Background There is scientific evidence that choir singing has a positive impact on health, both physically and mentally. Choir singing can affect, among other things, respiratory patterns, brain function, communication skills, well-being and quality of life. According to Antonovsky’s theory of sense of coherence health increases through the degree of comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness. Aim The aim is to compile knowledge about choir singing as a non-pharmacological therapy measure for patients who seek outpatient care or are living in a nursing home, as well as to research if choir singing can be an influencing factor for the patient's sense of coherence. Method Systematic literature study based on ten scientific original articles published between 2006 and 2017. The article search took place in the ASSIA, CINAHL, PsychINFO and PubMed databases. Review of original articles according to quality review templates. Results A majority of the studies examined showed that choir singing could be a non-pharmacological therapeutic measure when interventions improved the participants' management of their health problems. Even the sense of coherence increased among the participants. A generalized result can not be guaranteed since the number of participants in most studies was not enough, in some cases due to non-response. Conclusion Choir singing can be a tool for patients to handle their health problems through an increased sense of coherence. In order to strengthen the level of health and raise the quality of life in society, choir singing should be used as one of several non-pharmacological therapeutic measures. / Bakgrund Det finns vetenskaplig evidens för att körsång har en positiv inverkan på hälsan, både fysiskt och psykiskt. Körsång kan bland annat påverka andningsmönster, hjärnfunktion, kommunikationsförmåga, välbefinnande och livskvalitet. Enligt Antonovskys teori om känsla av sammanhang (KASAM) ökar hälsan genom graden av begriplighet, hanterbarhet och meningsfullhet. Syfte Syftet var att sammanställa kunskap om körsång kan vara en icke-farmakologisk omvårdnadsåtgärd för patienter vilka uppsökte hälso- och sjukvården inom öppenvård eller bodde på ett omvårdnadsboende, samt om körsång kunde vara en påverkande faktor för patientgruppens känsla av sammanhang. Metod Systematisk litteraturstudie baserad på tio vetenskapliga originalartiklar publicerade mellan 2006 och 2017. Artikelsökning skedde i databaserna ASSIA, CINAHL, PsychINFO och PubMed. Granskning av originalartiklar genomfördes enligt kvalitetsgranskningsmallar. Resultat En majoritet av de granskade studierna påvisade att körsång kunde vara en icke-farmakologisk omvårdnadsåtgärd då interventionerna förbättrade deltagarnas hantering av deras hälsoproblematik. Även känsla av sammanhang ökade hos deltagarna. Ett generaliserbart resultat gick inte att säkerställa då deltagarantalet i de flesta studier inte var tillräckligt stort, i vissa fall på grund av bortfall. Slutsats Körsång kan genom ökad känsla av sammanhang vara ett verktyg för patienter att hantera sin hälsoproblematik. För att stärka graden av hälsa och höja livskvaliteten i samhället bör körsång tillämpas som en utav flera icke-farmakologiska omvårdnadsåtgärder.

This thesis explores how the phenomena of ”singing situations” are made visible through pupils and music teachers' experiences of music education in a Swedish school, through an existential philosofical gender perspective. A basic point of departure in the thesis is that singing development is possible to evolve for all humans, similar to the latest curriculum for the music subject in elementary school in Sweden. The thesis can be positioned within four research areas: gender research in Swedish school, vocal- and voice research, gender related music education research and gender related music education research on singing. The latter research area constitutes the area in which the present dissertation is closest positioned to. Several researchers whose research is positioned in the area of gender related music education research expresses the need for more research similar to their own contributions.   Within the study, five field visits have been conducted over two years involving seventyone students and five music teachers. The study includes observations and interviews, as well as sound recording and notes, and has focused solely on singing situations - situations in which singing appears in the participants' experiences in different ways. It was of research interest to meet pupils with experience of voice changes during puberty, as the majority of previous research presents the voice change as an experience that primarily or only boys experience. A very limited minority of research investigates how girls experience the voice change during puberty. The empirical data has been analyzed through seven phenomenological steps.   The overall results show that all students sing and that many enjoy singing in school, with exception for one girl. The teachers' basic starting point in their teaching is to treat singing ability as possible to develop for all students. According to the teachers' basic view of singing ability as transcendence, the result shows that different gendered normative and structural aspects surround the pupils and teachers. The results also show how these aspects impacts pupils choices in the singing situations, and that some students are given greater opportunities to transcend in their vocal learning than others. The results are discussed through themes that arise within the results, mainly: subjective and intersubjective experience through singing, habitual singing, norms of restraint and imitation, girls' and boys' singing situations, views on the singing body as factuality or freedom in relation to gender, as well as the creation of alternative rooms in singing situations.

