This dissertation explores multi-modal, symbolic, and embodied strategies for navigating musical periodicity, or “meter.” In the first half, I argue that these resources and techniques are often marginalized or sidelined in music theory and psychology on the basis of definition or context, regardless of usefulness. In the second half, I explore how expanded notions of metric experience can enrich musical analysis. I then relate them to existing approaches in music pedagogy. Music theory and music psychology commonly assume experience to be perceptual, music to be a sound object, and perception of music to mean listening. In addition, observable actions of a metaphorical “body” (and, similarly, performers’ perspectives) are often subordinate to internal processes of a metaphorical “mind” (and listeners’ experiences). These general preferences, priorities, and contextual norms have culminated in a model of “attentional entrainment” for meter perception, emerging through work by Mari Riess Jones, Robert Gjerdingen, and Justin London, and drawing upon laboratory experiments in which listeners interact with a novel sound stimulus. I hold that this starting point reflects a desire to focus upon essential and universal aspects of experience, at the expense of other useful resources and strategies (e.g. extensive practice with a particular piece, abstract ideas of what will occur, symbolic cues) Opening discussion of musical periodicity without these restrictions acknowledges experiences beyond attending, beyond listening, and perhaps beyond perceiving. I construct two categories for various resources and strategies: those which involve dynamic symbolic encoding (such as conducting patterns and tala gestures) and those which utilize static theoretical information (such as score-based knowledge and calculation of abstract relationships). My primary means of revealing and exploring these additional resources involves instances of “metric multi-tasking,” in which musicians keep track of multiple non-nested periodicities occurring simultaneously. One of the reasons these situations work so well at revealing additional resources is that attentional entrainment offers no explanation for how one might be able to do such a thing (only that attention is insufficient for the task). I do not make these moves in an attempt to significantly alter the theory of attentional entrainment. Rather, I frame that model as but one mode of temporal perception among many. I also leave room for types of temporal knowledge which may not be perceptual at all, but are nonetheless useful in situations involving musical periodicity. Pedagogical systems already make use of dynamic symbols and theoretical knowledge to help with temporally difficult tasks, and generally not virtuosic feats of metric multi-tasking. With these ideas in mind, I return to more straightforward “mono-metric” contexts and reconsider what to do with the concepts of “meter” and “perception.”

This study investigated the motivating and engaging factors of jazz programs present in the learning environments of avocational jazz musicians in higher education. The investigation explored these factors as perceived by the learners themselves as well as the educators tasked with creating enriching musical experiences for their college students. The student participants for this study consisted of college students currently enrolled at a liberal arts college in the NorthAbeles, east, all of whom perform in the jazz ensemble at their institution. The setting of liberal arts colleges was chosen for the study as an environment where students are actively learning and performing jazz music while pursuing other academic interests more closely related of their desired future professional goals. The educator participants came from the same institutions and provided data in specific regard to their experiences working with this unique population of jazz learners. Students reported their motivations were peaked by the social element inherent to the ensemble experience, their desire to exercise their creativity, and the value of diverse learning environment as part of their overall college experience. On the other hand, educators from the same institutions found that they were best serving their students by demonstrating their own enthusiasm for the music, demonstrating the critical thinking element of jazz learning, and understanding that the students more closely relate the ensemble to a recreational activity available at the college. The study gathered data from focus group interviews with 49 students and 6 one-on-one interviews with jazz educators at liberal arts colleges. The questions for these interviews and focus groups were derived from an earlier pilot study of the same population of jazz learners and liberal arts music educators, and the analysis paralleled reported findings to relevant motivational theories and pedagogical practices common to jazz performance education.

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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.

Yau, Oi Suet. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-178). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction / Chapter I. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter II. --- Literature Review --- p.2 / Chapter III. --- Methodology --- p.7 / Chapter IV. --- Thesis Structure --- p.10 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- "Background, Children and Music Education" / Chapter I. --- General Historical Background --- p.12 / Chapter II. --- "Children, Music Education and the Soviet Union" --- p.22 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Prokofiev and his Children's works in the 1930s / Chapter I. --- Prokofiev's Return to the Soviet Union --- p.36 / Chapter II. --- Prokofiev's Children's Works in the 1930s / Music for Children (Op. 65) --- p.43 / Summer Day (Op. 65b) --- p.53 / Peter and the Wolf [Op. 67) --- p.58 / Three Children's Songs for Voice and Piano (Op. 68) --- p.76 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- "War Years, Stalin Prize and Radio Committee" / Chapter I. --- Historical Background --- p.89 / Chapter II. --- The Awards for Cultural Intelligentsia- Honorary Titles and Stalin Prize --- p.101 / Chapter III. --- All-Union Radio Committee --- p.103 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Prokofiev and His Later Children's Works / Chapter I. --- Prokofiev's Late Years --- p.107 / Chapter II. --- Prokofiev's Later Children's Works / Winter Bonfire (Op. 122) --- p.109 / On Guard for Peace (Op. 124) --- p.121 / Seventh Symphony (Op. 131) --- p.139 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Conclusion --- p.153 / Appendix --- p.159 / Bibliography --- p.170

