Music Commons^™

Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy Through Popular Music And Media In Elementary Music Education, Martina Vasil

Music Faculty Publications

Elementary music teachers in the United States face many challenges today, including an increasing cultural divide between teachers and students, worsening student behavior, and excessive exposure to technology in children’s lives. These challenges are magnified due to the hundreds of students elementary music teachers see weekly, the lack of teaching and planning time, and inadequate teaching resources, making it difficult to fully understand the culture and learning needs of every child. However, music educators may find culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) a useful tool for meeting the needs of a diverse student body. Further, when teachers engage in kid culture, the …

Queer, Black & Churched: Exploring Black Lgbtq+ Lived Experience And Spirituality Through Free Verse Poetry And Music, Kei Slaughter

Music and Health Case Studies

This arts-based qualitative pilot study explored the lived experiences of queer Black adults (ages 29–43) and their relationship to the Black Church. Using critical narrative inquiry, six participants completed semi-structured interviews; three also created free verse poems reflecting on their experiences. I created a musical composition in response to participants' narratives. Analysis of participant interviews and poems revealed five themes: the church as formative; queer-antagonistic rhetoric and spiritual harm; community and belonging; Black queer joy; and music as a spiritual pathway. Notably, all participants described gospel music as having an abiding influence on their spiritual and artistic identities, even when …

Left-Hand Technique And The Limits Of The Possible, Ricardo Iznaola

Soundboard Scholar

This article conceptualizes classical guitar left-hand technique through a physiomechanical framework that places coordinated movement—particularly shifting—at the center of technical practice. Challenging traditional positional doctrines that privilege static hand forms and digital independence, the author argues that such approaches often disregard the functional anatomy of the limb, resulting in inefficiency, unnecessary tension, and potential injury.   Advancing the principle that form must follow function, the study proposes shifting as the fundamental technical category governing all left-hand procedures. A systematic typology—interpositional, intrapositional, and compound shifting—serves as the basis for analyzing arm-wrist-hand coordination across diverse technical contexts, including extensions and contractions, barrés, slurs, …

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 …

Catalog Of The Music Of Nick Strimple (B. 1946), Ruth Ballenger

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation provides a rich primary source for future scholars interested in the music of American composer Dr. Nick Strimple. A complete catalog of Dr. Strimple’s works and more than thirty transcribed interviews with the composer offer broad insight into Dr. Strimple’s motivations, inspirations, and sources for his own compositions. Primary sources – that is, firsthand evidence created in real time by a participant or observer – offer what musicologists might colloquially describe as the “gold standard” for citation and understanding of their musical subjects. As the field of musicology evolved, primary sources have come to be highly valued as …

Hegemonic Microtonality: Decolonizing The Soundscape Of Music Theory Pedagogy, Ash K. Wetty

Honors Theses

This thesis examines how Western music theory pedagogy—long organized around tonal and twelve-tone equal-temperament frameworks—structures both what is taught and how students are trained to listen. Through a literature review tracing the historical construction of tonal universality in undergraduate curricula, the project argues that dominant models of music theory reproduce broader epistemic hierarchies inherited from Western conservatory traditions. Situating these histories within my own experience as a student navigating institutional listening norms, the thesis combines critical self-reflection with ethnographic research conducted across five liberal arts institutions, including the CBB consortium and JanPlan research at Wesleyan University and Amherst College. Rather …

Timbral Effects Of 3d Printing Brass Wind Musical Instruments: A Comparison Between Traditional And 3d Printed Construction, Cole K. Zelman

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the timbral effects that manufacturing wind instruments from thermoplastics (via 3D printing) has in comparison to traditionally made instruments. The project mainly focuses on the individual properties of different thermoplastics in comparison to traditional materials like brass. The instrument tested is a C bugle for a simple example of a brass wind instrument and is compared directly against the traditional brass construction. Results employ spectral centroid, spectrograms, and professional subjective analysis to compare the different thermoplastic test samples to the control brass bugle.

Packaging Sound: The Artistic And Cultural Significance Of Album Covers In The Golden Age Of Vinyl, Anna Stener

MA in Fine and Decorative Art and Design Dissertations

This dissertation examines the album cover as an artistic medium and as an art form, primarily within the context of vinyl records, situating it within art history, media history, and cultural studies. Although album covers have been central to the experience of purchasing, listening to, and collecting vinyl, they have often been treated secondarily in scholarship and by institutions. By establishing the material, cultural, and aesthetic significance of album covers, this dissertation positions them within debates on media, authorship, and boundaries of art. Through case studies on two bands, the Moody Blues and the Rolling Stones, as well as the …

Guide To The Gospel Sheet Music & Songbook Collection, Columbia College Chicago

CBMR Collection Guides / Finding Aids

The gospel sheet music & songbook collection contains published music donated to the CBMR from individual donors, gathered into one collection for better access and research use.

