The purpose of this study was to design and develop instructional units for teaching jazz piano comping to collegiate music students possessing basic piano skills but limited experience in jazz performance. In establishing bases and rationale for the instructional units, a number of issues were considered. These issues were (1) the need for teaching jazz piano comping, (2) a definition and explanation of the musical elements and characteristics of jazz and jazz comping, (3) an understanding of the African and European transmission traditions and musical characteristics that contributed to the development of jazz, (4) a review of literature relating to jazz piano comping, including jazz, music teaching and learning, and learning theory literature, and (5) a review of jazz piano comping practice from the swing era to the present, as reflected in the work of selected central jazz pianists. The twenty-four instructional units present basic harmonic and rhythmic materials of jazz piano comping. Harmonic materials include seven basic chord structures, harmonic extensions and alterations, upper-structure triads, II-V-I cadences, tritone substitution, chord successions, and typical chord progressions. Rhythmic materials include typical jazz rhythms. Each instructional unit is comprised of (A) presentation of a theoretical concept, (B) exercises for learning the particular concept, (C) a chord progression containing the particular concept, (D) a list of recorded examples of the chord progression for examination, and (E) suggested song titles for realization by the student. The instructional units are organized into four chapters of six units each. Instructional Units I through VI focus on individual voicings, organized into cycles of descending fifths. Units VII through XII focus on the II-V-I cadence and tritone substitution. Units XIII through XVIII focus on short chord successions. Units XIX through XXIV serves as a "summing up" of material presented in the first eighteen units. Overall, this work is designed to guide the student to technical proficiency, theoretical understanding, idiomatic fluency, and a creative approach to jazz piano comping. / School of Music

The purpose of this study is to investigate the pedagogical and performance aspects of Robert Muczynski's Concerto No. I for Piano and Orchestra. The work targets the early-advanced level of performance, representing a tutorial step in technical and musical difficulty. Muczynski's writing offers mild characteristic tendencies in comparison to later practices within the century, but does exhibit the emergence of a variety of significant keyboard skills. Moreover, his intermittent use of atonality is ideal for a student who is not yet comfortable with this idiom. For these reasons, the concerto serves as an excellent introduction to the genre for this level of study.This investigation is prefaced by an introduction to the topic of piano pedagogy in relation to concerto study, along with a brief biographical sketch of the composer. The investigation then provides a stylistic analysis of the Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Orchestra. Each movement is examined comprehensively (by formal structure) according to inherent technical and interpretive challenges, and musical examples are offered in connection with suggestions for practice and execution.Findings reveal a cross-section of twentieth-century innovation and challenge which not only represent the unification of Muczynski's style, but also offer opportunity for growth and development in terms of keyboard performance and the application of sound musical decisions.The investigation closes with suggestions for the study of other twentieth-century concerti closely resembling this work in style, but more artistically challenging in performance. / School of Music

Thesis (M.M.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1961. / Typescript. Title from title screen (viewed Nov. 7, 2007). Includes bibliographical references (leaves [172-173]). Online version of the print original.

Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of Maryland, College Park, 2007. / Compact discs.

Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of Maryland, College Park, 2006. / Compact discs.

Thesis (D.M.A)--University of Maryland, College Park, 2005. / Compact discs.

Thesis (M.M.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1961. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [172-173]).

Thesis--Chicago Musical College. / "Original two-piano music": p. 340-362. "Recorded two-piano music": p. 363-373. "Annotated bibliography": p. 374-384.

Dissertation (D.M.A.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2009. / Directed by John Salmon; submitted to the School of Music. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed May 11, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 150-159).

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo investigar as possíveis interpretações para as indicações metafóricas de partitura do Noturno para Piano nº12 de Almeida Prado. A leitura de teorias sobre metáfora, aliada à pesquisa em outras obras do compositor e outros compositores pianistas, ampararam a reflexão sobre a interpretação das indicações metafóricas. Entrevistas com Almeida Prado foram consultadas em busca da compreensão do processo de evocação de imagens do compositor. Concluiu-se que o estudo aprofundado da obra, voltado para a busca de significados para as indicações metafóricas através da metodologia proposta, favoreceu a coerência e embasamento da interpretação juntamente à compreensão da individualidade e relatividade da interpretação musical. / The objective of the present stud is to investigate the possible interpretations of the metaphorical indications of Almeida Prado‟s Piano Nocturne nº12. The reading of theories about metaphor, allied with the research of other works by this composer and other pianist composers supported the reflection of the interpretation of the metaphorical indications. Interviews with Almeida Prado were consulted in pursuit of the comprehension of the image evocation process of the composer. It was concluded that a more profound study of the work, regarding the search of meanings of the metaphorical indications through the proposed methodology, favored the coherence and foundation of the interpretation, along with the comprehension of the individuality of musical interpretation.