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Associations between singing to babies and symptoms of postnatal depression, wellbeing, self-esteem and mother-infant bond
No full textIntroduction: There is growing research documenting the psychological benefits of singing. However, it remains unknown whether singing to new babies is associated with enhanced maternal mental health. This study had two aims: (i) to explore whether these associations exist, and (ii) to compare the effects of singing to babies with listening to music in order to explore whether the sound of music alone or the physical act of singing might be responsible for effects.
Methods: Multiple linear and logistic regression models were used to analyse cross-sectional data from 391 new mothers, exploring associations between both singing to babies and listening to music, and symptoms of postnatal depression, wellbeing, self-esteem and self-rated mother-infant bond.
Results: Singing to babies on a daily basis was associated with lower symptoms of postnatal depression and enhanced wellbeing, self-esteem and self-reported mother-infant bond. Listening to music was associated with lower depression and enhanced wellbeing but effects were attenuated by confounding variables involving other arts engagement.
Discussion: These data suggest that the specific act of singing could support the mental health of new mothers. The correlations found in this study raise questions as to whether maternal singing to babies can causally improve maternal mental health and wellbeing and as such whether singing could be recommended to new mothers as a positive parenting practice, or whether supportive community singing interventions could be developed
BBC Radio 3 record review: buiding a library: Schumann: Liederkreis Op.24
No full textBuilding a Library with Natasha Loges on Schumann's song cycle 'Liederkreis', Op.24, composed in 1840, the year he almost exclusively devoted to song composition immediately after his marriage to Clara
Wir singen von Rechten, die wir nicht haben Dissens und Dialog in der Community Music [Singing the rights we do not possess: the rights of community music]
No full textEye of the beholder: stage entrance behavior and facial expression affect continuous quality ratings in music performance
No full textJudgments of music performance quality are commonly employed in music practice, education, and research. However, previous studies have demonstrated the limited reliability of such judgments, and there is now evidence that extraneous visual, social, and other “non-musical” features can unduly influence them. The present study employed continuous measurement techniques to examine how the process of forming a music quality judgment is affected by the manipulation of temporally specific visual cues. Video footage comprising an appropriate stage entrance and error-free performance served as the standard condition (Video 1). This footage was manipulated to provide four additional conditions, each identical save for a single variation: an inappropriate stage entrance (Video 2); the presence of an aural performance error midway through the piece (Video 3); the same error accompanied by a negative facial reaction by the performer (Video 4); the facial reaction with no corresponding aural error (Video 5). The participants were 53 musicians and 52 non-musicians (N = 105) who individually assessed the performance quality of one of the five randomly assigned videos via a digital continuous measurement interface and headphones. The results showed that participants viewing the “inappropriate” stage entrance made judgments significantly more quickly than those viewing the “appropriate” entrance, and while the poor entrance caused significantly lower initial scores among those with musical training, the effect did not persist long into the performance. The aural error caused an immediate drop in quality judgments that persisted to a lower final score only when accompanied by the frustrated facial expression from the pianist; the performance error alone caused a temporary drop only in the musicians' ratings, and the negative facial reaction alone caused no reaction regardless of participants' musical experience. These findings demonstrate the importance of visual information in forming evaluative and aesthetic judgments in musical contexts and highlight how visual cues dynamically influence those judgments over time
The satisfaction and stress of singing professionally
No full textResearch investigating how singers’ bodies react to the pressures of public performance. Fancourt D, Aufegger L, & Williamon A (2015), Low-stress and high-stress singing have contrasting effects on glucocorticoid response, Frontiers in Psychology, 6 (1242), 1-5. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01242. See also http://researchonline.rcm.ac.uk/id/eprint/9/
A novel sonification approach to support the diagnosis of Alzheimer's dementia
Get PDFAlzheimer’s disease is the most common neurodegenerative form of dementia that steadily worsens and eventually leads to death. Its set of symptoms include loss of cognitive function and memory decline. Structural and functional imaging methods such as CT, MRI, and PET scans play an essential role in the diagnosis process, being able to identify specific areas of cerebral damages. While the accuracy of these imaging techniques increases over time, the severity assessment of dementia remains challenging and susceptible to cognitive and perceptual errors due to intra-reader variability among physicians. Doctors have not agreed upon standardized measurement of cell loss used to specifically diagnose dementia among individuals. These limitations have led researchers to look for supportive diagnosis tools to enhance the spectrum of diseases characteristics and peculiarities. Here is presented a supportive auditory tool to aid in diagnosing patients with different levels of Alzheimer’s. This tool introduces an audible parameter mapped upon three different brain’s lobes. The motivating force behind this supportive auditory technique arise from the fact that AD is distinguished by a decrease of the metabolic activity (hypometabolism) in the parietal and temporal lobes of the brain. The diagnosis is then performed by comparing metabolic activity of the affected lobes to the metabolic activity of other lobes that are not generally affected by AD (i.e., sensorimotor cortex). Results from the diagnosis process compared with the ground truth show that physicians were able to categorize different levels of AD using the sonification generated in this study with higher accuracy than using a standard diagnosis procedure, based on the visualization alone
