Matching Items (14)
Description
The integration of yoga into the music curriculum has the potential of offering many immediate and life-long benefits to musicians. Yoga can help address issues such as performance anxiety and musculoskeletal problems, and enhance focus and awareness during musical practice and performance. Although the philosophy of yoga has many similarities to the process of learning a musical instrument, the benefits of yoga for musicians is a topic that has gained attention only recently. This document explores several ways in which the practice and philosophy of yoga can be fused with saxophone pedagogy as one way to prepare students for a healthy and successful musical career. A six-week study at Arizona State University was conducted to observe the effects of regular yoga practice on collegiate saxophone students. Nine participants attended a sixty-minute "yoga for musicians" class twice a week. Measures included pre- and post- study questionnaires as well as personal journals kept throughout the duration of the study. These self-reported results showed that yoga had positive effects on saxophone playing. It significantly increased physical comfort and positive thinking, and improved awareness of habitual patterns and breath control. Student participants responded positively to the idea of integrating such a course into the music curriculum. The integration of yoga and saxophone by qualified professionals could also be a natural part of studio class and individual instruction. Carrie Koffman, professor of saxophone at The Hartt School, University of Hartford, has established one strong model for the combination of these disciplines. Her methods and philosophy, together with the basics of Western-style hatha yoga, clinical reports on performance injuries, and qualitative data from the ASU study are explored. These inquiries form the foundation of a new model for integrating yoga practice regularly into the saxophone studio.
ContributorsAdams, Allison Dromgold (Author) / Norton, Kay (Thesis advisor) / Hill, Gary (Committee member) / McAllister, Timothy (Committee member) / Micklich, Albie (Committee member) / Standley, Eileen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
This document highlights the increased involvement of “ college boys ” or “ white college boys ” - better-educated middle-class white and light-skinned persons - in steelbands in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Following an introductory overview of the demography of Trinidad and Tobago, the history of Carnival, and the interregnum of the temporary instruments used between the ban of indigenous drums in the 1880s and the invention of the steelpan at the end of the 1930s, this document will examine the history and membership of these college boy bands, with particular emphasis on the Hit Paraders. Two factors that highlight the vital role played by these college boy steelbands are discussed: commercial sponsorship of bands, and support that bands received from the People's National Movement Party. A detailed timeline of steelpan invention and innovations is also included.
ContributorsDeLamater, Elizabeth (Author) / Smith, Jeffery B (Thesis advisor) / Sunkett, Mark (Committee member) / Bush, Jeff (Committee member) / Hackbarth, Glenn (Committee member) / Solís, Ted (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Music training is associated with measurable physiologic changes in the auditory pathway. Benefits of music training have also been demonstrated in the areas of working memory, auditory attention, and speech perception in noise. The purpose of this study was to determine whether long-term auditory experience secondary to music training enhances the ability to detect, learn, and recall new words.
Participants consisted of 20 young adult musicians and 20 age-matched non-musicians. In addition to completing word recognition and non-word detection tasks, each participant learned 10 nonsense words in a rapid word-learning task. All tasks were completed in quiet and in multi-talker babble. Next-day retention of the learned words was examined in isolation and in context. Cortical auditory evoked responses to vowel stimuli were recorded to obtain latencies and amplitudes for the N1, P2, and P3a components. Performance was compared across groups and listening conditions. Correlations between the behavioral tasks and the cortical auditory evoked responses were also examined.
No differences were found between groups (musicians vs. non-musicians) on any of the behavioral tasks. Nor did the groups differ in cortical auditory evoked response latencies or amplitudes, with the exception of P2 latencies, which were significantly longer in musicians than in non-musicians. Performance was significantly poorer in babble than in quiet on word recognition and non-word detection, but not on word learning, learned-word retention, or learned-word detection. CAEP latencies collapsed across group were significantly longer and amplitudes were significantly smaller in babble than in quiet. P2 latencies in quiet were positively correlated with word recognition in quiet, while P3a latencies in babble were positively correlated with word recognition and learned-word detection in babble. No other significant correlations were observed between CAEPs and performance on behavioral tasks.
