Music Commons^™

Effective Elements Of Conducting: A Study Of High School Orchestra Directors, Matthew J. Brooks

Dissertations, 2014-2019

The purpose of this study was to evaluate how effectively current high school orchestra directors demonstrate the elements of conducting. To do this, I first selected what elements of conducting would be evaluated and then defined what is effective for each. From this, I created a conductor evaluation form consisting of a 1-Not Effective to 5-Effective rating scale to score how effectively each element is demonstrated. The results would later address the primary research questions:

1. What elements of conducting do high school orchestra directors demonstrate most effectively?
2. What elements of conducting do high school orchestra directors demonstrate least effectively?

Current …

Dewey Meets Bluegrass: Progressive Educational Theory In The Establishment Of Traditional Music Programs In Higher Education, John C. Goad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study focuses on connections between the Progressive era educational theories of John Dewey and present-day bluegrass and traditional music programs in higher education in order to explore a pedagogical basis for such programs. The research specifically examines Dewey’s beliefs in experiential learning, individualization, and vocational education and their current applications in traditional music education. The study included two major components: historical research into Dewey’s writings and primary and secondary sources regarding traditional music education in the United States, and interviews of faculty members in college and university bluegrass and traditional music programs. The thesis of this study is that …

Music Education (Sc 2901), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2901. Advertising contracts and rate sheet for the Bluegrass Music News, a publication of the Kentucky Music Educators Association; choral program and constitution and by-laws of the Third District Music Educators Association.

“Mi Alma Cantará”: Tracing Issues In Music Education Within The Colonial And Contemporary Latin American Church, Kerry Digiacomo

Senior Honors Theses

Music education and institutionalized Christianity have been criticized by historians and ethnomusicologists for their role in the domination and transformation of indigenous Latin American cultures since the late 15th century. However, indigenous peoples, including Amerindians as well as more recent mestizo and Ladino people groups, have also taken an active role in transforming European musics to reflect an emic understanding of their own cultural identity. Music education within the Latin American church has provided an interface for these complex interactions between foreign and native cultural influences. This paper will explore the connections between colonial and contemporary-era music education movements in …

Acts Of Courage: Leaping Into Mindful Music Teaching, Cathy Benedict, Patrick K. Schmidt

Music Education Publications

The authors explore the idea of courage in the classroom focusing on two populations of teachers: pre-service undergraduate students and in-service teachers. They articulate their own paths toward their own understandings of facilitating and recognizing acts of courage and share how their educational and pedagogical experiences have led them to think differently about the opportunities of doing and being differently as teachers.

An Exploration Of The Use Of And The Attitudes Toward Technology In First-Year Instrumental Music, Ashley D. Gilbert

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, Student Creative Work, and Performances

The purpose of this study was to determine what technologies are used in first-year instrumental music and to examine factors that influence the attitudes of teachers, students, and parents toward the use of those technologies. Many devices, software, and applications have been developed to aid instrumental students in their learning. However, because of the unique format of most beginning programs, it is unclear what types of technology are actually being used and what attitudes prevail for those involved in using technology. Two researcher-designed questionnaires, the Technology in Music Usage Questionnaire (TMUQ) and the Technology in Music Attitude Questionnaire (TMAQ), were …

Origins Of Music Programs In Liberal Arts Institutions: The Story Of Three Florida Catholic Universities, Cynthia S. Selph

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the music programs in liberal arts colleges through the historical lens of three Catholic Universities in the state of Florida. Although there are numerous historical dissertations and theses written about individual music schools and departments, and a few that compare music programs in similar types of institutions, none have compared music programs in Catholic universities within the same state. After teaching at Saint Leo University and experiencing the process of rebuilding a music program after it was almost completely lost in the mid-1990s, I wanted to study the histories of Saint Leo and other Florida Catholic institutions …

Augustine’S De Musica In The 21st Century Music Classroom, John Macinnis

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Augustine’s De musica is all that remains of his ambitious plan to write a cycle of works describing each of the liberal arts in terms of Christian faith and is actually unfinished; whereas the six books extant today primarily examine rhythm, Augustine intended to write about melody also. The sixth book of De musica was better known in late Antiquity and the Middle Ages than the first five, and it takes up philosophical questions of aesthetics related to the proportionate ordering discernable throughout creation. After a brief introduction summarizing De musica’s content and its importance in subsequent Christian writings, my …

