1857 research outputs found
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HEartS Professional survey: charting the effects of COVID-19 on working patterns, income, and wellbeing among arts professionals in China (October 2020, August 2021)
No full textThese data were collected using the HEartS Professional China survey from performing arts workers in China in October 2020 and August 2021. HEartS Professional China is an adaptation of the HEartS Professional surveys which were used in 2020-2021. All the surveys were designed as multi-strategy data collection tools with two main purposes: (1) to chart working patterns, income, sources of support, and indicators of mental and social well-being to identify trends in the effects of the lockdown at the time and (2) to explore the individual work and wellbeing experiences of performing arts professionals in their own words, to identify the subjective effects of lockdown in terms of challenges and opportunities. The survey covers six areas: 1) demographics; (2) information on illness or self-isolation related to COVID-19; (3) work profiles and income; (4) changes to work profiles and income as a result of the pandemic, as well as sources of support; (5) open-response questions about work and wellbeing experiences of lockdown including challenges and opportunities; and (6) validated measures of health, wellbeing, and social connectedness. The HEartS Professional surveys are adaptations of the HEartS Survey which charts the Health, Economic, and Social impacts of the ARTs (https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3r2280gdj)
Expanding perspectives: materialising musical instruments
No full textThis article suggests the potential of organology is under-developed. It proposes an expanded vision for the discipline’s relevance from the perspective of the non-organological world, which in turn, undervalues organology’s potential for informing non-musical disciplines. It argues for re-positioning musical instruments—highly specialised manufactured objects with complex and particular properties, functions, and contexts—alongside, and in relation to other equally complex material objects, their functions, practices, networks, histories, geographies, and ideologies. This re-evaluation aims to encourage organologists to consider the “wider materiality” of the objects they study and to seek out new disciplinary connections beyond their traditional spheres of reference
Networked innovation in classical music: collaborative ecologies for classical music
No full textFinal report of the AHRC Research Network: Networked Innovation
in Classical Music: Collaborative Ecologies in Creative Cities. Authored by Stephanie E. Pitts and Peter F. Peters with the research network team: Karen Burland, Kirsty Devaney, Karolien Dons, Emily Doolittle,
Laura Hogg, Karoly Molina, Jennie Joy Porton, Sarah Price and Constanze Wimmer
Preparing to perform: professional musicians' pre-performance routines and strategies
Full text linkStudies in sport psychology have extensively shown that pre-performance routines (PPRs) - a sequence of cognitive and behavioural actions used prior to performance - optimize performance under pressure. Despite this positive impact, there is hardly any literature on PPRs in the music domain. Therefore, this thesis aimed at filling this gap in the literature.
This thesis consists of 3 studies. The aims of Study 1 were to investigate pre-performance routines in professional musicians and to explore whether these change prior to performance. It also aimed to investigate the reasons behind musicians’ engagement in these routines. Study 2, informed by results from Study 1, aimed to investigate pre-performance routines in professional musicians in greater depth and to explore the functions these were perceived as having. Study 3, built on results from Study 2, aimed to investigate physical activity and exercise (PA/PE) in professional musicians. It also sought to explore the type of PA/PE engaged in and the reasons for this engagement. Finally, Study 3 aimed to investigate what functions PA/PE was perceived as having on professional musicians’ wellbeing and performance.
Study 1 involved the online survey Pre-performance Routines survey which was distributed to international professional musicians. Data were collected from 94 musicians and analysed using the statistical package Jamovi version 1.2.27.0. Study 2 concerned an interview study with 12 orchestral musicians recruited from professional orchestras. Study 3 involved the Fit Musician online survey which was distributed to professional musicians. Data were collected from 144 musicians and analysed using the statistical package Jamovi version 2.3.21.0.
Results from Study 1 showed that professional orchestral musicians engaged in several pre-performance routines prior to performance but that most routines were reported as not changing during their pre-performance period. PA/PE was among these routines. Study 2 showed that PA/PE was part of the daily/weekly routine of professional musicians and that some engaged in it with a view of enhancing performance. Study 3 showed that 83% of professional musicians exceeded the recommended weekly requirements for PA/PE and that type of exercise engaged in depended on performance scenario. Study 3 showed no association between musicians’ perception of physical fitness and health and wellbeing, and no significant difference between musicians’ perception of physical fitness and the perceived impact of PA/PE on performance.
In providing a picture of how professional musicians prepare to perform, this thesis has provided useful information on practice routines and strategies that can be adopted by students. The findings of this thesis also provide the necessary groundwork for future research investing in exploring PA/PE and music performance
'Noble throughout': the transformations of the pedal harp in Paris and London, between 1749 and 1811
Full text linkWhen Denis Diderot first heard a pedal harp played by Oginski, he was enchanted. The philosopher’s appreciation for the instrument introduces the pedal harp as an object of fascination for the Enlightenment. From the arrival of the first single-action pedal harp in Paris in 1749, to the patenting of the double-action pedal harp in the 1810s, the instrument underwent significant changes making the harp easier to play and more versatile. Several makers offered different versions of the mechanism, while others added to the tonal possibilities. The transformations of the single-action pedal harp paved the way for the development of the double-action pedal harp – patented by Sébastien Erard in London in 1810 and in Paris in 1811 – which remains the standard pedal harp mechanism today.
