An Organization of Violin Technique Based on Proficiency Levels for the Clover Park School District

The purpose of this paper is (1) to explore the sequence of learning those techniques necessary to achieve mastery of the violin, and, (2) to structure the sequence into levels of proficiency

Fluid Dynamics: Representations of Water in Music

Water has remained a subject of all kinds of musical works since at least the middle ages. These musical works lack the concrete representational capacity of paintings, photographs, and films, relying instead on more abstract metaphorical constructs to convey water imagery. Current scholarship on water music typically centers on Romantic and Impressionist works and does not examine the process of signification by which musical signs portray water. The principal goal of this study is to determine how musical devices convey specific aspects of bodies of water and how such devices interact and contribute to musical depictions of streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans. I find that evocations of motion in the form of waves and flow are especially important to portrayals of water; furthermore, music depicting motion can combine with devices evoking water’s other characteristics to create detailed, multifarious depictions. I give special attention to John Luther Adams’s water compositions, which are notable for their thorough depictions of bodies of water and represent a relatively new phenomenon: the focused musical depiction

A Two-Process Model for Control of Legato Articulation Across a Wide Range of Tempos During Piano Performance

Prior reports indicated a non-linear increase in key overlap times (KOTs) as tempo slows for scales/arpeggios performed at internote intervals (INIs) of I00-1000 ms. Simulations illustrate that this function can be explained by a two-process model. An oscillating neural network based on dynamics of the vector-integration-to-endpoint model for central generation of voluntary actions, allows performers to compute an estimate of the time remaining before the oscillator's next cycle onset. At fixed successive threshold values of this estimate they first launch keystroke n+l and then lift keystroke n. As tempo slows, time required to pass between threshold crossings elongates, and KOT increases. If only this process prevailed, performers would produce longer than observed KOTs at the slowest tempo. The full data set is explicable if subjects lift keystroke n whenever they cross the second threshold or receive sensory feedback from stroke n+l, whichever comes earlier.Fulbright grant; Office of Naval Research (N00014-92-J-1309, N0014-95-1-0409

Irish Folk Music in the Classroom

This unit of study allows fifth-grade students to study and expand their knowledge on the folk music of Ireland and its influence on American music. There are five lessons in this unit. Students will have the opportunity to develop their singing, moving, listening, musical analysis, and instrumental performance skills. Students will have the opportunity to learn the musical forms, rhythmic patterns, and instrumentation that define Irish music. This experience is designed to give students tools to appreciate Irish music and culture, understand American music and culture, and explore their own or other musical cultures

Violin Curriculum Incorporating Visual, Aural and Kinesthetic Perceptual Learning Modalities

abstract: To be a versatile violinist, one needs interdependence of aural, visual and kinesthetic skills. This thesis introduces aural, visual and kinesthetic learning modalities, and explores the way each is used in the Suzuki, Paul Rolland, Orff, Kodály, and Dalcroze methods, as well as in Edwin Gordon’s Musical Learning Theory. Other methods and pedagogical approaches were consulted and influential in developing the curriculum, such as the teaching of Mimi Zweig, but were not included in this paper either because of an overlap with other methods or insufficient comparable material. This paper additionally presents a new curriculum for teaching beginning violin that incorporates aural, visual, and kinesthetic learning in a systematic and comprehensive manner. It also details a sequenced progression to learn new repertoire and develop proficiency with rhythm, solfège, reading and writing musical notation, and left- and right-hand technique.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Music 201

Principles for designing an effective, post-compulsory music curriculum suitable for Western Australia

