders; the Franciscans, Dominicans, Jesuits, and Jeronymites, journeyed to the newly colonized American territories in an attempt to convert the multitudes of natives peoples living there. Along with prayer books, crucifixes, and religious images, these missionaries brought sacred European music to American shores in an attempt to attract the native people to the Catholic faith.The use of music as a tool for conversion of native people in places such as Mexico, South America, California, and the South West United States, have been well researched and documented. However, the research of the spiritual …

Discovering Two New Solo Works For Trombone: A History, Summary, And Preparation Of Frank Gulino’S Sonata No. 1: The Journey, And Joseph Buono’S Elegy For Trombone And Piano, John Mark Whitfield Jr

Doctoral Projects

This paper will serve as a guide to musicians for the preparation and performance of two recent solo compositions for trombone worthy of study and performance: Frank Gulino’s Sonata No. 1: The Journey (2019) and Joseph Buono’s Elegy for Trombone and Piano (2016). Included will be sections or chapters on the history and background of each work, biographical information about each composer, a detailed performer’s analysis of each work, exclusive interviews with the composers, and interviews with the trombonists who commissioned and/or premiered each work.

Each individual interview will provide insight into the music, including information on personal inspirations and …

Offenbach’S Operetta As Performance Practice: A Pedagogical, Dramatic, And Stylistic Role Guide For Pâris In La Belle Hélène, Peter Lake

Dissertations

This dissertation originated from my personal experience in performing the role of Pâris in Offenbach’s La belle Hélène and the research I conducted in preparation for the performance. Upon examining the score, I discovered the role to contain vocal elements that seemed foreign to my expectations of operatic repertoire. After consulting as many scholarly sources as I could find on the subject, I discovered little to no sense of direction in preparing and performing this unique role or for French operetta as a genre. I decided to compile my experience and research into a usable tool for preparing a French …

Teacher Perspectives On The Influence Of Participation In Dalcroze Training In The K–12 Music Classroom: A Mixed Methods Study, Holly Smith

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the teacher perspectives on the influence of participation in Dalcroze training in the K–12 music classroom. A primary goal was to investigate how Dalcroze training influenced music teachers’ classroom instructional practices. An explanatory sequential mixed methods design was use for this study. Participants (N = 91) completed a cross-sectional survey, the Dalcroze Training Experience Questionnaire (DTEQ). Interview participants (N = 6) were selected using stratified sampling based on their years of Dalcroze experience and not demographic characteristics. Each participated in one semi-structured interview.

Quantitative data was analyzed using a …

Songs For High Voice: An Annotated Guide To African Romances, Op. 17 By Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Makeda Danielle Hampton

Theses and Dissertations--Music

African Romances, Op. 17, composed in 1897 by African-British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), is a collection of seven songs for high voice that is uniquely both African and American. The lyrics of this song cycle were first published in the book Majors and Minors, a collection of poems published in 1895 by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906).

An analysis of resources supports that academic discourse in Black vocal music has been underrepresented due to the absence of centralized information, such as published scores, recorded materials, catalogs, and guides for study and performance. While in depth research focusing on the art …

Beyond The Notation: Developing Tools To Guide Artistic Decisions Of Performers In The Wind Ensemble, Brent Johnson

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Music is a subjective art form that is enhanced by emotional connection and understanding of the relationship of line and phrasing to both the performer and the audience. Performers and conductors are charged with making artistic decisions about the expressive qualities of a phrase within moments of seeing the notation for the first time. In the development of wind ensembles, there is often a disconnect between the technique and accuracy of a musician’s performance and the emotional connection and understanding required to perform a lyrical melody or phrase within a piece of music. As musicians progress, often the attention is …

Touching Light: A Framework For The Facilitation Of Music-Making In Mixed Reality, Ian Thomas Riley

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Drawing upon the historical development of analog and digital technologies alongside the proliferation of computer-assisted performance practices, this research seeks to develop a framework for integrating Mixed Reality applications to live musical performance, specifically through the creation of a Microsoft HoloLens 2 Mixed Reality application in order to facilitate a live performance of an original musical composition for percussion and real-time Mixed Reality environment. Mixed Reality enables a performer to interact with virtual (holograms, VSTs, etc.) and physical (vibraphone, tuned drums, microphones, etc.) objects simultaneously. Tandem to the development of the conceptual framework was the composition of an original score …

Fostering Music Performers In The 21st Century: A Contemporary Professional Perspective Toward A New Curricular Agenda For Graduate Study In Music, Andre Januario

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

What if the core curriculum for graduate students in music performance were designed to prepare students to succeed in the world of the Fourth Industrial Revolution?

This dissertation offers a hypothetical answer: a structured and systematic academic curricular framework for music graduate students of performance of concert music (especially those in terminal degrees, such as doctoral students), along with music instructors, professional music performers, school administrators, and college professors, seeking to prepare such students for achieving and maintaining a music career more in keeping with the current work environment, especially those skills demanded by the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the …

A Survey Of Musical Expectations In The Marine Forces Reserve Band Stationed In New Orleans, Louisiana, Brandon Paul Carbonari

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This research document examines the musical expectations of United States Marines serving in the Marine Forces Reserve Band from 2017 to 2021. Chapter One of this study provides a detailed foundation of the musical and non-musical responsibilities of a United States Marine musician. Training regime, rehearsal schedule, and logistical area responsibilities will be described to help convey the full scope of duty. The source material for Chapter One includes dissertations, journal articles, published books, online sources, and interviews. Chapter Two provides results of a survey that was conducted with members of the band. The questions were designed to record the …