19th Century Sea Shanties: From The Capstan To The Classroom, Sharon Marie Risko

ETD Archive

Sea shanties were much more than simple folk songs of the sea. They were an integral tool in wooden ship operations in the 19th century. They include universal themes that connect us with the past telling us tales of love, adventure, far away destinations, and of trials and tribulations. The tunes are rollicking, the refrains memorable, and are to be sung with ultimate abandon. When brought into the classroom, teachers can introduce musical concepts, enrich lessons, and encourage student participation through the rousing singing of sea shanties. In this study the historical evolution and function of sea shanties are explored. …

Mued 397b/D: Practicum (Music Teaching Field Experience)—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Inquiry Portfolio, Dale Bazan

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This course is taken during the spring semester of the junior year in the Bachelor of Music Education degree. The field experience places students inside schools weekday mornings over 5 weeks following Spring Break, and following core music education methods courses in instrumental and choral teaching (i.e., Instrumental Methods MUED 345 and Choral Methods MUED 346). The UNL undergraduate bulletin describes this course as simply, “Supervised teaching experiences in school.” Students are placed in school settings in the discipline opposite their applied instrument. Specifically, vocal applied students are placed in instrumental settings, and instrumental applied students are placed in vocal …

Claude Debussy’S Children’S Corner – A Pedagogical Guide, Nolan O. Pribnow

Undergraduate Research Journal

A student learning Debussy’s Children’s Corner must be properly trained to handle a wide range of physical and musical demands. An experienced teacher, who is able to analyze and anticipate musical and technical challenges, demonstrate specific musical passages, and develop an organized plan of sequential learning steps, will successfully guide the student-learning process. As a teaching guide, this project addressed each piece individually, highlighting various technical and musical challenges, followed by pedagogical recommendations for addressing these challenges.

Characteristics And Accessibility Of Loaner Programs Used By Missouri String Teachers, Juliana Marie Georgiades

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The purposes of my study were (a) to describe string instrument loaner programs and associated administrative practices in socioeconomically diverse schools and (b) to analyze the accessibility of string education with respect to school size and socioeconomic status. The research involved the responses to an electronic survey completed by 42 Missouri K-12 string teachers who taught at 119 schools spanning 20 school districts. Findings suggest that lower income schools were more likely to have students using school-owned instruments as their only instrument, more likely to not use loaner instruments that were shared between schools, and more likely to lack the …

Evidence Of Pedagogical Content Knowledge Among High School Band Directors And University Applied Music Teachers In The Context Of Student Self-Evaluation, Danielle Jeanette Emerich

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was threefold: (a) to seek evidence of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in high school band directors’ (generalists) and applied music teachers’ (specialists) evaluations of musical performance; (b) explore the similarities and differences between generalists’ and specialists’ perspectives on PCK; and (c) compare the evidences of PCK to student musicians’ self-evaluations of same performances. A basic interpretive qualitative approach with data collected through a think-aloud procedure applied to evaluation of solo music performance videos revealed four themes indicative of PCK—Aural Concept, Conveying Information, Effecting Change, and Uncertainty—and attendant sub-themes. Generalists and specialists provided a rich trove …

The Effect Of Smartmusic On Student Practice, Brian Duane Nichols

Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to document the use of SmartMusic Interactive Practice Software and its effect on practice habits and motivation. The 12-week study measured participant practice time using paper practice charts and the online grade book/practice chart in SmartMusic Interactive Practice software. In addition, an 11-question Likert survey was administered pre and poststudy to measure students’ reactions and motivations to practice. Participants (N=38) were randomly assigned to either the SmartMusic group (SM, n=19) or the Contact Control group (CC, n =19). Data from an Independent Samples t test measuring group practice time indicate a significant difference between …

The Status Of, Teacher Attitudes Towards, And The Lmpact Of Music Therapy Lnclusive Music Education In Michigan, Ann E. Armbruster

