This multi-method ethnographic study explores the everyday lives of people with dementia living in the community, cared for by a spouse or family member. It examines three case studies of individuals with early to moderate stage dementia. The latter were attending a weekly day-centre group and this thesis explores their interactions with each other, individual histories, tastes, habits and daily habits. The primary aim of the research was to explore the natural role of music in the lives of these subjects as individuals and as a group. In doing so, this undertaking shows how, in supportive environments, agency and capacity can flourish, leading to constituents of ‘re-covery’, to use mental health terminology. This highlights some of the important matters that are overlooked where perspectives emphasise dementia as a disease of the brain. By contrast, it illuminates the role of social and environmental factors and their contribution to well-being. After initial interviews with each individual and in some cases, members of their families, five months of participant observation followed, primarily located in a home-based day care service. The data set was formed from 178 hours of field observations, a number of audio-recordings made during the sessions, and detailed field notes. This study shows that a close-up focus on the minute details of how a person lives their life and ‘dwelling’ with them for an extended period will illuminate many of the processes that work toward maintaining the well-being of people with dementia and facilitate their revitalisation. Significantly, it was the integration of music within and alongside the everyday tapestries of activities and events which helped create a space for connection and pleasure. The thesis findings reveal how the participants in this research repeatedly demonstrated expertise and insight, albeit not always verbally expressed, but shown in and through forms of practice as regards what was required for their well-being and how to achieve it. This achievement, however, also relied upon thoughtful and creative collaboration with others (carers, family members, etc.), working alongside the participants for mutually beneficial ends. The thesis concludes that what is required for people with dementia and their well-being does not differ substantially from what is generally required by humankind, but there are certain skills and modes of co-operative assistance that are necessary to ensure and maintain the well-being of people with dementia.

Studiens syfte är undersöka om det finns korrelation mellan synen på övning och erfarenheter av instrumentalundervisning. Detta diskuteras utifrån begreppen mekanisk och musikalisk övning, där mekanisk övning handlar om att lägga fokus på koordination och fysisk prestation och musikalisk övning definieras som upplevelsen av att musicera. Undersökningen har skett genom kvalitativa intervjuer med fyra informanter som alla studerat musik med inriktning trummor eller slagverk från ung ålder till avancerad nivå på musikhögskolan. Studiens resultat visade att instrumentallärare ofta har ett statiskt tillvägagångssätt som eleven måste anpassa sig till. Endast ett fåtal lärare har inspirerat informanterna till att öva. Motivationen kommer främst ur sociala sammanhang såsom skolan, vänner eller egna musikaliska projekt. Den mekaniska övningen har inget värde i sig om inte intentionen är att den en dag ska användas i ett socialt musicerande. Studien avslutas med en diskussion som problematiserar lärarens makt över elevens övning och det ges förslag på nya forskningsområden utifrån studiens resultat.

The Kenyah, an indigenous group dwelling in the mountainous plateau region and the upper reaches of four major rivers of Borneo, constitute one of many minority communities in Sarawak, the largest state of Malaysia. This small, isolated community has nurtured refined forms of visual and performing arts, such as the music of the sape, a boat-shaped lute which has become a national cultural emblem. Kenyah historical and socio-cultural background is shown to have played a major role in shaping the development of a sophisticated choral singing tradition featuring homophonic harmony. Their substantial repertoire of attractive recreational songs and community-wide participation in musicking form the focus of this thesis, viewed from the perspective of music education. The growing stature of world musics within the sphere of music education has led to increasing collaboration between ethnomusicologists and music educators to investigate and disseminate traditional genres. Kenyah songs, being distinctly Asian in flavour, yet largely conforming to classical Western musical syntax, would be especially valuable for world music programmes. However, in Malaysia, the shortage of available, relevant teaching materials, especially folksongs in a variety of tonalities, ill-equips the teachers to teach music genuinely reflecting local cultures, or to implement international approaches such as those of Kodály and Orff. Analysis of over eighty songs documented during fieldwork in two different river-systems since 1996 demonstrated that they display a range of tonalities (predominantly pentatonic, hence especially amenable to Kodály programmes), emotional variety, rhythmic consistency and associated dance movements. The song-texts feature poetic references to a variety of interesting subjects. Responses from schoolchildren, workshop-participants and teacher-trainees demonstrated that the songs held wide appeal for both inherent and delineated meanings. Many succeeded in mastering the melody, lyrics, harmony and movements despite lack of familiarity with the language. Choral performances of the songs, although attracting some points of criticism regarding modifications, drew approval from culture-bearers who expressed gratification that non-Kenyah could perform songs fast disappearing from their own community. Kenyah recreational songs would thus be a timely addition to music classes and to choral repertoire around the world. / Thesis (DMus)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Music / Unrestricted

