Music Commons^™

Ai As A Creative Collaborator In Music: Exploring Human-Centered Innovation In Large Musical Contexts, Nicholas Caluori, Noah D. Taylor

International Journal of Emerging and Disruptive Innovation in Education : VISIONARIUM

AI-driven audio tools are reshaping musical creation, yet the most consequential shift is not automation of artistry but reconfiguration of collaboration, metacognition, and quality control within large ensembles. This paper examines how generative audio models, vocal synthesis platforms, and stem-splitting technologies can function as creative partners in music arranging and composition workflows, particularly in musical contexts where artistic coordination and interpretive judgment remain paramount. We position AI in music creation as analogous to the calculator in mathematics: widely available, efficiency-enhancing, and therefore unavoidable, while still requiring disciplined human oversight to preserve intent, style, and accountability. The paper surveys practical implementation …

The Relationship Between Musical Aptitude And Multiple Intelligences In High School Music Students, Rachel Connor

Masters Theses

This quantitative correlational study examines the relationship between musical aptitude, measured by Edwin Gordon’s GIA assessments, and students’ predominant multiple intelligences (MIs), as defined by Howard Gardner. Although MI has been widely researched, little is known about how intelligence strengths relate specifically to musically adept students. High school music students at Fayetteville Christian School in Fayetteville, NC, were first assessed using the GIA to identify those demonstrating musical aptitude. Eligible students then completed the AMI R/ARCH Profile to determine their strongest MI. A correlational analysis examined whether specific intelligence strengths are commonly associated with musical aptitude. Grounded in Gardner’s MI …

Recommendations For Advancing Elementary Music Education For Students With Disabilities In Skyline Ridge School District, Dawn Marie Schafer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this applied research study was to provide recommendations to advance music instruction to students with disabilities at sixteen elementary schools in the Skyline Ridge School District (SRSD). The problem was that there was evidence of low musicianship and music participation in students with disabilities in the middle schools in SRSD. The rationale for this study was that students with disabilities may be capable of achieving musicianship as well as any other student. For this reason, music educators must be prepared to set them up for success. The central research question was: How can the elementary music teachers …

Trading Podiums: Transitioning From Teaching Secondary Band To Teaching Secondary Orchestra In Eastern South Carolina, Troy M. Murray

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative, explanatory case study examined the musical attributes band teachers need to successfully teach string orchestra students in eastern South Carolina. This information is critical due to the high number of orchestra teachers who are non-string instrumentalists in that region of the state. Of the 28 orchestra teachers in South Carolina’s Region 5 orchestra division, 14 of the teachers performed primarily as wind or percussion instrumentalists. This study sought to understand the challenges teachers face when transitioning from teaching secondary band to secondary string orchestra in eastern South Carolina. Despite the parallels in music reading and repertoire selection between …

Effectiveness And The Music Teacher: A Correlational Study Of Emotional Intelligence In Secondary Music Instruction, Rachel Gonzales

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative correlational study examined the relationship between emotional intelligence and teacher effectiveness among secondary music educators in Texas. Emotional intelligence was measured using the Emotional Intelligence Assessment for Secondary Music Educators (EIASME), a researcher-developed instrument comprised of the four domains of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. Teacher effectiveness was assessed using the Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System (T TESS) and the University Interscholastic League Concert and Sightreading (UIL C/SR) assessments. Data were collected via a digital Qualtrics survey completed by seventy-five qualifying respondents representing secondary directors in band, choir, and orchestra. Descriptive statistics and …

Kcpr 25-26 Production Handbook, Evan P. Cork

Graphic Communication

The KCPR Production Handbook serves as a resource for the production team when putting on live events for the station. It provides a brief history of the production team and context for why I decided to create this handbook. It is broken down into seven chapters, including sections that cover live event production, KCPR’s Club 91, and a list of important contacts.

Music Education For Diverse Learners: An Undergraduate Curriculum To Prepare Pre-Service Educators To Adapt Music Instruction, Phoebe Winey

Masters Theses

Music educators are required to work with students of all levels and abilities. Christian music educators understand that all students are created by God fearfully and wonderfully (Psalm 139:14, English Standard Version) and that humanity is Christ’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). Christians in education must perceive all students as the workmanship of Christ and work to provide them with fidelity and excellence in education. Music education has proven to be a critical method for developing the minds of learners with exceptionalities; therefore, music educators must be adequately prepared to educate students with diverse exceptionalities through accommodations that improve cognitive abilities and …

The Other Summer Soundtrack: Mass Bands, Hbcu Influence, And The Future Of Culturally Relevant, Community-Driven Music Education, Thomas L. Jones Jr.