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine Michigan music teachers' attitudes and perceptions regarding their training for and experience with special learners in their classrooms, and their collaboration and consultation with music therapists. Eighty-six music educators completed a 51 item questionnaire. Results showed that music teachers' attitudes and perceptions are generally positive toward inclusion. Mean scores for attitude and perception were not influenced by whether participants had or had not taken a course in special education as a student, whether they had access to continuing education regarding inclusion through their school district, or participants' predominant teaching area or degree …

Instruction Of Hearing Impaired Students In School Instrumental Music Programs, Rachel Strong

Honors Theses

Despite several major advances in education for people who are deaf or hearing impaired, there are still some pervasive negative attitudes and perceptions in the education world towards this community of students. The purpose of this study was to discover the attitudes and perceptions that band directors in Mississippi public schools have towards hearing impaired students participating in instrumental ensembles. This study utilized a survey that was sent to every director in the state. The survey contained several questions pertaining to whether directors had ever had a hearing impaired student in their ensembles before, what accommodations were made for those …

A Proleptic Perspective Of Music Education, Brent C. Talbot

Sunderman Conservatory of Music Faculty Publications

By explaining the cultural mechanism of 'prolepsis' through examples of my own teaching, I posit that all too often educators' and teacher educators' (purely 'ideal') recall of our pasts and imagination of our students' futures become fundamentally materialized constraints on our students' life experiences in the present.

Organizing An Honor Elementary Choir (Grades 4-6), Mona Jackson

Music Graduate Projects and Theses

The Elementary Honor Choir was for selected participants from Southwestern Idaho Elementary schools with a guest conductor, from Tacoma, Washington. Area Music Teachers supported this event by selecting students and preparing them in advance for the one-day rehearsal and performance. Through the process of preparation and rehearsals the students gained vocal development, further musicianship skills, camaraderie, and created an aesthetic musical experience. Attending elementary music teachers observed techniques for working with elementary choirs and details of teaching each song selection that they could take back to their individual classrooms to implement. The concert performance gave students the opportunity to implement …

Successfully Selecting Performance Repertoire For Concert Festival Evaluation, Kristopher R. Chandler

Honors Theses

Since Lowell Mason introduced the idea of modern day music education, music specialists like Dr. Acton Ostling, Jr. and Dr. Frank Battisti have aided in the evolution of music education to meet the needs of our ever-changing society. Dr. Ostling and Dr. Battisti published ground breaking research regarding selection of wind band repertoire that included a list of research-based guidelines such as choosing music that has clear melodic content, contrasting rhythms, and contrasting tonal textures, among other specifications. This study focuses on the prior research conducted by Dr. Ostling and Dr. Battisti. A survey consisting of a series of questions …

“That’S The Way I’Ve Always Learned”: The Transmission Of Traditional Music In Higher Education, Alexandra Frank

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the establishment of degree programs in traditional music in institutions of higher education. It defines traditional music and discusses the history of traditional and folk music programs at universities and conservatories in the United States, Finland, Scotland, and England. The institutionalization of American traditional music is compared to the institutionalization of jazz music in the United States. This thesis focuses on the Bluegrass, Old- Time, and Country Music Studies program at East Tennessee State University and features original ethnographic interviews with lecturers from the program. Two similar programs in Tennessee and Kentucky are also discussed. Some of …

'Socialized Music': Historical Formations Of Community Music Through Social Rationales, Deanna Yerichuk

Music Faculty Publications

This article traces the formation of community music through professional and scholarly articles over the last century in North America, and argues that community music has been discursively formed through social rationales, although the specific rationales have shifted. The author employs an archaeological framework inspired by Michel Foucault to analyze the usage and contexts of the term ‘community music’ in four historical moments, including Progressive-Era manuals and guidebooks, mid-century articles in the Music Educators’ Journal, writings of the Community Music Activity Commission established by the International Society of Music Education from 1982, and articles in the International Journal of Community …

Mued 403: Student Teaching Seminar—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Inquiry Portfolio, Dale Bazan

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This course is taken during music education undergraduate students' student teaching semester, which occurs after completion of all coursework in the Bachelor of Music Education degree. While students work full-time in elementary and secondary schools, they participate in on-campus seminars and workshops. These meetings include presentations and discussion sessions led by the instructor, area school district administrators, and UNL Career Services counselors. Sessions explore online and print resources for professional advancement in the field of music teaching. There are several assumptions made about college students, and more specifically undergraduate music education students. It is assumed, in general, that adolescents and …

Muop 356/856: Intermediate/Advanced Opera Techniques—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Inquiry Portfolio, Jamie M. Reimer

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Intermediate/Advanced Opera Techniques is a two credit elective course offered each spring at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. At its genesis, the course was primarily an opera scenes workshop, focused solely on the preparation and performance of an opera scene in a final concert. It is a cross-listed course meaning that students from the first year through advanced graduate study may enroll. Students may or may not have any experience on the music theater stage, nor have they had training in how to prepare a new role from casting to completed performance.

