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From dissent to community: the Sacred Harmonic Society and amateur choral singing in London
No full text‘Waiting for the wow factor’: perspectives on computer technology in classroom composing
No full textDue to advancements, affordability and increased accessibility of technology, composing using computer technology has become prevalent in English secondary music classrooms. Despite this, there is still little research investigating the use of technology in music classrooms, resulting in teaching and learning approaches going unchallenged. This article explores how and why computer technology is being used for composing in upper secondary school music classrooms in England. Data were collected through a mixed-methodology approach involving five case-study schools and a survey of 112 classroom music teachers in England. Findings outline both positive and negative aspects of using computer technology to compose, such as how it was often perceived as a shortcut; however it can be argued that the computer software encourages a linear approach to composing, and the unrealistic Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) sounds can be a demoralising factor for students’ creativity
Review article: Inventing how we sing it now: Oxbridge choirs and the ‘tradition’ of modern Cathedral music
No full textTechnology use and attitudes in music learning
Get PDFWhile the expansion of technologies into the music education classroom has been studied in great depth, there is a lack of published literature regarding the use of digital technologies by students learning in individual settings. Do musicians take their technology use into the practice room and teaching studio, or does the traditional nature of the master-apprentice teaching model promote different attitudes among musicians toward their use of technology in learning to perform? To investigate these issues, we developed the Technology Use and Attitudes in Music Learning Survey, which included adaptations of Davis’s 1989 scales for Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use of Technology. Data were collected from an international cohort of 338 amateur, student, and professional musicians ranging widely in age, specialism, and musical experience. Results showed a generally positive attitude toward current and future technology use among musicians and supported the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), wherein technology use in music learning was predicted by perceived ease of use via perceived usefulness. Musicians’ self-rated skills with smartphones, laptops, and desktop computers were found to extend beyond traditional audio and video recording devices, and the majority of musicians reported using classic music technologies (e.g., metronomes and tuners) on smartphones and tablets rather than bespoke devices. Despite this comfort with and access to new technology, availability reported within one-to-one lessons was half of that within practice sessions, and while a large percentage of musicians actively recorded their playing, these recordings were not frequently reviewed. Our results highlight opportunities for technology to take a greater role in improving music learning through enhanced student-teacher interaction and by facilitating self-regulated learning
How do artistic creative activities regulate our emotions? Validation of the Emotion Regulation Strategies for Artistic Creative Activities Scale (ERS-ACA)
Get PDFThere is a rich literature exploring emotional responses to engaging in artistic creative activities such as making music, writing, dancing and crafts. However, it remains unclear how such activities affect our emotions; specifically which mental processes (‘strategies’) are used to regulate our emotional responses. This paper therefore describes the design and validation of a novel instrument measuring types of emotional regulation strategies (ERSs) used when engaging in artistic creative activities: the Emotion Regulation Strategies for Artistic Creative Activities Scale (ERS-ACA). Using data from an initial pilot study (n = 740 adults, 80.4% female, median age 25–34) and a follow-up large internet sample (n = 47,924, 56.7% female, average age 47.3 ± 14.6 years), we followed a theory-driven iterative factor analysis process. Our analyses converged on a final 18-item scale comprising an overall ‘general’ factor of ERSs alongside three subscales: a 7-item factor comprising ‘avoidance strategies’ (such as distraction, suppression and detachment), a 6-item factor comprising ‘approach strategies’ (such as acceptance, reappraisal and problem solving), and a 5-item factor comprising ‘self-development strategies’ (such as enhanced self-identify, improved self-esteem and increased agency). All factors showed strong internal reliability (Cronbach’s alpha: General Factor = 0.93, Factor 1 = 0.9, Factor 2 = 0.88, Factor 3 = 0.88). We confirmed strong convergent and divergent validity, construct validity, consistency of internal reliability and test-retest reliability of the scale in a third study (n = 165, 82.2% female, average age 46.3 ± 12.2 years). In conclusion, artistic creative activities appear to affect our emotions via a number of ERSs that can be broadly classified into three categories: avoidance, approach and self-development. The ERS-ACA scale presented and validated here should support further research into the use of ERSs when engaging in artistic creative activities and enhance our understanding about how these activities affect mental health