Edward Paston (1550-1630) was very skilled in liberal arts, especially music and poetry. His love of music is reflected in his having gathered one of the largest collections of music manuscripts from Elizabethan and early Jacobean times. The collection is very important as it holds unique copies of many compositions by some of the best-known composers from the Renaissance including Byrd. This thesis investigates the idea of the Paston collection as a performing collection within the historical, cultural, and musical context of 16th century England. The study presents Edward Paston as a personification of some of the ideals in Castiglione’s The Courtier, and it also discusses Paston’s role within his social milieu mostly formed by the recusants’circle. This is followed by a presentation of the musical traditions that Paston presumably knew as well as a study of the collection within this context. By presenting this socio-cultural and musical framework, the intent is to arrive at a better understanding of the collection in relation to house music making in Edward Paston’s household and within his circle. The final section of the thesis investigates how the collection was used and how it can be applied to current performance practice.

Carl Czerny (1791-1857), whose works number over one thousand opuses, had an active career a composer, pianist, exponent of Beethoven, piano teacher, and theorist. He has received lots of criticism both during his lifetime and ever since. Even nowadays, though many of his piano exercises are popular items for many teachers and pupils ranging from beginners to virtuosi, Czerny is still rated as a master of mechanical works that focus mainly on the right hand. This study will argue that Czerny is much underrated, particularly as a pedagogue, and aims to find out what are the underlying principles that Czerny embedded in his piano pedagogical works, what made them indispensable in the teaching of piano playing and to what degree they present other musical elements which are not purely mechanical in order to reassess Czerny?s achievements in the field of piano pedagogy. The discussion is based on the original English edition of Czerny?s Opus 500 Complete Theoretical and Practical Piano Forte School (1839), its Supplement, as well as Czerny?s other pedagogical works, such as Op. 139, Op. 299, Op. 365, Op. 755 and Op. 821. In addition, other selected pedagogical works and representative keyboard method books and exercises (excluding works for the organ) by other authors up to Czerny?s time are discussed for enriching the discussion. Through a detailed analysis of Czerny?s Opus 500, this study identifies fifteen parameters in his teaching sequences that range from beginner to virtuoso and the findings are clarified and contextualized within the field of 19th century piano pedagogy. These fifteen parameters are also exemplified in four selected opuses of Czerny, and through the ?Exam Pieces? of The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. These are used to justify the applicability of the parameters in the learning sequences intrinsic to the graded piano qualifying examinations nowadays. It is argued that in view of the rich pedagogical content of Czerny?s work both technically and stylistically, together with the systematic teaching sequences that he presented in his piano pedagogical works, Czerny?s contribution to the art of keyboard playing should be well acknowledged.

The study explored the influence of environmental catalysts, upon the provision of field specific opportunities for learning, training, and practice, for a sample population of musically involved young Australians. The findings enhance understandings of the conditions in which children's musical aptitudes are developed. Research bases in the fields of gifted education and music education were employed to support the investigation. Components of Gagn??'s Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (1995a) provided the theoretical framework for this investigation. Two survey questionnaires, completed by Australian parents (N = 194 and N = 182 respectively), sought information pertaining to the subject child's musical involvements and undertakings. Some details of the musical interests and involvements of the child's parents and siblings were also obtained. Quantitative and qualitative data contribute to an extensive profile of the types of music programs and provisions which support the normative and expert development of Australian children's musical behaviours. Parents' musical interests and involvements appear to have strongly influenced the choice of home-based recreational pursuits for their children. The convincingly articulated, positive, field specific views espoused by Australian parents appear to have been translated into the provision of multiple, simultaneous opportunities for their children to engage with musical undertakings. Notable amongst the data are the structured involvements of young musicians with music composition engagements. The data also indicate that many of the sample of Australian children received high levels of support and encouragement for musical undertakings from parents who were themselves musically interested and knowledgeable. Parental involvements with their children's music lesson and practice related engagements, were found to be characterised by features of deliberate practice. The home-based environments of young Australian musicians were found to be characterised by opportunities for exposure to rigorous and challenging musical engagements, undertaken at an optimally early age, thereby enhancing normative musical development. Such engagements provided the necessary foundation for expert levels of musical skill acquisition. An ascending progression of musical skill development was demonstrated to correspond to increasing age further reinforcing the developmental perspective on the acquisition of musical expertise. Some parents indicate that musical engagement has been pursued as a means of appropriately challenging children exhibiting the cognitive and affective characteristics of giftedness.