Twi major areas concerning the problems of practice are discussed. One is that poor practice often relegates itself to mindless repetition. The second problem is that the student often has a vague definition of piano technique. All technique should be a means of expression, not just an isolated physical exercise. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was to understand the nature of practice and to develop a suggested practice routine which incorporates both technical and musical aspects. Two recommendations, strategies toward effective practice and an ideal practice sessions, serve as a practice outline and reference for both piano teacher and student. An appendix presents a collection of the thoughts and viewpoints on practicing from forty-four internationally acclaimed pianists.

Este trabalho apresenta uma reflexão antropológica a acerca da prática musical do pop sul coreano (Kpop) em São Paulo. Na etnografia que se apresenta, descrevo e analiso como vídeos e coreografias Kpop afetam os fãs do gênero musical, construindo relações sociais no seu entorno. Apresento, para tanto, primeiro, como o Kpop é visto e ouvido por fãs em São Paulo, dando especial atenção ao videoclipe, que compartilhando características visuais e sonoras únicas, é capaz de gerar nos espectadores reações próprias ao gênero musical. Mostro ainda que esses videoclipes, junto a outras mídias que circulam na internet sobre os artistas sul coreanos, são parte da pessoalidade desses artistas e mediadores de sua capacidade de afetar pessoas. É na cena Kpop de São Paulo que esses vínculos entre fãs e artistas sul coreanos se desdobram, produzindo novas relações entre pessoas, artefatos e lugares. Por fim, apresento uma etnografia da dança cover de Kpop, mostrando como esses fãs constroem em seu próprio corpo essa capacidade de agência apreendida dos ídolos Kpop. Considerando essas diferentes facetas da prática musical estudada, reflito neste trabalho sobre os modos de produzir relações sociais por meio de práticas musicais. / This research presents an anthropological reflection about Korean pop (Kpop) music practice in São Paulo. In this ethnography, I describe and analyze how music videos and choreographies affect fans of the genre, constructing social relations in its vicinity. Firstly, I present how Kpop is seen and heard by these fans in São Paulo, driving special attention on music videos. These medias share visual and sound characteristics that allow them to make Kpop fans react in a unique way. I also state that these music videos combined with other medias about South Korean artists that circulate on the internet are part of Kpop idols personhood that mediates their capacity to affect people who get in touch with them. It is in the Kpop musical scene in São Paulo that these affection ties between fans and artists take place and unfold. In the scene, new relations between persons, artefacts and places are produced. At the end, I present an ethnography of Kpop cover dance, paying attention to the way Kpop fans construct in their own body the capacity for agency apprehended from Kpop idols. Looking at different aspects of the Kpop music practice, this work reflects upon the production of social relations through music practices.

With a career spanning over four decades, Henry Fillmore earned wide recognition as an important and prolific composer of marches and trombone smears in the wind band medium. While he contributed significantly to chamber music, solo literature, vocal settings, and arrangements for band, his compositions for wind band have arguably provided his most universal acclaim. Fillmore’s published marches are unique in that scores rarely had performance markings and contained little more than notes and repeat signs. Fillmore conducted most of his marches and altered march strains, changed orchestration, and added stylistic markings that were not indicated in the original printed score. This research is focused on preparing and presenting historically accurate performances of the marches and smears of Henry Fillmore with appropriate march style. More specifically, the author wishes to provide an approach to the interpretation of Fillmore’s music that directly portrays the historical performance practices of Fillmore’s performances of his own works and interpretative methodology. Those who wish to consider this historically accurate approach may apply this document’s analysis of primary source recordings of Fillmore conducting his music in addition to new included performance editions of specified marches and smears.