Masters Theses

This study examines the roles of mass bands, community bands, and all-star bands and explores how they can offer culturally relevant, community-driven alternatives to traditional summer music education programs. This is especially important for students from diverse and lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Traditional marching musical arts programs require students to have access to sufficient funding and transportation, effectively locking out low-income and culturally distant groups. This research explores how alternative band models offer a viable option for supporting young students in music education, social skills development, and leadership. The multiple-case study focused on three diverse program types. Over the course of …

Elementary Music Teachers’ Perceptions Of The Impact Of Class Size On Tonal And Phonemic Awareness In Second-Grade General Music Classes, Ariel A. Supinger

Masters Theses

The purpose of this non-experimental, quantitative study was to investigate elementary music teachers’ perceptions of the impact of class size on tonal and phonemic awareness in second-grade general music classes. The researcher-designed questionnaire was sent to elementary music teachers who teach second-grade general music in elementary schools within urban, suburban, and rural school districts.

Factors Influencing High School Band Enrollment For Eighth Grade Students In Ohio Small Town School Districts, Jon Steven Kauffman

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Many factors influence the choices of eighth-grade students as they decide whether to enroll in high school band. While musical ability and achievement can play a role in this decision, research suggests that social influences, such as peer relationships, a sense of belonging, and the band program's cultural environment, often have a greater impact on students' decisions. The Ohio Department of Education classifies school districts into four categories: Urban, Rural, Suburban, and Small-town. Although similar to other designations, small-town districts require a distinct label because of the unique mix of factors in these locations. They lack the population density of …

Social-Emotional Learning In A Middle School Band Program: A Qualitative Case Study, Edward J. Anthony Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Social-emotional learning (SEL) supports students’ development of interpersonal skills, emotional regulation, and responsible decision-making during adolescence. Although music education provides collaborative learning environments, limited research has examined how participation in middle school band programs contributes to students’ social-emotional development. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to explore how participation in a middle school band program contributes to the development of social-emotional learning (SEL) competencies among students. Through interviews, observations, and document analysis, this study seeks to understand how students and educators experience and perceive the social and emotional dimensions of ensemble participation within the middle school band setting. …

Assessing Non-Performance Based Standards Of The National Core Arts Standards In Georgia Public Middle And High Schools, Richard Brian Horne

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Developing a well-rounded musician must be the goal of every music teacher. In today’s modern educational system, assessment is a tool used to help shape the curriculum of all subjects. Music assessment must be no different. The National Core Arts Standards (NCAS) utilize anchor standards for assessment in four categories: creating, performing, responding, and connecting. Standards that fall within performing are quickly evaluated in formal and informal assessments, but other standards, such as creation, responding, and connecting, often need exploration. One needs to craft assessments to determine student understanding of performance and non-performance standards and explore development in those areas. …

A High School Choral Student's Perspective On Bullying, Allen C. Thomas

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative non-experimental research study was to examine the prevalence, type, and impact of bullying within secondary choral ensembles from the student perspective. Using a slightly modified version of the Swearer Bully Survey, data were collected from a convenience sample of 100 high school students. Initially, responses were to come from several high schools throughout the State of Maine. Due to challenges in survey administration, the researcher received permission to collect responses via social media and expanded recruitment to a national audience. The study employed a cross-sectional design and utilized Google Forms and Tally for data …

Structuring Support: Designing Sustainable Administrative Models For Music Education In Christian K-12 Schools, Haven Clippinger

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examined the impact of administrative structures in K–12 Christian schools on the sustainability of music education programs and the degree to which those programs align with the school’s mission. Many faith-based schools saw music as a formative part of education, yet they struggled to sustain consistent programs because of limited funding, small staffs, and uneven curricula. Through a qualitative, applied multiple–case study design, this research explored how theology, leadership, and institutional systems work together to build sustainable music programs. The researcher collected data through semi-structured interviews and document analysis from Christian schools representing classical, contemporary, and hybrid models. …

Homeschool Music: The Predictive Relationship Between Parents’ Homeschooling Approach And Religiosity For Music Learning Choices, Ashley Virginia Finke

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative predictive correlational study was to examine how accurately the combination of parents’ homeschooling approach and parents’ religiosity predict music learning choices for homeschooled students. A Florida Department of Education report showed an increase in homeschooling between the 2013-14 and 2023-24 school years, while an Institute of Education Sciences report documented that 49 percent of homeschooled students in the United States participated in music in 2016. Despite these reports, limited research exists of homeschool music education in the United States and, specifically, in Florida. This study resulted from the related literature and the dearth of current …

