Music Education Commons^™

Creating A Holistic Music Classroom, Kimberly Snow

Graduate Research Showcase

This research aimed to investigate if a holistic classroom setting would be beneficial to a music classroom. A holistic classroom focuses on cognitive, social, and emotional needs. By meeting these needs of the students, educators meet the overall learning needs of the students. The following research helps music educators understand that there is a need to create a holistic learning environment for students and create this environment for the student's learning capabilities. The research methods included peer-reviewed journals that focused on creating a holistic environment in a classroom. The research questions used to guide this study were "how can teachers …

Middle School Choir Class Advocacy, Kara Vombrack

Graduate Research Showcase

This research is based on a survey given to surrounding middle school choir teachers regarding if their choir is a class or not in their district. The study looks into the benefits of having choir during the day and as a graded class. The study also analyzes school schedules and how they affect choir during the day. Choral advocacy is addressed and suggestions are given for how to grow a program that isn’t a class; which is the current problem at my school. This study also addresses how choir directors can gain more choral advocacy in their district and increase …

Recruitment And Retention In The Choral Classroom, Brianna Riley

Graduate Research Showcase

One of the distinguishing elements of a successful, flourishing music program is the number of students enrolled in a performing ensemble. This literature review examines sources that provide answers to a simple question: How can teachers use strategies to improve recruitment and retention in a music program? Music teachers have always worked to improve enrollment and retention of students in their classes, but as we move forward in a world affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, traditional ways of recruiting may not always be successful. Considerations of current trends include lack of foundational relationships between programs and adherence to traditional, unsuccessful …

Using Song To Teach Sight Words, Taylor Hagood Guin

Graduate Research Showcase

This research is about how a group of seven kindergarten classes used a short and straightforward song to recognize the following six common kindergarten sight words: on, off, up, us, no, & go. As a current music educator and former middle grades English teacher, I wanted to create an opportunity to establish cross-curricular connections in my music classroom. For this specific experiment, seven different classes, including General Education, Self-Contained Special Education, and English Language Learning classes, were selected. They were taught these six sight word songs through the “Sight Word Song.” I selected the sight words specifically because the students …

Impact Of A Puppet On Music Performance Anxiety In Elementary Students, Jessica Nohner

Graduate Research Showcase

Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) is a common problem among musicians and has been shown to impact young children. There are many factors that may contribute to student feelings of MPA including perfectionism. Music educators are in a unique position and have a responsibility to assist students with MPA. While some strategies have been used to help individuals cope with feelings of MPA, music educators do not have researched strategies available to them which are easily implemented in general music classrooms. In music therapy and psychology, puppets have been used in work with children. In this study I research the use …

Supporting Reading In Elementary Music Classroom, Jazmin Hunt

Graduate Research Showcase

Many educators are posed with the task of supporting reading and math proficiencies of students, particularly in elementary school settings. It is the educator’s responsibility to take active part in the holistic growth of students. As music teachers, how can reading be intertwined in a way that can build a student’s reading score? Should there be additional learning taking place, or do music class curricula integrate reading well? Does music class actually have an effect on student reading skills? Supporting Reading with Music: Music Education and How It Supports Reading Proficiencies in Elementary School Students is a literature review that …

Music Theory Pedagogy For The Violin: Cognitive Philosophy And Three Model Curricula, Morganne J. Mcintyre

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Violin playing promotes a connection between mind and body that allows the performer to internalize, or embody, tactile features of the instrument, such as the distance between strings, the feeling of the fingertips on the fingerboard, the interval size between notes, and many other aspects. This thesis designs a pedagogy that employs the violin’s physical attributes to provide the beginning through advanced player with a deeper understanding of music theory. The thesis suggests pairing of physical learning and musical theory at each stage of a violinist’s musical education. Chapter 1 surveys embodied cognition and cognitive artifacts. Chapter 2 applies these …

“This Rigid Curricular Way”: Evaluating Expectations In Collegiate Music Education, Sophie Ailsa Lewis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Conversations surrounding curricular reform are abound in music education today. Much of the literature on this topic explores how professors can adapt their teaching practices to the presumed needs of students in the classroom, but student voices are infrequently centered in these discussions.

This thesis examines the study of music in the collegiate setting from the student perspective. Using a survey which I designed and interviews that I conducted, I examine the disconnect between student values and those of the institutions they attend. I then put these student perspectives in conversation with existing literature.

I discovered that student experiences revolve …

Honoring Creative Women: Minerva Teichert Award Winner 2021, Ally Christiansen

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

No abstract provided.

Guide To The Doug Lofstrom Music Collection, College Archives & Special Collections

Collection Guides / Finding Aids

A composer and bassist whose scores reflect his involvement in theater, dance, film and symphonic music, Doug Lofstrom also formed The New Quartet, a chamber ensemble which performs original music and arrangements, Trillium, and, most recently, joined the group The Last Word. He was composer-in-residence for the Metropolis Symphony Orchestra and musical director of Chicago's Free Street Theatre before joining the faculty of Columbia College Chicago’s Music Department.

