In its short history, Talent Education, also known as the Suzuki Method, has had a profound impact on the teaching of music to the young. However, despite continued guidance from its founder, Shinichi Suzuki, misconceptions about the method persist among both its practitioners and critics. One route to understanding of pedagogical theory is to look at its origins. To that end, this thesis makes a study of history of the method and its founder, drawing on available sources. Further investigation is carried out on the philosophy and teaching techniques. An exploration is then undertaken of the possible antecedents of Suzuki's method taking into account the prevailing ideas and practices of his cultural environment as they relate to the history, philosophy and teaching techniques of Talent Education. Findings indicate that, while Suzuki's method is clearly appropriate to contemporary society, it represents, in many of its aspects, a continuation of several beliefs and practices of traditional Japanese arts.

In this inquiry, I examined how young children use their personal, social and material resources to solve a music notational task. I asked 13 children, ages 5-9 to notate a song they learned the previous week, sing it back, explain what they did and then teach the song to a classmate the following week. I used Lightfoot and Davis' concept of portraiture as a qualitative research methodology to collect, code, analyze and interpret my data. Data included the children's invented notations and videotaped transcripts of their actions as they created their notations and taught the song to a classmate. Sociocultural Vygotskian developmental theory, activity theory and Bakhtin's dialogic theory provided the interpretive lens through which I examined how the children used their resources as mediational tools to complete the task. / Findings revealed that children who had no previous music training used increasingly sophisticated representational strategies to notate a song, and that they were able to refine their notations when singing the song from their notation, teaching the song or when prompted by an adult or a peer. I concluded that the peer-peer situation was a motivating force for triggering a recursive process of reflections-on-actions and knowing-in-action. Classmates' questions, comments and their singing played a critical role in moving the children to modify their notations and their singing, verbal explanations and gesturing in ways they did not do alone or with me. / Analysis of the children's notations, verbal explanations and teaching strategies provided insights not only into what they knew about music, but also their appropriation of the cultural conventions of writing and their aesthetic sensibilities, as gleaned from their choice of symbols, colours and how they presented their symbols on the page. Interviews with parents, teachers and school principal provided contextual background for interpreting the children's notations and how they approached the task. This study shows the value of adopting a social constructivist approach to teaching the language of music. It also demonstrates that researching the products and processes of children's invented notations from a social constructivist perspective enables more detailed portraits of children's musical and meta-cognitive understandings.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

Pianists from Buenos Aires, both artists and students, have seemed to this writer to possess common qualities of spirit, fluency and command. The research project was organized to investigate facets of Argentine culture and the training of pianists in Buenos Aires which may have contributed to this perception. Observations of musical education in Buenos Aires were conducted in August and September of 1986. Learning situations observed included piano lessons in private studios, public and private conservatories and preparatory schools. Also observed were aural perception training and general music education in private elementary schools, public high schools, pre-professional schools, public and private conservatories and preparatory programs. The social, political, cultural and economic conditions that existed were also studied in order to better understand the climate in which musical training occurred.Those factors in the culture and training of pianists in Buenos Aires that would seem to have a discernible effect on students within that system include: 1) The Argentines' sense of cultural identity is consciously enhanced by deliberate inclusion of Argentine culture in the Music Education curriculum and the conservatory syllabus. 2) Important to the sense of command and success is the will to succeed in the struggle against the economic and political hardships of life in Argentina. 3) Music education is highly structured and weighted toward aural perception training. Aural skills were taught thoroughly and with great consistency of method in every class visited. 4) The piano teaching was carried out with expert technical guidance, beautifully played demonstrations and much singing of phrase and tone. 5) The central government established for the conservatories a ten-year Programa de Piano, which insures consistent standards of achievement in technique and literature throughout the country. 6) The Argentine government offers totally free public education. Any students able to pass the entrance examination at the conservatory can avail themselves of the country's best education in music. / School of Music

The registers of the singing voice, as commonly understood by singers, refer to the different vocal qualities induced by adjustments at the level of the larynx and of the vocal tract. This explains why register unification can be approached either one or a combination of the following procedures: (1) resonance alignment through vowel modification, (2) register alignment through intensity exercises. The wide-spread acceptance of vowel modification has made singers reluctant in exploring other avenues of register development. If registers are laryngeally derived, there should be another way of register unification, which directly addresses the coordination of the laryngeal muscles. In support of this argument, this thesis investigates the teaching practices of a group of twentieth-century American voice teachers, who rely on intensity manipulation as the primary means for enhancing the register adjustments. Intensity exercises such as the messa di voce has long been practiced in historical pedagogy, but it is not until now that voice science confirmed its significance in register coordination.

Doubling is defined as playing two instruments. It is becoming increasingly necessary for low brass musicians to double in the course of their careers. Euphoniumists often learn trombone, and trombonists learn euphonium. The instruments share several surface similarities but also differ in many significant ways. Interviews with six professional doublers highlight strategies for learning, teaching, and performing on both trombone and euphonium. Slide and valve technique, adjustment of intonation, tone quality, air usage, repertoire, and skill maintenance are all addressed. Trombone literature comprises a large part of the euphonium repertoire, due to the fact that most trombone pieces can be performed on euphonium. Euphoniumists should avoid playing pieces that require glissandi or extremely loud dynamics to be effective. Euphonium solos are generally too technical to be practical for trombonists to perform. Grøndahl's Concert pour trombone et piano ou orchestre is a standard piece for both instruments. When performing the piece on either instrument, it is helpful to practice the piece on both trombone and euphonium in order to tap into each instrument's strengths.

"In this study, the term 'Instrumental' will be used to include not only the usual instruments of the orchestra and band, but also 'melody instruments' such as tonnettes, flutophones, and other similar ones. The piano will not be included in this study because there is less need for more literature for this instrument at the elementary level than for others"--Introduction. / "August, 1954." / Typescript. / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music." / Advisor: Robert L. Briggs, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 46).

"The purpose of this study is to provide some insight into the problems faced in the field of instrumental music instruction in the elementary schools of Tallahassee, Florida, and to suggest some possible solutions to problems facing personnel connect with the program. It is designed to acquaint the supervisory staff of the county with the needs of this area of instruction and to inform the incoming instructor as to what constitutes the situation with which he will be faced"--Introduction. / "May, 1955." / Typescript. / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music Education." / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 38-39).

One of the most immediate problems confronting the instrumental teacher of today is that presented by the string section of the orchestra. In the years between 1925 and 1935 the number of string orchestras. In the high schools of this country gradually dwindled until in most small or medium size high schools and in a great many of the larger ones it disappeared entirely. However, it is now encouraging to note that the increased emphasis being placed on the string program in teacher-training institutions is producing direct results in the development of a re-awakened interest in the public school orchestra. In many schools where no string program existed a few years ago there is now evidence which shows that a return to orchestral study is well on its way to becoming an important curricular functions. / "August, 1954." / Typescript. / Advisor: Robert L. Briggs, Professor Directing Paper. / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music Education." / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 37-38).