1857 research outputs found
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Beyond tension and relaxation: optimizing antagonistic muscular co-contraction (AMCC) for skilled, healthy piano technique
Full text linkAims: This doctoral thesis sought to develop new understanding of antagonistic muscular co-contraction (AMCC) in the context of piano playing, to aid pianists facing playing-related
challenges.
Background: Playing the piano skillfully is an exceptionally complex task. Pianists are confronted
by considerable obstacles when developing and maintaining their playing. Debate about the
physiological mechanics of proper piano technique has continued across pedagogical and
scientific fora for centuries, including disagreement over AMCC. A scientifically sound and
pedagogically viable understanding of proper piano technique is overdue — which must clearly
account for muscle activity, including AMCC’s effects and proper role.
Methods: This thesis justifies its novel, integrative methodology by determining that prior scientific and practical inquiry has been unable to properly comprehend the complex phenomenon of AMCC, partly due to persistent theory-practice gaps. The thesis leads this approach by adopting and harmonizing previously untried methods. Chapter II’s scoping review establishes a science-based theoretical model of AMCC, which is applied and expanded in Chapter III’s systematic critical review of pedagogy. Chapter IV then generates a practice-led model and integrates this with the prior expanded model, culminating in a unified theory-practice model of AMCC in piano playing. Chapter V observes pianists’ AMCC via surface electromyography (sEMG), empirically validating key areas of this unified model.
Results: The thesis’s unified model thoroughly and verifiably characterizes AMCC’s nature and
effects on piano playing. AMCC is a fundamental contributor to human movement with broad
and unique consequences, including a dualistic capacity for positive and negative effects both
on sensorimotor task performance and musical expression — but prior AMCC research and
pedagogy are fragmentary and often flawed, frustrating prolonged efforts at understanding and
harnessing its potential.
Conclusion: This thesis synthesizes multifarious perspectives on AMCC, arriving at a unified
model of AMCC’s nature and effects on piano performance. Skilled, healthy piano playing
requires considerable AMCC, due to its capacity for substantial, transcendent, and uniquely
beneficial effects on the exceptional challenges of piano performance — but this AMCC must be
implemented dynamically and organically within the broader context and expressive function of
musical performance, otherwise becoming harmful rather than facilitative. The thesis concludes that pianists can and should train and use AMCC, which itself varies significantly between and
among individuals — thereby illuminating clear avenues for future pedagogical transformation.
These findings constitute a compelling resolution to centuries of debate, misunderstanding, and
inconsistency regarding AMCC
Online piano lessons with young beginner students: a mixed-methods approach
Full text linkOnline teaching in music performance education has experienced notable growth in recent years, driven by technological advancements, increased internet access, and a rising demand for flexible learning options. While some studies support the effectiveness of online lessons, others question their suitability. This project focused specifically on teaching and learning in the context of online piano lessons for children aged five to nine - a group often overlooked in existing research. The main aim was to explore the factors that contribute to both satisfaction and
dissatisfaction with online piano lessons, as perceived by teachers, parents, and students. The study also examined which teaching practices were perceived as most effective for young beginners in an online setting and the primary reasons for offering online piano lessons in 2024. This research employed an explanatory mixed-methods design. The first phase of the project included a survey completed by 107 teachers and 45 parents. The quantitative questions were analysed using multiple regression analysis, as well as descriptive statistics methods, while the open-ended questions were analysed using content analysis. The second phase consisted of
semi-structured interviews with nine teachers, five parents, and seven students. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interviews. While the first phase focused on identifying the key factors influencing satisfaction, the second phase offered more in-depth explanations. The results indicated that children’s developmental readiness—expressed through their independence and ability to sustain focus—was strongly linked to satisfaction, with lower levels associated with dissatisfaction. Other factors included parental involvement, technological issues, teacher physical absence, and both student and teacher characteristics. Teachers and parents noted that younger beginners generally benefited less than older or more experienced students from online instruction. This study offers an original contribution by providing one of the
first mixed-methods investigations in this area with young beginner students, with findings that can inform teacher training and curriculum design in digital instrumental instruction
Exploring isomorphic (para-)cinematic storytelling with music: a reflection from the composer's perspective
Full text linkAs a classically trained composer specialised in music for media, I have always been fascinated by the imagination that music can stir in audiences. Film music has acted as a catalyst for defining extra-musical content, with film composers devising and relying on effective musical formulas, here referred to as topics, to convey certain situations or emotions. Cinematic narrative has also affected how composers write music for media as opposed to the concert hall. Yet, the potential of cinematic storytelling with music has largely been neglected by music semioticians, with few exceptions in the last decades. My research seeks to bridge the gap between theory and practice by exploring working methods, narrative and musical strategies that define isomorphic cinematic storytelling with music, drawing upon my experience as
a composer and scholar.