These results indicated that, for young normal-hearing adults, auditory experience resulting from long-term music training did not provide an advantage for learning new information in either favorable (quiet) or unfavorable (babble) listening conditions. Results of the present study suggest that the relationship between music training and the strength of cortical auditory evoked responses may be more complex or too weak to be observed in this population.
Participants consisted of 20 young adult musicians and 20 age-matched non-musicians. In addition to completing word recognition and non-word detection tasks, each participant learned 10 nonsense words in a rapid word-learning task. All tasks were completed in quiet and in multi-talker babble. Next-day retention of the learned words was examined in isolation and in context. Cortical auditory evoked responses to vowel stimuli were recorded to obtain latencies and amplitudes for the N1, P2, and P3a components. Performance was compared across groups and listening conditions. Correlations between the behavioral tasks and the cortical auditory evoked responses were also examined.
No differences were found between groups (musicians vs. non-musicians) on any of the behavioral tasks. Nor did the groups differ in cortical auditory evoked response latencies or amplitudes, with the exception of P2 latencies, which were significantly longer in musicians than in non-musicians. Performance was significantly poorer in babble than in quiet on word recognition and non-word detection, but not on word learning, learned-word retention, or learned-word detection. CAEP latencies collapsed across group were significantly longer and amplitudes were significantly smaller in babble than in quiet. P2 latencies in quiet were positively correlated with word recognition in quiet, while P3a latencies in babble were positively correlated with word recognition and learned-word detection in babble. No other significant correlations were observed between CAEPs and performance on behavioral tasks.
These results indicated that, for young normal-hearing adults, auditory experience resulting from long-term music training did not provide an advantage for learning new information in either favorable (quiet) or unfavorable (babble) listening conditions. Results of the present study suggest that the relationship between music training and the strength of cortical auditory evoked responses may be more complex or too weak to be observed in this population.
ContributorsStewart, Elizabeth (Author) / Pittman, Andrea (Thesis advisor) / Cone, Barbara (Committee member) / Zhou, Yi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
People are motivated to participate in musical activities for many reasons. Whereas musicians may be driven by an intrinsic desire for musical growth, self-determination theory suggests that this drive must also be sustained and supported by the social environment. Social network analysis is an interdisciplinary theoretical framework and collection of analytical methods that allows us to describe the social context of a musical ensemble. These frameworks are utilized to investigate the relationship of participatory motivation and social networks in a large Division I collegiate marching band. This study concludes that marching band members are predominantly self-determined to participate in marching band and are particularly motivated for social reasons, regardless of their experience over the course of the band season. The members who are highly motived are also more integrated into the band's friendship and advice networks. These highly integrated members also tend to be motivated by the value and importance others display for the marching band activity suggesting these members have begun to internalized those values and seek out others with similar viewpoints. These findings highlight the central nature of the social experience of marching band and have possible implications for other musical leisure ensembles. After a brief review of social music making and the theoretical frameworks, I will provide illustrations of the relationship between motivation and social networks in a musical ensemble, consider the implications of these findings for promoting self-determined motivation and the wellbeing of musical ensembles, and identify directions for future research.
ContributorsWeren, Serena (Author) / Hill, Gary W. (Thesis advisor) / Granger, Douglas (Committee member) / Bailey, Wayne (Committee member) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Reber, William (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This study seeks to identify the unwritten rules and standards of professional conduct followed by the music community. Its central source of information is a pair of surveys sent to professional musicians, specifically members of large instrumental ensembles across the United States. The first survey posed multiple-choice questions on topics related to personal professional standards, rehearsal and concert etiquette and protocol, and ethical obligations. The second survey followed up with consenting individual participants and requested stories and anecdotes from the respondents’ professional careers. The surveys yielded 70 responses from the initial 350 solicitations, representing 35 professional ensembles in 30 cities and 20 states, 18 different instruments, 41 principal players, and nearly 2,000 combined years of professional music experience. The findings shed light on many specific aspects of professionalism in the music community, and they demonstrate that an unwritten code of largely understood and observed expectations both exists and varies minimally throughout professional ensembles across the United States. The consummate professional musician is prompt, prepared, and observant of an array of expectations generated by the routines and hierarchies of rehearsals and concerts. Understanding the professional attributes and practices of successful ensemble members is important to aspiring musicians, and so this study is intended as a useful resource both for students and their teachers.