This document examines Rodney Friend’s approach to violin technique for the left hand, with specific emphasis on the execution of fifths. The application of this technique plays a valuable role in establishing correct hand positioning, creating consistent intonation, improving vibrato, and adding to the palette of colors available to the violinist. Mr. Friend is an esteemed violinist, a perceptive pedagogue, and a dedicated mentor in today’s music world, and, in those roles, he exemplifies the qualities of beauty, truth, and goodness that characterize meaningful engagement in the arts. His thoughtful teaching style is the product of decades of careful observation combined with a devotion to constant personal improvement. As a performer who has toured the world as concertmaster of classical music’s most renowned orchestras, Mr. Friend’s early and continued success could have easily led him to a justifiable sense of arrival. Instead, he continues to hone his craft daily--both as a performer and as a teacher--always striving to remove the roadblocks from the tricky terrain of violin playing. In Mr. Friend’s words, violin playing is “a whole complicated business that we need to make less complicated.” His keen insights into the mechanics of the trade prove that simplification is possible. I firmly believe that his pedagogical innovations will greatly serve the rising generation of violinists. Most recently, Mr. Friend has turned his attention to an area of left hand technique that is commonly avoided by violinists in their practice, and often glossed over by teachers: the study of fifths. For the past six years Mr. Friend has been systematically exploring the benefits of this ignored technique. Other pedagogues have had little to offer in specifically addressing this interval because there is a general lack of understanding about the benefits provided by mastering the execution of fifths. Examples of this omission can be seen in pedagogy books by some of the 20th century’s greatest violinists and teachers. For instance, when Leopold Auer discusses the left hand in his book, Violin Playing as I Teach It, he suggests practicing scales in thirds, fourths, sixths, and octaves, but completely skips over the interval of the fifth. The same omission is also made by Yehudi Menuhin in his instructional text entitled Violin and Viola. Mr. Friend has developed a systematic approach to mastering this difficult technique that is both simple and effective. He plans to publish his method later this year. Some of the benefits provided to the violinist from the consistent practice of this traditionally difficult and neglected interval include better hand positioning, improved vibrato, and more consistent intonation--the continual quest of every violinist. I have experienced the remarkable benefits of his method in my own playing, which motivated me to seek Mr. Friend’s permission to further explore and document his techniques, and with this monograph to share these benefits with the violin community.

For decades, many brass teachers have relied heavily upon speech as a means of conveying pedagogical concepts. Additionally, a significant number of teachers in the brass community continue to use speech sounds to teach specific kinesthetic responses (i.e. using specific vowels for tone production, particular consonants for articulation, and variations of vowels for different pitch registers). These teaching concepts have been perpetuated over time, though many intricate aspects of human anatomy were yet to be understood at the inception of these methods, including the physiological processes used during speech. As technology has evolved, researchers in the field of linguistics have made significant discoveries regarding the production and perception of speech. As a result of these innovations, researchers now understand more about individual languages than ever before. This document aims to critique popular beliefs regarding speech directives often utilized in trumpet pedagogy, such as guiding a student by saying “tah,” “too,” “tee,” etc. to produce a desired sound concept. A significant portion of this document also outlines an ultrasound experiment conducted by the author in the Phonetics Laboratory at the University of Kentucky, in which exercises were designed to determine if speech vowels are in fact used during trumpet playing. During this study, subjects wore a lightweight headset with an ultrasound probe placed under the chin. The ultrasound probe allowed the researcher a midsaggital (side) view of the subject’s oral cavity, displaying vowel placements and articulatory phenomena. While using the ultrasound imaging technology, subjects played a short selection of musical exercises on B-flat trumpet and then read aloud a pre-selected list of English words, designed to display multiple combinations of vowel and consonant pairings. Both the trumpet exercises and reading of the word list were audio recorded and simultaneously paired with the corresponding ultrasound video data. After playing the selected exercises, subjects completed a brief written questionnaire of personal language history to ascertain possible influences upon dialect. The ultrasound videos were then analyzed with the audio recordings to map each individual’s tongue placements during speech as compared to the placements utilized during trumpet playing. The author concluded that a majority of participants did not use the specific placements of speech vowels while playing the trumpet, although some participant data displayed a slightly stronger correlation than others. While many conclusions could be drawn from this research study, the corresponding data is intended for a purely observational understanding of the influence of linguistics upon trumpet performance and pedagogy. This document is presented in two parts: Part I contains introductory research material, as well as the process, analysis, and conclusions from the experiment outlined above. Part II contains recital programs and corresponding program notes in fulfillment of the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in Trumpet Performance, as well as a personal vita.

