scholarly journals Transcending the technical : an examination of spirituality in choral music making for selected public

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jordan Lee Cox
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Choral Music ◽  
Team Building ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
The United States ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Public High School ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Building Activities

The purpose of this phenomenology was to contribute to the examination of the role of spirituality in choral music making for public school choral conductors in the United States. Since the year 2000, the topic of spirituality has been a growing area of interest for researchers, particularly in the fields of nursing, social sciences, and education. To better understand the phenomenon of spirituality within music education, eight public high school choir conductors who were members of the American Choral Directors Association, had taught for at least five years, and had experienced spirituality in choral rehearsals or performances were interviewed face-to-face or via online video-conferencing software, using a self-developed interview guide with open ended questions. Participants included four males and four females from Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, and Florida. The findings of this study supported previous literature on spirituality by contrasting spirituality from religion, and described spirituality as students engaging in musical experiences that transcended the fundamentals of music, involving the whole person: body, mind, and spirit. Participants shared that a certain level of technicality must be achieved before a spiritual experience would occur, but a flawless performance was not required. The participants expressed the need for vulnerability and authenticity in the classroom modelled by the teacher, but the strongest theme throughout the data was the value placed on various connections. These teachers discussed connection to the music, particularly the text, connection between the teacher and the students, connection among the students themselves, connection to the divine, and connection to the audience. The teachers suggested those interested in engaging their students in spiritual experiences could cultivate these connections through large/small group discussion, studying the cultural and historical background of the music, use of metaphors and imagination, self-reflection, journaling, sharing personal stories, engaging in ice-breakers and team building activities, mindfulness exercises, in personal interactions, and through the use of inspirational quotes. When asked to define spirituality in the context of choral music, each participant admitted that it was difficult to define, but expressed it as something bigger than themselves, tied to a greater purpose, calling, and/or worldview, and often expressed hope that students would gain this greater perspective on life.

Creative Music Education in Japan during the 1920's: The Case of the Elementary School Attached to Nara Women's Higher Teachers College

1994 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyoko Koizumi
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Teachers College ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Creative Music ◽  
Creative Music Making

‘Creative music-making’, as developed in recent years in Great Britain and other countries, has also become popular in Japanese music education; for many music teachers have come to think seriously about the significance of child-centred music education instead of teacher-centred music education. Such a trend seems to be new. However, as in the United States and Great Britain, child-centred music education has been implemented previously – during the 1920's, in Japan's case. This development began in the Elementary School Attached to Nara Women's Higher Teachers College. The author describes the ideas and practices of creative music education in this school, and its historical background, comparing them with creative music-making today.

Diversifying Musical Experiences in Schools and Music Teacher Preparation Programs

2019 ◽  
pp. 891-901
Author(s):  
Robert H. Woody ◽  
Mark C. Adams
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
The United States ◽  
Music Teacher ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Large Ensembles ◽  
Classical Traditions

This chapter discusses the innate differences between vernacular music-making cultures and those oriented in Western classical traditions, and suggests students in traditional school music education programs in the United States are not typically afforded opportunities to learn skills used in vernacular and popular music-making cultures. The chapter emphasizes a need to diversify music-making experiences in schools and describes how vernacular musicianship may benefit students’ musical development. It suggests that, in order for substantive change to occur in music education in the United States, teachers will need to advance beyond simply considering how to integrate popular music into their traditional large ensembles—and how preservice music teacher education programs may be the key to help better prepare teachers to be more versatile and philosophically open to teaching a more musically diverse experience in their future classrooms.

The educational backgrounds of DIY musicians

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Patrick Quigley ◽  
Tawnya D. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Self Care ◽  
The United States ◽  
Individualized Instruction ◽  
Music Participation ◽  
Educational Backgrounds ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Do It Yourself ◽  
Mainstream Society

In this qualitative, exploratory study we examined the music education backgrounds and current creative practices of thirteen self-described do-it-yourself (DIY) musicians from around the United States. A growing community of scholars within and outside of education have noted the relative inclusionary nature of DIY communities as compared to mainstream society. Several themes have emerged in DIY music participation literature, including social influences and isolation, and music making for self care and self expression. DIY music-making can offer a potentially liberating space for those marginalized by traditional schooling, providing students with social, educational and musical opportunities they could not find or participate in at school. Through an analysis of interviews and participation-observations of creative practices such as band rehearsals and improvisation sessions, we found that similar themes emerged in our own data. Implications for music education include the importance of more individualized instruction and opportunities for self care and self expression.

