The individual who lacks the use of his voice as a musical instrument lacks the natural, fundamental medium of musical expression. Not only does he lack the means for the closest and most direct relationship with music, but also there is a serious danger that, as a result, his whole range of musical appreciation will be impaired and finally obliterated. This is likely to occur because he does not have at his command and under his control this power which he so definitely needs. Children who are thus handicapped are often designated by the use of the word monotone.

abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an after-school music program on music underachievers' musical achievement, social development and self-esteem. A true-experimental pretest-posttest design was used and included 14 hours of treatment time. The subjects (N = 66), fifth-grade students were randomly selected from the lowest quartile of scores on Colwell's Music Achievement Test (MAT), which was administered to all fifth-grade students (N = 494) in three Korean elementary schools. The treatment group (n =33) experienced a movement-based after-school music program (MAMP); the control group (n = 33) did not receive the after-school music program. Measurements included sections of Colwell's Music Achievement Test (MAT), Kim's Social Development Scale (SDS), and Hare's Self-Esteem Scale (HSS). The researcher and music teachers of each school administered all measurements. Fourteen treatment lessons occurred over fourteen weeks. One-way analyses of covariance tests were used to test for post-test differences between groups. A significant difference was found in music achievement total scores of the MAT with the treatment group scoring higher scores than the control group. There were no significant differences for interval and meter discrimination tests of MAT. There were no significant differences between treatment and control groups in the post-test scores of the Social Development Scale (SDS) and the Self-Esteem Scale (HSS). However, for both tests, mean scores increased for the treatment group and decreased for the control group. Results from this study suggest that a movement-based after-school music program promotes music underachievers' musical growth and may also support music underachievers' social development and self-esteem. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Music Education 2011

The purpose of this study was to examine and describe the process entailed in commissioning a new work for a high school music ensemble with a focus on the interpersonal relationships that exist among the student performers, their director, and the composer during a composer residency. With a multiple case study design, I examined the commissioned works projects of five cohorts that included one composer, three student performers, and one commissioning conductor. Each of the composers and commissioning conductors selected for participation in the study possessed extensive experience with commissioned works projects in school settings enabling them to draw on their past experience, as well as their experience working together on a commissioned work. The student performers were selected for the study based on their participation in a commissioned work project that included a composer residency with the commissioning conductor and commissioned composer associated with each cohort. Data was collected through interviews with the members of each cohort. Interview questions focused on understanding how each agent (student performer, music teacher, composer) contributes to the process of producing a new work through commission, how the interpersonal relationships between the agents function throughout the process, and how the outcomes of the process impact the agents’ experiences. The data gathered in the interviews was analyzed in light of these three foci and then re-examined to uncover themes common to multiple agents. Finally, the data was evaluated to determine how this information might shape future commissioning projects. I believe that the results of my investigation point to a greater understanding of the processes involved with the commissioning of a work, as well as the interpersonal relationships that exist within those processes. The results of my investigation formed a foundation for the construction of a concluding narrative providing step-by-step details that might be informative for music educators considering embarkation upon a commissioned work project.

Researchers of student motivation have often explained students’ desire to engage in various activities in terms of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Babad, 1993; Legutki, 2010; McPherson, 2000; O’Neill, 1999). However, there is a perpetuating absence of a unifying and theory-based understanding of motivation in music education that illustrates the need for the current study. Using self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan, 2000) as the theoretical framework, I examined (a) the association between fulfillment of psychological needs (i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness) experienced by high school orchestra students and their perceived level of autonomy-supportive learning, and (b) the connection between different qualities of self-determined motivation (i.e., external, introjected, identified, and intrinsic regulation) and students’ intentions to engage in music learning in the future. This cross-sectional quantitative study incorporated an author-designed instrument, which was an adaptation of Basic Psychological Needs Scale (Deci & Ryan, 2000) and Self-Regulation Questionnaire-Learning version (Black & Deci, 2000). I surveyed 706 high school orchestra students in the Midwest, and the response rate was 99.7%. The findings indicate that autonomy (β = .37), competence (β = .17), and relatedness (β = .14) positively predicted music students’ overall outlook on their autonomy-supportive learning. Identified regulation and intrinsic regulation positively predicted music students’ short- (β = .23, β = .34), medium- (β = .15, β = .29), and long-term intentions (β = .25, β = .25) of music engagement, indicating that there is a connection between autonomous regulation in music students and their future engagement intentions. External regulation (β = -.10) negatively predicted short-term intention only, indicating that there is a connection between extrinsic motivation and low intentions to continue must learning. This study provides evidence to support self-determination theory as a viable approach for understanding student motivation in the field of music education. Future research recommendations and implications for teaching are also provided.

