The purpose of this study was to lay the foundation for a string research agenda, that is, to develop a model for string research. This study represents a qualitative investigation of the question, what are the component variables of a string education that produce outstanding string orchestral performers? A detailed pilot investigation of an outstanding orchestral performer provided an initial model followed by a comprehensive investigation of selected members from The Philadelphia Orchestra string section. A taxonomy for undertaking a qualitative study in music education was formulated followed by an identification of the researcher's personal biases resulting in a learning theory called The Developmental Learning Theory For String Education. Intrinsic and extrinsic variables responsible for developing the capabilities of a string orchestral performer were identified as well as the antecedent educational and environmental processes that, in whole or in part, seemed responsible for producing such a high level of competence. The study specified models for string learning and for string education and concluded by establishing a model for a string research agenda. / The models regarding a string education, string learning, string research, and the data information regarding the component variables of a string education are geared towards developing and identifying the professional string performer and represent the conditions necessary for developing such a player. Information presented in this study does not necessarily relate to the non-professional player even though many of the component variables may be in common. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-03, Section: A, page: 0501. / Major Professor: Clifford K. Madsen. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

The effects of visual and auditory stimuli on the movement behavior was explored with pre-school children. 52 children, age 3 to 5 years, were divided into four groups. Each group performed a dance activity, two subjects at a time, under the following conditions: group 1-music/mirror, group 2-no music/mirror, group 3-music/no mirror, and group 4-no music/no mirror. The activity involved a mimicked dance (there was an adult modelling the dance movements) and an independent dance (the subjects danced by themselves, making up their own dance). The music groups danced to Hap Palmer's "Let's Dance" and the "Jig" from The Little Mermaid Soundtrack. Results indicated significant differences in on-task behavior (highest for no music/mirror and music/no mirror), and in rhythmic movement (highest in music conditions). Statistical differences were not found for mimicked movement or for the movement behavior in the independent activity. The experimenter concluded that young children have difficulty processing more than one sensory stimuli, simultaneously, in a new movement activity. Further research involving practice, and other populations is discussed. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 31-01, page: 0023. / Director: Jayne M. Standley. / Thesis (M.M.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of group song writing, as compared to group singing and discussion, on the self-esteem of adolescent substance abusers at two treatment facilities. A modification of the Piers-Harris Children's Self Concept Scale was given as a pre-test and post-test measure before and after each condition to determine significant changes in self-esteem during either period. At the end of sessions 2-6 of each condition, subjects rated session enjoyment and wrote comments concerning whether or not they could relate session activities or discussions to their lives. Results showed that significant changes in self-esteem scores existed in the cases of increases in Group A's total scores and scores on the Physical Appearances and Attributes subscale during the song writing period. Since Group B did not exhibit these same changes, it was concluded that increases may or may not be attributed to song writing treatment. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.) / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 30-02, page: 0183. / Major Professor: Jayne M. Standley. / Thesis (M.M.)--The Florida State University, 1991.

This thesis investigates one of the key figures of Russian pianism in the twentieth century, Heinrich Gustavovich Neuhaus (1888 - 1964). Although Neuhaus is known, particularly in the West, as an important pedagogue of the Moscow Conservatory rather than a performing artist in his own right, this thesis seeks to address the tension between Neuhaus's identities as a pedagogue and his overshadowed conception of himself as a performer - thus presenting a fuller understanding of his specific attitude to the task of musical interpretation. The reader is introduced to aspects of Neuhaus's biography which became decisive factors in the formation of his key aesthetic, philosophical, pedagogical and performative beliefs. The diverse national influences in Neuhaus's upbringing - from his familial circumstances, European education and subsequent career in Russia - are investigated in order to help locate Neuhaus within the wider contexts of Russian and Central European culture at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In addition, this introduction will highlight ways in which Neuhaus's national identity has been oversimplified in recent literature by both Russian and non-Russian authors. Whilst this thesis draws on a range of contemporaneous and recent international sources throughout its investigation, it presents a substantial amount of Russian-language material that has previously been unavailable in an English translation: this includes many writings and articles by Heinrich Neuhaus, his colleagues and the leading musicologists and critics of his time. The core of the thesis traces Neuhaus's personal philosophical approach to the act of performance and explores the impact it had on his interpretations of Beethoven and Chopin. This will show that despite aspiring to a modern, Urtext-centred approach and sensibility to the score, Neuhaus's Romantic subjectivity meant that he was unafraid of making assumptions and decisions which often misinterpreted or transformed the image of the composer to reflect his own artistic identity. Thus, the investigation of Heinrich Neuhaus as a performing artist, alongside his role as a pedagogue, presents a powerful model of interpretation as a creative process, from which performers today can learn.