This course is an elective in the School of …

Improvisation In A Fourth-Grade Music Class, Lauren Julia King Driscoll

Theses and Dissertations

With the intent of improving the understanding of music learning, I investigated the processes of tonal, rhythm, melodic, and harmonic improvisation among my fourth-grade students and me. The following were the guiding research questions. 1. How did I adapt music improvisation strategies for my intact class of fourth-grade students? 2. How did those students participate in music improvisation experiences? 3. How did those students describe their music improvisation experiences? Seventeen fourth-grade students participated in this study, and I participated in this study as a participant observer. Over the course of five weeks, I taught ten 50-minute music classes, where I …

Supporting Your Instrument In A Body-Friendly Manner : A Comparative Approach, Emanuela Maria Lacraru

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT The purpose of this monograph was two-fold: (1) to bring together a scattered array of literature about performance injury prevention (related to violin/viola support) into one source, organize and synthesize this literature with the intention of identifying principal issues, compare coverage and recommendations, and identify consistencies and inconsistencies; and (2) to assess the perceptions of upper string musicians and teachers about injury prevention in the context of the literature. For the first purpose, a comprehensive bibliography of relevant literature was developed. For the second purpose, a survey based on information revealed through the literature was developed and distributed. Total …

Gordon, Griffith Lewis - Collector (Sc 2786), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2786. Examples of musical scores executed by students in a class titled "A Short Course in Vocal Harmony" held at Western Kentucky University and led by Professor Griffith Lewis Gordon. Critical remarks by Mr. Gordon accompany each student's work.

The Music Identity Project, Brent C. Talbot

Sunderman Conservatory of Music Faculty Publications

At MayDay Group Colloquium 24 in East Lansing, MI, Sandra Stauffer (2012) charged that: "If we want change, we need to start telling different stories . . . we work with beginning teachers, and we worry about teacher identities. We tell them a story...one that does not serve them well. A story that they will be prepared. Maybe we should tell stories of self-making, of re-making and replacing ourselves. Of preparation as a constantly evolving teacher story. Maybe then transformation can be the norm."

Sandy’s comments of transformation resonated strongly with the very project I was presenting at the same …

Developing Depth And Dimension: Instructional Tools And Practices To Facilitate And Encourage The Growth Of Young Jazz Musicians, Shauna E. Mcfaul

Lawrence University Honors Projects

Developing Depth and Dimension: A step-by-step, comprehensive introduction to the world of jazz for young musicians. This work begins with a philosophical discussion of the educational methods that are incorporated into the following games, lesson plans and writings. The project is directed toward students who have little to no experience playing jazz or improvising. It is meant to provide a foundation for continued success and development throughout their musical lives.

Vocal Technique And Repertoire Choice For Middle School Students, Taylor L. Simpson

Senior Honors Theses

Discovering the correct vocal training techniques for middle school students is a difficult task for music teachers in regards to their changing voices and their new discoveries of interests and preferences. Adolescence marks the final phase in development to vocal maturity and thus, knowledge of how to cultivate an effective teaching style for middle school students is crucial. The following study will attempt to simplify the responsibilities of music teachers by focusing on the vocal development of adolescents, and recommending repertoire choices suitable for middle school students. The study will also analyze differences in gender, age, and ability levels. Ultimately, …

Hungary’S Undeniable Success In Music Education: An Analysis Of Public And Private Teaching Principles And Practices In Hungarian Music Education, Bethany Richards, Jerry Jaccard

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of my trip to Hungary was to observe and analyze the Hungarian music education system, realize its strengths, and adapt what I learned into my teaching here in America. My specific research assignment was to investigate the relationship between private and public music lessons and how by working together they can be most effective.