Music Practice Commons^™

Proceedings Of The 21st Century Guitar Conference 2019 & 2021

The 21st Century Guitar

This volumeʼs contributions grew from 20 of the 94 scheduled keynotes, lectures and lecture-recitals of the first and second editions of The 21st Guitar Conference. Five items stem from the inaugural edition (2019, 44 contributions) and 15 from the second edition (2021, 50 contributions).1 This conference is unique in that it is centered on contemporary guitar research, performance and pedagogy.2 Previously, guitar research had gained increased visibility thanks to the International Guitar Research Centre, launched in 2014 (Stephen Goss, President), which regularly (co-)organizes conferences on guitar research; and Soundboard Scholar, launched in 2015 (Jonathan Leathwood, Editor) ‒ currently the only …

Give The Drummer Some: A Dive Into Drum Breaks And Drum Break Production, Kyle Kaldhusdal

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This paper traces the history of hip-hop culture through the evolution of the drum break, the original context of drum breaks in funk and soul music, their influence on DJ culture, and the subsequent impact of drum breaks on music and music production. It follows the development of breakbeat compilations in the 1970s and 1980s, parallel to the development of turntablism and sampling techniques. It also examines in detail how copyright litigation in the 1990s shaped the development of sample-based music genres and created a niche market for originally-recorded drum breaks over the subsequent decades.

Weber's Clarinet Concertino Opus 26, Cadence A. Graves

ATU Scholars Symposium

As a professional musician, it is important that one does not simply learn the notes and rhythms in a piece of music, but also the history surrounding it and its composer. There is much to learn about a piece of music and how it may be performed from original scores, performance history, and knowledge of the composer and the time period in which it was written. This lecture recital aims to open eyes to the amount of relevant knowledge one can gain from researching a piece of music’s composer, setting, and the importance of doing this research. This presentation will …

Chinese Folk Song Meets Western Compositional Technique—A Case Study Of Zhou Long’S The Partita For The Violin And The Piano, Bo Wu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In the field of contemporary Chinese music, a large number of outstanding composers and works have emerged in China. As one of the most prominent Chinese American composers, Zhou Long has created many excellent pieces that combine Chinese national elements with world-class composition techniques. These contributions have helped promote Chinese music on the global stage. Zhou Long possesses profound creative skills, with a deep understanding of both Chinese national modes and Western composition techniques. By applying these skills and techniques to his works, he has developed a unique style that integrates Chinese national features with modern music concepts and techniques, …

Exploring Jam Sessions In New York, Ricardo Pinheiro

The IASJ Journal of Applied Jazz Research

This paper addresses the relationship between jazz jam sessions in Manhattan, and the concepts of Scene, Ritual and Race. These issues emerged during research that, from an ethnomusicological perspective, focused on the role of jam sessions in Manhattan as a privileged context for the following:

i) learning performative styles of jazz,

ii) developing the creative process,

iii) constructing professional networks,

iv) establishing of the status of musicians.

Studying and analysing the jam sessions at five jazz performance venues in New York, I demonstrate the vital importance of participating in jam sessions by examining their relationship with this performative occasion (Pinheiro …

Restructuring Hierarchy Within And Between Jazz And Classical Orchestras, Emiliano Sampaio

The IASJ Journal of Applied Jazz Research

From 2017 to 2021, Emiliano Sampaio dedicated his time and energy to the development of a jazz symphonic orchestra artistic research project. To put this complex and intricate journey in words, he wrote this article, which guides the reader through the development of the four-year work. It describes, discusses and reflects on some paths I experienced through the research, and how they contributed and transformed my views on the subject and on his music. The backbone of this article will be the discussion of the practical process conducted with different large ensembles, where hypotheses and ideas were put into practice.

Thirty Years On: Reflections On Haydn’S “Farewell” Symphony By James Webster, L. Poundie Burstein, Elaine Sisman, W. Dean Sutcliffe, James Webster

HAYDN: Online Journal of the Haydn Society of North America

It has been just over thirty years since James Webster published his influential monograph Haydn’s “Farewell” Symphony and the Idea of Classical Style: Through-Composition and Cyclic Integration in His Instrumental Music (Cambridge University Press, 1991). To honor the anniversary of Webster’s groundbreaking book, the Encounters with Eighteenth-Century Music: A Virtual Forum steering committee asked L. Poundie Burstein, Elaine Sisman, and W. Dean Sutcliffe to offer perspectives on the book, and James Webster to respond to their perspectives. The interesting online session occurred on Tuesday, October 18, 2022, and included a lively open discussion following the presentations and Webster’s response. The …

