Music Commons^™

The High School Choral Classroom As A Platform For Cross-Cultural Education: A Content Evaluation Of The 2020 Tnmea Satb All-State Repertoire., Michael Ian Colavita

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, there is a push toward culturally responsive music education in response to a rapidly changing student demographic. However, teaching music from unfamiliar traditions presents a unique set of challenges for the music educator. The 2020 Tennessee SATB All-State repertoire provides one example of music selected with the goal of teaching a wide array of cultural traditions. This thesis analyzes these seven pieces from a musical and pedagogical perspective to demonstrate this collection’s utility for culturally responsive music education. Evaluation of the pieces demonstrated that while most of these works come from distinct cultural traditions, few present …

The Music Making Family: A Music Class For All Ages, Jordan Lee Slater

Masters Theses

Whereas music both unlocks and fuels devotion as well as strengthens mental faculties, whereas teamwork and shared experiences deepen familial bonds, whereas the Bible is the root of all knowledge and wisdom, the need for The Music Making Family has arisen. Colossians 3:16 states, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” The purpose of this qualitative study is to provide teachers, whether in private school, public school, a religious entity, in a standalone studio, instructional material for …

Teaching Music To Special Needs Students Using Multiple Intelligence Theory, Megan Lawrimore Bolt

Masters Theses

Students who fall under the label of “special needs” or “exceptional learners” are often forgotten when it comes to music class. Unfortunately, in many schools they either do not attend music classes at all or they only attend with other students who are also considered special needs students. These students deserve the right to be in an inclusive music class with their peers who are not special needs students. Students of all abilities should receive the same opportunities to learn music together. One question that will be addressed is whether music teachers in South Carolina are making their classrooms inclusive …

Teaching Expression And Communication Through Music And Collaborative Arts, Goeun Kim

Masters Theses

Music and art are vehicles for creative expression that people have practiced throughout history to express and communicate their thoughts, emotions, feelings, and experiences. Art is the purest and most unique form of self-expression, but today’s perception of art is usually accessible for people who are naturally gifted or specialize in a particular art form. Children have the potential to understand, learn, and enjoy music if given a chance to explore creative expression. Especially during pre-adolescence or adolescence, many young children find it difficult to express themselves outwardly because they are concerned about peer relations and people’s expectations. While an …

Teach Your Choir To Read Music, Bryan Cody Rante

Masters Theses

Teaching chorus presents many challenges to directors and one of the main challenges that directors face is teaching their students how to read music. Many students rely on rote teaching or aural repetition to learn music, and this can prevent students from becoming proficient musicians. Bryan Rante researched different ways to assess the choral group and simultaneously teach them how to read music proficiently. The curriculum used for this research was Andy Beck’s Sing at First Sight: Foundations in Choral Singing Level 1 & 2 to help students learn how to sight-sing and become confident in reading music. The curriculum …

Effects Of Musical Content On Student Practice Judgments, Decisions, And Improvement, Molly N. Batchelor

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to observe and compare the differences in practice behaviors among middle school band students who are presented with etudes of varying stylistic, technical, or expressive qualities. Existing literature has covered practice methodology extensively, but this study was intended to help understand how students vary strategies when presented with different musical challenges. Participants were individually observed in a pre-test, practice period, and post-test for each of two musical examples to examine the strategies used and improvement from pre-test to post-test. Results showed that participants who varied their strategy-use in lyrical and technical etudes increased performance …

Performer Wellness And Applied Stage Practices Curriculum: Preparing The Undergraduate Vocal Performance Major For An Opera Career, Gabriel J. Kirby

Masters Theses

Within higher education, the goal is to prepare students to enter the workforce with the knowledge and abilities to meet or exceed the chosen occupation’s requirements and expectations. To achieve these requisites, schools create curricula comprising key information for several fields and concentrations while abiding by the regulations enforced by both their school boards and accreditation organizations. Students can apply for a job knowing that their degree holds value. Many institutions continually revise degrees to curricula to inspire the next generation in the workforce. The purpose of this curriculum project is to advocate for expanded curriculum considerations that include acting …