The primary purpose of this study was to examine and describe, through the lens of nexus analysis, how social action impacted the compositional processes of high school string students as they engaged in collaborative composition. In this study, I examined the complex convergence of verbal and non-verbal communication while students were engaged in music co-creation and how it impacted social practices such as rules, roles, or division of labor. Specifically, this qualitative study investigated the following research questions: (1) How does social action impact the compositional processes involved in co-creation? (2) What roles, social structures, or social identities do students who are engaged in musical co-creation assume? The participants in this study included eight high school orchestra students who participated in ten after-school small group music composition sessions. Each session was 45 minutes in duration and occurred over an eight-week period. Additionally, students participated in two individual semi-structured interviews and two semi-structured focus group interviews. The participants in this study adopted an interaction order they referred to as The Circle. This global concept consisted of a set of rules for behavior, interactions, and democratic guidelines. It provided a social safety net of acceptance for each member of the group. An underlying theme of The Circle was the goal of achieving equality within the group regardless of previous musical experiences or expertise. The following data were analyzed: (a) students’ responses, processes, and behaviors (both musically and verbally) that occurred during the collaborative activities; (b) students’ verbal responses to questions in both individual and focus group interviews; and (c) field notes and artifacts that were examined to reveal any relevant data. A common theme throughout the study was the adoption of multiple roles. Participants in this study assumed four different roles: follower, advocate, tutor, and leader. Only two members retained a single role for the duration of the study while the other six girls assumed multiple roles depending on the needs of the group at a specific moment in time.

abstract: This multiple-case study addresses the nature of the out-of-school musical engagements of four undergraduate students who were enrolled as jazz studies majors in a large school of music in the U.S. southwest. It concerns what they did musically when they were outside of school, why they did what they did, what experiences they said they learned from, and how their out-of-school engagements related to their in-school curriculum. Research on jazz education, informal learning practices in music, and the in-school and out-of-school experiences of students informed this study. Data were generated through observation, interviews, video blogs (vlogs), and SMS text messages. Analysis of data revealed that participants engaged with music when outside of school by practicing, teaching, gigging, recording, playing music with others, attending live musical performances, socializing with other musicians, listening, and engaging with non-jazz musical styles (aside from listening). They engaged with music because of: 1) the love of music, 2) the desire for musical excellence, 3) financial considerations, 4) the aspiration to affect others positively with music, and 5) the connection with other musicians. Participants indicated that they learned by practicing, listening to recordings, attending live performances, playing paid engagements, socializing, teaching, and reading. In-school and out-of-school experience and learning had substantial but not complete overlap. The study implies that a balance between in-school and out-of-school musical experience may help undergraduate jazz studies students to maximize their overall musical learning. It also suggests that at least some jazz studies majors are fluent in a wide variety of music learning practices that make them versatile, flexible, and employable musicians. Further implications are provided for undergraduate jazz students as well as collegiate jazz educators, the music education profession, and schools of music. Additional implications concern future research and the characterization of jazz study in academia. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Music Education 2014