Bakgrund: Antalet personer med demenssjukdom ökar i världen. Demenssjukdom försämras progressivt och ger en dödlig utgång. God omvårdnad är den viktigaste åtgärden idag. Sjuksköterskan har det yttersta ansvaret för omvårdnaden och implementering av nya metoder. Tidigare studier påvisar att alternativa omvårdnadsåtgärder kan vara ett gott komplement till sedvanlig vård för patientgruppen. Det är tidigare känt att musik främjar hälsa hos människan.  Syfte: Att beskriva musikens betydelse i omvårdnaden av personer med demenssjukdom samt att granska hur musiken har använts i inkluderade artiklar.  Metod: En beskrivande litteraturstudie, baserad på 14 artiklar, totalt sju kvantitativa, fem kvalitativa samt två av mixad ansats.  Huvudresultat: Musik minskade beteendemässiga och psykiska symtom vid demens, var en källa till glädje och sinnesro. Mänsklig kontakt, interaktion och relation sågs stärkas. Musik hade en distraherande funktion och användes vid observation och bedömning av patientgruppen. Musik förmedlades individuellt eller i grupp av musikterapeuter, musiker och vårdare. Musiken förmedlades via CD-spelare, MP3-spelare, sång, konserter och musikterapi. Musiken var i form av bekanta sånger, professionellt utformad- eller individanpassad efter patientgruppen.  Slutsats: Musik i omvårdnaden av personer med demens sågs ha övervägande positiv betydelse. Kunskap kring musikens betydelse i omvårdnaden kan underlätta och förbättra demenssjukvården. Litteraturstudien kan tyda på att musik kan verka som ett gott komplement till sedvanlig vård. Musik tycktes ha positiv betydelse oberoende av hur musiken hade använts. Fortsatt forskning kring musikens betydelse i omvårdnad samt hur musiken har använts kan ses betydande för att utveckla demensvården. / The number of people with dementia increases in the world, is a progressive disease and gives a fatal outcome. The most important measure is to provide good care. The nurse's role includes the overall responsibility for the care and the implementation of new methods. Studies have shown that alternative care can be a good complement to ordinary care for this group of patients. In previous studies music has shown positive results in promoting health in humans.

I am a practising classical soprano. After more than 20 years of professional singing, I re-trained my voice according to principles of the old Italian school of singing. In this essay, I examine the origins and priciples of bel canto, with special focus on appoggio and chiaroscuro, two key ingredients in the bel cantao tradition. I explore the relationship between science and the craft of singing, and what modern voice science has to say about the efficiency and health aspects of this technique, I also describe the profound effect it has had on me as an artist.