The Research Cataloque, Casper Schipper

The IASJ Journal of Applied Jazz Research

The Research Catalogue is an online, open-access research platform, developed for documenting artistic research outcomes. Provided by the Society for Artistic Research, it offers more than just the traditional formats such as PDFs. The RC offers researchers in the arts to expose artistic practice as research, by creating online presentations that can include video, audio and other media and building an “exposition” out of these elements. A growing number of academies, conservatories, and universities in Europe require their master students to publish their artistic research in the Research Catalogue.

Five Tips For (Re)Entering The Professional World After The Pandemic, Wojtek Justyna

The IASJ Journal of Applied Jazz Research

Building and sustaining a career, as a performing jazz artist, has always been a path filled with challenges and roadblocks of many sorts. The current climate has definitely made the hill we have to climb steeper. Nevertheless, understanding the oppositions at hand, adequately preparing for them, combined with careful planning and structured execution will lead to the ability to comfortably navigate this new reality.

Applied Groove Research, Toni Bechtold, Rafael Jerjen, Olivier Senn

The IASJ Journal of Applied Jazz Research

This paper is the first step to bridge this gap by asking whether groove research can help us teach groove to students, and, if so, how it can best be taught. Simultaneously, the paper serves as an introduction to groove research for those unfamiliar with this academic discourse.

Teaching Jazz History Out Of Order, Josiah Boornazian

The IASJ Journal of Applied Jazz Research

Abstract: Jazz history unfolded chronologically, but chronology does not necessarily imply teleology or causality. In other words, the fact that certain jazz styles came after others does not unquestionably mean that jazz history followed a fixed course dictated by the perceived inevitability of artistic “progress.” Although it is important for jazz history students to have a foundational understanding of jazz history in a chronological fashion, presenting history on a straightforward, simplistic timeline defined by distinct style periods is not the only way to teach the music of the past. There may be significant merit in reorganizing the way jazz history …

Master And Apprentice: Lessons From Six Jazz Masters, Richie Beirach

The IASJ Journal of Applied Jazz Research

Jazz pianist and composer Richie Beirach, now a jazz master himself, learned important lessons from the masters he worked with. The lessons learned are of great value for anyone who wants to play jazz professionally.

Improvisation, Consciousness And Cosmos: An Integral View Of Jazz Research, Ed Sarath

The IASJ Journal of Applied Jazz Research

Ed Sarath on improvisation, consciousness and cosmos, as well on integral theory.

Introduction To The Iasj Journal Of Applied Jazz Research, Wouter Turkenburg, Kurt Ellenberger

The IASJ Journal of Applied Jazz Research

Jazz research started as a duplicate of classical music research. As became clear during the Ongoing Dialogues during the annual IASJ Jazz Meetings that started in 1990, jazz research needs a dimension and a dynamic of its own. This has become 'applied jazz research', the kind of research that is directly linked to jazz performance and jazz education. The IASJ Journal of Applied Jazz research offers the platform.

’90s “It Girls”: Britpop At The Postfeminist Intermezzo, Benjamin Halligan

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

In considering the Britpop genre of music and its moment of popularity in the mid/late-1990s, the few female-fronted Britpop groups created space for more compelling articulations of existential matters than were to be found in standard Britpop fare. This article argues these articulations are most appropriately read as arising from a moment of feminist thought in transition: a premature “victory,” under the sign of postfeminism, in which the struggles of Second Wave feminists could be seen to have delivered equality. This moment results in an encroaching and contested sense of entry into maturity, and a loss of youth. The groups …

The Percussionist's Guide To Music Theory Fundamentals, Mckenna M. Lee

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The research priorities that I have established as a theorist, percussionist, and an instructor of both, have led me to a master's thesis project combining music theory practices within the study and performance of percussion repertoire. As the graduate assistant of the percussion department at West Virginia University, I have been teaching applied orchestral percussion lessons and leading percussion ensembles. In my experience, a number of first-year percussionists in the studio at WVU have had a limited background with reading definite pitches on the staff, and struggle with sight-reading and pitch identification, therefore making their Written I and Aural I …

A Conductor’S Analysis Of Selected A Cappella Works By Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, William Bernard Chandler Iii

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Despite experiencing a great deal of recognition in his lifetime, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s music is seldom performed today. His more famous pieces were his choral cantatas, but they require resources that most choirs cannot access. To encourage performance of his music, this monograph focuses on four of his part songs, which are much more accessible.

