The purpose of this investigation is to delineate the characteristics of the jazz rhythmic quality known as swing, and to illustrate these characteristics through transcription and analysis of improvisatory musical examples from model jazz recordings. The meaning of the term swing is explored through examination of publications addressing jazz rhythm, resulting in a compiled list of the characteristics of swing. Two studies follow which investigate the rhythmic techniques of jazz performance in relation to these characteristics. In the first study, five improvisations by jazz masters Oscar Peterson, Wynton Kelly, Wynton Marsalis, and Marcus Roberts are transcribed and analyzed. In the second study, excerpts from a contemporary jazz recording by the University of Texas Faculty Jazz (On The Cusp, 2007) are transcribed and analyzed for the purposes of measuring timing features, including steadiness of beat, rhythmic asynchronies between instruments, and swing ratios. Findings support the compiled characteristics of swing rhythm, and also suggest generalities regarding how jazz musicians interpret time feel, such as accompanying instrumentalists exhibiting a closely synchronized time feel, soloists frequently playing behind the beat of accompanying rhythm sections, and soloists performing eighth notes that are often more even than the eighth notes of accompanying ride-cymbal patterns. / text

The senior pupils development motivation is affected by speciality and education that pupils are going to achieve in the future. If pupil is attracted by activity that requires creative initiative or by needs to express themselves in any field of life, that choice will stimulate his creative activity further. In other case it is very likely that need for creative self-expression is damned to disappear. The inferiority complexes that appeared in teen ages, very high self-criticism, diffidence also affects theatrical development motivation in a negative way. In the proceeding, the scientific issue raised – how improvisation can be employed to stimulate the senior pupils theatrical development motivation. For the issue resolution, the K. Johnstone author improvisation method and V. Spolin theatrical games methods are involved. The investigation subject is stimulation of senior pupils theatrical development motivation by means of improvisation. The proceedings object is to reveal effect of improvisation for senior pupils theatrical development motivation. The literature analysis confirmed that pupil gets motivated only when teaching satisfies his or her confidence, respect, self-expression, cognitive and functional treat needs. It has been defined that K. Johnstone and V. Spolin author improvisation methods due to their playing nature, satisfy functional treat needs. The literature analysis confirmed that employing these methods would make pupils immune from destructive impact of... [to full text]

Generating and developing ideas constitute centerpieces for innovations processes, idea creation methods and techniques most urgent in their initial phases processes, though the need is no less in subsequent phases. Those early phases, however, allow for more deviant ideas, characterized by more of ambiguity and uncertainty. This is an innovation process theme that is recognized as among those least understood. Through comparative studies of seven groups from three different practices, their interactions in idea development and problem solving, a deeper understanding of descriptive languages and modus operandi has been acquired. The research was carried out in three settings: brainstorming in industrial design, musical improvisation and dialogue seminars with participants representing industrial design and music, respectively. The compilation of the three practices’ contributions results in a conceptual framework. It includes such concepts as, for example, ‘momentary formation’, ‘temporary epistemology’ and ‘the play with semantic key signature’. Those concepts give examples of the reconsidering of creative group processes, relative to previous frameworks, that is a result of these studies. From the perspective of group idea, individuals’ creative processes might be perceived as the searching for the different or the deviant while we suggest that group creativity is enhanced throughits members’ abilities to preserve their own perspectives and thought styles. Group creativity is based on a willingness to focus on the central group idea while simultaneously maintaining individual thought styles. A creative group’s way of forming and mediating ideas, its modus operandi, is referred to as its description language. The importance of descriptive languages driving mechanism for creative group processes should be seen in the perspective of fundamental social cognition processes. The problem area is mapped through the strategic use of different descriptive modus. Groups employ iteration as a strategy for stimulating collective reflection, that is, to think about the problem again but in other ways. We argue that critical thinking and the ability to make critical judgements is an important driving force in the creative groups’ iterative processes: criticism makes reconsideration meaningful. Different types of criticism are discussed, as is how they interact with groups’ idea development and creative processes. This research project has resulted in a deeper understanding of the relay race of initiatives that characterizes the interactions in groups solving problems and developing ideas. The project has developed an awareness of which descriptions that stimulate group creativity.

<p>Bilaga: 1 partitur, 1 CD</p>

It was the purpose of this study to determine the effects of creative dramatics on divergent thinking in fifth grade children. The subjects (twenty-six fifth graders) were divided into control and treatment groups such that each group had an equal representation of male and female subjects. Prior to treatment, both groups of subjects were pre-tested using the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, Verbal Form A. During the treatment period, the control group continued their normal school activities; while the treatment group was exposed to fifteen forty-five minute creative dramatics sessions. Following the treatment period, the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, Verbal Form B was administered to both groups.The results of the data analysis indicated that treatment had a statistically significant effect (p<.02) upon the category of originality. Therefore, it is concluded that creative dramatics has a facilitating effect on the originality dimension of divergent thinking.

The need for multicultural counselling is on the rise while developing multicultural tools in counselling are lagging behind. This is especially apparent in the use of music for counselling purposes. There is a dearth of knowledge regarding the music repertoires of different cultures and how they might be implemented in counselling practices. The research presented here explores the depths of improvisatory Persian music from the lens of two masters of this music. Master Douglas Hensley is an American born musician who has mastered playing Persian music on various instruments. The second participant, Master Kayhan Kalhor, is a renowned Iranian musician who is best known for his improvisatory work on an authentic instrument called the Kamancheh. Based on my interview with the participants, I have deduced that Persian music is indeed intertwined with Persian mysticism and as such it provokes self-awareness and self-control. Based on these findings I propose a conceptual framework, which provides the foundation for future lines of research regarding the use of Persian music in counselling settings. / Graduate

The teaching of music improvisation is commonly approached as the process of incorporating the vocabulary of a specific style. In the university setting this is most often accomplished through the methodology of jazz. As an alternative, improvisation is also taught as an experimental or experiential endeavor influenced by the practice of free-improvisation. A third model teaches improvisation as games; this is common in the field of Music Education. Although all these methods accomplish their various purposes, in their pedagogical application none of these models focus on the most distinctive feature of improvisation: how the musician thinks. Improvisation as a way of “thinking music” constitutes a form of musical intelligence that entails a number of cognitive processes that solve specific problems unique to the improvisational setting. As an alternative to the existing models, I propose to teach improvisation as a form of intelligence, with the purpose of empowering the learner to construct a spontaneous yet intended musical discourse meaningful to the improviser and representative of his or her own understanding of musical organization. In order to advance a pedagogical model based on improvisational intelligence, I have conducted a grounded theory research project to construct a theoretical model of the cognitive processes of improvisation deployed by professional improvisers, with the intention that this model inform the teaching of improvisational intelligence. The research comprised individual interviews with 10 improvisers. The participants improvised a piece of music and subsequently elaborated on the cognitive mechanisms deployed while improvising. The resulting theory from this research proposes that improvisational intelligence consists of residual and emergent behaviors mediated by a monitoring system. The theory is illustrated by three models, and it is summarized in six postulates. The practical application of the model does not form part of this research; turning the theoretical model into a practical teaching method constitutes a subsequent stage to the current work. Nonetheless, the discussion section of the thesis elaborates on possible pedagogical applications and challenges for the professional musician as well as for various institutional settings such as the elementary school, the secondary school, the university jazz program, and the classical performance program.

Thesis (PhD (Music))-University of Pretoria, 2006. / Abstract in English. Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (D.M.E.)--Indiana University, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-03, Section: A, page: 0919. Adviser: Charles P. Schmidt. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 160-171) and abstract.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [130]-156).