Cette thèse étudie le chant khap de l’ethnie des Tai Dam du Laos à partir de la notion de modèle musical. Abordé au travers du concept de la pertinence, son principal objectif est la mise en lumière des compétences liées au chant, c’est-à-dire des connaissances abstraites nécessaires à l’interprétation et la catégorisation du chant. Fil rouge de ce travail, c’est au départ de la notion de modèle que sont construits les différents chapitres. Partant d’une considération d’ordre musical, sont mis au jour les mécanismes de transmission du chant, les rapports entre tons parlés et chantés, ainsi que les différents mécanismes de catégorisation musicale et identitaire. La thèse montre l’imbrication de chacun de ces aspects et la pertinence de la mobilisation de plusieurs disciplines dans la réalisation de cette recherche : musicologie, anthropologie et linguistique. C’est dans une perspective intégrant les points de vue étiques et émiques et par le développement d’une méthodologie adaptée aux particularités du sujet que sont discutés les différents axes de la recherche. / This research studies the singing named khap of Tai Dam ethnic group in Laos, through the notion of musical model. Its main objective, approached with the concept of relevance, is the highlight of the competences linked to the singing, that is to say the abstract knowledge needed for the interpretation and the categorisation of the singing. The principle of musical model is the common theme of this research, and is the starting point of every chapter. Starting from musical considerations, the PhD highlights the mechanisms of musical transmission, the relationships between spoken and musical tones, as well as the different mechanisms of musical categorisation and identity categorisation. This work shows the interweaving of every of those aspects and the relevance of using different disciplines: musicology, anthropology and linguistic. The different lines of this work are approached with a perspective mobilising etic and emic perspectives and by the development of a methodology adapted to the specificities of the topic.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka effekter av körsång, hos körsångare. Trots körsjungandets populäritet och omvittnade fördelar, har relativt få forskare undersökt omfattningen av de förmodade positiva effekterna av körsång på välbefinnande. Vid en systematisk genomgång av forskning som rörde körsång och välbefinnande konstaterades att många studier har skett i liten skala och varit kvalitativa, med endast ett fåtal stora kvantitativa undersökningar eller väl utformade experiment. Föreliggande studie ville bidra med kunskap på området genom att kvasi-experimentellt undersöka körsjungandets effekter avseende stress och energi samt positiv och negativ affekt. Deltagarna i studien var 20 körsångare från två olika körer, varav åtta män och tolv kvinnor i blandad ålder. Data erhölls genom psykometriskta test bestående av självskattningsformulär, före och efter körsång. Med körsång avsågs en körövning då kören repeterade. För statistisk bearbetning av datamaterialet användes statistiskprogrammet SPSS. Där gjordes beräkningar av deskriptiv statistik och beroende t-tester. För att undvika massignifikans presenterades resultaten utifrån p<0,0125 (0.05/4) en så kallad Bonferroni-korrektion. Resultatet visade att körsång minskade stressnivån och ökade energinivån samt att positiv affekt ökade och negativ affekt minskade. Resultatet var signifikant. Slutsatsen var att körsjungande ökade välbefinnandet. Det är troligtvis ingen nyhet för Sveriges 600 000 körsångare men slutsatsen kan få betydelse i andra sammanhang, som i skolan och på arbetsplatser. / The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of choir singing. Despite the popularity of choir singing and its proven advantages, relatively few researchers have studied the extent of the supposed positive effects of choir singing on well-being. In a systematic review of research related to choir singing and well-being, it was found that many studies have taken place on a small scale and have been qualitative, with only a few large quantitative studies or well-designed experiments. The present study would contribute knowledge in the field by making a quasi-experimental study of the effects of choir singing regarding stress levels and energy, plus positive and negative emotions. The participants in the study were 20 choir singers from two different choirs, eight men and twelve women of mixed ages. Data was obtained through a psychometric test consisting of a self-assessment form, before and after choir practice. For statistical processing of the data, the statistical program SPSS was used. Calculations were made of descriptive statistics and dependent t-tests. In order to avoid mass significance, the results were presented based on p <0.0125 (0.05 / 4) a so-called Bonferroni correction. The results showed that choir singing decreased stress levels and increased energy levels and that positive emotions increased and negative emotions decreased. The result was significant. The conclusion was that choir singing increased well-being. It is probably no news for Sweden's 600,000 choir singers, but the conclusion could be important in other contexts, such as at school and at workplaces.

The purpose of this study was to compare the speaking fundamental frequency, physiological vocal range, singing voice quality, and self-perceptions of the singing and speaking voice between two groups of girls ages 11 through 15 years, who were pre-menarcheal by 6 months and post-menarcheal by 10 months or more. Subjects were volunteers who attended a North Texas public school system. Each subject was examined by an otolaryngologist. Age, height, weight, a hearing screening, and information on music classes and/or private music lessons were obtained. The speaking fundamental frequency measure was obtained by having each subject speak for 30 seconds on a subject of choice and read a passage of approximately 100 syllables. The vocal range measure was obtained by having each subject begin at an arbitrary pitch and sing mah and moo up the scale as high as possible and mah and moo down the scale as low as possible. These four measures were repeated with the researcher giving visual gestures. For singing-voice quality, each subject sang "America" in the key of her choice and again in the key of F major. Each subjects singing voice was rated according to breathiness. Data regarding self-perceptions of the singing and speaking voice were obtained through a rating assessment of 10 questions and a conversation with each subject. There were no significant differences between the means of the pre-meanarcheal and post-menarcheal girls on speaking fundamental frequency, physiological vocal range, and singing-voice quality. But, more of the post-menarcheal girls exhibited lower speaking pitches, lower singing ranges, and increased breathiness in their singing voices than did the pre-menarcheal girls. Two questions of the perceptions rating assessment were significant, with the post-menarcheal girls citing higher incidences of vocal inconsistencies than the pre-menarcheal girls. The findings of the qualitative data analysis indicated that more post-menarcheal girls had an adequate vocabulary to describe various aspects of their singing and speaking voices than did the pre-menarcheal girls.