Agustin Barrios's guitar music has become increasingly popular over the last forty years. After his death, a revival of interest in his compositions began in the 1970s, motivated by a series of publications and recordings of his music by important guitar performers at that time. The most important of these recordings came from the Australian guitar performer John Williams, who was interviewed in 1976 by ABC Television Australia for a film about the Paraguayan composer. The next year, Williams recorded a collection of fifteen works in his album John Williams-Barrios: John Williams Plays the Music of Agustín Barrios Mangoré. After this, the published editions of Barrios's works have proliferated, many of these transcriptions of the composer's own recordings. However, the publication of differing transcriptions has led to a lack of authoritative editions, creating a confusing situation for performers. Therefore, this research intends to highlight the importance of making critical editions of Barrios's works based on folk music, using the Cueca as an example. This research offers an analysis and comparison of Chilean cuecas from the first half of the twentieth-century--the timeframe in which Barrios was in contact with this genre--to Barrios's Cueca. Second, it proposes a critical/performance edition of Barrios's work taking into account both the performance practice of traditional Chilean cuecas, and the two primary sources of this work: a handwritten manuscript and the composer's own recording. This research does not analyze nor compares the Argentinian and Bolivian versions of the cueca.

Since the 1950s, composers worldwide have explored the use of the trombone in new and exciting ways, from expanding the functional range of the instrument to creating unique timbres through the use of mutes and extended techniques. Since then, many standard works in the literature have been born from this pushing of the envelope from composers like John Cage, Luciano Berio, Iannis Xenakis, and Daniel Schnyder. On the forefront of the newest crop of composers expanding the voice of the trombone is Tyler Kline (b. 1991). This project will function as a formal analysis and performer’s guide to his 2015 work render for bass or tenor trombone and fixed electronics. Through examination of this music, as well as a discussion with the composer and performances of this work, the performer will gain insight into the inspirations behind this work, Kline’s compositions on the whole, as well as performance considerations for this work. In addition to the performance guide, a recording of render, as well as several other works of Kline’s, will be produced and released as an album through New Branch Records in Lexington, KY.

Premise and Objectives In our increasingly technology driven society, the impact of technology touches nearly every aspect of our lives in some form or another. This has been acutely felt within the world of percussion, with electroacoustic works representing perhaps the most rapidly expanding area of concert percussion over the last twenty years. Electroacoustic music couples electronic technology with traditional acoustic instruments and/or performance practices. Broadly, this paper outlines a systematic approach to teaching electroacoustic performance practice, based on elements found in a cross-section of percussion literature. In using such an approach, not only does each student become more capable of dealing with this growing body of literature, but also the process of educating these students becomes more efficient for the teacher. As a result, delivery becomes more effectively standardized, and resources can be shared more efficiently among multiple students who may be studying different types of electroacoustic repertoire. Method To organize this exploration, three main genres of electroacoustic repertoire for percussion are compared: prerecorded soundscape, live processing, and electronic pieces. This comparison illuminates the tools and techniques that are relevant to each type of repertoire and reflects not only the narrower focus of electroacoustic percussion, but also the broader goals of applied percussion instruction in the context of a “total” percussion program. Each classification is explored by addressing its critical elements using prime examples from the relevant standard repertoire. For the first classification of works, tape pieces, the project includes discussion on signal flow, balancing electronic and acoustic sound sources, an introduction to digital audio workstations (DAWs), and monitoring techniques. Two primary examples of the repertoire are used to contribute to this discussion; Javier Alvarez’s Temazcal for maracas and tape, and Brian Blume’s Strands of Time. Live processing works present increased challenges with concepts, including sound reinforcement, recording production, how to edit and creatively manipulate sound both in post-production and live, and detailed concepts of signal flow, often including MIDI protocol. To explore the concepts specifically relevant to live processed works, Nigel Westlake’s classic work, Fabian Theory, for amplified marimba and three toms, is offered. Electronic works give students further opportunity to explore MIDI mapping, patch and parameter changes using both hardware and software, and sometimes sound design. In this context, there is a brief exploration of Steve Reich’s Violin Phase. Finally, an exploration of Hans Werner Henze’s, Prison Song demonstrates how all of this technology and technique can come together in combination works. The work requires live sound reinforcement, pre-recorded soundscapes, separate monitoring, live processing, and live MIDI controllers. The paper closes with a brief summary of extra pedagogical considerations, including resource management, pedagogical philosophy, and further implications. Conclusion By examining the logical steps of pedagogically developing through the different broad categories of electroacoustic music, with an emphasis on its reflection of broader liberal values and critical applied analysis, it is believed that this research could yield a model for a more thoughtful approach for applied percussion teachers.