A new post-compulsory Music course known as the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) Music course was recently introduced into Year 11 and 12 in Western Australian (WA) schools. Following a convoluted process of creation, its implementation into classrooms has been problematic. Given criticism levelled at its process of creation and implementation, the researcher questions whether the WACE Music course embodies effective, recognised principles to support the effective teaching and learning of music. This study investigates the principles which should form the basis of an effective, post-compulsory music curriculum, suitable for WA. It involved a literature review which sought to produce a set of principles for teaching and learning frameworks based upon international best practice in music education, and applicable in the unique geographical, historical and multicultural WA context. In addition, the study employed a researcher–designed survey instrument to examine whether Western Australian music teachers perceived these principles to be evident in their practical experiences of the new WACE music course. With the subsequent publishing of a draft Australian National Arts Curriculum, it is an appropriate time to review the principles which should underpin an effective Music curriculum for senior secondary students in the WA context because, without a clear set of guiding principles that are understood by curriculum writers, there is a possibility that following courses could be fundamentally flawed and not serve the best interests of students

An introduction to the life and the songs of composer Chris DeBlasio, with special emphasis on his cycle All the Way Through Evening

For composer Chris DeBlasio, the omnipresence of HIV/AIDS during the final years of his life helped to channel his creative energies into a unique compositional voice. At a time when certain elements of the New York music scene rewarded atonality and musical experimentation, DeBlasio pursued a lyrically tonal, theatrically-informed style in the company of composers such as Jake Heggie and Ricky Ian Gordon. Unfortunately, his death in 1993 at age thirty-four limited the growing awareness of his compositions in the greater artistic community and robbed him of the success eventually experienced by his fellow tonal compatriots. Today, he is best known for a single song (“Walt Whitman in 1989”) published in The AIDS Quilt Songbook. The purpose of this study is twofold. First of all, I explored the life of Chris DeBlasio, discovering elements of his personality, as well as specific life events, that contributed to his choices as a composer. To accomplish this first goal, I consulted a variety of documentary sources and interviewed several persons who had personal or professional relationships with DeBlasio. This exploration revealed an intense yet disciplined and pragmatic personality whose career was shaped by an abiding love of the theater, a close-knit circle of friends and the homosexual community of 1980s New York City. Secondly, I sought to define the basic characteristics of his art songs. I first analyzed the three sets of songs, defining DeBlasio’s execution of a number of elements such as rhythm, harmony and form. I then concluded with an in-depth analysis of his artistic response to AIDS and death – his song cycle All the Way Through Evening. These analyses demonstrate the three primary characteristics found in his songs: his use of musical techniques and poetry that favor accessible realism over esoteric abstraction, his near-obsessive use of tone painting, and his skillful crafting of poetically and musically cohesive song cycles. Appendices provide a listing of the published songs and the commercial discography of the songs, as well as a catalogue of the items held in the DeBlasio archives

A Design for a National Music Examination Board in Thailand, with Particular Reference to Viola

The research of “A Design for a National Music Examination Board in Thailand, with Particular Reference to Viola” aims to study the requirements of viola entrance examinations of the three selected colleges of music in Thailand: Chulalongkorn University, Mahidol University, and Silpakorn University; and the critical survey of syllabi of two selected international music examination boards: Trinity College London and Associated Board of the Royal School of Music. By combining the result from both studies, the design for a standard assessment of viola in Thailand is proposed. The standard assessment is divided into eight grade levels as a common practice. For each grade there is suggested appropriate repertoire, studies, scales, and orchestral excerpts for Grade 5 onward. The highest level of the examination, Grade 8, is designed to meet the requirements for the college level entrance examinations in Thailand. The proposed standard assessment is hoped to bridge the gap between social classes since it helps creating an affordable, accessible, and understandable evaluation tool for any Thai music students, regardless of foreign language proficiency, region, and/or income. Hence, this assessment can be adopted by any Thai music institution and is could be used as a part of college admissions in Thailand

Lesson Book: Piano

A Music Lesson Book for the correspondence courses offered through the Siegel-Myers Correspondence School of Music. Note: this book is incomplete and does not contain all lessons Lessons: Piano, number 11 through 97https://digitalcommons.colum.edu/sherwood_smcs/1010/thumbnail.jp