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Measuring the audience
No full textDescription of book: Scholarly Research in Music: Shared and Disciplinary-Specific Practices, Second Edition offers a comprehensive and detailed guide to engaging in research in all disciplines of music. This second edition continues to provide the foundational principles of research for all musicians, including performers, theorists, composers, conductors, music educators, and musicologists. It strengthens the core pedagogical framework of the first edition by offering updated guidance on available technologies, methodologies, and materials.
Driven by the rapidly shifting research paradigms within music, sixteen contributors expand the already broad scope of the book, with new chapters on research in today’s library, neurophenomenology in music, and self-efficacy in music performance, as well as new sections in chapters on philosophy, historical research, social science research, and statistics. Introducing research as a friendly and accessible process, the book engages students in brainstorming a topic, asking pertinent questions, systematically collecting relevant information, analyzing and synthesizing the information, and designing a cohesive research plan to conduct original research. Detailing the methodologies and techniques of both conventional and innovative approaches to music research, Scholarly Research in Music provides an essential grounding for all kinds of music researchers
Musician’s focal dystonia: a mere neurological disorder? The role of non-organic factors in the onset of musician’s focal dystonia: an exploratory Grounded Theory study
No full textMusician’s Focal Dystonia (MFD) is a task-specific, neurological disorder with poorly understood pathophysiology, affecting highly skilled musicians, ending successful careers.
Studies found neurological changes in the sufferers’ brains, which presumably occurred via negative neuroplasticity, however, surprisingly little is known of what triggers these changes. Recently, non-organic risk factors, such as maladaptive psychological traits and preceding trauma have been suggested by a handful of studies, but the field has not yet been explored in detail. The aim of the study was to identify and describe the non-organic
factors which might contribute to the onset of MFD. Due to the study’s exploratory nature, a qualitative constructivist Grounded Theory (GT) design was chosen, with the goal of generating a theory that emerges directly from the data. 15 MFD sufferers (5 females, mean age = 36.1) were interviewed for the study. Apart from previously suggested traits, such as anxiety and perfectionism, we found that the educational environment might also be
influential. Many participants studied in a negative emotional climate, faced unattainable demands, and were instructed to focus only on the technical aspects of their playing. Consequently, they developed unhealthy practice strategies and negative perfectionism and these problems were often accompanied by negative emotional coping and maladaptive health behaviours. In addition, many participants experienced trauma before
the onset of the condition. These findings support the theory that MFD is a multifaceted condition that could partially originate from non-organic factors. It also suggests that the environment – especially the educational approach – might be more influential than previously thought. This might have further implications not only for prevention and research but for the treatment strategies as well. It is likely, that opposing a purely medical procedure, an interdisciplinary approach would enhance the currently used therapies and
would increase the possibility of the rehabilitation of the suffering musicians. ******* NOTE: this article is available open access at the link below ******
Memorising contemporary piano music as described by professional pianists
Get PDFThe convention of performing from memory is a well-established practice among pianists, but an exception is often made for contemporary piano repertoire. Even so, a number of renowned pianists continue performing highly demanding compositions of this genre from memory, and this practice is commended by contemporary composers. No research to date has systematically investigated musicians’ views on this matter and explored detailed accounts of how to prepare and memorise such repertoire. In this study six renowned professional pianists with experience in performing contemporary piano repertoire were interviewed on their approaches to learning and memorising this music. Interpretative Phenomelogical Analysis (IPA) of the pianists’ accounts revealed a variety of views on performing contemporary music from memory, with some pianists advocating benefits from performing by heart and others from using the score. The general practice strategies reported resembled approaches described by skilled musicians in relation to standard repertoire, with some variations related to different types of contemporary music styles. Memorisation accounts emphasised the importance of strategies such as mental rehearsal, chunking and reliance on different types of memory and their combination
Traditions and interventions: popular music 1840–1940
No full textIn the hundred years that saw the widest effects of industrialisation and immigration to Wales, the popular music of the country embraced an increasingly passionate and secular adherence to traditions derived from choralism and eisteddfod culture on the one hand, and the development of commercial popular music on the other. ‘Popular music’ was defined not by repertoire but by the circumstances of its performance. Major features of this story include the first conspicuous appearances of Welsh choralism outside Wales, the world’s first virtuoso private brass band, Welsh manifestations of music hall and romantic theatre music, the rise of tourist entertainment and the projection of Welshness in the early years of broadcasting. One of the more interesting features of the period is the way Wales digested broader trends in popular music, modified them and projected them in distinctive ways. The chapter paints a picture of Welsh musical life that is seldom seen, in which strong musical traditions steeped in the culture of the Welsh language coalesce with popular modernism and new types of musical commerce and consumerism
Technology enhanced learning of performance
No full textTechnology is used in all aspects of musical practice, whether developing instruments, recording performances, or linking musicians with audiences. Music education has also benefited from new digital tools, though the integration of technological approaches has not been as pervasive across learning environments and methods. This chapter summarizes recent research examining the attitudes towards and use of music technology in the learning of music performance, with particular focus on the domain of one-to-one teaching. It highlights new and developing hardware and software designed to address specific musical skills, from intonation and rhythmic accuracy to tone quality and expressiveness, and to drive self-regulated learning. The Technology Enhanced Learning of Music Instrument Performance (TELMI) project is presented as a case study demonstrating how state-of-the-art methods of audio and video analysis, motion capture, artificial intelligence, and musician-designed feedback displays are being advanced and integrated to develop the next generation of music learning tools. This chapter sets out an optimistic view of technology’s future as a tool to increase the accessibility, efficiency, and interactivity of music learning, and highlights the many ways in which musicians can take part in the evolution of technology enhanced learning
How arts engagement supported social connectedness during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK: findings from the HEartS Survey
Get PDFObjectives: This study investigated how adults in the UK perceived their arts and cultural engagement to facilitate social connectedness at two time points in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Study design: The study used the HEartS Survey, a newly designed online survey tool to capture arts engagement in the UK and its associations with social and mental wellbeing, over two phases in 2020: March-May (Phase 1) and October (Phase 2).