While many choirs will have the voicings to perform these pieces, they are very chromatic. Coleridge-Taylor is a product of late Romanticism and he employs many chromatic techniques to embellish his music. Inexperienced choirs will struggle to maintain a sense of tonal center if they are …

Liquid Tab, Nathan Hulet

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Guitar transcription is a complex task requiring significant time, skill, and musical knowledge to achieve accurate results. Since most music is recorded and processed digitally, it would seem like many tools to digitally analyze and transcribe the audio would be available. However, the problem of automatic transcription presents many more difficulties than are initially evident. There are multiple ways to play a guitar, many diverse styles of playing, and every guitar sounds different. These problems become even more difficult considering the varying qualities of recordings and levels of background noise.

Machine learning has proven itself to be a flexible tool …

An Analysis Of Allan Holdsworth’S Techniques And Their Application To Fundamental Melodic Devices, James Dasilva

Recital Papers

This thesis analyzes Allan Holdsworth's improvisational style for the purpose of applying his techniques, such as string skipping and omnidirectional fretboard movement, beyond the jazz-rock idiom and expanding the melodic potential of the guitar.

A Theoretical And Performer’S Analysis Of Todd Goodman’S Tuba Concerto And Extended Program Notes Of Recital Pieces, Johnathan De Soto Jr.

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

This document analyzes American composer Todd Goodman's 2012 work for solo tuba titled Tuba Concerto. It contains 10 chapters, including one for each of the three movements of the work: an introduction providing biographical information on the composer and context for the work within the late twentieth century and early twenty-first century; a performer’s analysis on the solo tuba part; and the biographical and performance information of composers also performed on the accompanying recital. Each of the four chapters includes theoretical analyses regarding each of Goodman's movements and practical considerations for performers of the work to observe. The thesis also …

Analysis Of Robert Schumann’S “Fantasy Pieces For Clarinet And Piano”, Opus 73, For A Greater Understanding Of A Standard In Western Classical Solo Repertory, Kaleigh Alwood

Music Undergraduate Honors Theses

In a mere two days, Robert Schumann composed a duet that would become a lasting symbol of romanticism in chamber music. “Fantasy Pieces for Clarinet and Piano”, Op. 73 is now a standard in clarinet repertoire. As such, the piece is frequently performed and analyzed. Schumann and his “Fantasy Pieces” are well known and broadly discussed, which leads one to wonder: how does one contribute to and interpret such a standard? To answer this question, it is proposed that research is utilized to examine the history surrounding the composer and the work alongside theoretical analysis to find and interpret key …

Interpreting Jean Coulthard's Concerto For Piano And Orchestra (1963): A Pianist's Perspective, Jocelyn Lai

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Jean Coulthard (1908-2000) is recognized as one of Canada’s most prolific and important female classical composers in the twentieth century. She remained creatively active from her hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia, for eight decades, resulting in a catalog of over 350 works representing most classical music genres. Her music continues to be performed and recorded by renowned ensembles and soloists such as the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, Purcell String Quartet, pianists John Ogdon and Jane Coop, and contralto Maureen Forrester. Coulthard is known for her distinctive coloristic sonorities reminiscent of those in works by European composers …

Haydn’S Schemata And Hexachords: Two Analytical Case Studies, Gilad Rabinovitch

HAYDN: Online Journal of the Haydn Society of North America

Two analytical case studies, from Haydn’s minuet al roverso (from the Symphony Hob. I: 47) and the opening movement of the String Quartet Op. 50, no. 6, show the interaction of galant schemata (Gjerdingen 2007) and the hexachordal solmization of the solfeggio tradition (Baragwanath 2020). Haydn plays upon conventional galant schemata—presumably elements of style shared by listeners who are closely familiar with the idiom (even if they do not have explicit schema labels); he also plays upon a more esoteric element of his own training and that of many other musicians in the period: hexachordal solmization. By considering both schemata …

The Significance Of Sonic Branding To Strategically Stimulate Consumer Behavior: Content Analysis Of Four Interviews From Jeanna Isham’S “Sound In Marketing” Podcast, Ina Beilina

Student Theses and Dissertations

Purpose:
Sonic branding is not just about composing jingles like McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ It.” Sonic branding is an industry that strategically designs a cohesive auditory component of a brand’s corporate identity. This paper examines the psychological impact of music and sound on consumer behavior reviewing studies from the past 40 years and investigates the significance of stimulating auditory perception by infusing sound in consumer experience in the modern 2020s.