I first acknowledge the existence of narrative devices in instrumental and vocal music, exploring how those have been modified or continued in film music, clarifying cinematic-specific narrative devices, and reviewing the literature around the concept of musical narrative. After elaborating upon the key concept of ‘para-cinematic’, I then clarify the scope of this research, by focusing on music that mirrors the cinematic narrative, here defined as ‘isomorphic’. I explain and contextualise the concept of para-cinematic used in the second group of works presented in this research, comprising programmatic works referring to an imaginary media. In this context, I aim to develop music that not only reflects the (audio-visual) narrative at hand but also the imagined editing techniques and camera movements, hence achieving an individual take on concert music by integrating film music strategies with traditional
programmatic music, and thus going full circle from my starting point.
My analysis and commentary of the works presented as part of this DMus submission divides them into two groups. The first group features cinematic commissions composed between 2012 and 2021, where music has predominant importance in storytelling, with little or no dialogue/voice-over. The second group includes para-cinematic works based on fairy tales. My conclusions then review the selected devices
previously identified in the works presented, reflecting on how the techniques and narrative strategies have improved my composing skills and pointing to future ground for further research
Reconceptualising the learning of expressiveness in music performance: Malaysian undergraduate voices beyond Western traditions
Full text linkExpressiveness learning in music performance within higher education has
been predominantly shaped by Western classical music and conservatoire
traditions, often privileging notation, stylistic correctness, and the composer’s
intentions. In post-colonial contexts such as Malaysia, this dominance risks
marginalising students’ culturally embedded, oral, embodied, and participatory
musical knowledge. To date, limited attention has been given to the perspectives of
non-Western students, including Malaysian students. Therefore, this study
reconceptualises the learning of expressiveness in music performance through the
voices of Malaysian undergraduate music education (BMus Ed) students. Situated
within the Faculty of Music and Performing Arts at Sultan Idris Education
University (FMSP, UPSI), this study interrogates the dominance of Western
conservatoire norms. It explores how BMus Ed students understand expressiveness,
how their prior and current learning experiences shape that understanding, and the
strategies they employ to develop expressive performance in culturally hybrid
settings.
Framed by constructivist and phenomenological perspectives, this research
positions expressiveness as a culturally mediated, student-constructed, and
teachable competence. Therefore, a sequential mixed-methods design was
employed to explore how students construct expressive knowledge through lived
experience, reflection, and interaction. Study 1 involved a survey questionnaire (n = 66), generating descriptive and thematic insights into students’ conceptualisations and learning experiences of expressiveness. Moreover, Study 2 consisted of Video-Stimulated Recall Interviews (VSRI)
(n = 10), enabling in-depth exploration of students’ strategies and decision-making
of expressiveness in music performance. Quantitative data were analysed
descriptively, while qualitative data were analysed by using Thematic Analysis
(TA).
The findings indicate that students conceptualise expressiveness as a
multidimensional synthesis of emotional communication, musical meaning,
technical mastery, personal interpretation, and embodied gesture. Previous learning
experiences, often rooted in participatory, oral, improvisatory, and community-based traditions, provided intuitive and affective foundations for expressiveness.
Current higher music education training has refined these foundations through
technical, analytical, and ensemble-based practices, largely shaped by Western
conservatoire models. Specifically, students’ learning strategies clustered into three
interrelated domains: contextual understanding and emotional resonance (informed
by previous experiences), technical proficiency and dynamics control (developed
through current experiences in formal training), and adaptive practice that integrates
both.
These findings challenge transmission-based pedagogies that frame
expressiveness as stylistic compliance or innate talent. Instead, Malaysian BMus Ed students actively negotiate and assemble hybrid expressive strategies, blending
Western analytical tools with movement, ornamentation, improvisation, and
narrative association drawn from local traditions. Thus, expressiveness emerges as
emotionally grounded, culturally situated, and enacted through both technique and
embodiment.
Consequently, this study contributes to music performance pedagogy by
articulating cross-cultural strategies that foreground students’ expressive agency.