Servant Leadership In Sound: The Administrative Burden Of Music Educators In Under-Resourced Schools, Ronfled Eriko D Espinoza

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Higher educational institutions design curricula to prepare future music educators for the diverse pedagogical challenges they face. Despite formal training, new music educators often feel unprepared for administrative responsibilities . In many Title I schools and other small school band programs, band directors are often expected to personify the dual role of music educator and administrator. Burnout, inefficiency, and reduced effectiveness are potential challenges when simultaneously managing both roles. This study will support current and future educators in their dual roles as educators and administrators by providing valuable insights into time management, leadership development, and policy advocacy strategies. Through the …

Increasing Success Of Elementary Music Students With Special Needs Through Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies, Catherine N. Peacock

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite the federal laws for students with disabilities and their mandated inclusion, many elementary music teachers are under-prepared or lack resources to include students with severe disabilities in general music classes. Adapting procedures, expectations, and content delivery to include peer tutors who assist students with disabilities may be key to success for students with exceptionalities. This case study sought to explore the possibilities of reimagining the traditional elementary music classroom as an inclusive, collaborative space for cooperative learning and music-making by fostering peer relationships and peer tutoring. Utilizing a qualitative case study observational approach, this research explored how to best …

From Worry To Invention: Developing The Lunch Bunch As A Multimodal Expressive Arts Model For Regulation, Collaboration, And Peer Connection In Elementary Schools, Pascale Lauren Mimran-Ugbabe

Expressive Therapies Theses

This thesis documents the development of the Multimodal Expressive Arts Lunch Bunch, a small group intervention for elementary students delivered during the school lunch period at a public elementary school in Boston, Massachusetts. Grounded in multimodal expressive arts therapy, intermodal transfer theory, polyvagal-informed co-regulation, and principles of externalization, the intervention was designed as a low-barrier creative support group accessible regardless of diagnosis, referral status, or family pursuit of clinical services. Two cohorts of teacher-nominated students, one group of fourth-grade girls and one mixed-gender third-grade group, participated in a sequenced arc moving from worry externalization through collaborative invention, prototype construction, and …

Developing Vocal Technique Through The Canción Ranchera In The Middle School Mariachi Classroom, Perry Chacon Jr.

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Mariachi is taught in more than 500 public school programs across the United States, yet current scholarship on the mariachi voice primarily focuses on defining and analyzing performance practice, offering limited guidance for classroom instruction. This study provides a methodology for developing healthy vocal technique in the middle school mariachi classroom. Grounded in established vocal pedagogy and informed by teaching practice, this approach first builds student confidence through participation in group vocal exploration that encourages active vocal participation. Instruction progresses from foundational skill development, including aural skills, breath coordination, and healthy vocal projection, to the application of these skills through …

Treatment And Recovery Of Mucoceles In Brass Musicians: The Performance Trap And Its Consequences, David D. Torres

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation examines the treatment and recovery of oral mucoceles in professional brass musicians through a qualitative case study combining personal narrative, semi-structured interviews, and analysis of medical and pedagogical literature. I interviewed four professional trumpet players who experienced mucoceles and lip trauma, and three medical professionals with relevant expertise. My own case serves as the primary study, documenting 15 years of scar tissue management following surgical excision and an immediate return to demanding performance. Medical literature treats mucocele excision as a routine procedure with recovery measured in weeks. Brass pedagogy literature assumes healthy lips and offers no guidance for …

A Description Of Zhao Zhang’S Nature No. 2 And Xiaoxuan Xu’S An Unusual Feast Of East, Sicheng He

Dissertations, 2020-current

This research presents a new path in the development of Chinese music by aiming to incorporate both modern Western and ancient Chinese influences in form, texture, tonality, topic, and other dimensions of style and structure. Two Chinese composers whose recent compositions for the piano share similar characteristics: Zhao Zhang (b. 1964; Nature no. 2, 2013) and Xiaoxuan Xu (b. 1990; An Unusual Feast of East, 2022). The research will discuss how Zhao Zhang and Xiaoxuan Xu accomplish this fusion of old and new in their recent piano works Nature no. 2, (2013) and An Unusual Feast of East, 2022. …

A Study Of The Relationship Between Atlas Assessment Levels And Asboa Instrumental Ensemble Concert Assessment Ratings, Daniel Cooper