Measuring pre-service music teachers’ creative identities: a cross-cultural comparison of the United States and Singapore

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (02) ◽  
pp. 197-210
Author(s):  
Clint Randles ◽  
Leonard Tan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Music Listening ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Creative Identity ◽  
Service Music

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to examine and compare the creative musical identities of pre-service music education students in the United States and Singapore. The Creative Identity in Music (CIM) measure was utilized with both US and Singapore pre-service music teacher populations (n = 274). Items of the CIM relate to music-making activities often associated with creativity in music education in the literature, including composition, improvisation and popular music performance. Results suggest, similar to findings of previous research, that while both populations are similar in their degree of creative music-making self-efficacy and are similarly willing to allow for creativity in the classroom, Singaporean pre-service music teachers value the areas of creative identity and the use of popular music listening/performing within the learning environment to a significantly greater extent (p < 0.0001) than their US counterparts.

scholarly journals Improvisation in Elementary General Music: A Review of the Literature

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-48
Author(s):  
Michael D. Chandler
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Divergent Thinking ◽  
The United States ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Elementary Level ◽  
Instructional Time ◽  
General Music ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Research Findings

Improvisation is an area of interest to both music education researchers and music educators alike. The purpose of this literature review was to examine extant studies related to improvisation at the elementary level. Selected research included the nature of improvisation, the amount of instructional time and activity type used, the development of improvisation skills with age, and the effect of improvisation on other skill areas. Findings indicated that children chose their own musical and social roles when there was minimal teacher intervention. Most teachers agreed that improvisation was important, although at varying degrees and based on varying levels of experience and ability. Improvisation skills increased with age, particularly when considering rhythmic improvisation and phrase structure, and improvisation was found to increase creativity and divergent thinking while also reducing performance anxiety. Research findings are included from the United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Greece, Slovenia, Malaysia, and the United States. The review concludes with implications for practice and recommendations for further research.

Informal music-making among piano bar musicians: Implications for bridging the gap in music education

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Spears ◽  
Danelle Larson ◽  
Sarah Minette
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Music Theory ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
The United States ◽  
Participatory Culture ◽  
Primary Method ◽  
Multiple Forms ◽  
Music Making

Recent research in music education has sought to bridge the gap between formal music-making and informal music-making done by many musicians who may have little or no formal musical training. Piano bar musicians fall under the category of musicians who may or may not have had formal musical training but are able to perform covers of a variety of pop songs for live and interactive audiences. Many of them also play multiple instruments. Participants we observed and interviewed in this qualitative study were eight piano bar musicians from various regions of the United States. Key findings include that the primary method participants used to learn songs was listening and learning by ear; ‘reading’ music took multiple forms; music theory and chord functionality were useful and allowed for flexible musicianship; and that a participatory culture was important for learning the songs the musicians chose to learn.

“My voice speaks for itself”: The experiences of three transgender students in American secondary school choral programs

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-146
Author(s):  
Joshua Palkki
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Choral Music ◽  
The United States ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Music Programs ◽  
School Officials ◽  
Transgender Students ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Choral Programs

With the purpose of furthering lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and allies/agender/asexual (LGBTQA) dialogue in music education and to improve choral instruction for trans(gender) students, this multiple narrative case study explores the experiences of trans students in secondary school choral music programs in the United States. The emergent research design employed narrative and ethnographic techniques to honor and highlight voices of the three participants. The connection or lack thereof between voice and gender identity was different for each student. The policies of the students’ school districts, school officials, choral programs, and state music organizations shaped and influenced the participants as they navigated their trans identity within the high school choral context. Mentors (including teachers) and other “important others” helped these students as they traversed their gender journeys. From this research, it emerges that schools and choral programs can make policy changes to better serve trans youth, and more professional development and incorporation of (trans)gender issues is necessary for choral music educators.

