Thesis (M.M.) -- Florida State University, 2003. / Advisor: Jane Piper Clendinning, Florida State University, School of Music. Title and description from thesis home page (viewed 9-29-04). Document formatted into pages; contains 76 pages. Includes biographical sketch. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis studies rhythm from an evolutionary computation perspective. Rhythm is the most fundamental dimension of music and can be used as a ground to describe the evolution of music. More specifically, the main goal of the thesis is to investigate how complex rhythmic structures evolve, subject to the cultural transmission between individuals in a society. The study is developed by means of computer modelling and simulations informed by evolutionary computation and artificial life (A-Life). In this process, self-organisation plays a fundamental role. The evolutionary process is steered by the evaluation of rhythmic complexity and by the exposure to rhythmic material. In this thesis, composers and musicologists will find the description of a system named A-Rhythm, which explores the emerged behaviours in a community of artificial autonomous agents that interact in a virtual environment. The interaction between the agents takes the form of imitation games. A set of necessary criteria was established for the construction of a compositional system in which cultural transmission is observed. These criteria allowed the comparison with related work in the field of evolutionary computation and music. In the development of the system, rhythmic representation is discussed. The proposed representation enabled the development of complexity and similarity based measures, and the recombination of rhythms in a creative manner. A-Rhythm produced results in the form of simulation data which were evaluated in terms of the coherence of repertoires of the agents. The data shows how rhythmic sequences are changed and sustained in the population, displaying synchronic and diachronic diversity. Finally, this tool was used as a generative mechanism for composition and several examples are presented.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:39:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 516.pdf: 2626211 bytes, checksum: d7152a77f758f269d6bc908ffb1de76a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2004-11-08 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / From different regards, the present study has the foremost aim of understanding the trajectory and pedagogical practice of a musical rhythm teacher, José Eduardo Gramani, so that the knowledge produced during the course of the research might serve as a fundamental element for the formation of new musical educators. Understanding his professional trajectory, his specific formation, his beliefs, values and opinions (about school, student, work methodology, the musical "teaching/learning" process), it was sought to set, within and through the related complex of factors and in their intrinsical relationships, what researchers in the field of education have called "teacher s thought" (an interpretation for the course of acquaintance with specific contents towards the pedagogic knowledge as on "a double side-way"), that, in the specific case of this piece of work, it refers to that musical educator. The data have been collected by means of semi-structured interviews, with open schedule. Such interview route, or schedule, was structured through basis upon authors who have studied histories of teachers life, and others who have studied professional trajectories of "good" teachers. Among the interviewees, some were relatives of the above-mentioned teacher, students, co-workers teachers. As collaborators in a collective game, those participants represent all those who, at any rate, have collaborated, so as to Gramani be able to idealize and create his teaching methodology. Paralleled with the above-mentioned procedures, it was made a documental analysis of books that mention facts of this musician s personal history, as well as the available didactic materials produced during his professional teaching trajectory (from the apostils of the beginning of his career till the books later published), specially the reflecting texts on the specific area of musical rhythm teaching, that fit in those materials. The data collected in the interviews and in the documents were analyzed, so as to stand out this teacher s trajectory of personal life and pedagogic actuation, as well as to configure his profile, from the perspective of the interviewees, participants of this research. The analysis main points are sectioned into four themes, all of them obviously referring to the educator aimed at this search; the first theme describes his historical professional and personal trajectory, divided into phases; the second expatiates unpon his beliefs and values related to teaching and human acquaintance; the third analyzes his professorial practice, as well as the development of his knowledge bases that involve such activity ; and the fourth specifies the individual and professional characteristics that compose the teacher s profile, according to the interviewees standpoints. The results give evidence that the educator s performance, accomplished under the criteria based on his beliefs and values, and on his relashionship with the students, have been successful. Other aspects of that practice define peculiar standards of teaching, profitable to composing the cast of knowledges in the studies of those who prepare to exercise the teaching of music, or even of other cognizance áreas. / A partir de diferentes olhares, o presente estudo tem por objetivo compreender a trajetória e a prática pedagógica de um professor de rítmica musical, José Eduardo Gramani, de forma que o conhecimento produzido no decorrer da pesquisa possa servir como elemento fundamental para a formação de novos educadores musicais. Compreendendo seu percurso profissional, sua formação específica, suas crenças, valores e opiniões (sobre: escola, aluno, metodologia de trabalho, o processo de ensinoaprendizagem musical), procurou-se estabelecer, nesse conjunto de fatores e nas suas relações intrínsecas, o que pesquisadores do campo da educação têm chamado de "pensamento do professor" (uma interpretação do percurso do conhecimento de conteúdo específico para o conhecimento pedagógico - numa via de mão dupla) que, no caso específico do trabalho, refere-se àquele músico-educador. Os dados foram coletados por meio de entrevistas semi-estruturadas, com roteiro aberto. O roteiro de entrevista foi construído com base em autores que estudaram histórias de vida de professores e outros que estudaram trajetórias profissionais de bons professores. Entre os entrevistados constaram alguns dos parentes do referido professor, alunos, colegas professores. Como coadjuvantes de um jogo coletivo, esses participantes representam todos aqueles que, de alguma forma ou de outra, colaboraram para que Gramani idealizasse e criasse a sua metodologia de ensino. Paralelamente foi feita uma análise documental de livros que mencionam fatos da história pessoal do músico, bem como dos materiais didáticos disponíveis produzidos durante o seu percurso profissional docente (desde as apostilas do início de sua carreira até os livros publicados posteriormente), especialmente os textos de reflexão sobre o ensino da área específica de rítmica musical que se encontram nesses materiais. Os dados coletados nas entrevistas e nos documentos foram analisados de forma a ressaltar a trajetória de vida pessoal e pedagógica desse professor, além de configurar o seu perfil na perspectiva dos entrevistados participantes dessa pesquisa. Os eixos de análise estão divididos em quatro temas: o primeiro descreve os aspectos históricos da sua trajetória profissional e pessoal que foi dividida em fases; o segundo disserta sobre as suas crenças e valores sobre o ensino e o ser humano; o terceiro analisa a sua prática de ensino, bem como o desenvolvimento de sua base de conhecimento para o ensino; e para concluir, o quarto tema pormenoriza, sob o ponto de vista dos entrevistados, as características pessoais e profissionais que compõem o perfil do professor. Os resultados atestam a prática bem sucedida do educador, sob o prisma das suas crenças e valores (e de sua relação com os educandos). Outros aspectos de sua prática definem padrões de ensino úteis na formação de professores de música e de outras áreas do conhecimento.

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Title of the thesis: Developing pronunciation through musical activities in French lessons Keywords: communicative approach, phonetics, phonology, pronunciation, prosody, activity, music, rhythm, rhythmisation, melody, tempo, intonation, accent, song, rap, facial expressions Abstract: This thesis deals with the teaching of French phonetics, considers the status of phonetics in communicatively oriented teaching, and comes to the fact that the teaching of phonetics and phonology is not a priority in the communicative approach. The work demonstrates the importance of such teaching, and therefore explores how the teaching of pronunciation or some of its components could be made more attractive. Based on the proven relationship of music and language, both as auditory phenomena, this thesis approaches the interwoven elements of these two areas. The aim is to explore how the musical elements, such as: rhythm, melody, tempo, phrasing, etc., could be used in the teaching of French pronunciation - especially at the suprasegmental level. The work offers a basic inventory of exercises which benefit from this characteristic and which has been verified in practice, and in the final analysis summarises their effectiveness in foreign language teaching.