A Proposed Curriculum For Prenatal, Postnatal, And Early Childhood Christian Music Education, Danielle Emily Dixon

Masters Theses

From the prenatal to postnatal/infancy stages, to early childhood and beyond, music plays an integral role in development. This research study aims to detail and describe the benefits of a prenatal, postnatal/infant, and early childhood Christian music education. Employing a mixed-methods and historical research approach, this study seeks to answer the question, in what ways, if any, could a prenatal, postnatal/infant, and early childhood Christian music education be beneficial for developing children and their mothers? By combining the benefits of an early childhood music education with Christian principles, the results of this study will have significance in not only the …

Sixth-Grade Sight-Singing For Low Vision Students: A Course To Enhance Confidence And Music Reading Ability, Jamie Lane Carpenter

Masters Theses

Students enter the private or public-school system with a wide variety of emotional, mental, and physical impairments that impact their confidence, self-esteem, and overall path to their future. One misunderstood and under-represented population of students are those who are not fully blind but fall under the category of low vision. Since the low vision spectrum is wide, students must advocate for themselves according to their unique visual condition. While some students may be nearsighted, others may experience color blindness, tunnel vision, a wide variety of partial blindness in one or both eyes, and more. If educators are not aware of …

Hello, Neighbor! A Curriculum For The Instruction Of Social And Emotional Learning In The Early Childhood Music Classroom Using The Pedagogical Strategies Of Fred Rogers, Julia Conceison

Masters Theses

Modern music educators are faced with many unique challenges while teaching in the early childhood and elementary classroom. With these challenges come the added stressors of students’ individual and collective experiences as they learn to process and regulate their behaviors and emotions through a variety of often unfamiliar social, political, and familial challenges. Currently, while many university teacher preparation programs focus on teaching content differentiation, curriculum creation, and content knowledge, they do not often focus on cultural relevance and responsiveness. One champion of cultural relevance and responsiveness in music education is composer, educator, minister, and children’s television host, Fred Rogers, …

Daring To See: White Supremacy And Gatekeeping In Music Education, Brian A. Gellerstein

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Music education in the U.S. maintains a legacy of cultural hegemony that has historically and systemically benefited the White students it was designed to serve, at the expense of Black and Brown students and teachers. As a subdiscipline concerned with cultural production and reproduction, the persistence of White supremacy within music education contributes to its indefatigability within the broader society.

This study is cast within a theoretical framework that connects critical race theory and critical pedagogy in order to address the ways in which music teachers make meaning of gatekeeping practices mediated within hidden structures of White supremacy. This inquiry …

A Middle School Choral Methodology And Curriculum Pairing: An Introduction, Eunice Nogueras-Negron, Rebecca Watson

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Theoretical Proposal

Teaching To A Screen: Investigating The Effects Of Hybrid Teaching On Modern Music Education, Jasmin Limqueco, Jeremiah Armstrong

Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

First Generation College Students' Lived Experiences In An Undergraduate Music Education Program: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Joseph Earp, Susan Quindag

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Applied

Mental Health In Music: Why Are We Not Talking About It?, Christian Pence

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

The music business has taken many hits over the past 20 years, and we are seeing musicians slowly going extinct. There are so many factors that are hurting musicians, and workers in the music business. Back in the 80’s and 90’s, we were investing in music like no tomorrow. So many concerts were happening, and so many Broadway shows were going on. We were really supporting our musicians, and we were helping them in any way we could. But society, has not been investing in musicians, causing certain problems, like financial stability, mental health problems, and making music more of …

Music For All? A Comparison Of Florida Middle School Music Enrollment In Traditional, For-Profit, And Nonprofit Charter Schools, Melissa Salek

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Project of Merit Winner

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) lists music as part of a “well-rounded education,” yet several studies have shown that charter school students have less access to music than traditional schools. The purpose of this study is to explore if this trend extends to Florida charter middle school students. Of particular interest is whether the for-profit or nonprofit status of charter management organizations and school characteristics impact music course enrollment. The researcher created a database using publicly available school data and accountability reports for the 2019-20 school year. Results find a significant difference between charter and …

