Japanese Music Theory,
2026
Fort Hays State University
Japanese Music Theory, Elias N. Nichols
SACAD: Scholarly Activities
This research project explores Japanese music theories. By analyzing the basic components of Japanese music, including historical and modern approaches, this presentation demonstrates the similarities and differences in the formation of music in western thought when compared to the methodology of Japan. This research dives deep into tones, scales, melodic approaches, historical development and the effect on modern compositions today. This project informs the audience on the nuances of Japanese music theories in the hope to dispel stereotypes about music theories from different cultures, apart from western thought.
Preliminary Sonification Of Enso Using Traditional Javanese Gamelan Scales,
2026
University of California, Riverside
Preliminary Sonification Of Enso Using Traditional Javanese Gamelan Scales, Sandy Hs Herho, Rusmawan Suwarman, Nurjanna J. Trilaksono, Iwan P. Anwar, Faiz R. Fajary
Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)
Sonification—the mapping of data to non-speech audio—offers an underexplored channel for representing complex dynamical systems. We treat El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a canonical example of low-dimensional climate chaos, as a test case for culturally-situated sonification evaluated through complex systems diagnostics. Using parameter-mapping sonification of the Niño 3.4 sea surface temperature anomaly index (1870–2024), we encode ENSO variability into two traditional Javanese gamelan pentatonic systems (pelog and slendro) across four composition strategies, then analyze the resulting audio as trajectories in a two- dimensional acoustic phase space. Recurrence-based diagnostics, convex hull ge- ometry, and coupling analysis reveal that the sonification …
The Banjo: A Dive Into The Creation And Rise Of Bluegrass’S Favorite Instrument,
2026
Fort Hays State University
The Banjo: A Dive Into The Creation And Rise Of Bluegrass’S Favorite Instrument, Hans E. Deaton
SACAD: Scholarly Activities
This study examines the creation and development of the banjo and its cultural transformation from its West African origins to its role in modern American music. The banjo originated from instruments native to West Africa and was brought to the Americas through the transatlantic slave trade, where it evolved within enslaved African communities. It was later performed by 19th-century American minstrels, leading to its widespread adoption by the Appalachian South. In the 20th century, the banjo became a defining instrument in bluegrass music, shaped by performers such as Bill Monroe and Earl Scruggs. Today, the banjo maintains a lasting influence …
We're All Ramblers, Here: American National Identity As Articulated Through The Sounds And Stories Of Bluegrass Music,
2026
University of South Carolina - Columbia
We're All Ramblers, Here: American National Identity As Articulated Through The Sounds And Stories Of Bluegrass Music, Greyson M. Sherman
Senior Theses
This creative thesis argues that bluegrass music, through its multicultural origins and its central "Rambler" archetype, articulates a distinctly American negotiation between freedom and rootedness — one that extends far beyond the genre's narrow popular image. Drawing on musicological scholarship and cultural history, the paper first recovers bluegrass's suppressed origins in the convergence of West African, Anglo- Celtic, and broader European traditions, complicating narratives that position the genre as exclusively white and Appalachian. It then introduces the Rambler — the restless, longing figure who haunts bluegrass lyrically and structurally — as both a product of that history and a metaphorical …
Msh 115 - World Music Writing Intensive,
2026
CUNY Lehman College
Msh 115 - World Music Writing Intensive, Margaret Farrell
Open Educational Resources
This syllabus guided our exploration of music around the globe. In this writing intensive section, music served as a means to internalize information through writing as well as inspiration for developing a clear and persuasive writing style. Our investigations included consideration the forms of the music as well as their cultural and historical contexts.
Contributors To Issue 7,
2026
University of New Hampshire
Contributors To Issue 7
Music & Musical Performance: An International Journal
No abstract provided.
Sounds Of Other Shores: The Musical Poetics Of Identity On Kenya's Swahili Coast, By Andrew J. Eisenberg. Middletown, Ct: Wesleyan University Press, 2024 [Review].,
2026
University of Michigan
Sounds Of Other Shores: The Musical Poetics Of Identity On Kenya's Swahili Coast, By Andrew J. Eisenberg. Middletown, Ct: Wesleyan University Press, 2024 [Review]., Charles Lwanga
Music & Musical Performance: An International Journal
No abstract provided.