Burmese Buddhist Monks, The Seventh Precept, And Cognitive Dissonance, Heather Maclachlan

Department of Music Faculty Publications

Burmese Theravada Buddhist monks have varying degrees of involvement with music; this study of 22 monks from across Burma/Myanmar reveals that most of them often listen to recorded music. At the same time the monks acknowledge that Buddhism’s Seventh Precept is (or ought to be) a guide for their behavior, agreeing that to be “attached” to music is to violate their monastic rule. They therefore experience cognitive dissonance, and they respond to this dissonance in predictable ways - that is, in ways documented by researchers working with Western populations. They differ, however, in their phenomenological experiences of attachment.

The Impact Of Collegiate Marching Band On The Intra- And Interpersonal Competencies And Capacities Of Alumni: A Qualitative Case Study, Adam Gumble

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

This qualitative study examines how participation in collegiate marching band impacted alumni’s social and emotional development. Specifically, this study examines (1) how the intra- and interpersonal domains and related competencies of former marching band members (now alumni) developed during their time in a nationally recognized collegiate marching band and (2) how those competencies and capacities are deployed in their post-graduation professional settings. Semi-structured hour-long interviews with marching band alumni (N = 9) who graduated from a medium-sized university in the Mid-Atlantic region (Mid-Atlantic University) were conducted between 2019 and 2021. Participants described the impact of participating in a nationally recognized …

Empowering Silenced Voices: Implementing Critical Pedagogy To Move Toward Decolonizing Music Education, Alexis Adams

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Throughout this thesis, I will delineate the historical and current issue of Eurocentrism and racism being perpetuated in K-12 music education and music teacher education programs. I will argue that music teacher education programs need to be decolonized and radically transformed so that music classrooms and curricula are anti-racist and counterhegemonic. Through utilizing theoretical frameworks, a historical review, and a literature review, I will further contextualize this problem. Lastly, I will propose a two-pronged intervention to address this over-arching issue: an undergraduate course entitled Critical Pedagogy in Music Education and a radically transformative professional development series for current music educators.

The Autodidactic Process Of Hugo Wolf And The Fourfold Learning Equation, Frank L. Strnad

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation investigates and discusses the self-study process of the Austro-Slovene composer Hugo Wolf. A fourfold learning equation consisting of imitation+emulation+invention =results will be presented, discussed, and applied to the musical compositions of Hugo Wolf, who learned how to compose music mostly by self-study, and minimal formal conservatory level training. Standard methods of analysis of musical construct, harmony, and orchestration will be used to evaluate each musical work. The selected musical works and their musical qualities were chosen to illustrate the effectiveness of the use of the fourfold learning equation by Wolf, both with and/or without instructional resources. This dissertation …

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 …

The Development And Validation Of The Preservice Music Teacher Self-Efficacy Survey, Christen Dillon

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Undergraduate programs to prepare future music teachers at colleges and universities across the United States require skill development in instrumental, choral, and general music (NASM, 2015). These preparation programs require students to matriculate through methods courses (e.g., instrumental methods) to learn pedagogical and content skills necessary to be considered competent music teachers. Although content knowledge and teaching skills could be influencing factors on preservice teachers’ future classroom effectiveness, personal beliefs of individual preservice teachers might also influence teacher effectiveness (Bandura, 1997; Pajares, 1996). One such belief, teacher self-efficacy, or teachers’ self-referent judgements of capability (Zee, 2016), has been shown to …

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

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

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.”

Diversifying Piano Literature: East Asian Music For Piano Study And Performance In The United States, Akina Kondoh

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research paper describes the extent piano music by East Asian composers has been incorporated in piano teaching at the college level in the United States. Included are the results of a survey of piano teachers at National Association of Schools of Music-accredited collegiate institutions; a discussion of the need for diversification of piano literature given the demographics of piano students in the United States; and several strategies to incorporate piano music by East Asian composers. The paper also includes a list of composers and resources available for obtaining piano works by East Asian composers.

Addressing The Accessibility Gap In Music: A Review Of The Literature, Rachel Ann Vaughan

Honors Program Theses

No abstract provided.

How To Vocally Train Transgender Singers: A Thorough Literature Review, Sydney A. Timmer

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

The knowledge of training transgender voices is just beginning to make its way into mainstream music education. However, there needs to be more known and a curriculum in place to address this critical topic. Transgender students face many unique challenges in the voice studio, and educators must have the knowledge to teach these students. There are several elements to consider when training transgender students. These elements include the anatomical changes of masculinizing hormones on the body and voice, the anatomical changes of feminizing hormones on the body and voice, vocal exercises for both transfeminine and transmasculine students, how to choose …