Thesis (Ph. D.--Music)--University of California, San Diego, 2000. / Vita.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2009. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (v. 1, leaves 126-134).

Prelude -- Ray of lights -- Convergencias -- One art -- Dreams. / text

This treatise focuses on four classical guitarist-composers who found their “American voices” and played key roles in the creation of a distinctive sound in contemporary American classical guitar music: Andrew York (b. 1958), Benjamin Verdery (b. 1955), Bryan Johanson (b. 1951), and David Leisner (b. 1953). Their work illuminates the quintessentially “American” guitar vocabulary that has become a common vernacular in American classical musical culture. These American guitarist-composers stand out in their generation for several reasons. First, each has found an instantly recognizable voice in performance and composition by forging meaningful bonds between the popular musical idioms of his American cultural background and the classical tradition. Second, each is recognized as a prolific composer in what this treatise dubs the “American classical guitar vernacular.” Third, their music represents the broad spectrum of stylistic approaches to this vernacular. Leisner and Johanson are closer to the art music (classical) end, while York and Verdery provide a more direct link to popular styles. Fourth, their personal success stories have legitimized the American classical guitar vernacular in classical composition and encouraged the development of similar styles within the broader international classical guitar community. The purpose of this study is two-fold. First, it examines the process by which American guitarists “find an American voice” within a chosen stylistic dialect. Second, it defines the specific musical vocabulary -- technical, interpretive, and aesthetic -- of the American guitar vernacular and studies the way it is integrated within the parameters of the classical style. To do so, it examines the lives and works of players who were among the first to embark on such a process within their professional community, setting their artistic perspectives within the broader context of American guitar culture. In a broader sense, this study explores how our relationships, collaborations, and perspectives as players both reflect the American experience and shape our national sound on the guitar. / text

Denna studie syftar till fördjupade kunskaper om hur gitarrlärare ser på vänsterhänthet i relation till instrumentets speltekniska svårigheter och hur de anser sig arbeta med vänsterhänta elever i sin undervisning. I uppsatsen ges en bakgrund om vad vänsterhänthet är, en historisk bakgrund om den klassiska gitarren och dess speltekniska svårigheter samt tidigare forskning om musikundervisning av vänsterhänta. Studien utgår från ett multimodalt designteoretiskt perspektiv och ett empiriskt material bestående av fyra kvalitativa intervjuer. Av studiens resultat framkommer att de deltagande lärarna inte ansåg sig anpassa sin undervisning efter elevernas vänsterhänthet, förutom vid starkare grader av vänsterhänthet då eleverna uppmanades att vända på gitarren. Valet av hur gitarren ska hållas beskrivs sällan överlåtas till den enskilda eleven, utan förefaller istället vanligen bestämmas av läraren. Lärarna menade också att alla elever behöver öva samma tekniker och att samma undervisning därför bör gälla för höger- såväl som vänsterhänta elever. Den högersträngade gitarren utgör norm i undervisningen, vilket lärarnas berättelser om hur de sällan rekommenderade elever att vända på gitarren visar. Utifrån detta resultat diskuteras sedan gitarrundervisning av vänsterhänta. Undervisningen beskrivs inte enbart vara en fråga om att anpassa ett instrument, då hela undervisningens design beskrivs spela roll för elevernas lärande med instrumentet. / The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper knowledge of how guitar teachers view left-handedness with regard to the technical difficulties of the instrument and how they work with left-handed students while teaching. This paper provides some background on what left-handedness is, some historical background on the classical guitar and the technical difficulties of playing it, and an overview of previous work on musical education and left-handed people. The study is based on a multimodal and design theoretical perspective, and an empirical material consisting of four qualitative interviews. The results show that the participating teachers did not, in their own view, adapt their teaching because of left-handed students. The exception was students with a strong degree of left-handedness, who were encouraged to turn the guitar around. However, how the guitar is held was not often described as something left up to the individual student, but rather as something decided by the teacher. The teachers also felt that all students need to practice the same techniques, and that the same instructions therefore should be used for both right-handed and left-handed students. Right-handed guitars are standard in teaching situations, and the fact that the teachers say that they rarely recommend that students turn the guitar around reflects that. The results of the study then form the basis for a discussion on teaching left-handed students. It is not just a question of adapting an instrument; the whole design of the lessons makes a difference when it comes to the student learning the instrument.

The manuscript entitled "Pieces de Guitarre de differende Autheure recuellis par Henry Francois de Gallot" (GB:Ob Ms. Mus. Sch. C94) is one of the largest single collections of music for the Baroque guitar. The source contains over 600 pieces by various composers, including Gallot and Corbetta. An overview of the physical characteristics, organization, and stylistic features of this important source is intended to provide a basis for further study and concordance search.

