Magister Artium - MA / The collection of ten short stories, Of Flowers and Tears, aims to capture the events that have shaped my life, impacted on my community. It hopefully gives a voice to topics such as mental trauma, sibling strife, abortion, drug use and abuse, suicide, as well as political and social activism. Whilst none of the topics are new, the collection could potentially add to a growing genre of short story fiction by local authors which examine issues relating to trauma, loss, violence and the acknowledgement of identities. As South Africans, we carry many metaphoric scars (including psychological, socio-economic, sexual) as well as literal ones, which act as testimonies to our violent and frequently traumatic past and present. Even though most of the material used in my collection forms part of my personal memory bank and will be interpreted in a wholly fictional way, I propose that such a collection speaks to pertinent, present and pervasive realities.

Thesis (D. Mus. Arts)--University of Washington, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 377-412).

Tens of thousands of music students enroll in group piano classes each year in colleges and conservatories in the United States. Degree programs related to Music Industry are attracting increasingly diverse student populations and in turn are requiring curricular and instructional modifications that better accommodate the needs of these students. The basis of this dissertation is the development of a series of contemporary class piano workbooks that focus on contemporary popular music and jazz in ways that optimize student learning, combining wide-ranging repertoire with assignments that encourage independent application of knowledge and skills. The workbooks illuminate how the piano is used in professional performance and recording; develop skills that can translate directly into professional music settings; and afford students opportunities to understand, learn, and play music that friends, family, and students themselves know and enjoy. / text

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2008. / "August, 2008." Includes bibliographical references. Online version available on the World Wide Web.

This research explores Louis Armstrong’s artistic choices and their impact directly and indirectly on the African-American literary, visual and performing arts between 1923 and 1930 during the period known as the Harlem Renaissance. This research uses analyses of musical transcriptions and examples of the period’s literary and visual arts to verify the significance of Armstrong’s influence(s). This research also analyzes the early nineteenth century West-African musical practices evident in Congo Square that were present in the traditional jazz and cultural behaviors that Armstrong heard and experienced growing up in New Orleans. Additionally, through a discourse analysis approach, this research examines the impact of Armstrong’s art on the philosophical debate regarding the purpose of the period’s art. Specifically, W.E.B. Du Bois’s desire for the period’s art to be used as propaganda and Alain Locke’s admonitions that period African-American artists not produce works with the plight of blacks in America as the sole theme.

This research explores Louis Armstrong’s artistic choices and their impact directly and indirectly on the African-American literary, visual and performing arts between 1923 and 1930 during the period known as the Harlem Renaissance. This research uses analyses of musical transcriptions and examples of the period’s literary and visual arts to verify the significance of Armstrong’s influence(s). This research also analyzes the early nineteenth century West-African musical practices evident in Congo Square that were present in the traditional jazz and cultural behaviors that Armstrong heard and experienced growing up in New Orleans. Additionally, through a discourse analysis approach, this research examines the impact of Armstrong’s art on the philosophical debate regarding the purpose of the period’s art. Specifically, W.E.B. Du Bois’s desire for the period’s art to be used as propaganda and Alain Locke’s admonitions that period African-American artists not produce works with the plight of Blacks in America as the sole theme.

This thesis describes ways a guitarist can apply a saxophone-like phrasing in their playing and also discusses the various differences and similarities which can be found between the two instruments.  The foundation of the work was made through transcription to find the aspects of saxophone playing that may be possible to apply on guitar. I made conclusions based on the transcriptions of a wide variety of saxophone players. This thesis also contains exercises which are specifically crafted for working on applying saxophone phrasing for guitarists. In this thesis I arrived at the conclusion that it is very possible to integrate various aspects of saxophone phrasing onto the guitar although some are less problematic than others. For instance, there are resources that the saxophone has, of which the guitar as an instrument does not have. Despite this, drawing inspiration from saxophone phrasing as a guitarist can be considerably applicable. / <p>Repertoar:</p><p>Oui - Anton Brodin</p><p>All of me - Marks/Simons</p><p>Yum - Brodin</p><p>Body and soul - Johnny Green</p><p>Ode - Brodin</p><p>Pop goes the leesel - Lee Konitz</p><p></p><p>Medverkande:</p><p>Anton Brodin - Gitarr</p><p>Anton Berndts - Kontrabas</p><p>Richard Andersson Rasheed - Trummor</p><p>Emmalisa Hallander - Sång</p><p>Eskil Larsson - Tenorsaxofon</p><p>David Stener - Piano</p>

