Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of Oregon, 2006. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 210-221). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

The purpose of the study is the investigation of the topics of transposition and the transposed major and minor modes as discussed principally by selected French authors of the final twenty years of the seventeenth century and the first three decades of the eighteenth. The sources are relatively varied and include manuals for singers and instrumentalists, dictionaries, independent essays, and tracts which were published in scholarly journals; special emphasis is placed on the observation and attempted explanation of both irregular signatures and the signatures of the minor modes. The paper concerns the following areas: definitions and related concepts, methods for singers and Instrumentalists, and signatures for the tones which were identified by the authors. The topics are interdependent, for the signatures both effected transposition and indicated written-out transpositions. The late Baroque was characterized by much diversity with regard to definitions of the natural and transposed modes. At the close of the seventeenth century, two concurrent and yet diverse notions were in evidence: the most widespread associated "natural" with inclusion within the gamme; that is, the criterion for naturalness was total diatonic pitch content, as specified by the signature. When the scale was reduced from two columns to a single one, its total pitch content was diminished, and consequently the number of the natural modes found within the gamme was reduced. An apparently less popular view narrowed the focus of "natural tone" to a single diatonic pitch, the final of the tone or mode. A number of factors contributed to the disappearance of the long-held distinction between natural and transposed tones: the linking of the notion of "transposed" with the temperament, the establishment of two types of signatures for the minor tones (for tones with sharps and flats, respectively), the transition from a two-column scale to a single-column one, and the recognition of a unified system of major and minor keys.

xiii, 221 p. : ill., music, forms. A print copy of this title is available through the UO Libraries under the call number: MUSIC MT35 .M87 2006 / The main purpose of the study was to examine the effects of learning songs by ear in multiple keys on skills in playing by ear and sight-reading. Secondary purposes of the study were to explore the effects of instruction on student attitudes, and to consider differential effects due to music aptitude. Students were brass and woodwind musicians ( N =28) in grades 7--8, placed in one of two instructional groups according to music aptitude, instrument, and music background. Time for instruction was three 20-minute lessons per week for four weeks. Students in the experimental group learned songs by ear in the keys of Bb, Db, and G concert, while students in the contact-control group practiced technical exercises in those same keys. Before and after instruction, students performed a well-known melody by ear in the keys of Bb, Db, and G concert, as well as a short etude in each of the three keys. Two adjudicators listened to recorded performances and evaluated pitch accuracy. To assess the effects of instruction on performance, repeated-measures ANOVAs considered the variables of group, time, and key. The experimental group improved significantly in playing by ear in the keys of Db and G concert, p < .001, but not in Bb. The contact-control group did not improve significantly in playing by ear in any of the keys. Both groups improved significantly in sight-reading in all three keys, p < .001. Analyses of qualitative and quantitative data from a researcher-authored attitude survey indicated that students in the experimental group perceived significant improvement in the new keys of Db and G, while students in the contact-control group did not perceive improvement. There were no statistically significant effects of music aptitude on performance achievement or attitude. Whether this was because the sample sizes were too small for the detection of effects, or whether there were no significant effects, is not known. The results of the study suggest that learning songs by ear may benefit student musicians. / Committee in Charge: Dr. Harry E. Price, Chair; Dr. Michael D. Bullis; Dr. Phyllis M. Paul; Dr. Steve Vacchi