This thesis examines the single-action pedal harp’s place within Paris and London societies during this period. It engages with a musical instrument that was also considered an object of luxury, with a range of economic and social implications. The first chapter explores these issues, detailing the different meanings tied to the pedal harp at the time. The second chapter focuses on the makers of the pedal harp, assessing their lives and careers. It sheds a new light on their role in various networks such as the German Protestant community in eighteenth-century Paris, which helped to sustain their activity, both personally and professionally. The third chapter explores the quest for transformations that harp makers sought to bring to the pedal harp highlighting the processes employed to protect and disseminate their creation. The analysis of each of these transformations outlines their different trajectories, with a focus on the Erard workshop in Paris and London. The pedal harp is foremost a musical instrument, played by musicians, with its own compositions. The fourth and final chapter examines the performance aspect of the pedal harp, and its place in the music of the period. It explores new links between players and harp makers and highlights the careers of musicians often forgotten in music history.
Drawing on a variety of sources, this study offers a comprehensive view of a crucial period in the pedal harp’s history. Through the investigation of more than eighty pedal harps spanning the years 1749 to 1810, this study demonstrates the invaluable insights that can be gained from material culture studies when telling the history of a musical instrument. The harps have been studied alongside archival texts, iconography, and music of the period, in order to present the many aspects of their material presence. The instrument emerges here as a prism through which to explore complex issues of labour, market, class, gender, and culture at the time
Music for parent and child interaction
No full textChapter 10 explores parent-child musical interaction, outlining the origins of musicality inherent in emotionally important relationships from infancy. It discusses communication in early childhood and presents musical interaction as an important component to the earliest communicative expressions of young children. By removing words and focusing on musical playfulness, the work of an early childhood music-arts organisation—Magic Acorns—has discovered through extensive research-informed, reflective practice that parental wellbeing is enhanced when children are recognised as communicators. Findings for practice are outlined, calling for attuned, improvisatory practice built on reduced adult talk, as a decolonising and liberating approach. The chapter questions neoliberal, measurement-driven societal pressures and proposes an ethics of care as the starting point for practice focusing on interaction, music-play, parents, and young children
Augmented reality and in-person piano tuition: project report
Full text linkThe ‘Augmented Reality Piano’ research project that took place between July 2022 – July 2023.
This report outlines the design and delivery of the project and describes and analyses its
findings. It ends by offering recommendations for future use of augmented reality in
instrumental teaching, and how hubs can effectively conduct future research in the adaptation of new technologies into instrument-teaching contexts.
The project is a collaboration between Wiltshire Music Connect, Leicestershire Music,
Lincolnshire Music Hub, Norfolk Music Hub and the Royal College of Music.
The project was initiated in order to investigate the potential of augmented reality to increase
pupil engagement and progress within one-to-one instrumental tuition. The research was
carried out between April – July 2023 and worked with 6 experienced piano tutors and 32
beginner piano pupils aged 13-16 over a 10 lesson period. Half of the pupils had access to an AR headset both at home and in lessons. The remaining half undertook traditional lessons without access to AR. Data was gathered from piano tutors, pupils and parents using a mixture of questionnaires, interviews and lesson diaries
Online songwriting and postnatal loneliness
No full textChapter 5 reports on the co-construction, testing, and evaluation of an online songwriting intervention—Songs from Home—that aimed to reduce loneliness and symptoms of postnatal depression (PND) and enhance social connectedness. The chapter describes the co-construction process and key characteristics of the musical practice, as well as evaluation and research findings. The chapter illuminates how Songs from Home can facilitate four goals—comfort and safety, feelings of achievement, connection, and adapting to individuals—and address loneliness, social connectedness, and symptoms of PND among women in the perinatal period. The chapter concludes by noting that Songs from Home was highly recommended by those who participated in it, with the potential for refinement and scale-up
Enhanced performance training
No full textThe principles of self-regulated learning drive the efficient development of musical skills. This is achieved through thoughtful practice comprising deliberate planning, execution, and review of progress, driven by an array of strategies and the knowledge to implement them. Existing and potential new technologies offer the possibility of enhancing musical performance training by facilitating and encouraging these behaviours. This chapter considers the role of such technologies through the lens of self-regulated learning, considering how current technologies may be best implemented and speculating on technologies to come. Technology-enhanced practice planning can be achieved through systems that foster goal setting and the tasks required to achieve them. Practice execution can be maximized with technologies that can measure and provide instant feedback on the sounds and movements musicians produce, as well as allowing learners to manage their time and stay on task. Effective review is made possible through methods of capturing, summarizing, and analyzing performance, which can then inform plans for future practice and complete the cycle of self-regulated learning
Music and parental mental wellbeing [introduction]
No full textChapter 1 introduces the book by setting the context for, and parameters of, music and parental mental wellbeing. It advocates for parity of attention on parental mental health as on parental physical health, arguing for the importance of supporting and facilitating parental mental wellbeing. Current treatments and supports for parents are discussed, including for parents experiencing mental illness during pregnancy and in or beyond the postnatal period. Music is introduced as a potential means of supporting wellbeing, and a case is made for how music can feature in parental care, including a short summary of existing evidence in the field. The chapter concludes with a description of the structure and scope of the book