Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references: P. 322-340.

Thesis (M.M.)--Missouri State University, 2008. / "December 2008." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 34-35). Also available online.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of California, Santa Cruz, 1992. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 129-136).

The purpose of this study is to describe current practices in Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy (NRMT) practice as perceived by contemporary practitioners in 2011 compared with the original approach as developed by its founders. I did this by interviewing prominent NR music therapists in the field, and asking them how their way of practicing compared to hobelieved Nordoff and Robbins originally practiced the model. I then transcribed and analyzed their responses to the interview questions, looking for themes of commonality and difference in their responses. / Music Therapy

For a practice that has influenced the development of most of the musical techniques and compositional forms of Western music (Ferand, 1965, p.5), 'improvisation' is challenging to define. Recently, the graded music examinations offered by the two largest UK-based music examination boards, the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) and Trinity College London (TCL), have added options to assess improvisation within their instrumental curricula without clearly defining what they mean by 'improvisation' or how they assess it. This thesis argues that the lack of consistent definitions by the two leading examination boards results in a lack validity and meaning since it is unclear to examination stakeholders (music teachers, students, examiners and syllabus authors) exactly what is being assessed and how. This thesis investigates how 'improvisation' is defined, practiced, assessed and perceived within instrumental graded musical examinations. Evidence addressing the perspectives of the teaching-and-learning stakeholders is drawn from case-study observations and interviews of instrumental music lessons while candidates prepared for and completed an examination requiring improvisation. The perspectives of the examination board stakeholders are investigated through document analysis of the syllabuses, curricula and institutional websites of the examination boards in addition to interviews with examination board executives. The findings provide an initial investigation into an unexplored intersection of music education, improvisation and the business of graded examination boards. A clearer understanding emerges of the cultural and social practices of improvisation both inside and outside of the hegemony of graded examinations and the teaching-and- learning communities that support them. The findings of this thesis challenge the examination boards and bring more clarity to their assessment practices. and can help guide music teachers and students through the currently unclear landscape of improvisation in the ABRSM and TCL examinations.

The aim of this dissertation is to define and account for experiences of musical connectivity by exploring the relationship between joint musical action and social experience through a combination of ethnographic and empirical methods. Live sitar and tabla duo performance, in the Hindustānī tradition, forms the focus of the studies. Through its approach and scope, this research contributes to a broadening of knowledge and understanding of how people play music together, and experience varying feelings of 'togetherness' while doing so, from an interdisciplinary, non- Western perspective. The dissertation first considers the various musical and social concepts and behaviours that characterize Hindustānī performance. This is followed by an in-depth analysis of a commercial recording by master musicians Pt. Nikhil Banerjee and Zamir Ahmed Khan, in which the formal, rhythmic, and micro-temporal interactions are explored from a relational, socially-driven perspective. Lastly, qualitative and quantitative data collected through a case study carried out in Varanasi, India, involving close collaboration with expert informants Shyam Rastogi (sitar) and Sandeep Rao (tabla) together with the participation of five other local musicians are presented and discussed. Nine audio-visual performances were recorded, and performers were subsequently interviewed regarding aspects of their social experience whilst playing. Performances were then analysed in order to relate performers' musical interactions with their self-reported feelings of sociality, both generally and at specific moments of their performance. These various results are used to support a novel model of musical connectivity, based on (i) ethnographic insight gathered through fieldwork, (ii) formal and informal interviews with numerous Indian musicians, and (iii) the author's auto-ethnographic account of his practice as a sitar student. This model and the phenomenological insights that it presents are explored in detail in the concluding chapter.

The purpose of this study was to build upon the growing body of knowledge relating to music improvisation by investigating the processes used by high school music instrumentalists when improvising music and the factors that influence those processes. Many factors contribute to music improvisation skill and they must all be taken into account when investigating the music improvisation processes of high school music students. The theoretical framework of this study was based on the complex interactions that take place simultaneously between three identified ensembles of factors. The three ensembles of factors were: I . The student profile which included general information and detailed aspects of prior music experience. 2. Enabling skills which included audiation ability, the ability to play music by ear and kinaesthetic abilities. 3. Improvisation processes including, creative processes, cognitive strategies and group or solo contexts for music improvisation. Taking into account the exploratory nature of this study, the single embedded case study design, involving 12 high school music instrumentalists aged between 13 and 15 years, offered the necessary potential to cope with the wide variety of evidence. The formal survey was used to gather information that would establish a detailed profile of each student. The Test of Ability to Audiate and Ability to Play by Ear (TAAAPE) was used to measure students' ability to audiate and play music by ear. Similarly, in order to explore the relationships between improvisation processes, enabling skills and the profile of each student, the Improvisation Ability Test (IAT) was used. This test provided authentic music improvisation experiences in both group and solo contexts. Both tests were scored by two independent judges and the researcher. Finally, the focused interview was used to establish the cognitive strategies used by the students when undertaking the various music improvisation tasks. The ability of the case study design to handle both qualitative and quantitative data proved to be useful in this study. Two major findings emerged from the analysis of the data: 1. The first was that the processes used by this small group of students when engaged in music improvisation were unpredictable. 2. The second major finding relates to evidence that supports the theory of an interaction between the three ensembles of factors as presented in the theoretical framework of this study. However, contrary to what might have been expected, the study further indicated that the interaction of these factors, in the context of the music improvisation processes used by these individual students, did not follow or produce any specific patterns. It was not within the scope of this study to seek the emergence of a model for teaching music improvisation to high school music instrumentalists. However, it has opened the path for further research which could result in the development of such a model.

Dissertation (D.M.A.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2009. / Directed by William Carroll; submitted to the School of Music. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Jun. 8, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 19-21).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xiii, 141 p.; also includes graphics (some col.). Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-134). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

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