abstract: In this study, I uncover the coded meanings of "urban" within the music education profession through an exploration and analysis of the discourse present in two prominent music education journals, Music Educators Journal (MEJ) and The Journal of Research in Music Education (JRME). Using critical discourse analysis (CDA), I investigate how the term "urban" is used in statements within a twenty-year time span (1991-2010), and how the words "inner-city," "at-risk," "race," and "diversity" are used in similar ways throughout the corpus. An in-depth examination of these five terms across twenty years of two major publications of the profession reveals attitudes and biases within the music education structure, uncovering pejorative themes in the urban music education discourse. The phrase "urban music education" is rarely defined or explained in the corpus examined in this study. Rather, the word "urban" is at times a euphemism. Based on a CDA conducted in this study, I suggest that "urban" is code for poor, minority, and unable to succeed. Relying on the philosophical ideas of Michel Foucault, I uncover ways in which the profession labels urban music programs, students, and teachers and how the "urban music education" discourse privileges the White, suburban, middle class ideal of music education. I call for an evaluation of the perceptions of "success" in the field, and advocate for a paradigm shift, or different methods of knowing, in order to provide a more just teaching and learning space for all music education actors. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Music Education 2015

abstract: This document explores the presence of stereotype threat among college students training for careers in music. Beginning in the 1990s, an effort led by Claude M. Steele (social psychologist and professor emeritus at Stanford University) identified stereotype threat as an attribute to the underperformance of minority groups. Continued research has mainly focused on stereotype threat within the following contexts: female performance within science, technology, engineering, and mathematical (STEM) fields, African American performance on standardized tests, and European American performance in athletics. This document contains two pilot studies that strive to apply current stereotype threat research to the field of music education and music performance in order to ask the following questions: Does stereotype threat impact the education of underrepresented collegiate music students? Does stereotype threat heighten gender awareness of musicians when they enter the typical auditioning environment? The two pilot studies consist of the following: (1) a survey intended to analyze the possible impact of stereotype threat on music students’ interaction with their colleagues and music instructors and (2) a quantitative study that explores the presence of stereotype threat (among musicians) through the use of a word-fragment completion task administered immediately before a mock audition. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Music 2017

abstract: ABSTRACT This study examines the experiences of five women doctoral students in music education. The goal was to gain insight into the important experiences and concerns they encountered during their studies. While the literature on women in other fields indicates that socialization of women to the academy differs from that of their male counterparts, this concern has yet to be addressed in the field of music education. Participants, selected to show maximum variation in personal and professional characteristics, were women who had previously taught in K-12 settings and who were enrolled in or recently graduated from a doctoral program in music education in the United States. Data were collected primarily through in-depth interviews and photo elicitation, and were analyzed through both individual case and cross-case analyses. All of the women initially stated gender was not an issue that influenced their doctoral studies, but analysis showed that they had clearly internalized the socially constructed roles and expectations reflected in society, and that those roles and expectation did, indeed, impact their choices and behaviors prior to and during their doctoral studies. Three facets of gender were important, specifically socially constructed roles and expectations for women in both their families and in their doctoral studies, gender performativity related to the male-centered expectations in academia, and the importance of intersectionality. The participants’ doctoral experiences were contextualized not just by their gender, but also by their race/ethnicity, class, sexuality, religion, and age. Analysis supports other researchers’ findings that women doctoral students may have different experiences in their doctoral studies than their male counterparts. Recommendations for doctoral programs in music education and music teacher educators are provided. This study’s findings suggest further research is needed to investigate the impact of gender balance in doctoral cohort and faculty, amount of teaching experience prior to studies, and educational background or prior research experience on women’s doctoral experiences, as well as the roles of intersectionality and performativity for women in an academic context. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Music Education 2017

abstract: The purpose of this study is to raise questions by exploring, writing, imagining, and telling the musical life stories of Billy Cioffi. Billy Cioffi is a professional musician, band leader, private teacher, professor of English, and, formerly, a musical director for acts such as Chuck Berry, Del Shannon, and others. In this document I explore the life of Billy Cioffi with the following questions in mind: 1. What might Billy's musical experiences, expertise, teaching, and learning teach us about music education? 2. What might the story of Billy’s musical life cause us to question about institutional music education? 3. How might his story trouble beliefs and perceptions about music teaching and learning? Prior to Billy’s story, which appears as a novella, I raise questions about popular music, its histories, and its place in music education contexts. Following the novella, I invite readers into four different “endings” to this document. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Music Education 2017