The French baroque petit motet was the most prolific genre of seventeenth-century France. In this study, three petits motets, specifically Regina caeli settings of French composers Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Nicolas Bernier and François Couperin are examined with an emphasis on the motets’ historical context in relation to the French monarchy and the Italian concepts that the composers incorporated into each work. All three Regina caeli settings display some Italian compositional techniques of the stile moderno in various degrees and were written in different contextual ecclesiastic milieux. The intersections of, as well as distinctions between, musical ideas of traditional French style and Italian innovations was at the center of music and musical discourse during the baroque period. The French were introduced to Italian style by travelling musicians at the court of France; however, when Louis XIV gave Jean-Baptiste Lully the important position of surintendant de la musique, the idea of an authentic unaltered French sound became prevalent among musicians and critics. Lully, strongest defender of “pure” French style, created a strict environment for musicians at court, and only after his death, did composers gain in freedom. The study suggests that a closer association to Louis XIV permitted musicians to integrate more of the Italian stile moderno techniques than those who did not have this opportunity. Crucial figures of the French monarchy, Louis XIV, Philippe II d’Orléans and the duc de Bourgogne were connected to the three composers central to this project and impacted the outcome of their work. With the musical-historical study of three Regina caeli settings, this project demonstrates the importance of the petit motet genre within the repertoire and the need for additional research to increase the accessibility of this inestimable music

Despite the authoritative and very explicit directions from the Vatican in 1903, the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne successfully resisted the demands for a major reform of liturgical Church music for 35 years. This thesis will examine the reasons for this strong and effective resistance to the demands of the Holy See and show that despite being complex and interrelated these reasons can be summarised under two fundamental headings. The thesis will examine the broad spectrum of music performed in the Melbourne Archdiocese, but because of the limited availability of information and the prime importance of the two principal churches of the Archdiocese, it shall concentrate on St. Patrick’s Cathedral and on St. Francis Church. The thesis shall also examine in detail the documents of the Holy See concerning liturgical music which were relevant to musical practice in Melbourne. Special attention is drawn to the influential Motu proprio Tra le sollecitudini (1903) issued by Pope Pius X. The time span of this thesis covers the 95 years from March 1843 when the first music was sung in Melbourne’s only Catholic church to 1938 when Archbishop Daniel Mannix ordered the reforms to liturgical music as demanded by the Vatican. The thesis shall demonstrate that the resistance to the reform of liturgical music in the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne was due to the two following influences: the fact that the new freedom and wealth that the immigrant Irish community of the Archdiocese of Melbourne experienced enabled them to establish churches and liturgies whose grandeur and artistic excellence symbolized their success in establishing a major new social and cultural status in their new home. Church music was one of the great manifestations of this and as an integral part of their new significance and sense of achievement, it was to be jealously guarded. the second was the matter of authority and the independence of the Catholic bishops from the dictates and interference of the Vatican authorities. These Irish-born bishops were trained in an historical milieu in Ireland and Europe which fostered a fierce pride in the value of autonomy from external and alien authority. In this they were given a great degree of protection by the isolation of Australia and its distance from outside authority. In this Archbishops Carr and Mannix both proved to be strongly independent leaders who proved to be most reluctant to automatically implement reforms imposed by the Vatican. It will be shown that only in the fourth decade of the twentieth century was Episcopal authority finally brought to bear to make reforms to liturgical music a reality in the Catholic Church in Melbourne.