Design/methodology/approach:
Qualitative content analysis of audio media was used to test two hypotheses. Four archival oral interview recordings from Jeanna Isham’s podcast “Sound in Marketing” featuring the sonic branding experts …

A Poet's Voice: Music In Service To Poetry: Elements Of Text Painting In Juliana Hall's Song Cycle "How Do I Love Thee?", Hayley Z. Coughin

Dissertations, 2020-current

American composer Juliana Hall has established a reputation as one of the leading composers of contemporary American art songs, having composed over 60 song cycles, totaling over 300 works for the voice. Hall’s song cycle How Do I Love Thee? expresses a narrative arc told through five selections from Victorian-era poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnets from the Portuguese. The poems selected include Sonnet 3: “Unlike,” Sonnet 43: “How Do I Love Thee?,” Sonnet 37: “Pardon,” Sonnet 21: “Say Over,” and Sonnet 41: “Thank You.” Hall’s cycle describes the relationship between the lover and the object of their love, including …

Production As Analysis In Commercial Music Recordings, Simeon P. Church

Composition/Recording Projects

Since the 1960s, scholarship of popular music in the fields of musicology and music theory has blossomed (Kajanová 2013). The inclusion of the social sciences and humanities in music analysis has allowed for new methodologies in commercial music analysis. Although new methodologies have been developed around popular song analysis, they are notably absent in the field of music production (Blake 2012, 1). In this thesis, I will assert that music production is an under-explored facet of commercial music that offers abundant opportunities for analysis.

Guitar Thinking, Jonathan De Souza

Soundboard Scholar

Playing the guitar develops physical skills but also ways of listening and thinking about music. For example, guitarists often conceptualize chords as two-dimensional shapes—an approach that is foreign to pianists. What does it mean, then, to think like a guitarist? This article approaches “guitar thinking” through music theory and cognitive science. Psychological experiments help to reveal auditory, visual, and tactile aspects of guitar playing and to show how guitarists respond to the instrument’s affordances (i.e., its possibilities for action). Additionally, recent research in music theory models fretboard space and examines patterns of body-instrument interaction. To demonstrate this mode of analysis, …

Words, Music, Memory: An Exploration Of Four Soprano Song Cycles By Lori Laitman Based On Poetry By Victims Of The Holocaust, Sheena Ramirez

Dissertations, 2020-current

This Doctor of Musical Arts document is an exploration of the four soprano song cycles by Lori Laitman based on text settings from victims of the Holocaust, with a specific focus on the compositional and performance devices that both underpin the power of words to bear witness to lived experience and ensure the process of musical commemoration as an act of historical preservation. Lori Laitman (b. 1955) has composed ten distinct song cycles commemorating victims of the Holocaust, of which four are included in this study – I Never Saw Another Butterfly, In Sleep the World is Yours, The Ocean …

Constructivist Peer Review In Music Theory And Composition Courses: Technologies And Practice, Brendan Mcconville

Journal of the Association for Technology in Music Instruction

This article considers the supporting technologies and practices for effective semi-anonymous peer review in traditional music theory and composition-related courses: orchestration, arranging, and composition. A coordinated approach probes two questions nested within one broad case study: (1) does the use of peer review in music theory and composition-related courses create meaningful, constructivist-inspired learning experiences, and (2) what web technologies can efficiently and effectively accomplish its activities? The article first provides a constructivist theoretical framework; next, it explains the methodologies, technologies, and resulting feedback from using peer review in a three-course study; and finally it provides concluding remarks on the many …

A Hungarian Exotic Ingredient In Operetta: The Csárdás In Three Settings, Michelle Lange

Dissertations

The inclusion of the Hungarian National dance in Viennese operetta during the height of the genre’s popularity expresses an intricate relationship between two nations in the Austro-Hungarian Empire during a time of immense change. Examining the Hungarian elements of the Csárdás in the compositions of three operettas provides a deeper understanding of Hungarian influence in Viennese operetta culture and performance. While there is a wealth of information on Hungarian folk music, there is a gap in the application of this knowledge within the operetta genre. This document’s primary purpose is to explore the exotic Hungarian musical folk elements found in …