The Japanese Shakuhachi: Comparing The Ancient Tuning With The Modern One,
2026
Hirosaki University
The Japanese Shakuhachi: Comparing The Ancient Tuning With The Modern One, Nick Bellando, Bruno Deschênes
Music & Musical Performance: An International Journal
The difference between traditional and modern shakuhachi construction and tuning is significant in that it represents a paradigm shift in the psychological aim and embodied techniques employed in association with the instrument. Beginning in Edo-era Japan as an ostensibly religious instrument, the shakuhachi was at first played with a similar technique to its predecessor, the hitoyogiri, using the breath to modify pitch and giving priority to tone color. Coming into the modern era, the shakuhachi came to be used increasingly as a modern musical instrument; the resulting higher priority of pitch-precision brought about changes in construction and playing techniques that …
Expresiones Musicales Rurales,
2026
Universidad de Cundinamarca
Expresiones Musicales Rurales, Ana Betina Morgante Combariza, Rosa Delia Acosta León, Manuel Fernando Merchán Bernal, Juan Manuel Urrego Laurin, Andrés Felipe Acuña Duarte
Ciencias Sociales, Humanidades y Ciencias Políticas
La riqueza musical de una región no solo reside en sus sonidos y melodías, sino en las historias, las tradiciones y los valores que estos transmiten de generación en generación. Este libro de partituras es el resultado de un proceso de investigación etnomusicológico que busca documentar, preservar y divulgar las expresiones musicales rurales de tradición oral en Cundinamarca. Las partituras contenidas en esta publicación no son solo transcripciones musicales, representan una ventana a la cosmovisión de las comunidades rurales cundinamarquesas, donde la música es un medio de comunicación, un canal para la memoria colectiva y una herramienta pedagógica de inestimable …
Groove Goes The Distance: An Initial Inquiry Into Jazz Music In Egypt,
2026
American University in Cairo
Groove Goes The Distance: An Initial Inquiry Into Jazz Music In Egypt, Farida Gohar
Theses and Dissertations
Jazz music has been a historically contentious site of social, cultural, and political signification. From the violent subjugation that characterized its origins and aspirational freedom that animated its practice, to its transformation into a distinctly “American” music instrumentalized by the US State Department to counter Soviet influence, jazz’s capacity for the inscription of meaning is vast and regularly cause for debate. The particular configuration of jazz music in Egypt is no less complicated although seldom studied. This thesis ventures an initial mapping of the dynamics and negotiations that historically defined the initiation of “Egyptian” jazz, as well as the ones …
Lakota Powwow Singers At The Drum,
2026
Mississippi State University
Regional Geography And Tuning Systems Of Traditional Georgian Folk Music,
2026
CUNY Graduate Center
Regional Geography And Tuning Systems Of Traditional Georgian Folk Music, Alex Kutubidze
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
The project focuses on the traditional folk music of Georgia, mapping the geographical distribution of singing traditions across the country’s historical regions. Because vocal traditions and stylistic features of Georgian folk music vary significantly across historical regions, the project highlights these differences for the audience, which might be interested in learning Georgian folk music, seeking a basic understanding of its structure, or planning to visit the country for cultural or educational purposes related to folk music. In addition, this work examines the tonal organization of Georgian traditional music, drawing on recent ethnomusicological research. It engages with ongoing scholarly discussions regarding …
Juventino Rosas, Sobre Las Olas, And Their Place In Defining Mexican Music In The Porfirian Nineteenth Century,
2026
CUNY Hunter College
Juventino Rosas, Sobre Las Olas, And Their Place In Defining Mexican Music In The Porfirian Nineteenth Century, Catherine J. Langevin-Falcon
Theses and Dissertations
This thesis examines the life and music of Juventino Rosas (1868–1894), the Mexican composer whose most enduring work is Sobre las olas (1888), a Viennese-style waltz. I ask the question: Why was Sobre las olas so well-known and why does it remain beloved with audiences around the world, even today, while Rosas is hardly known outside his native Mexico? I considered historical, social and cultural factors, as well as musical events of the day, that may have had bearing on the question. I describe the broad outlines of Rosas's life and the challenges he faced as an indigenous person, composer …
The Matusiflute: Exploring Intercultural Collaboration Through Timbral Dízi Emulation Within An Australian-Chinese Orchestral Performance Setting,
2026
Edith Cowan University
The Matusiflute: Exploring Intercultural Collaboration Through Timbral Dízi Emulation Within An Australian-Chinese Orchestral Performance Setting, Gabriel Mcmahon
Theses: Doctorates and Masters
This research investigates how the Matusiflute can potentially promote intercultural Sino Western collaboration within solo, chamber and orchestral settings by consciously applying technical and stylistic codes attributed to the dízi (traverse Chinese bamboo flute). Using an autoethnographic approach, I reflect on my engagement with the dízi, its morphology, timbre and stylistic interpretation, and how my pedagogical flute context impacted this approach. These learnings were then applied to the Matusiflute through two premiere performances of a commissioned intercultural work by Nicholas Ng, The Secret of the Golden Flower (2024) for Matusiflute and Chinese Orchestra. The latter being performed in a solo …
Hear & Now: Culturally Responsive Music Education Through Digital Audio Workstations & Musique Concrète,
2026
Pitzer College
Hear & Now: Culturally Responsive Music Education Through Digital Audio Workstations & Musique Concrète, Benjamin T. Connolly
Pitzer Senior Theses
Hear & Now: Culturally Responsive Music Education Through Digital Audio Workstations & Musique Concrète is a two-part ethnomusicological study of how the capacities and affordability of modern electronic instruments could be utilized within school curricula as an affordable alternative to traditional music classes. I explore the musique concrète movement from mid-20th century France, aiming my examination towards the movement’s emphasis on the materiality of sound production and utilization of modern technology during the composition process. From there, the paper transitions into a study on the affordances of contemporary music technologies through a series of interviews with electronic composers, tracing the …
Book Review: Inside Chinese Theater: Community And Artistry In Nineteenth-Century California And Beyond By Nancy Yunwha Rao,
2026
University of Pittsburgh
Book Review: Inside Chinese Theater: Community And Artistry In Nineteenth-Century California And Beyond By Nancy Yunwha Rao, Jiyoon Auo
Asia Pacific Perspectives
No abstract provided.