Methods: Qualitative data were provided at both phases by 581 respondents, who identified which arts and cultural activity they felt most connected them to others and how during the last month.
Results: Thematic analysis revealed that, at both phases, arts and cultural engagement was perceived to facilitate social connectedness through four pathways that were also identified pre-pandemic: social opportunities; sharing; feelings of commonality and belonging; and collective understanding. The sub-themes shed light on specific ways that respondents used the arts during the pandemic to connect with others, including using the arts: as a catalyst for conversations, to maintain, reinstate, or strengthen relationships during social distancing, and to facilitate social interactions (Theme 1); to bring people together through shared experiences and sharing of art (Theme 2); to elicit feelings of direct and indirect proximity to others, to connect people with common interests, to feel a sense of belonging to something, and to feel part of a collective ‘COVID-19 experience’ or to feel collectively distracted from the pandemic (Theme 3); to learn from and about other people and to relate to others (Theme 4). The activity most frequently cited as connecting was watching a film or drama, followed by listening to music.
Conclusions: Engagement in arts and cultural activities supported feelings of social connection among adults in the UK at two time points in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the importance of access to the arts and culture to support social connectedness
Collaborative insights: interdisciplinary perspectives on musical care throughout the life course
No full textCollaborative Insights provides new perspectives informed by interdisciplinary thinking on musical care throughout the life course. In this book, volume editors Katie Rose M. Sanfilippo and Neta Spiro define musical care as the role that music - music listening as well as music-making - plays in supporting any aspect of people's developmental or health needs, for example physical and mental health, cognitive and behavioural development, and interpersonal relationships. Musical care is relevant to several types of music, approach, and setting, and through the introduction of that new term musical care, the authors prioritise the element of care that is shared among these otherwise diverse contexts and musical activities, celebrating the nuanced interweaving of theory and practice.
The multifaceted nature of musical care requires reconciling perspectives and expertise from different fields and disciplines. This book shows interdisciplinary collaboration in action by bringing together music practitioners and researchers to write each chapter collaboratively to discuss musical care from an interdisciplinary perspective and offer directions for future work. The life course structure, from infancy to end of life, highlights the connections and themes present in approach, context, and practices throughout our lives. Thus, the book represents both the start of a conversation and a call to action, inspiring new collaborations that provide new insights to musical care in its many facets
Music as a Medium of Instruction (MMI): a new pedagogical approach to English Language Teaching for students with and without music training
Get PDFRecent research shows that musical training improves children’s development of oral and aural skills. This study focuses on developing and testing a methodological framework (Music as a Medium of Instruction, MMI) in English Language Teaching (ELT) by contrasting MMI and Gamification methodologies with the participation of 22 Spanish children all born in 2008. The differences in progression between participants with and without previous instrumental training are also discussed. Generalized linear model procedures were used for each outcome variable (listening comprehension and oral production skills) to investigate the effect of independent variables (MMI vs. Gamification; students with music training vs. learners without music training). Results revealed that students of the MMI group had significantly higher scores than the Gamification group in oral production. Significant improvement was traced in listening comprehension in the MMI group. This study provides promising initial evidence that the MMI approach can be at least as beneficial as Gamification-based approaches for young learners in the ELT classroom. However, results need to be established on firmer grounds, for instance by using fully randomized experimental designs and by conducting mediation analyses
SAFAR Film Festival 2022 trailer: the stories we tell in Arab cinema
No full textMusic for the trailer for the SAFAR Film Festival 2022 by Dimitri Scarlato and Hayat Selim