Importance Of Technology For Music Students During Covid-19, Alejandro Ledesma, Joseph Hamlet

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Honorable Mention Winner

As the world approached the Summer of 2020, many would-be taken back at the reality of an undermined virus, Covid-19. This virus has single-handedly impacted the entire world including travel, the economy, and education. For many musicians, especially classical musicians, summer is essential for gaining performance, teaching, working, or internship experience specific to one’s career aspirations. Summer music festivals allow students to make tremendous progress on their instruments as they can focus solely on their art. Summer music festivals are also important for making important connections with potential teachers for graduate school study. This is possible through …

Development In Singers With Perfectionism, Melody F. White

Honors College Theses

According to Stoeber and Childs (2011), perfectionism is “a personality disposition characterized by striving for flawlessness and setting excessively high standards for performance accompanied by tendencies for overly critical evaluations” (p.2) Dispositions such as perfectionism may be prominent in individuals in the performing arts, as it may help or hinder their development. This study explores development in singers with perfectionism and ways of coping. Studies have shown that there are both positive and negative aspects of perfectionism. Positive aspects include goal progress, agreeableness, and higher functioning. Negative aspects include depression, anxiety, stress maladjustment. These negative aspects manifest in musicians through …

Lifetimes: Fred Aman '67, Merging The Worlds Of Law And Music, University Of Rochester

Alfred Aman Jr. (1991-2002)

Now the holder of a named professorship at the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University Bloomington, University of Rochester Life Trustee Fred Aman '67 retired last year after a decorated career as an attorney, legal scholar, and academic administrator. Along the way, he's been an accomplished jazz drummer.

To read more and hear some of Aman's music, visit uofr.us/fred-aman

Non-Performance Music Classes: Benefits & Hurdles, Brian Lonergan

Graduate Research Showcase

THE BENEFITS AND HURDLES OF OFFERING NON-PERFORMANCE MUSIC CLASSES AT THE SECONDARY LEVEL

Brian Lonergan

Many schools at the Secondary Level focus their music program around performing ensembles, such as band, orchestra, or choir. These ensembles are based in traditional Western music practices and exclude a large portion of the school’s student population. The purpose of this literature review was to share the benefits of providing non-performance music classes, as well as highlight some of the likely roadblocks that may be encountered when trying to implement these classes into the school curriculum. There are a number of anecdotal accounts of …

Music And The Brain: A Review Of Neuroscientific And Clinical Applications, Jacqueline Larivee

Honors Senior Capstone Projects

My research examines the relationship between neuroscience and music, exploring its clinical applications. I extensively review the specific neuroanatomic structures implicated in musical perception. Knowing the function of each brain structure as it relates to musical perception provides insight as to how music is able to elicit certain physical and emotional responses. As music interacts with the human brain, it is also able to provide social, cognitive, and emotional benefits. Given these benefits, my research argues that music is an effective therapeutic intervention for vulnerable populations. I examine the impact of music therapy on preterm infants, hearing impaired individuals, intellectually …

Live Performance, Digital Music, And The Music Listener Experience, Jessica Isenhour

Selected Honors Theses

Live music performance, specifically in a contemporary and modem atmosphere, such as in pop, rock, and hip-hop musical genres in a corporate concert environment, is constantly innovating. As technology advances, so does its incorporation into live performance, marketing media, and digital music. Over the course of centuries, music listeners have enjoyed music of various genres through numerous types of media; however, what remains consistent in these avenues of musical exposure is the psychology of those listeners. This thesis aims to observe what consumers of music look for in live concert and digital music streaming environments, how performers have adapted and …

One Elementary General Music Teacher’S Uses Of And Experiences With Gordon’S Music Learning Theory: A Case Study, Allison Elizabeth Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

With the intent of understanding one music teacher’s uses of and experiences with Gordon’s (2012, 2013) music learning theory, the purpose of this case study was to interview one GIML PDLC-experienced EGMT about her study, interpretation, and implementation of Gordon’s (2012, 2013) music learning theory in her teaching practice. The guiding research questions were (a) Why and how has one GIML PDLC-experienced EGMT studied, interpreted, and implemented music learning theory in her music teaching practice? (b) Why and how has on GIML PDLC-experienced EGMT questioned and/or deviated from music learning theory in her music teaching practice?