The initial aim of this research was to assess whether it was possible to introduce Western Classical Music (WCM) into the Omani school music curriculum. Oman is a model for establishing, firstly, whether it is possible to introduce WCM to a school regime in which it has never previously existed and, secondly, how such an introduction can be most effectively implemented. There was no published research in this area and, as this research developed, the initial stance evolved and modified, leading to broader conclusions. This has implications not only for music education in Oman but also for wider discussions about the role of WCM in non-Western music education and its potential expansion in non-traditional spheres. The thesis reports on both the cultural and historical context of music and music education in Oman, as well as the attitude of Omani Islam to the permissibility of music within an Islamic state. Previous global attempts to introduce alien musical traditions into their curricula are reviewed to establish what lessons might be learned alongside the educational models and approaches adopted within English schools. The English observations are used to design investigative pilot schemes (including alternative pedagogies), which were conducted within four Omani state schools. Throughout the thesis, qualitative research makes use of ethnographically informed case studies and five research methods: semi-structured interviews, surveys, participant observation, field notes and documentation. Data are analysed thematically and via descriptive synthesis in order to identify key concepts and themes and, thus, to arrive at holistic strategies for a potential introduction of WCM into the National Curriculum (NC). Findings suggest that it is possible to introduce WCM into an outward-looking country with links to external governments and an established music scene. Religious reservations were largely overcome by public debate while cultural resistance was soothed by an emphasis on the equal status of national music alongside non-native music education. Observations in English schools found that learning outcomes are dependent on a number of factors including the individual ability of each teacher, teaching resources and a receptive environment. The Omani pilots, in turn, suggest that the incorporation of WCM into the NC requires additional elements such as cultural sensitivity, detailed planning and comprehensive, open debate. Additionally, it was not the musical genre that created the successful outcomes but, rather, the pedagogy. The desired outcome, therefore, was not to effect the introduction of WCM into the Omani national music curriculum per se but to open up the school music curriculum to a more progressive model of pedagogy. This research has implications for the introduction and expansion of new musical genres into National Curricula.

Title from title page of PDF (University of Missouri--St. Louis, viewed February 22, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-118).

The research presented here is an observational study of the larynx and its contributions to the production of vibrato on the bassoon. The process of vibrato production on the bassoon is a topic under much debate among its teachers and performers, with no standard guidelines in place for its execution. While most performers and teachers of the bassoon teach vibrato as a technique that uses abdominal pulsations of air to produce its effect, the role of the larynx has been largely ignored in its contribution to the process. This document compares vibrato production of the bassoonist to that of a trained vocalist, and contains references from the published literature on vocal, woodwind and bassoon vibrato. The experimental portion of this document observes the larynx of five professional bassoonists as they execute specific excerpts both with and without the use of vibrato. The observations of the larynx were conducted using the technique of fiberoptic laryngoscopy in the Speech and Hearing Department of the University of Arizona in November of 2002. Visual observations of videotaped examples and computer analysis of recorded sound waves using Praat software are included, which lead to conclusions that bassoon vibrato is controlled at the laryngeal level, primarily by the vocal folds.