Does attending community music interventions lead to changes in wider musical behaviours? The effect of mother-infant singing classes on musical behaviours amongst mothers with symptoms of postnatal depression
Get PDFThere is a growing body of research exploring how music interventions impact on wider behaviours in people’s lives, such as anti-social behaviours, classroom behaviours and consumer behaviours. However, an understudied area is whether engagement in structured music programmes leads to wider changes in musical behaviours amongst participants. This study explored this question in relation to women with symptoms of postnatal depression (PND). Ninety-three women up to 40 weeks post-birth with symptoms of PND were randomised to 10 weeks of group singing classes or usual care. Women who attended the singing workshops had a significantly greater increase than those in the control group in the frequency of their singing, their confidence in singing and the repertoire they knew. There were also indications that the partners of women in the singing group also increased their frequency of singing, suggesting effects can extend to the wider family unit. However, there was no impact on wider musical behaviours such as listening to music. This is the first demonstration that weekly singing programmes can alter musical behaviours in new mothers. Analyses explore the optimum number of singing classes required to trigger a wider behaviour change and health psychology theories around behaviour change that could account for these results are discussed
Clarinet charms [review of Philipp Jakob Riotte, Clarinet Concerto in C minor, op.36, ed. Martin Harlow]
No full textPhilipp Jakob Riotte (1776–1856) is little known today, but in his lifetime enjoyed success in every musical form then in favour. After early tuition in Frankfurt and Offenbach, he held positions in Gotha, Danzig and Magdeburg, before moving to Vienna in 1808, where he worked at the court opera and then as music director at the Theater an der Wien (1818–21 and 1824–6). Riotte’s obituary in the Neue Wiener Musik-Zeitung noted that his compositions ‘were distinguished by much melody and pleasing harmonious flow, though calculated for entertainment and for the moment, without depth and significant substance’
Whatever you say I am, that’s what I’m not: developing dialogical and dissensual ways of conceiving of and talking about community music
No full textAs a community of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991), Community Music (CM) has traditionally voiced concern at the lack of consensus or agreement surrounding what constitutes CM practice (Brown, Higham, & Rimmer, 2014; Deane & Mullen, 2013; Higgins, 2012; Kelly, 1983; McKay & Higham, 2012). Rather than seeing this historical and traditional lack of consensus as a
fundamental weakness of the community, I suggest that we might view the diversity of CM practice - and the dissensus surrounding such practice - as one of CM’s defining characteristics.
We tell ourselves as a community that, even though the practices themselves are complex, fluid and emergent, we need conceptions of those same practices which are simple and fixed, so that those unfamiliar with the practices – in particular, funders - might grasp them more easily. However, I think that this is to do the diversity and complexity of the practices themselves a
disservice. Rather than simpler conceptions of CM practice which reduce its great diversity, I believe we need more sophisticated ones which communicate its full richness. In this paper, I suggest that the related concepts of dissensus (Ranciere, 2003a) and dialogue (Bakhtin, 1981; Freire, 1970; Wegerif, 2012) may help to provide such a conceptual framework, which explains CM practice in simple terms as a “situational” (Hersey, 1997) response to the
needs and aspirations of its participants, and its situations. In particular, I emphasise how a dialogic approach to CM can help integrate a wide variety of perspectives which might otherwise
be considered dichotomous, including some of the ongoing debates around e.g. formal/informal; pedagogy/andragogy/ heutagogy; performance/participation; aesthetic/praxial;
process/product; ethical/technical.
By developing deeper insights into the nature of the dissensus and dialogue which underpins CM practice, I hope that - as a community - we might come to a better understanding of some of the pedagogical approaches which define such practice, and which might have significance for the wider music education sector, in terms of developing stronger and more effective learner-centred and individualised approaches to music teaching-learning situations (Elliott, 1995, p. 241). **** This paper is available open access as part of the conference proceedings document at the 'Official URL' below. ***
Peter Gellhorn (1912-2004): Biography
Get PDFSince 2012, the “Singing a Song in a Foreign Land” project at the Royal College of Music has been exploring the lives and work of émigré musicians from Nazi Europe in the UK and beyond. Performance projects, biographical research, research events and an extensive oral history project have underlined the importance of these musicians for British music (see www.rcm.ac.uk/singingasong).
In 2016, the Royal College of Music was awarded a substantial Cultural Engagement grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, which enabled us to engage Dr. Terence Curran.
Together with the Gellhorn family and a team of wonderfully talented student assistants he was able to pull together the wealth of information about Peter Gellhorn in this document, which will provide much needed context information for the chamber
music by Peter Gellhorn which is now available for the first time through RCM Editions