For woodwind and brass performers, intraoral pressure is the measure of force exerted on the surface area of the oral cavity by the air transmitted from the lungs. This pressure is the combined effect of the volume of air forced into the oral cavity by the breathing apparatus and the resistance of the embouchure, reed opening, and instrument’s back pressure. Recent research by Michael Adduci shows that intraoral pressures during oboe performance can exceed capabilities for corresponding increases in sound output, suggesting a potentially hazardous situation for the development of soft tissue disorders in the throat and velopharyngeal insufficiencies. However, considering that oboe back pressure is perhaps the highest among the woodwind instruments, this problem may or may not occur in other woodwinds. There has been no research of this type for the other woodwind instruments. My study was completed to expand the current research by comparing intraoral pressure (IOP) and sound pressure when performing with a characteristic tone on oboe, clarinet, flute, bassoon, and saxophone. The expected results should show that, as sound pressure levels increase, intraoral pressure will also increase. The subjects, undergraduate and graduate music majors at the University of North Texas, performed a series of musical tasks on bassoon, clarinet, flute, oboe, and alto saxophone. The musical tasks cover the standard ranges of each instrument, differences between vibrato and straight-tone, and a variety of musical dynamics. The data was collected and examined for trends. The specific aims of this study are to (1) determine whether there is a correlation between IOP and sound pressure, (2) shed light on how well each instrument responds to rapid fluctuation, and (3) determine which instruments are most efficient when converting air pressure into sound output. Results of this study raised concerns shared by previous studies – that woodwind players are potentially causing harm to their oropharynx by inaccurately perceiving intraoral pressure needed to achieve a characteristic sound. Evidence found by this study suggests that while oboists generate high intraoral pressure for relatively little sound output (a fact corroborated by past studies), the same cannot be said for all of the woodwind instruments, particularly the flute.

The purposes of this study are to identify and describe the function and control of facial muscles as related to sound production on brasswind instruments, to explore electromyographic theory and techniques with particular regard to the function and control of facial muscles, to identify basic theories of embouchure among brasswind teachers and performers, to develop a theory of brasswind embouchure based upon the preceding factors, and to propose recommendations with regard to brasswind pedagogy. Existing theories of embouchure were investigated by reviewing the extensive brasswind pedagogical literature, and by interviewing teachers representing two widely differing views. Electromyographic kinesiology of facial muscles was investigated as follows: a description of facial muscles was formulated by collating anatomy books; related electromyographic literature was reviewed; eloctromyographic recordings of facial muscled during, the performance of various facial muscle tasks and during brasswind performance were made using indwelling fine-wire electrodes. The following fundamental questions were raised: (1) What are the elements of brasswind embouchure, and what is the effect of each upon performance? (2) Is there a single embouchure mode which may be considered most efficient, and if so, what facial muscles are involved, and how may they be trained?

Syftet med studien är att få större insikt i hur pedagoger kan hjälpa sina elever att få motivation till eget musicerande och spelglädje. Med en fenomenografisk utgångspunkt och genom kvalitativa intervjuer där fyra träblåslärare vid olika musik- och kulturskolor deltog, undersöktes deras syn på hur de ser på sina elevers motivation och hur de undervisar för att inspirera sina elever till fortsatt musicerande. Av intervjusvaren framgår tydligt att viktiga källor till motivation är mål, samspel, grupptillhörighet och jag-kan känsla. I resultatdelen har jag kategoriserat och analyserat intervjusvaren och avslutningsvis förs en diskussion kring resultaten i förhållande till begreppen motivation och didaktik. / The aim of the study was to gain greater insight into how teachers can help their students to get motivation to their own musicianship and joy of playing. With a phenomenographic approach and through qualitative interviews with four woodwind teachers at various music and culture schools, their views are analyzed of how they see their students' motivation and how they in their teaching can inspire students to continue playing. The result shows, that the major sources of motivation are goals, interactions, group membership and “I-can!” esteem. In conclusion I have categorized and discussed all interview responses in relation to the concepts of motivation and education.

Thesis (D. M. A.)--Ohio State University, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 149-152).

PLAYING SAXOPHONE AND ITS POTENTIAL HEALTH RISKS Objectives: Main purpose of this study is to provide comprehensive review of health issues related to saxophone playing. The aim of this study is to collect available resources focused on saxophone players teaching methods, analyse them and compare them with existing findings of medical science. Also to try to find answers to asked research questions and to verify or disprove stated hypotheses, on the basis of acquired datas and principles eventually trying to arrange some possible outlines to complement teaching methods or preventative-compensational excercises for saxophone players. Methods: Method of this thesis is literature research using available Czech and foreign literary resources. For this purpose there have been used electronic archives as Pubmed, Ebsco, Springer, Wiley and Science Direct, monographic publications and scholarly papers from periodicals. This work is divided into few main parts. Introductional part contains basic review of health issues related to instrumental musicians, methodics contained in saxophone schools written in the Czech language, aims and methods of this thesis. Theoretical part is more widely focused on methodics, principles and mechanics of saxophone players' education. The main part is dedicated to possible...

Four works are selected to demonstrate the stature and demands of this craft and to represent a pinnacle in the art of contemporary woodwind doubling. Concerto for Doubles, by Thomas Filas, Concerto Tri-Chroma. by Michael Kibbe, Rhapsody Nova, by Clare Fischer and Suite for Solo Flute. Clarinet and Alto Saxophone by Claude Smith all represent rare, major solo works written specifically for three individual woodwind doublers. The paper will begin with a history of the practice of woodwind doubling from the fifteenth century to the present. The four works will then be examined by considering form, style and related performance practices.

This thesis focuses on the topic of piano accompaniment, which is an essential and beautiful part of piano playing. This field demands from the pianist a specific approach, which is a subject and core of many study programmes throughout the world. The aim of the first part of this thesis is to map the evolution as well as the current state of knowledge in the field of piano accompaniment using scientific literature on the subject as well as curricula of study programmes obtained from universities in central Europe, where piano accompaniment is taught as a major study course. A strong correlation has been established based on this research between theory in scientific literature on the subject and the current practice of piano accompaniment education in central Europe. The aim of the second part of this thesis is to expand further the level of knowledge in scientific literature, which is insufficient mainly in the accompaniment of solo musical instruments. For this reason, the second part of the thesis focuses on the specific problems in piano accompaniment of musical instrument groups, i.e. string instruments, woodwind instruments and brass instruments. For these three groups case studies have been created, which examine the specific characteristics of the musical instruments in relation to piano...

This is a study where I examine and compare the perceived emotional expression of brass instruments and reed instruments to investigate whether one group have an inherent tendency to better express a certain emotion than the other group. Based on scientifically proven methods, I have composed two musical pieces, where one of them represents the emotion of happiness and the other one represents the emotion of sadness. I have then written 5 arrangements per musical piece, where one of them consists of piano, two consists of solo instruments from each instrument group accompanied by piano, and two consists of a trio from each instrument group. This makes a total of 10 arrangements. These arrangements serve as audio examples in a web survey where I compare the two instrument groups based on how the audience perceive their emotional expression. A total of 36 people participated in the survey. Regarding the emotion of happiness, 71 % of the participants felt that trumpet and piano was the solo instrument version that best expressed happiness while 18 % chose oboe and piano. 44 % chose the brass trio as the happiest version while 36 % felt that the reed trio best expressed happiness. When it came to the emotion of sadness, 19 % of the participants chose trumpet and piano as the saddest solo instrument version, while 72 % felt that oboe and piano sounded the saddest. 25 % chose the brass trio as the saddest version while 67 % chose the reed trio.