Preserving functionality: keeping artefacts ‘alive’ in museums
Get PDFAccording to a recent article, ‘Instrument museums are mausoleums, places for the display of the musically dead, with organologists acting as morticians, preparing dead instrument bodies for preservation and display’. This view, often repeated since the 1960s, reflects the frustration experienced by most museum visitors facing objects stripped of their function and presented as aestheticized icons. Curatorial debate has led to the development of several alternative proposals to deliver a culturally engaging presentation of musical objects. However, none has managed to efficiently replace the expectation of museums visitors to appreciate the object in its functional state. Moreover, debate over the role of museums in preserving intangible – as well as tangible – heritage stimulated further consideration of the importance of preserving/presenting functionality of music‐related objects. While some authors have developed specific music‐related perspectives (e.g. Barclay R. [2005]. The Preservation and Use of Historic Musical Instruments: Display Case and Concert Hall), little or no cross‐fertilisation has happened with the much broader world of functional objects in museums, which includes at least scientific, technologic and mechanical objects and those pertaining to daily lives. The article will offer an overview of current debate, approaches and policies for the preservation and display of functionality in a variety of non‐music related museums, with a parallel perspective on the current approach to musical instruments
Leadership in the transition from music student to professional musician: the Civic Orchestra of Chicago Fellowship
No full textThe transition from student to professional has proven to be one of the most challenging phases for musicians. The Civic Fellowship at the Civic Orchestra of Chicago –the training orchestra of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra –is an innovative programme for recent graduates aimed at holistic development through a portfolio of opportunities in orchestral, educational and community contexts, with leadership as their common denominator. This chapter presents the results of a study designed to understand how participants experienced the fellowship and to ascertain its value as a tool for learning enhancement in the transition to professional. The eight musicians chosen for the 2014/2015 season took part in the study: four males and four females, aged between 22 and 30 years. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews. Interpretative phenomenological analysis revealed the experience of the programme to be accounted for through seven overarching themes: (1) perspective; (2) ‘the musician as citizen’; (3) professional skills; (4) social skills; (5) self; (6) wellbeing; and mediated by (7) the process of getting out of the conservatoire comfort zone. Results suggest the Civic Fellowship model represents a strong example of a creative career advancement initiative that meets key developmental and educational needs of transition musicians
Creative leadership in action through a conservatoire-based MSc in performance science
No full textThe call for multiple creativities in higher music education echoes the increasing body of research demanding transformation in the education of professional musicians. This chapter reports on a curriculum initiative, designed in response to changing professional landscapes, at the Royal College of Music London (RCM). Launched in 2011, the RCM MSc in Performance Science offers musicians the opportunity to examine critically the art and science of performance in a real-world educational and professional context, facilitating a robust understanding of performance through the lens of the social scientific method. This chapter examines, via a specially designed alumni survey, students’ experiences of the MSc programme to date, interrogating motivations for studying performance science, perceived learning outcomes, graduate destinations and the role of the MSc in professional development. Reflecting on these data, the chapter demonstrates and discusses the potential of a programme such as the MSc in Performance Science to provide a space for musicians to engage in leadership in action, using social science as a means of critiquing and enhancing musical practices
Patterns of play: Orlando Gibbons, Simon Lohet and J. S. Bach’s Fugue in E major BWV 878/2. Part I
Get PDFThis article, the first of two parts, considers the musical implications and historical precedents behind the process of studying and learning a complex piece of counterpoint on the clavichord. The thread of thematic material and motivic constructions in J. S. Bach’s E major fugue from the second book of the Well-tempered Clavier is traced against the known tradition of contrapuntal composition and study. The accompanying musical example contains a new complete transcription by the author of the Fantasia in C by Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625) from Benjamin Cosyn’s Virginal Book dated 1620 (GB-Lbl R.M. 23.l.4) and the Undecima Fuga by Simon Lohet (before 1550–1611) from the third section of Johann Woltz’s Nova musices organicae tabulatura printed in Basel in 1617