The purpose of this study was twofold: to develop a computer-based piano performance trainer, and to study subjects' frequency of choices pertaining to different kinds of information feedback during self-directed practice while using a computer-based trainer. Additional concerns in the present study were: (1) the preferences of subjects regarding other practice options; (2) subjects' accuracy of performance, as measured by an investigator-designed test; (3) the relationship between subjects' accuracy of performance and their attributes of musical aptitude, reading ability, sightreading ability, and manual dexterity; and (4) the relationship between subjects' sightreading ability and the other three attributes. Data were collected from thirty-seven volunteers in piano class at Mesa Community College. In a natural setting, subjects practiced a fifteen-measure composition daily until the earlier of two events occurred: (1) students reached criterion level, or (2) two weeks elapsed. Results indicated that during self-directed practice as they were using a computer-based trainer, students most frequently chose: (a) to receive supplementary visual feedback--superimposed errors over the musical score, (b) to practice with a metronome and (c) to practice part of the composition with both hands. Across all subjects, the number of rhythm errors was significantly greater than the number of pitch errors; only two subjects reached criterion level during the two weeks. A correlation coefficent between performance accuracy scores and subject profile scores revealed a significant relationship between performance accuracy and sightreading, and a slight relationship between performance accuracy scores and reading. The findings indicated no significant relationship between performance accuracy and the other three attributes; also, there was no relationship between the same attributes and sightreading. Some of the writer's recommendations regarding future research in computer-based piano instruction were as follows: (1) Use courseware that "recognizes" student errors and makes incisive commentary or remediation as is necessary. (2) Select appropriately graded material for different skill levels. (3) Incorporate different styles of music. (4) Provide subjects with a supplementary IF mode that combines visual and aural feedback simultaneously. (5) Compare the performance accuracy of different groups of subjects with looser or tighter tolerances of the rhythm error for the beginning of each note.

The purpose of this case study is to examine the nature and uses of multiple literacies in an Opera Project as experienced by school children who attended a bilingual first grade in a culturally and linguistically diverse urban school district in the American Southwest. Thirty-one young children created and produced an opera in collaboration with an artist-in-residence, university researcher, apprentice teacher, and their classroom teacher and parents. Significant to this research is a focus on the perspectives of the participants about this in-school multiple literacy experience as well as the sociocultural contexts that influenced their experience. In addition, this study provides evidence of the processes, types, and uses of multiple literacies in young children's opera. By working at the nexus of language arts/literacy and music/arts education, this research builds on the existing theories and practices in these disciplines and informs both. A review of the literature points to the gap between a reductionist, deficit-driven paradigm in schools and children's natural learning proclivities. Culturally and linguistically diverse children are considered as less capable and further marginalized by school practices that emphasize decontextualized and verbocentric forms of literacy. This study uses ethnographic techniques and an arts-based approach to educational research to examine 24 one hour sessions of an Opera Project. New understandings were rendered in an opera libretto, constructed in the vernacular of the participants with the personal signature of the researcher. This alternative genre contributes to changing the way we think about language arts. A reconceptualization of language arts/literacy that both includes and goes beyond a skills-with-print definition requires a transformation in the way educators think about meaning making and curriculum, intelligence and knowledge, perception and expression. It requires an unpacking of one's assumptions and perspectives about what it means to have an experience and to live a literate life. For this process to be sustained, a wider audience must have access to young children's opera as (1) semiotic apprenticeship, (2) inquiry, (3) synergy, (4) an awakening to multiple literacies, and (5) survival. In this way art as conscious life is literacy for life's sake. Many ways is the way.

Formal study of music in the United States is based on the Western art music tradition. Nevertheless, there is a philosophy rapidly spreading throughout the United States which holds that musics of many cultures must be taught in the schools. The underlying belief in multicultural music education is that the study of various cultures and their musics will affect our expectations, and consequently broaden our musical preferences. This study investigated the effects of ethnicity on the stated musical preferences of university non-music majors. It was conducted on two university campuses that are in the same area. One campus has a population that is predominantly white American and the other predominantly African American. The subjects were students enrolled in music appreciation classes on both sites. The subjects listened to musical examples from each of the Western art music style periods. They then completed a questionnaire which contained an ethnic attitudes dimension. A week later, they were asked to listen and respond to four musical examples. The playing of this series of musical examples was preceded by biographical information on fictitious composers. The data supported the alternative hypothesis which stated that ratings assigned to music of African American composers and white American composers by all listeners, without regard to ethnicity, would be significantly different. The value of Omnibus p was.002 and is significantly less than the stated alpha level of significance at.05. The data between ethnic groups supports the alternative hypothesis that ratings assigned by white Americans and African Americans would be significantly different. The Omnibus p here is equal to.02. There was no relationship found between the ethnic attitudes and musical preferences of white Americans and African Americans as stated in the null hypothesis. Non-hypothesized questions investigated the effects of the subjects' rank in school, gender, age, grade point average, and university attended. The data supports the conclusion that rank, age, and grade point average, for this investigation, were not significant. Conversely, the data does reveal that gender and universities were found to have a relationship to the ethnic attitudes and musical preferences of the subjects.