Music Commons^™

Rethinking Music Theory Pedagogy, Kathryn Williamsen

Student Scholar Symposium

As music has evolved over time the education system has also been evolving. Unfortunately, this growth in music education has become stagnant in the last century and pedagogy has remained relatively steady. While there are important pedagogical techniques and approaches used in the classical history of music, there are also new approaches that should be given more heed. The music theory that is being taught in the classroom feels detached from the music students are producing and consuming.

As this problem has persisted two improvements can be made to music theory pedagogy. The first would be changing our approach to …

Challenges And Opportunities In Adult Group Piano Pedagogy, Sarah Faulk

Student Scholar Symposium

Poster presentation describing one teacher's experience and observations of adult group piano teaching. This addresses challenges and making the most out of the opportunities presented.

New Music And New Instruments: The Development Of The Electric Bass Guitar, Braxton Algood

Student Scholar Symposium

The sound of the modern electric bass has become ubiquitous in music across multiple genres. With the emergence of jazz music in the 1930s, upright bassists like Jimmy Blanton sought to create a sonic space that exploited the resonance in the low register of the traditional double bass, but was more rhythmic and percussive than the instrument’s traditional role. This desire for a percussive string instrument that had the sound of the upright bass—and might also be more portable—led to the creation of Leo Fender’s first electric bass guitar in 1951. By the end of the 1950s, the electric bass …

Post-Tonal Pedagogy In The Music Of György Ligeti, Easton Ball

Student Scholar Symposium

Post-tonal piano literature remains unpopular with many modern performers due to a perceived lack of technical approachability. As a result, a wealth of post-tonal keyboard music passes into obscurity, never reaching modern audiences. Despite the preconception that post-tonal music lacks formal and harmonic structure, one can assign order to elements within these compositions both for purposes of improving pedagogy and engendering familiarity with the literature. My research aims to demonstrate one process of elucidating the relative accessibility of post-tonal literature for keyboard by means of an analysis of a selection of György Ligeti’s Études pour piano. Because this material often …

Jesus Music Movement, Gabby Armitage

Student Scholar Symposium

Jesus Music and how it has influenced Christian Contemporary Music today.

Swan Lake: Tchaikovsky's Lasting Influence On Ballet, Keely Hudspeth

Student Scholar Symposium

Russian ballet has had a significant influence on this dance form since at least the nineteenth century. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky had an especially pivotal role, writing works that placed increasing emphasis on the artistic importance of music in addition to the choreography. A study of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake exemplifies his new emphasis on music and the evolution of ballet in the late nineteenth century. My research surveys the early history of ballet and provides a brief biography of Tchaikovsky. Most of my work, however, is an analysis of the music (score) and choreography of Swan Lake—demonstrating Tchaikovsky’s emphasis on music …

The Influence Of Giovanni Gabrieli On The Music Of Heinrich Schütz, Caleb Taylor

Student Scholar Symposium

Teachers often have a profound influence on their students. The influence of Giovanni Gabrieli on the music of his student Heinrich Schütz is particularly evident: Gabrieli and Schütz’s pieces are so similar that a listener may observe parallels even without the use of scores. The use of specific melodic and rhythmic patterns during cadences and the use of echoing phrases by both composers strongly suggest a musical link between them. There is currently no detailed theoretical analysis comparing specific elements found in the music of both Schutz and Gabrieli. My research aims to remedy this gap in knowledge by examining …

From Cathedral To Concert Hall: The Evolution Of The Requiem Mass, Thomas Butler

Student Scholar Symposium

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine – Grant them eternal rest, Lord. These five words make up one of the most well-known texts in the classical music canon: the Requiem Mass. Built on foundations laid by church composers such as Machaut, Dufay, and Palestrina, eighteenth and nineteenth century giants like Mozart, Berlioz, Verdi, and Brahms popularized the Requiem setting as a concert work. The twentieth and twenty-first centuries have seen compositions by Benjamin Britten, Gabriela Frank, and others, which include narrative elements in conjunction with the traditional Latin texts. My research on this topic explores how and why the Requiem Mass …

I Know That Song! Ten Centuries Of Songwriting, Hannah Grace Kerr

Student Scholar Symposium

While commercially released songs today sound very different from those of the Middle Ages, the 1500s, the 1800s, or even the 20th century, popular and traditional songs do have common traits across time. My research explores common elements that have been used by songwriters for centuries—recurring text themes and durable melodic and lyric forms based on repetition and contrast. I will use audio, score, and text examples to demonstrate close similarities among selected songs that at first may appear very different.