Madness In The Mixtape: Gothic Literature And Pop Music, Nicholas Dertinger

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

In Gothic literature, madness has often been connected to the outliers of what is considered socially normal. This dissertation explores the enduring theme of madness, particularly the figure of the “madwoman,” in both women’s literature and in its “afterlife”—or continuing conversation with—contemporary pop music. Through a comparative analysis of songs including Kate Bush’s “Wuthering Heights” (1978), Beyoncé’s “Hold Up” (2016), Lady Gaga’s “Plastic Doll” (2020), Olivia Rodrigo’s “good 4 u” (2021), Billie Eilish’ “What Was I Made For?” (2023), Paramore’s cover of “Burning Down the House” (2024), Taylor Swift’s “mad woman” (2020) and Florence + the Machine’s “Dream Girl Evil” …

Analytical Commentary And Performer's Guide To Carlos R. Martinez's Four Pieces For Trombone, Bailey Jean Hardy-Price

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Musicians with hearing loss are documented in prominent figures, such as Ludwig van Beethoven. In the age of developing medical technology, hearing aids can turn the course for many musicians. Music can serve as an audio medium for this journey.

Carlos R. Martinez (b. 1978) is an active composer and pianist commissioned to create a piece that explores the journey of hearing loss in a musician. Martinez’s Four Pieces for Trombone and Piano illustrate a musician’s discovery of their hearing loss, its consequences, and joy in implementing the use of a hearing aid. The detailed discussion of the composer and …

Behind The Curtain: A Literature Review Of Personal And Ecological Risk Factors And Current Multi-Level Interventions For Performing Artists, Christopher A. Robles

Social Work Theses

Performing artists experience psychological distress, including anxiety, depression, burnout, and substance use disorders, at rates significantly exceeding those of the general population. Guided by Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory (EST) and the Person-in-Environment (PIE) perspective, this structured literature review synthesizes research published between 2010 and 2026 to examine individual personality traits, environmental stressors across meso- and macro-systems, and existing multi-level mental health interventions for performing artists. Findings reveal that while traits such as high openness to experience, sensory processing sensitivity, and perfectionism foster artistic expression, they also heighten vulnerability to occupational stressors, financial precarity, social isolation, and venue-based substance exposure. Current …

A Profile Of Arnold Jacobs, Carolyn M. Totaro, Caedmon Goettel

SPARK Symposium Presentations

A Profile of Arnold Jacobs including his books and extraordinary tenure with the Chicago Symphony.

A Profile Of Vaslav Nijinsky, Carolyn M. Totaro, Megan Hoggarth

SPARK Symposium Presentations

A Profile of Vaslav Nijinsky

Guitar Amplifier Directivity, Rachel C. Edelman, Brian E. Anderson, Samuel D. Bellows, Timothy W. Leishman

Directivity

No abstract provided.

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 …

From Vision To Practice: Developing A Field-Informed Framework For Music Education In Catholic Schools, Melita Mudri-Zubacz

Doctor of Education (EdD)

This study aimed to develop a sustainable and mission-focused framework for music  education in Catholic elementary schools, in order to bridge the gap between the theological ideals of Catholic education and the lack of operational models for its implementation. The problem had significant implications for school leaders, music teachers, and students, as it restricted the potential of the school’s music programs to support the development of Catholic identity and liturgical participation.

The purpose of this study was to develop a field-informed and consensus-driven framework based on Catholic identity, sustainability, and expertise. The conceptual framework for this study integrated theological and …

Student Retention In Music Programs: An Analysis Of Relationships Between Selected Student Demographics And Continued Enrollment In Music Programs With The Presence Of School-Provided Supports, Jessica Wiese

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Music education provides significant cognitive, social, and academic benefits; however, elective music programs often face substantial annual attrition. While existing literature has documented material barriers (e.g., instrument costs, transportation, scheduling conflicts), this study investigates the persistence of attrition within a medium-sized suburban district on Long Island that has systematically mitigated these obstacles. The district provides free instruments, flexible scheduling, and dedicated transportation for all students. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to determine whether demographic disparities in music enrollment remain predictive of withdrawal in such a post-barrier environment.

The research used a two-phase explanatory sequential design. In the first …

Striving For Greater Equity And Access For Neurodivergent College Music Students, Rhoda Bernard

Faculty Works

An increasing number of neurodivergent individuals are enrolling in colleges and universities, where they often encounter a wide range of challenges, such as ableist attitudes, policies, and practices, emotional distress, and academic struggles. This Commentary examines issues of equity and access for neurodivergent higher education music students through discussion and analysis of two initiatives at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The recommendations of neurodivergent researchers and neurodivergent higher education community members are employed as a critical lens for these initiatives, and as a framework for the field.

An Analysis Of Gustav Mahler’S Use Of The Timpani With Reference To Historical Performance Practice And Contemporary Performances Of His Works., Stephen Kelly

Research Theses

Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) held important positions in Europe and America in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century as a conductor of operatic and symphonic repertoire. As a composer, his output spans a significant transitional period in classical music, from Romanticism to early Modernism. His life and work represents a revolutionary period of change in many developmental aspects of the modern orchestra. Changing social norms, larger concert halls, and technical developments in instrument-making all combined to alter the presentation and, as a consequence, the reception of classical music during this time. As conductor of some of the finest orchestras …