In this study, the author examines the development of country music in the area surrounding Bowling Green and Glasgow, Kentucky, from approximately 1930 to 1960 and its relation to the newly emerging medium of radio. Emphasis is placed on several performers whose careers were linked to the radio stations which began to broadcast in Bowling Green and Glasgow during the 1940s. In the past, country music scholarship has tended to focus on phonograph records as a source of material for study and as the primary means of musical transmission. As a result, the careers of many of the lesser known artists were overlooked simply because they never made a record. The writer looks at country music as a local phenomenon with live radio broadcasts and personal appearances as the primary mode of transmission. Data were collected from tape recorded interviews and written sources, including various archival sources - old newspapers, fan magazines, and assorted ephemera - and used to outline the careers of several performers associated with WLBJ and WKCT in Bowling Green and WKAY in Glasgow.

Steve Reich’s music has had a profound effect on the contemporary percussionist’s repertoire. More recently, his Mallet Quartet (2009) has been one of the most performed works in the rising genre of mallet-keyboard quartets, which was featured in Third Coast Percussion’s 2017 Grammy-winning album Third Coast Percussion | Steve Reich. With Mallet Quartet, Reich codified this type of ensemble into the contemporary repertoire of percussion as evidenced through current commissions in progress by groups such as Sō Percussion and Third Coast Percussion. The purpose of this document is to delineate the trajectory (past and present) of the mallet-keyboard quartet and highlight the most important compositional characteristics found within Mallet Quartet. These characteristics include the use of canonical augmentations, large-scale tonal shifts, rhythmic modification, and developing variation. After this analysis, this dissertation provides a performance guide to Mallet Quartet which specifically address the practicalities necessary for a successful performance. Topics such as the setup of instruments, mallet considerations, approaches to challenges in part-reading, and common ensemble issues are discussed.

Throughout the history of the clarinet, there have been performers who have inspired composers to write pieces specifically for them. These contributions to clarinet literature have been significant, frequently resulting in an overall shift in the expectations of performers’ abilities, and expanding the range of possibilities for composers. This document first describes the relationships of the following composers and clarinetists, and their resulting impact on clarinet literature: Karl Stamitz and Joseph Beer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Anton Stadler, Louis Spohr and Simon Hermstedt, Carl Maria von Weber and Heinrich Baermann, Johannes Brahms and Richard Mühlfeld, and the numerous commissions of Benny Goodman by some of the most highly-regarded composers of his time. The main purpose of this document is to examine a contemporary clarinetist who has contributed considerably to the repertoire of the clarinet both through his virtuosic performances and his own commissions, Robert Spring. Dr. Spring’s playing, particularly on the release of Dragon’s Tongue (1994), astonished listeners and composers alike, most notably with his mastery of extended techniques such as circular breathing and double tonguing. Within this document is a biography of Dr. Spring, focusing on his early life, his musical training and education, and his work. Additionally, a list of works that he has commissioned with annotations where applicable is included, along with detailed comments on the partnership with Dr. Spring and the resulting creations from composers Stacy Garrop, Eric Mandat, Theresa Martin, Scott McAllister, Whitney Prince, Rodney Rogers, Peter Schickele, and William O. Smith. It is my belief that future scholars will be able to place him within the long line of composer-clarinetist partnerships that have advanced not only the clarinet’s solo and chamber literature, but also the scope of performance techniques required of clarinetists.

My monograph focuses on the Instants d’un Opera de Pekin by the contemporary Chinese composer Qigang Chen in particular how he incorporates Chinese musical elements with Western compositional techniques. The main focus of this study is an analysis with emphasis on performance issues. A brief introduction to Chinese music elements is provided to establish a context. This document provides brief information about Chinese scale modes and instruments.

The purpose of the study was to determine the relation between student engagement, academic achievement, and music ensemble performance ratings. The study was guided by two research questions: how do students’ varying degrees of student engagement relate to their academic achievement and their ensemble’s performance rating, and to what extent do behavioral, affective, and cognitive engagement predict ensemble performance ratings? Participants were 259 high school band students who completed the Classroom Engagement Inventory in Music. They were also asked to report their GPA, and the researcher recorded their ensemble’s performance rating. Results suggested that higher levels of student engagement were associated with higher levels of ensemble performance ratings (superior and excellent versus good), with a clear demarcation found between lower rated and higher rated ensembles. Although no significant correlation was found between academic achievement and student engagement, affective engagement was found to predict overall music performance outcomes.

Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of Oklahoma, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references. Discography: leaf 233.

During the first half of the twentieth century, a unique style of guitar playing known as Kentucky thumbpicking was developed by a handful of musicians in the western coal field region of Kentucky. This guitar tradition was elevated to national prominence by country guitar virtuoso Merle Travis. Subsequently, this style became characterized as "Travis Picking." Kentucky thumbpicking incorporates a steady and muted bass line that alternates between the root, fifth or third of a chord. The bass is also accentuated with the use of a thumbpick worn on the right hand. Simultaneously, the index, occasionally middle and ring fingers, play the harmony and melody on the upper strings of the guitar in a syncopated rhythm. Thumbpicking is venerated because of its reverence for individualism and adaptability. One of the primary reasons it has become so prominent is because of its flexibility; it is able to be adapted to various types of music. An historical overview of Kentucky thumbpicking is provided in order to trace its origins and development as well as explaining the style’s technical traits. Arrangements of a select few songs from the advent of this style’s development are transcribed and discussed in order to demonstrate how this repertoire translates to the classical guitar and guitar playing techniques. Insight from the perspective of a classically trained guitarist will illustrate how thumbpicking procedures can be incorporated into the classical guitar repertoire. Thereby introducing Kentucky thumbpicking to a new audience.

The Journey From Instrumentalist to Musician is a reflective study that addresses the effect of the Conservatory method in musical performance. The discussion begins with the author's early experiences as a young piano student who wanted to please her teacher and after many hours of practice soon became a performance specialist - a performance specialist who excelled as a pianist. The instrument that she studied, instead of the discipline of music itself, it what defined her a pianist. Throughout her early music career, she learned that exact replication of the score was more important than the process of creativity and individuality. The Conservatory method often emphasizes the importance of teaching specific instrumental skills rather than simply teaching music. This prompted the author to explore philosophies of music educators who were not considered educators of the traditional conservatory method. After discussing the methodologies of Suzuki, Kodaly, Dalcroze, and Orff, the author then reflects on her own educational methodology. In evaluating the methodolgies, the author identified four common themes for comparison: rhythm, pitch, recognition, patterning of sounds, and literacy. Through the discourse the author bridges the gap between the instrumentalist and the musician by comparing the methodology of these music educators and that of the conservatory through her own experiences. / viii, 108 leaves ; 28 cm.

The present study investigated how knowledge of tonality is used in sight-reading by comparing sight-reading accuracy across three tonal constructs: major, minor and atonal. It was hypothesized that sight-reading performance would be the worst in instances with no tonal information, as participants would be unable to generate appropriate top-down expectancies to guide their sight-reading. To test this, twelve pianists sight-read major, minor and atonal versions of monophonic, homophonic and polyphonic excerpts. The results indicated that pianists performed the major excerpts with greater accuracy than the atonal excerpts. Furthermore, the errors made within the major excerpts were significantly biased towards diatonicism, and there was a global shift towards tonality in participants’ atonal performances, providing a clear demonstration of how pianists’ expectations might have contributed to their sight-reading performance. The diatonic bias was not found in the minor excerpts, suggesting that the minor hierarchy does exert as strong of an influence during sight-reading.

The National Cadetship Programme (NCP) is part of a comprehensive Education and Development Programme within the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra (KZNPO). The NCP offers promising young South African players focused coaching and first hand experience of playing in a professional orchestra. One of its main aims is to increase the number of South African musicians in the pool of present and future orchestra musicians. However, though the NCP has been in existence for just over ten years, the demographic representation of the KZNPO remains largely unchanged. This research investigated whether it is necessary to make changes to the NCP in order for it to be more effective. It began by revealing the intended overall structure of the Programme through interviews with the orchestra management, comparing it to what is actually happening, and discussing the implications that this has for learning within the Programme. It also obtained the expectations of the various participants of the NCP regarding the educational process, and evaluated the level at which these expectations were being met. Further, it analysed the reasons why these expectations were or were not being met in terms of experiential learning and programme development, and discussed the implications for the Programme. The research found a lack of clarity amongst the mentors and cadets about the structure of the NCP and the roles expected of them. It also revealed that the formal assessment and feedback procedure needed to be improved in order for it to be more educative, and that the cadets needed to be given more performance opportunities. The research concluded that it would be beneficial to the NCP for experiential learning to be formalised within the Programme with the systematic adoption of an experiential learning model. / Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.