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

This study investigated the relationship between two key forms of school accountability that relate to secondary instrumental music programs. A thorough review of relevant literature was conducted to establish a framework for analyzing how ATLAS achievement levels may predict ASBOA concert assessment ratings of bands and orchestras in Arkansas. A quantitative approach was used via a binary logistic regression to interpret the impact of ATLAS achievement levels and SES, as defined by free and reduced lunch percentages, on an ensemble's likelihood of earning a superior or non-superior rating at region concert assessment. Results found statistically significant relationships for the predictive …

The Secret Science Of Songs. Created By All Children Everywhere, Paul G. Morehouse Phd

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

This field article introduces The Secret Science of Songs, a research-informed, practice-based framework that reconceptualizes songs as powerful, transdisciplinary tools in early childhood education. Drawing on over 40 years of classroom-based action research alongside established findings in cognitive science and music perception, the framework argues that young children’s engagement with songs is rooted not primarily in performance skill, but in their innate capacity to perceive and process auditory patterns in music and language. These pattern-based experiences constitute a rich aesthetic and cognitive domain through which children construct meaning, long before mastery of melody or verbal precision emerges.

The article …

Culturally Responsive Tent: An Architectural Journey, Marcos Amado Petroli, Elmira Ebadi

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Culturally responsive teaching in architecture encourages students to connect design thinking with identity, culture, and lived experience. This studio assignment introduced the tent as an archetypal architectural form and weaving as a generative tectonic strategy, allowing students to explore how lightweight structures can respond to social needs, cultural narratives, and material expression.

Using “Ticket Out” To Create A Continuous Feedback Loop For Student Learning, Jacob D. Skousen

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

This presentation highlights the use of a brief end-of-class “Ticket Out” to create a continuous feedback loop for student learning. Students reflect on learning targets and provide feedback on the class experience, which is then analyzed and used to guide instructor response, follow-up communication, and instructional adjustments. The practice supports reflective teaching, student voice, and timely, responsive instruction.

Distraction Or Tool? Exploring The Relationship Between Social Media And Practice Habits Of Collegiate Music Students With Adhd, Marianne Nicole Mills

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative phenomenological study examined the relationship between social media use and the practice habits of collegiate music students with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). While social media platforms inspire collaboration, creativity, and educational resources, they also introduce potential distractions and barriers to initiating practice sessions, especially for students with executive functioning challenges. Using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) framework, five applied music students at a small, private college in Florida participated in semi-structured interviews and kept reflective practice journals for six weeks. Findings indicated that social media served as a dual-purpose influence, supporting learning and community while also increasing procrastination, …

The Effects Of Visual Supports On The Acquisition Of Guitar Chords, Cole S. Jahna

Thesis Projects

There is a current literature gap in applied behavior analysis (ABA) and music-based leisure activities. This study utilized a multiple-probe design to evaluate the effects of visual supports on the guitar fretboard combined with behavioral skills training (BST) to teach correct strumming and finger placement of three guitar chords (i.e., E, C, and G) to a neurodivergent adult. By using a task analysis, the strum and each individual finger placement were scored as correct or incorrect during each chord trial. Three chords that were under 50% accuracy in baseline were selected for the intervention. The intervention was introduced sequentially to …

The Intentional Soundtrack: Using Specific Music To Proactively Manage The Elementary Classroom, Meredith Sundberg, Angela Carlson, Carrie Thonstad

Celebration of Research

This research investigates how educators can intentionally use specific musical genres and tempos as reliable environmental cues to enhance student attention, engagement, and classroom management. While the general benefits of music in education are well-documented, this study seeks to identify which genres are most effective for specific instructional outcomes. While conducting a four-week comparative study across four second-grade classrooms, I evaluated the impact of upbeat and slow music during transitions, classical and pop music during independent spelling work, and classical, pop, and curriculum related music math brain breaks. Data was collected through observational rubrics, student surveys, and academic test scores. …

Powwow Sound: The Differences Between Northern And Southen Style Music, Alison P. Walker

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

The purpose of this study was to observe the music performed at Powwows and the differences of the sound according to region.

I examined the changes based on region that made the style of music performed different.

Does Traditional Music From Different Cultures Affect Sleep Quality Differently?, Keiarra J. Gonzales

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Sleep is crucial for maintaining a balanced metabolism and managing appetite, blood sugar, and diabetes. There are many global sleep challenges among college students, which includes what level of priority sleep is in college populations. Therefore, this study covers the topic question Does Traditional Music From Different Cultures Affect Sleep Quality Differently. Furthermore, this study will include peer-reviewed articles, comparison of musical traditions, and analysis of tempo, instrumentation, and cultural familiarity.