I purposefully interviewed one …

Aural Skills In Developing Musicians: Uncovering Disparities In Secondary Music Learning, Karly Fitch

Senior Theses

This study was conducted to evaluate the scope of aural skills development occurring in secondary music classrooms. The researcher hypothesized that several disparities would exist, namely regarding melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic dictation. Participants took a survey in which they were asked to recall from a prescribed list, aural skills learned while in high school. They were also asked to provide demographic information including high school attended, current college major, and the number of collegiate aural skills courses completed to date. A number of subjective questions were asked as well, such as desired skills prior to collegiate study, and how aural …

The Role And Possible Impact Of Music Administrators On School District Music Programs, Tracee Garrison White

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In order to assist in building a successful music program that is conducive to the learning of all students within a school district, administrators and board members must be informed of the role and impact of a district music administrator. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to identify perspectives that have not yet been explored and documented concerning the positive effect district music administrators have on school music programs. Perspectives on support, accountability and advocacy have emerged as themes through an exploration of limited existing literature and feedback from questionnaires. Although the information is available for administrators who …

Content Analysis Of Guitar Repertoire For Young People: The Michelson And Suzuki Collections, Brian Douglas Berlin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The guitar is a popular instrument choice in music education; however, most school guitar teachers in the United States neither majored on the instrument nor took a university guitar methods class. These self-taught teachers often rely on trial and error to select repertoire. Effective music curriculum design relies on teachers' ability to select and sequence proper repertoire based on student ability. Through exploration of the existing literature, deficiencies were found in guitar teacher training, pedagogy for young guitar students, and repertoire evaluation. In this study, the author analyzed two collections of printed guitar music in standard notation. The analysis yielded …

A Study Of American Rural Music Educators: The Impact On Community Involvement In Music, Stanley Norman Harris Iii

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study intends to discover and evaluate positive and negative relationships that music educators experience while teaching in rural educational settings and to discover if broader community involvement can help mitigate resource reductions. Influences such as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) have accelerated reductions in music programs. The purpose of the investigation is to recognize the feasibility of rural music educators leveraging increased support through community involvement to benefit their local music programs and students. The study's focus is twofold: first, to discover and examine what causes rural music educators to not participate …

Co-Constructive Music Improvisers: An Ethnographic Case Study, Emma Elizabeth Young

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this exploratory ethnographic case study was to examine music improvisations co-constructed by my elementary students and me, their music teacher. Guiding research questions were (a) How do my elementary students and I co-construct music improvisations? (b) How do I describe our music improvisations? (c) How do my elementary students describe our music improvisations? (d) How do my elementary students describe their own music improvisations? (e) How do my elementary students describe their peers’ music improvisations?

I facilitated co-constructive music improvisation sessions with each music class at Coosa Elementary School for seven weeks during Fall 2020. Each student …

"The Rest Is Lagniappe": The Female Secondary Band Director Experience In Louisiana, Margaret M. Webb

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this case study is to examine the experience of female secondary band directors in southeastern Louisiana. Six female band directors in Louisiana were interviewed using video-conferencing. Of the six, four were middle school directors and two were high school directors. The semi-structured interviews took place in three phases: 1) musical influences and experiences from birth through college, 2) early teaching experience, and 3) current teaching experience. Data analysis included four phases of coding; open, axial, closed, and selective. Coding uncovered multiple themes in the findings. Themes were categorized as the following: (1) Becoming a Band Director, (2) …

Marching Band Show Design Tips For Smaller Bands, Larry Price

Theses

This project takes an in depth look at the marching band scoring system in the attempt to aid small school bands. The adjudicator sheets of the competitive marching band circuit were evaluated to see what criteria judges are looking for in a performance. To attain the highest scoring rating, it seems that the performance needs to be original, captivating, and executed with high accuracy based on the research. The first two expectations, original and captivating, are objective to the individual and require custom elements, referred to as non-performance variables throughout the paper. This paper sought to find what judges look …