Interpretable Repertoire Search For Computer Supported Aural Skills Teaching: A Searchable Sia Based Digital Companion,
2026
Kennesaw State University
Interpretable Repertoire Search For Computer Supported Aural Skills Teaching: A Searchable Sia Based Digital Companion, Peter G. Fielding
Bailey School of Music Faculty Publications
Aural skills teaching depends heavily on repertoire selection, yet many large print and heritage song collections remain difficult to search in pedagogically meaningful ways. Teachers may need melodies with limited pitch collections for early solfège, modal examples for comparative listening, or repertory with controlled chromatic complexity, but such features are rarely indexed in printed sources. This paper proposes a computer-supported response to that problem: a searchable, rights-aware digital companion built around tonic-centered successive interval arrays (SIAs). SIAs provide an interpretable representation of pitch space by encoding the cyclic step pattern among the pitch classes present in a melody after tonic …
Cantate Fratres: Forming And Sustaining Traditional Catholic Music, Liturgy And Culture In The Institute Of Christ The King Sovereign Priest,
2026
University of Kentucky
Cantate Fratres: Forming And Sustaining Traditional Catholic Music, Liturgy And Culture In The Institute Of Christ The King Sovereign Priest, Reyers P. Brusoe
Theses and Dissertations--Music
The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest is an understudied member of the Traditional Catholic and Latin Mass Communities whose unique approach to Catholic liturgy, culture, and formation offers a sustainable model for the Catholic Church's longevity and renewal. This study is the first of its kind, combining the theoretical positions of affect theory, ecomusicology/musical sustainability, and the musicology of religion to explore and explain the success of this growing classical community. This dissertation examines Church documents, theological literature, and multidisciplinary academic sources as a foundation for the study. In studying the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, …
Philsongs: A Study Of Campfire Music Performed At Scouting America’S Philmont Scout Ranch (2014 To 2021),
2026
University of Kentucky
Philsongs: A Study Of Campfire Music Performed At Scouting America’S Philmont Scout Ranch (2014 To 2021), Ellyn Rager
Theses and Dissertations--Music
This dissertation focuses on Philmont Scout Ranch, a national Scouting America high adventure base in New Mexico and the largest youth camp in the world, arguing that music at Philmont serves as a cultural force that fosters an intensive communal bond among staff and campers by blending participatory and presentational music-making practices, while producing and reinforcing memories of Philmont through interpretive performances that negotiate the place’s historical narratives. Using surveys, interviews, and Thomas Turino’s framework of participatory and presentational music-making to interpret the author’s 100 hours of field recordings, this study examines aspects of Philmont’s musical habits between 2014 and …
More Than A Man: An Ethnomusicological Survey Of The Folklore Of John Henry And Resource Guide For “More Than A Man” By Shanyse Strickland,
2026
West Virginia University
More Than A Man: An Ethnomusicological Survey Of The Folklore Of John Henry And Resource Guide For “More Than A Man” By Shanyse Strickland, Clayton R. Heath
Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)
“John Henry” exists as an enduring folk legend in the United States of America, representing the confluence of the Reconstruction Era, the economic utility of Appalachia and the Westward expansion of industry which left it behind. Though based on historical events, Henry’s fictional representation has diverted and evolved in music and other media from its inception in the oral tradition to the modern age. Through this progression, shared symbols have circulated, gathering embedded meanings and associating the folklore with specific communities. Henry’s representational identity has been signaled with the creation and distribution of each version of his story, both complicating …