Conducting Corporate Choirs in Brazil

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Lakschevitz
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Choral Music ◽  
Significant Part ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
Choral Directors ◽  
Critical View ◽  
Physical Conditions ◽  
Music Making ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Urban Activities

Corporate choirs represent a large part of choral music-making in Brazil. Many Brazilian companies hire choral directors to develop group singing activities with their employees, thanks in part to the recent Music Education Bill. These directors face very particular challenges that are rarely considered in their training at colleges and universities. Nonetheless, they are a significant part of the work of choral directors in Brazil. Leading a peripheral activity in relation to the company’s core business, lack of rehearsal time, volunteer singer participation, inappropriate physical conditions, management that is not akin to the arts field, and easy access to contemporary urban activities and gadgets are some factors that create these particular challenges. The corporate choir director must bridge these factors with musical procedures of their work, and approach with a more critical view issues such as repertory choice, conducting techniques, and rehearsal procedures.

Competency Assessment of Project Managers of a National NGO in India

2021 ◽  
pp. 097206342110352
Author(s):  
Monisha Vaid Sandhu ◽  
Zhanming Liang
Keyword(s):  
Human Resource Development ◽  
Interpersonal Communication ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Team Building ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Competency Assessment ◽  
Senior Managers ◽  
Building Activities ◽  
Training Team

Public health projects carried out by non-government organisations (NGOs) are considered a critical contributor in the provision of health services to rural population in India. But there is clear lack of documented evidence that describes the capacity and competency of the NGO project managers to successfully design and implement a new project. This article presents findings of an exploratory case study using outreach model of family planning service delivery as an example to understand the steps and actions taken by senior managers throughout the project’s life cycle and competencies required by them to execute the project. Focus group discussion followed by paper-based survey using sections of Management Competency Assessment Tool was conducted with senior managers of the chosen NGO. The results indicate that the strategies developed by the NGO managers are consistent with the existing literature on project management. However, not all managers have the same level of confidence in demonstrating the competencies of (a) knowledge of healthcare environment; (b) evidence informed decision making; and (c) interpersonal, communication qualities and relationship management. The organisation needs to invest in human resource development using mixed approach of providing training, team building activities, mentoring, and support.

Vasyl Bezkorovayny’s vocal works in Ukrainian music of the first half of the XX century

2019 ◽  
pp. 500-515
Author(s):  
Nataliia Kosaniak
Keyword(s):  
Choral Music ◽  
Instrumental Music ◽  
Symphony Orchestra ◽  
Vocal Music ◽  
The United States ◽  
Musical Life ◽  
Western European ◽  
Vocal Works ◽  
Post War ◽  
Talented Artist

Vasyl Bezkorovayny (1880–1966) was a talented artist, an active figure in the musical life of Galicia and a representative of post-war Ukrainian emigrants in the United States of America. He wrote more than 350 works of various genres. Among them are compositions for symphony orchestra; vocal works — for chorus, ensembles or solo singing; chamber and instrumental music — for piano, violin, zither, cello; music for dramatic performances. The article deals with the archival and musicological analysis of expressive and stylistic features of V. Bezkorovayny’s vocal works, based on the materials of Stefanyk Lviv National Library of Ukraine. Attention is paid to the place of the composer’s vocal masterpieces in the context of Ukrainian vocal music of the first half of the XX century. The most important achievements of the composer related to the genres of choral and chamber vocal music. In style, the composer’s works combine the influences of M. Lysenko, composers of the «Peremyshl school» and Western European romantic and post-romantic models. The original secular choral music of V. Bezkorovayny covers genres of songs, plays, and large-form choirs. In his solo songs the influences of romantic western European music and Ukrainian folk songs affected the formation and approval of the composer’s style. Keywords: vocal music, chorus, solos, melodic-intonation means, harmony, rhythm.

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