For Malaysian higher music education, it advocates curricula, assessment, and
pedagogies that legitimise oral, embodied, and community-based knowledge
alongside notation-based technique. Additionally, this research offers a framework
for reconceptualising expressive learning beyond Western-centric paradigms,
positioning students as active constructors of expressive artistry within diverse
musical ecologies
Development of the Participatory Music Engagement for Mental Well-being (PaMEW) questionnaire: a pilot study with autistic adults
Full text linkResearch about autistic people’s subjective experiences with music and its impact on their well-being is limited, despite its common presence in public spaces and support services. To provide an empirical framework and tools for future research, we examined the relevance of the participatory music engagement for mental well-being model for autistic adults. The model outlines four pathways through which music supports well-being: managing and expressing emotion, providing respite, facilitating self-development, and facilitating connections. Based on the model, we developed a new questionnaire, the Participatory Music Engagement for Mental Well-being (PaMEW), and collected responses from 63 autistic adults. We found that most respondents believed the items were relevant to their experiences of the relationship between music and well-being, that the factorial structure of their responses aligned with the model, and that their comments reflected the four pathways; however, they also highlighted nuances not addressed by the model. The study underscores the need for nuanced tools that reflect the unique ways autistic individuals use music to support their well-being, suggesting future revisions of PaMEW in collaboration with the autistic community to enhance its relevance and clarity
Introduction: émigré musicians from Nazi Europe at Glyndebourne
No full textWith its focus on mobilities, this book takes a bird’s eye view of Glyndebourne’s early history and celebrates its internationalism. It considers the company’s extensive and complex networks and ambitions, the transfer of cultural capital that came with its artists, and the high degree of excellence achieved via the embrace, rather than the rejection, of cultural difference
‘Innocent social delight’: glee club life in Bath, 1782–1853
No full textBath’s glee clubs of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries played an important democratizing role in bringing together the city’s fashionable visitors with its resident musicians. Differences in class and expectations, however, could cause friction between these respective groups, in some cases leading to a club’s division or demise. The quest of these clubs to find a model that honoured both amateur and professional members is explored in this essay. As Bath’s society evolved over the opening decades of the nineteenth century, in what is generally considered to be the decline of its fashionable status, the glee clubs’ varying responses to these changes, coupled with broad shifts in musical taste, are considered and analysed, with special attention given to the status of their professional members. This article expands our knowledge of Bath’s glee clubs while clarifying their purpose in society and correcting prior misconstructions
The Cyfarthfa Band in its period of grace
No full textThe Cyfarthfa Band flourished between the mid 1840s and the late 1870s. It was founded earlier and lasted longer, but it was in this period that it was one of the greatest bands the world had known. Such a bold claim is credible because we know so much about it. No other band has left a trail of sources that reveal its intimate history so vividly. There are documents, pictures, the original instruments and, critically, the hand written music from which the musicians played. It provides a window into the life of a distant and unique musical institution we even know with a good degree of precision what it sounded like. The music is hand written and bespoke for the individual players. It would have made no sense for the parts to have been written in any way other than to fit the style and competences of the people who had to play them: as such, it comes close to an autobiography of the practices that created music making of unprecedented sophistication in Wales.
The band was an outsider to what became known in Britain as the amateur brass band ‘movement’ , even though its famously successful appearance at the National Brass Band Contest at the Crystal Palace in 1860 might suggest the contrary. It didn’t subscribe to the practices and musical values that typified Victorian working class brass bands elsewhere. It was unique and isolated, with its own idiomatic musical identity and exercising values that served a very particular set of musical and cultural purposes
Preventing Musician’s Focal Dystonia: a guide for music educators
Full text linkMusician’s Focal Dystonia is a task-specific neurological movement disorder affecting the fine motor control of 1% to 2% of highly skilled musicians, often disrupting or even terminating professional musical careers. Given that recovery from the condition is time-consuming and not at all guaranteed, prevention is of high importance. The disorder develops as a result of a period of maladaptive learning, prompted and aggravated by a complex set of risk factors. While some of these, such as genetic predisposition, are immutable, others, such as practice organisation and strategies, general performance-related health and psychosocial factors within the learning environment, are malleable and can be positively influenced in educational settings. This implies that music educators can play a significant role in protecting future generations from acquiring Musician’s Focal Dystonia. Therefore, this article aims to provide music educators with clear information about the pathophysiology of the condition, the potential risk factors, and guidelines for practical preventative steps which can be implemented in individual and group instrumental teaching. We hope that this work is the start of collaborative work between clinicians, health professionals, music educators and the musicians themselves to work towards the common goal of reducing the cases of this disorder
Foregrounding migration in conservatoire teaching—action towards “global artistic citizenship”
Full text linkIn this article I discuss how a focus on migration and transnational mobility of composers and performers can help to overcome exclusionary methodological nationalism in higher music education and foster an increased awareness of artistic citizenship in a global rather than national arena. Reflecting on insights from participatory action research at the Royal College of Music in London that engaged with the theme of music and migration and encouraged student musicians to explore hybrid transnational identities in classical music, I explore the usefulness of a utopian concept of “global artistic citizenship” as a prototypal term. Attached to historical research about migrant musicians from Nazi Europe who found refuge in Britain during and after World War II, the research invited student musicians to perform repertoire by these previously marginalised composers and become part of a process of reflection about the wider implications of this action. The research took place during four consecutive performance projects involving student performers from diverse backgrounds over a period of three years. Reflections, notes and semi-structured interviews with participants of these projects prompted the wider theoretical discussion of the concept of artistic citizenship in this article. Engaging with Garcia-Cuesta’s suggestion of a more fluid concept of artistic citizenship and recent research about the concept of global citizenship, I develop the prototypal concept of ‘global artistic citizenship’ as a tool for critical reflection and activism within diverse learning communities in higher music education