Σκοπός αυτής της διπλωματικής ήταν η μελέτη, σχεδίαση και υλοποίηση επεξεργαστή‐ ενισχυτή σήματος προερχόμενο από ηλεκτρική κιθάρα. Το σήμα αφού περάσει από αυτή την συσκευή, αποκτά κάποια ειδικά χαρακτηριστικά και είναι σε θέση να οδηγήσει το σύστημα μεγαφώνου ώστε να αναπαραχθεί. Η επεξεργασία του σήματος γίνεται σε 2 βασικά μέρη: τον αναλογικό προενισχυτή–ψαλιδιστή-ισοσταθμιστή και την μονάδα ψηφιακής επεξεργασίας σήματος. Η σχεδίαση του πρώτου έγινε με έμφαση στα ηχητικά χαρακτηριστικά που προσέδιδε στο σήμα, ενώ στη συνέχεια έγινε προσπάθεια να ερμηνευτούν αυτά με ηλεκτρονική-επιστημονική προσέγγιση. Για τη δεύτερη, χρησιμοποιήθηκαν γνωστοί αλγόριθμοι ενώ σχεδιάστηκε εκ νέου η διασύνδεση-επικοινωνία της μονάδας αυτής με τον χρήστη. Η ενίσχυση του σήματος σε επαρκή για οδήγηση στάθμη έγινε μέσω του ενισχυτή ισχύος (P. A.) ενώ την αναπαραγωγή του αναλαμβάνει το σύστημα μεγαφώνου. / The goal of this project, was to study design and implementate a special purpose processor-amplifier for guitar signals. After this fore‐mentioned processing, special sound attributes are gained. Then in order to be propagated, the processed signal flows in the amplification stage to get the adequate level for audio speaker driving. Processing, is divided into 2 main stages:the analog preamp‐clipper‐equalizer and the digital signal processing stage. Design of the first one focuses on subjective sound attributes gained, with respect to deliver wide range of guitar sounds. Another effort was to testify these sound attributes with a common scientific approach. For the making of the dsp stage, standard algorithms were used in order to achieve standard effects such as delay, chorus, flanger and pitch shifter, while the control of the effects‘ parameters by the user was a different special task requiring further experimentation. The amplification stage design as well as the audio speaker design, followed classic techniques in order to achieve their standard purpose.

The purpose of this dissertation is to discover if Arturo Fuentes’ Primer Interludio incorporates a number of stylistic features typical of guitar music written by Mexican contemporaries from 1988 to 2003. These features include the use of complex musical notation, highly disjunct melodic contour, extended techniques, innovative timbres, rhythmic complexity, rapidly changing dynamics, atonality, percussive effects and repetitive rhythmic and/or melodic cells. As a point of departure a list of guitar works by representative Mexican composers was compiled. From this list the following works were chosen since they exemplify the stylistic trends I wish to highlight: Tres Instantáneas (1988) by Manuel Enríquez, Sonata (1992) and Elegía 2 (2000) by Hebert Vázquez, Haikus (2000) by Ana Lara, Sydolira (2000) by Gabriela Ortíz, and Impello (2003) by Francisco Javier González Compeán. By comparative analysis, I have associated certain stylistic features between these contemporary Mexican composers. I have been able to get a glimpse of some of the underlying stylistic unities found in these guitar compositions that seem rather separate. There are a number of stylistic features common to all of the composers discussed herein as well as few characteristics where only some of them converge. However, this research shows that Arturo Fuentes’ Primer Interludio is representative of several stylistic features commonly found in guitar music written by contemporary Mexican composers. There is a vast variety of Mexican guitar works created in recent years that remain unknown to today’s classical music world, academic community and general public. Mexico possesses a large repertoire of guitar works, music for solo guitar and guitar with a wide array of ensemble combinations from duets to large ensembles and guitar concertos. Many of these works would undoubtedly challenge a performer of the highest caliber. One of the purposes of this project is to promote contemporary Mexican classical guitar music. I hope to awake interest in this contemporary music style and encourage other musicians to include Mexican works in their concert repertoire.

This research investigated what the musical characteristics of mwomboko music were, what its social characteristics were in terms of performers, listening, venues and class relations to what extent this music functioned as a means of engendering feelings of personal empowerment under conditions of social exclusion and how this music functioned as a catalyst for social cohesion. This study is necessary for it may contribute to the further study of the mugithi one-man guitar performance. I worked with the theoretical approach that music can create or maintain social cohesion. I also looked a how it can contribute to group solidarity and so increase the effectiveness of collective action. I am worked with the theory of social cohesion through music which works with the idea that music can be used as an avenue to create a sense of belonging to a group or community. Through the affirmation of the society's identity music also ended up affirming the individual 's identity. While this study specifically focused on mwomboko music within mugithi performance style there were factors that had and continued to influence this type of music's performance and growth. This study shall try to investigate ways in which the development in Kenya influenced music's role in social identity, why music is used as a channel for social cohesion and the issues that bring up ethnic identity within multicultural urban setting. / Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

Research on the musical language as well as the technical realisation of the tape part to a kindred spirit, for ensemble and tape, was realised at the Electronic Music Studio of McGill University from September, 1984 to September, 1986. / The following excerpt from the programme note in the score summarizes the 'spirit' of the composition. / "The computer generated sounds on tape form a large body in which instrumental sounds float and from which they appear, like weeds oscillating on a sometimes calm and often turbulent sea of sound. / 'You're afraid, in the mirror, of the sea, in front of, you're afraid ... ' and 'searching, for a common pulse, to sustain, to carry on, searching ... ' are circular phrases in the text which reflect elements of both doubt and courage. Mourning that which can never return. Celebrating that which will always be with us."