Digital Commons Network^™

Brazilian Piano Through The Ages: A Look At The Development In Style Through The Context Of Social Issues And Historical Influences, Rebecca Lin Chen

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This project seeks to explore the development of piano music in Brazil, through the historical and social context of five different composers: Chiquinha Gonzaga, Ernesto Nazareth, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Francisco Mignone, and Edmundo Villani-Côrtes. By studying representative pieces of these composers, main influences are revealed, such as avoidance of or defying social stigmas, the impact of choro music, the influence of folklore and folk tunes, and the European and Romantic piano tradition. Furthermore, through the work of a composer still living today, we can trace these historical aspects into the modern day.

Spirituality And Synagogue Music: A Case Study Of Two Synagogue Music Ensembles, Carol Shansky

Research & Issues in Music Education

Participation in community music ensembles is an important and popular form of music education—with members of ensembles that perform within religious services having the opportunity of experiencing a possible extra dimension of a spiritual experience. Thus the intent of this study was to survey adult choir and band members at Temple Emeth in Teaneck, New Jersey, USA in terms of connections between music performance, educational experiences and spirituality. Thoughts and reflections of the participants as well as those of the clergy and choir director were gained through qualitative, open-ended interviews. Overall, it was found that participating in a synagogue musical …

Teaching Music To Students With Multiple Disabilities: A Study Into Teachers' Perspectives And Practices For Self-Contained General Music Instruction, Angela D. Clemens

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

This study investigates the experience of elementary teachers providing music instruction to students with multiple disabilities in self-contained classrooms. With legislation mandating public education for students with special needs, music teachers increasingly encounter these students in their classrooms, which range from inclusion to self-contained environments. Research indicates that music is a valid and valuable tool for supporting extra-musical learning as well as fostering musical growth in students with special needs. Additionally, research provides insight into inclusion experiences for teachers and for students. However, research into self-contained instruction is minimal. This study addressed that gap through phenomenological exploration of teachers in …

Engaging Music And Media: Technology As A Universal Language, Glen Carruthers

Research & Issues in Music Education

The ambiguity in the first half of the paper’s title – “Engaging music and media” – is intentional. Music is engaging in the sense that it implicates our hearts and minds. Music can also be engaged by and with media. And, of course, engagement is core to effective learning.

The role of music education is always in flux. Aesthetic aims sometimes take primacy, while at other times music is taught as a means to some other end. As in ancient times, today music is taught largely for its ancillary benefits so that, in a curious twist, ancillary aims have become …

Five Challenges And Solutions In Online Music Teacher Education, David Hebert

Research & Issues in Music Education

“Nearly 600 graduate students?”1 As remarkable as it may sound, that is the projected student population for the online graduate programs in music education at Boston University School of Music by the end of 2007. With the rapid proliferation of online courses among mainstream universities in recent years, it is likely that more online music education programs will continue to emerge in the near future, which begs the question of what effects this new development will have on the profession. Can online education truly be of the same quality as a traditional face-to-face program? How is it possible to effectively …

The Politics Of Implementing Local Cultures In Music Education In Taiwan, Wai-Chung Ho

Research & Issues in Music Education

Recent studies of the localization and globalization of Taiwan’s music education cannot explain the complicated interplay between localization and the pursuit of local cultures in national development and policy making in the broader society, and in school education in Taiwan between the late 1980s and 2004. Features of localization in Taiwan’s music education include the highlighting of local artists and musical styles such as Taiwanese opera, puppetry shows, and local folk music in the curriculum. More importantly, music education to support the indigenous core values of peace, the beauty of the homeland, and harmony in society and in everyday life …

Canons In Harmony, Or Canons In Conflict: A Cultural Perspective On The Curriculum And Pedagogy Of Jazz Improvization, Kenneth E. Prouty

Research & Issues in Music Education

This essay examines how jazz educators construct methods for teaching the art of improvisation in institutionalized jazz studies programs. Unlike previous studies of the processes and philosophies of jazz instruction, I examine such processes from a cultural standpoint, to identify why certain methods might be favored over others. Specifically, jazz education is treated as a fusion of two distinct historical and cultural forces: those of musical academia, and of the jazz community. I argue that methods of teaching improvisation reflect a dual identity, in which these two cultural traditions sometimes exert an uneven influence upon the learning environment. Improvisational curricula, …

December 8, 1978, James Madison University

The Breeze, 1970-1979

The Breeze is the student newspaper of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.