In this project I explored composing wordless music within the jazz genre inspired by a Norwegian folklore: the story of Trollveggen. Influenced by composers like Meredith Monk and Maurice Ravel I wrote six programmatic compositions. Each piece was thoroughly crafted using specific keywords and rules derived from Patrik N. Juslin’s research on the emotional impact of musical elements. Additionally, I incorporated insights from Alf Gabrielsson and Erik Lindström’s study The Role of Structure in the Musical Expression of Emotions, and used Kate Hevner’s research to further deepen my compositional approach. I discuss jazz vocal performance as a non-verbal storytelling method, incorporating vocal extended techniques. I also explore how I navigated between creative constraints and artistic freedom, within the compositional framework, to bring each composition to life. Reflecting on this process, I examine its profound impact on my musical and personal growth. Through these compositions, I aim to evoke a meaningful emotional connection with the audience, inviting them to interpret the narrative in their own unique way. / <p><strong>Framförda kompositioner:</strong><strong></strong></p><p><em>Møre og Romsdal</em> - S. Levin.</p><p><em>Forelskelse</em> - S. Levin.</p><p><em>Jubalong</em> - S. Levin.</p><p><em>Å Sove/Våkne Opp</em> - S. Levin.</p><p><em>Solens Lys</em> - S. Levin.</p><p><em>Stokk og Stein</em> - S. Levin.</p><p>Samtliga kompositioner arrangerade av Sabina Levin. </p><p><em></em><strong>Medverkande musiker:</strong></p><p>Sång - Sabina Levin</p><p>Klarinett &amp; altsaxofon - Erik Hasselfeldt</p><p>Trumpet &amp; flygelhorn - Øyvind Solheim</p><p>Vibrafon - Alexander Falkebring</p><p>Piano - Fabian Erkelius</p><p>Harpa - Anna Jalkéus</p><p>Kontrabas - Amanda Karström</p><p>Trummor - Kristian Remnélius</p>

The problem with which this study is concerned is that of developing a recommended sequential format for jazz improvisation instruction. The method of content analysis is used. Seventeen subject matter categories (instructional areas) are established upon which the data is analyzed. Coding instructions are constructed with adjustments for additional emphasis placed on the instruction areas by the respective authors. By selecting instructional areas recorded above the median per cent of emphasis, and co-ordinating these areas with the mean sequential introduction of each instructional area, a recommended format of instruction is developed.

Syftet med denna studie är att få inblick i musikers syn på traditionens och genrens påverkan och betydelse för det egna musicerandet. Jag har under min studietid blivit intresserad av att ta reda på hur genrer påverkar musikers musicerande och vilken betydelse det har för musikens utförande. Studien utgår från ett sociokulturellt perspektiv, vilket innebär att musicerande ses som en social aktivitet, där kunskap finns i kommunikation och de redskap som har växt fram i samhället. Datamaterialet består av kvalitativa intervjuer med fyra aktiva musiker. Resultatet visar att distinktionen genrer emellan inte nödvändigtvis behöver vara särskilt stor. Litteraturen i bakgrunden visar emellertid det motsatta. I litteraturen framställs jazzmusiker som gehörsmusiker som inte behöver ta så stor hänsyn till notbilden medan klassiska musiker anammar den med perfektionism. I min studie visar det sig att jazz- och klassiska musiker är lika beroende av traditionen, men hur verk tolkas och bearbetas är individuellt beroende av situation. Det visar sig vidare i studien att begreppet musikalisk frihet har olika betydelse för jazzmusiker än vad det har för klassiska musiker, det är upp till var och en att definiera vilken betydelse den musikaliska friheten har gentemot genren. När informanterna definierar sin respektive genre, förklarar de klassiska musikerna att klassisk musik förvisso är notbunden och studeras inom strikta ramar, men därmed inte sagt att musikerna måste definieras av sin genre, inte nödvändigtvis. En klassik musiker anses också vara experimentell gehörsmusiker, skriva sin egen musik eller improvisera på flera olika sätt. / The purpose of this study is to get an insight into what kind of influence and meaning traditions and genres has on musicians. I have, during my period of study, developed an interest in finding out how genres and traditions affect musician´s musical performances. The study originates from a socio-cultural perspective, which means that playing music is considered as a social activity where a great deal of knowledge comes from communication with other people. The data consists of qualitative interviews with four musicians. The result shows that the distinction between genres is not necessarily great. The background literature however proves the opposite. In the literature, jazz musicians are described as having a good musical ear; they do not pay that close attention to the written note, whilst classical musicians do the opposite. My study shows that jazz musicians and classical musicians are both equally dependent upon tradition, but the way they interpret music is individual and depends upon the situation. Furthermore, the study shows that the term musical freedom has a different meaning for a jazz musician than it has for a classical musician, but it is still up to musicians to define it for themselves within his or her genre. When the interviewees were asked to define their genre, the classical musicians answered that classical music is supposed to be played strictly the way it appears on sheet music within a clear framework, but genre does not always automatically shape a musician nor how they think as individuals.  A classical musician can, according to the result, also experiment and with a good musical ear compose their own music and improvise in many different ways.