A Study Of The Steel Pan: A Guide To Two Tenor Pan Etudes, Lilith Manes

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project will be a presentation of the research, processes, and results of composing two etudes for the tenor steelpan. The difficulty and applications of the accompanying etudes vary, but they are primarily intended for high school students or intermediate pannists. The purpose of this research project is twofold: to provide a brief description of the history of the steelpan and its integration into the United States education system in order to illustrate the need for original compositions and to serve as a guide to the teaching process of each composition provided. This paper will also give a detailed explanation …

Developing A Systematic Approach For Teaching Beginning Improvisation Using The Concert Percussion Ensemble, Ian Mcclaflin

Dissertations

Typically, when studying percussion at a University, a student is required to be proficient at multiple aspects of percussion (snare drum, mallet keyboards, drum set, hand drumming, etc.) and work through multiple method books and solos on the different instruments. This often leaves little to no room for the study of improvisation on their instrument.

Examined in this study are the following points pertaining to the state of teaching improvisation:

• There is an apparent lack of improvisation in the classroom
• Teachers often feel unprepared in teaching improvisation
• Improvisation is most commonly associated with jazz
• Both teachers and students tend to …

See It And Believe It: An Investigation Into Singers' Imagery Use, Brianna Desantis

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Sport and dance psychology researchers have shown, time and again, how imagery improves performance in their respective fields. In singing, imagery has a long history in the bel canto (beautiful singing) tradition but it is more linked to using metaphor and simile as teaching aids rather than a mental practice technique to improve performance. Because of this, imagery in singing is even broader than imagery in athletics or dance. Moreover, imagery in singing psychology has not been as thoroughly examined in an empirical setting, especially not from a sport and dance psychology perspective.

This monograph aims to outline the term …

Singing In The Beginning Band Classroom, Sarah J. Moyer

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The purpose of this action research study is to explore the impact vocal activities have on fourth and fifth grade beginning band students and how their perspective might change throughout instruction. The participants' experience with vocal activities in the beginning instrumental classroom will shape their perspective. The following research questions guide this study:

1. In what ways do vocal activities in the beginning instrumental classroom influence student knowledge of repertoire?
2. In what way do vocal activities boost student confidence in the beginning instrumental classroom?
3. What aspects of vocal activities encourage or discourage students from participating in the beginning instrumental classroom?

Data …

A Conductor's Guide To Dale Trumbore's How To Go On, Stuart Dameron

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

How To Go On is a thirty-five minute work for a cappella choir composed by Dale Trumbore from 2015 to 2017. Since its premiere, How To Go On has been performed by notable choral ensembles including The Esoterics, the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, The Singers: Minnesota Choral Artists, and Webster University’s Chamber Singers. The work was awarded the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award in 2017.

This dissertation serves as an analysis and conductor’s guide for this work through the fulfillment of several purposes: a detailed and thorough investigation into the background and history behind the …

Survey And Analysis Of Undergraduate Music Education Percussion Methods Courses In Relation To The Practical Needs Of Secondary Music Educators In American Public Schools, Bryan C. Pickering

Dissertations, 2020-current

The majority of Bachelor’s degrees in Music Education require students to enroll in a series of instrumental methods or techniques courses. These courses cover fundamental techniques and pedagogical approaches that prepare students for their future careers as music educators. Due to the percussion instrument family having a large scope of material that needs to be covered, it is commonly perceived by those who teach the classes, that Percussion Methods classes within an undergraduate Music Education degree operate on time frames that make equal coverage of all instruments and topics a pedagogical challenge within a standard academic semester.

The purpose of …

Shared Dramatic Pacing In Jake Heggie's Three Decembers, Cynthia Wohlschlager

Dissertations, 2020-current

Jake Heggie collaborated with Terrence McNally and Gene Sheer to infuse 21st-century topics into the chamber opera Three Decembers. This document traces the development of the Madeline Mitchell motif, followed by illuminating the concept of shared dramatic pacing through the use of score identifiers. Fueled by research into Heggie's compositional process, via personal interviews with the composer, it defines an effective method for character development, as well as provides suggestions for the successful preparation of a Jake Heggie opera. For this document, the concept of shared dramatic pacing refers to the time on stage during a performance that is …

An Instrumental Approach To Sight Singing: The Use Of Mock-Fingerings, Catherine E. Howland

Senior Theses

This pilot study was designed to test whether mock-fingerings could be a beneficial strategy for sight singing. The researcher hypothesized that mock-fingerings would help students to be more accurate sight singers. Participants, wind instrument players at the college level, were asked to sight read two examples, one while “fingering along” and one with their hands still. Mean scores were compared among music majors and non-majors, and it was found that the mock-fingerings did not have a significant effect on the mean scores of participants. The mean scores were often comparable between the fingering condition and the control condition, suggesting that …

A Performer's Guide To "No Man In His Right Mind," "Letter," And "Mirror Mirror" From The Opera, Dog Days, Grace Claire Mccrary

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Dog Days is a modern, American opera based in a war-torn, post-apocalyptic United States of America. Written by internationally acclaimed composer David T. Little and internationally acclaimed librettist Royce Vavrek, Dog Days is told through the eyes of a 13-year old girl, named Lisa. This project serves as a performer’s guide to Lisa’s three arias. Chapter one provides a biographical sketch of the composer, David T. Little. Chapter two briefly describes the life events of Royce Vavrek, leading to the development of Dog Days. Chapter three provides the detailed process of how the opera was created, specifically the development …