Timothy Amukele Biography And Introduction To His Songs, Arissa Ford

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Timothy Amukele is a composer whose music is not well known, even though he has made important contributions to the world of vocal music. His work is rarely studied in schools or performed in concerts, which means many people miss out on experiencing his unique style and creativity. This project aims to change that by sharing information about Amukele’s life, his musical influences, and what makes his compositions special. By studying and performing his music, this project helps bring more attention to composers who deserve to be recognized but are often overlooked. Including underrepresented composers like Amukele in performances is …

Objects Of Power: Female Instrumentalists In Medieval To Early Modern Europe, Emma Scherrer

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Women are difficult to locate in traditional histories of western music, especially performers and particularly instrumentalists. The relationship between a female performer, the instrument she played, and her audience was especially fraught, constituting a complicated web of gendered relations and power dynamics. An examination of the contexts in which women played instruments in medieval to early modern Europe elucidates how women in these societies interacted with music and musical institutions. While women were generally excluded from musical institutions and discouraged from playing most musical instruments, many women nevertheless chose to take up an instrument outside of professional contexts. From the …

The Politics Of Musical Time: Expanding Songs And Shrinking Markets In Bengali Devotional Performance, Jaime Jones

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

A book review is presented for The Politics of Musical Time: Expanding Songs and Shrinking Markets in Bengali Devotional Performance, authored by Eben Graves, by Jaime Jones.

Byzantine Theories Of Scale And Arab-Byzantine Chant Practices: A Comparative Analysis Proposing A New Resolution To The Theoretical System Of Chrysanthos Of Madytos, Rosy Azar

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

In 2015, Amine Beyhom published a book on Byzantine chant, in which he summarised all the existing theories, paying particular attention to the problematic reform of the Byzantine chant theory in 1881, and guiding the reader through the steps that led to that reform. Driven by the first ever comparison between Byzantine and Arabic modes that he had found in Mīkhāʾīl Mashāqa’s epistle, Beyhom first studied Chrysanthos of Madytos’ insight. He documented this research in detail and followed it with a practical comparison to demonstrate if theory is indeed applied or it acts only as prescriptive guide. He recorded and …

Olivier Messiaen’S "Première Communion De La Vierge" And The Translation Of Religious Meaning, Robert Sholl, Jean-Rodolphe Kars

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

This study creates a rich exegesis of “Première Communion de la Vierge” from Olivier Messiaen’s (1908–1992) piano cycle Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus (1944) to show how Messiaen attempted to translate musical symbolism into religious meaning. The first two sections provide background and context on the work, revise previous scholarship, and show how this piece (no XI) functions as a theological hinge in the cycle. The genesis and sources of the Vingt Regards, using previously unavailable archival material, are examined to provide new insight into both the cycle and the “Première Communion.” The aesthetic scaffolding of this piece is then …

Music And Sustainable Development Goals: Telling The Story, Mark Reimer

Journal of Global Awareness

Now, 10 years after the United Nations adopted its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the music profession continues to work toward being a responsible partner in the health and preservation of the planet and its inhabitants. By transcending social barriers, music promotes cultural awareness and mutual understanding, encourages creativity, and enhances emotional well-being, outcomes vital to the global goals of health, freedom, peace, education, equality, prosperity, and environmental sustainability. The article includes various examples of how music performers, educators, composers, and scholars are creating or adopting new practices that are mindful of reducing the carbon footprint, yet financially feasible in their …

Notes From The Editor, Jay Nathan

Journal of Global Awareness

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Editor, Jay Nathan

Journal of Global Awareness

No abstract provided.

Examining The Role Of Metacognitive Strategies In Sight-Reading Instruction: Insights From Middle School Chorus Teachers, Krystin M. Kicklighter

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Sight-reading in middle school chorus classes is emphasized more heavily due to the standards of learning. Teachers use various approaches to teach sight-reading. One strategy teachers can use is metacognition during the sight-reading process. However, there is limited research on teachers' perspectives on metacognition in middle school. Metacognition involves self-awareness, self-evaluation, and self-regulation. By engaging in these activities, learners can gain better control over their thought processes. This is especially important for music educators, since music learning and practice involve many metacognitive concepts. This qualitative-hermeneutic study explored middle school chorus teachers' perceptions of sight-reading practice and how they incorporate metacognition …

Gospel-Centric Liturgy For Contemporary Worship: A Biblical Basis For Locally Crafted Worship Songs, Adriane M. Blanco

Masters Theses

Despite a cultural shift toward creating original worship music in churches today, there remains a need for new songs that reinforce biblical theology and foster spiritual formation through an intentional gospel-centric liturgy contextualized for the local congregation. Such a gospel liturgy consists of a cycle of songs that, with each weekly gathering of the church body, reiterates the revelation of God's presence, humanity’s sinful nature, Christ’s work of salvation, and the believer’s response in worship. At the same time, it is essential to emphasize spiritual songs that express the heartfelt emotions of the worshiper, maintaining a balance in properly worshiping …

To Buzz Or Not To Buzz: A Survey Design Of Embouchure Development Among Kentucky Brass Musicians In Higher Education, Christopher P. Schmidt

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This survey design study examined the methods of embouchure development practiced by Kentucky brass musicians in higher education. The purpose of the study was to explore how collegiate brass professors, their graduate teaching assistants, and undergraduate student musicians apply or omit mouthpiece buzzing in their daily practice routines and private-studio instruction. The study explored pedagogical influences rooted in the teachings of William Adam, Philip Farkas, Emory Remington, and Arnold Jacobs to identify how their philosophies inform contemporary approaches to brass pedagogy. The findings revealed consistent pedagogical diversity among KPUBPs, with most participants using mouthpiece buzzing, long tones, airflow drills, and …