The voice is the only natural and, when properly trained, also the most perfect instrument. Any other instrument, be it string, wind or percussion, is a separate entity, an object devised by man, and over the years altered, improved and perfected. None of those, from primitive pipes to the most intricate electronic apparatus can produce a single sound without human aid. It needs someone to play it manually and/or orally. Intro., p. 1.

This research study explores how the use of a selection of vocal activities in group music therapy may provide institutionalised individuals with CP opportunities for self-expression and social interaction. In addition, the manner in which self-expression is related to social interaction, in this context, is investigated. The study falls into the interpretive paradigm and uses a qualitative approach. A case study design is utilised. A total of eight sessions were conducted over a period of eight weeks, with a group comprising five individuals with CP, ranging from 9-17 years of age. Each individual presented with communication and cognitive impairments, resulting in an inability to verbally communicate. The study makes use of two sources of naturally-occurring data, including four selected video excerpts and in-depth clinical session notes. Coding, categorising and theme identification are utilised in the analysis of the video excerpts and corresponding session notes. My role as music therapy intern in facilitating the vocal activities was key to this process, in terms of providing the individuals with opportunities for self-expression and social interaction. My role in facilitating the vocal activities contributed towards the development of a therapeutic relationship with myself and the group members, which in turn, created the capacity for the ability to socially interact with one another in the group, paralleled with certain stages of relating as theorised within Object Relations Theory. Through my engagement with the group members and because of the existing therapeutic relationship between us, a capacity was created for the individuals to interact and engage with others, enhanced by my role in providing, holding and containing the individuals in order for them to feel safe and confident to interact with others in the group. Copyright / Dissertation (MMus)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Music / unrestricted

L’objectif de cette thèse est de déterminer si le déficit auditif des enfants dysphasiques est spécifique au domaine verbal et d’étudier les liens qu’entretiennent les habiletés verbales et musicales chez ces enfants. Nous avons testé 18 dysphasiques et des enfants au développement du langage typique (DLT) âgés de 7 à 12 ans. Dans la première étude, nous avons étudié leurs capacités de détection des syllabes dans des phrases chantées et parlées. Nos résultats ont confirmé les déficits de détection des syllabes chez les dysphasiques. Nous n’avons toutefois pas observé d’effet facilitateur du chant sur la détection des syllabes. Dans une seconde étude, nous avons exploré leur perception musicale à l’aide de la MBEMA (Peretz et al., 2013). Une part importante de ces enfants a montré des troubles de perception mélodique et rythmique. Une corrélation positive a été retrouvée entre les scores aux tests de perception rythmique et de conscience phonologique, étayant les liens entre le traitement temporel et la perception verbale chez les dysphasiques. Dans la troisième étude, nous avons exploré leurs capacités de chant avec une épreuve de reproduction de notes et de mélodies. Les dysphasiques montraient des troubles importants dans ces deux conditions. Des troubles de production et de perception musicale ont été mis en évidence chez la plupart des dysphasiques et les capacités de conscience phonologique semblaient liées au traitement temporel en musique. Ces résultats en faveur d’un déficit auditif plus global chez la plupart des dysphasiques suggèrent l’importance d’évaluer les capacités auditives non verbales dans la prise en charge diagnostique et thérapeutique de ces enfants. / The aim of this thesis is to determine whether the auditory deficit of children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) is specific to verbal stimuli, and to examine the relation between language and musical abilities in these children. We tested 18 children with SLI and groups of children with Typical Language Development (TLD) aged from 7 to 12 years. In the first study, we examined syllable detection in sung and spoken sentences. Results confirmed the detection syllable deficit in children with SLI. However, we did not observe a facilitation effect of sung over spoken stimuli. In the second study, we explored musical perception abilities in the same children with the MBEMA (Peretz et al. 2013). Our results showed that a large proportion of the children with SLI present deficits in melodic and rhythmic perception. A positive correlation was found between scores in Rhythm and phonological awareness tasks, documenting a link between language and temporal processing in children with SLI. In the third study, we assessed singing abilities in children with SLI: we created a singing reproduction task and tested the pitch matching condition and the melodic reproduction condition. The SLI showed deficits for both conditions. These results suggested deficits in music perception and production in children with SLI for most of them and that development of phonological awareness abilities seems related to the auditory temporal processing in music. The findings seem to support the existence a more general auditory dysfunction in a majority of children with SLI emphasizing the relevance of systematically assessing nonverbal abilities for the diagnostic and rehabilitation of SLI.