Syftet med utvecklingsarbetet var att lyfta fram musik som en naturlig del av fritidshemmets undervisning och att utveckla en samverkan mellan lärarna i fritidshemmet och musikläraren i skolan. Arbetet utgick från aktionsforskning samt Comprehensive Musicianship som metoder och presenterades utifrån följande steg; nulägesanalys, tidigare forskning, teoretiska begrepp, planering och genomförande avaktioner. I nulägesanalysen framkom det att fritidshemmet bedriver väldigt lite musik i verksamheten jämfört med andra estetiska uttrycksformer. Genom genomförda musiska aktioner har eleverna fått ett brett utbud av varierande musiska aktiviteter i strävan efter att aktivt involvera eleverna i musik och att inspirera fritidshemslärare till att bedriva musikundervisning. Tidigare forskning belyste vikten av att uppmärksamma elevernas intressen på fritidshemmet och att musik är en del av elevers sociala tillhörighet. Teoretiska begrepp som arbetet vilar på är musicking, vilket beskriver ett perspektiv av musik och som handlar om själva görandet i musik. Social tillhörighet är det andra begreppet som arbetet tar stöd ifrån vilket tidigare forskning belyser i relation till musik. Genomförandet av aktionerna har visat på elevers intresse för musik och att en social tillhörighet skapas i elevernas populärkultur. Resultatet av genomförda aktioner har visat att elever lättare kan beskriva musiken de hör när de har någon starkare koppling till musiken men att elever överlag har svårt för att beskriva mer djupgående tankar och känslor som framkommer via musik.

In relation to children’s musical understanding it becomes meaningful to create material and environments fit for exploring, composing and playing with notes. The aim of the study is to examine and analyse a legocomposing project, set in a pre-school environment through an intra- active perspective. The intra-active perspective, musicking, music related agency and the building blocks of music become this studies theoretical resources. The project was conducted during the course of four weeks, with thirteen five-year-olds.The content that appears in intra-activity between agents revolves around the building blocks of music and the relationship between note value and pulse. Learning through music becomes primary, when the children explore, problematize and create meaning through their musical process. The children become different in themselves through intra-activity with Lego, they become legocomposers, music researchers and soundpainters. In this way Lego can be understood as a performative agent. The empirical material, which was generated by video observations, can be divided into two themes. One where the children in intra-activity compose with Lego and one where the process starts in music and then translates into Lego. The result show that the pre-school teacher acts front-player more often when the process starts in music.

Med förskolans uppdrag om likvärdig verksamhet som bakgrund har föreliggande studie som avsikt att undersöka normer om sociala kategoriers samspel med barns musikaliska utrymme. Vi har observerat tre verksamheters musikstunder för att undersöka hur musikaliskt utrymme ges respektive tas. Studien ämnar även undersöka vilka normer om sociala kategorier så som klass, kön, etnicitet, ålder och funktion som görs rådande. Materialet har bearbetats och analyserats med musicking och intersektionalitet som teoretiska utgångspunkter. Vårt resultat har kategoriserats i fyra rubriker: pedagogers makt över musikaliskt utrymme, önskesånger, instrument som medel för musikaliskt utrymme och textinnehåll i repertoaren. Ur resultatet har vi kunnat urskilja att pedagogers positioner har varit avgörande för givandet och tagandet av musikaliskt utrymme samt för reproduceringen av normer i musikstunder. Detta skedde genom pedagogernas syn på musikaliskt utrymme och deras bemötande av barnen. Pedagogernas idéer om ”rätt” sorts deltagande fick direkta konsekvenser för musikstunderna. Resultatet visar även att textinnehållet i sångerna kan vara betydande för reproducering av normer. Åldershierarkier och funktionalitetsnormer har visat sig vara framträdande i resultatet och samspelet mellan de olika normerna har haft en inverkan på hur musikaliskt utrymme togs respektive gavs.

No description available.

M. Tech. (Department of Visual Arts and Design: Graphic Design, Faculty of Human Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / The way in which people consume music has changed over recent times, and the relationship between music and graphic design, once dominated by the ubiquitous album cover, has evolved. Along with cover art, musicians make use of branding, marketing, and promotion for all aspects of their published image, music performances, and products. The graphic designer working with musicians has had to adapt artwork to new formats, and build entire branding systems, which are prevalent in pop music, but seemingly less overtly utilised in classical music, which the study concentrates on. Due to waning attendance at live classical music concerts and increased streaming activity, both in audio and video, an opportunity exists within classical music, the focus of this study, to develop new audiences and nurture existing ones. The many tangential points that exist for graphic designers to consider in the music industry can be described as musicking, which pertains to all activities, processes, products and people involved in music-making, listening, recording, performing, producing and so forth, as explained by Elliott (1995) and Small (1999). This theoretical framework provides a lens for the graphic designer to view the totality and elements of the music industry and reconsider opportunities for collaboration and involvement. The goal of this study was to explore how one can use the principles and dynamics of graphic design to engage with and capture the dynamics of musicking in a branding project. In order to accomplish that, the main aim was to triangulate graphic design theory, musicking theory, and insights gleaned about and from a case-study client, to culminate in a practical case study using graphic design to support or capture the client’s musicking, so that the potential for refocusing the branding onto the musicking approach could be explored and interrogated. The literature revealed challenges and opportunities within the context of global consumption of music classical music and graphic design. The case study provided insights into a classical musician that records, teaches and performs, and his needs in terms of a practical project. The practical design project emanating from the exploration of musicking as an approach served as a culmination of insights gleaned from literature, the musician himself, and action research that may be transferable to designers working within the field of music branding, or musicians wishing to brand themselves. Findings showed that graphic design elements have the potential to echo the character of music, can act as a bridge to the artist and his or her stature, play an identifying and/or expressive role, and experientially transport listeners into meaningful engagement with the music. Recently, activities such as streaming have stripped music somewhat of the special, tactile context of physical packaging, but honouring audience expectations in a similar way in performance through graphic communication and artwork (including programs, screens, video and installations) offers other channels for reference points, as do online platforms for branding and engagement, that serve an interactive, dynamic interchange between artist and listener, promoting loyalty and support. As both the classical music industry and graphic design fields experience new demands brought about by technological advances, consumer behaviour and the vast options available to those digitally connected, great opportunity lies in the field of branding musicking. Classical music could potentially benefit from adopting a more audience-centric approach and consideration of a multisensory experience, as audiences have become spoiled for choice not only in music options available, but within the broader entertainment arena clamouring for their attention in a visually branded and captivating world. It simply is not enough anymore to believe that “[i]f you build it, he will come” (from the film Field of Dreams, in Parr 2015:4) and meaningful engagement with listeners through various touch points, builds lasting relationships and supportive fan bases that can ultimately affect a musician’s livelihood.

No description available.

This thesis contributes to the literature on intergroup contact by exploring the long-term impact of grassroots efforts on members of majority and minority groups involved in an intractable conflict. In such circumstances, the conflict parties’ existential survival is perceived to be at stake, which results in salient group boundaries magnified by competing memories of collective trauma. Drawing empirical support from the Jerusalem Youth Chorus—an Israeli-Palestinian encounter program based in Jerusalem—this paper examines opportunities to desecuritize intergroup relationships from the bottom-up. To this purpose, it scrutinizes Gordon Allport’s Contact Hypothesis and narratives of historical trauma. The findings from 16 semi-structured interviews conducted with alumni participants provide unique insights into the impact of a hybrid approach to contact, with music and dialogue providing fertile ground for sustainably rethinking us-them relations toward greater boundary permeability. They also highlight the scope and the limits of conducting bottom-up “memory work” in a societal context of severe asymmetry. Group-specific results are highlighted.