ContributorsHunt, Jared Timothy (Author) / Hickman, David R. (Thesis advisor) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / Swoboda, Deanna (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
A strong correlation exists between the effects of bullying on a singer and his or her performance anxiety. An exhaustive literature review and a survey of classical singers were used to assess this hypothesis. The survey was compiled using standard psychological and current performance anxiety questionnaires with additional questions created by the author. The data were analyzed using a Pearson Product-Moment Correlation, a regression analysis, and an Analysis of Variance.
ContributorsThilakaratne, Katherine Marie (Author) / Mills, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Kopta, Anne (Committee member) / DeMars, James (Committee member) / Karoly, Paul (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
ABSTRACT:
The research for this paper is intended to introduce the reader to many of the influential trumpet performers and pedagogues in East Asian countries and territories along the Western Pacific Ocean Rim, including China, Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan (R.O.C.), Thailand, and Vietnam.
Shao-Chun Tsai, the author of this research paper, finds it important for musicians to recognize that they are often influenced by other musicians in addition to their own efforts and self-discovery of who they are as artists. The author is a trumpeter and pianist from Taiwan, and would like to acknowledge the many outstanding trumpet players from Asia that have made important contributions to the discipline of trumpet playing. Unfortunately, there are very limited English resources available for the recognition of these pioneers, and as such they are often unknown to the general public and even to aspiring musicians. By gathering a collection of biographies, the author’s goal is to shed greater light on the rich trumpet playing and pedagogy heritage and influence in this region.
The research information contained within was primarily gathered through personal interviews conducted by the author in order to ensure that the most up-to-date and accurate information was collected for the project. This project studies nine regions and includes thirty-seven trumpeters deemed to be influential by the author, who has invested her best efforts to acquire the most in-depth and current facts obtainable. The author hopes that the stories behind each of these successful musicians will stimulate trumpeters of all ages and inspire them to pursue their own development and goals in music.
The research for this paper is intended to introduce the reader to many of the influential trumpet performers and pedagogues in East Asian countries and territories along the Western Pacific Ocean Rim, including China, Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan (R.O.C.), Thailand, and Vietnam.
Shao-Chun Tsai, the author of this research paper, finds it important for musicians to recognize that they are often influenced by other musicians in addition to their own efforts and self-discovery of who they are as artists. The author is a trumpeter and pianist from Taiwan, and would like to acknowledge the many outstanding trumpet players from Asia that have made important contributions to the discipline of trumpet playing. Unfortunately, there are very limited English resources available for the recognition of these pioneers, and as such they are often unknown to the general public and even to aspiring musicians. By gathering a collection of biographies, the author’s goal is to shed greater light on the rich trumpet playing and pedagogy heritage and influence in this region.
The research information contained within was primarily gathered through personal interviews conducted by the author in order to ensure that the most up-to-date and accurate information was collected for the project. This project studies nine regions and includes thirty-seven trumpeters deemed to be influential by the author, who has invested her best efforts to acquire the most in-depth and current facts obtainable. The author hopes that the stories behind each of these successful musicians will stimulate trumpeters of all ages and inspire them to pursue their own development and goals in music.
ContributorsTsai, Shao-Chun (Author) / Hickman, David R. (Thesis advisor) / Rogers, Rodney (Committee member) / Swoboda, Deanna (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
String players have been identified as the most affected group of instrumentalists suffering from musculoskeletal disorders, and most of the problems are related to posture. The high prevalence of injuries among string players suggests that there is room in the music curriculum for a program tailored to this population and that can provide both immediate and long-term solutions. Pilates is a mind-body conditioning method of exercises and a philosophy that shares many similarities with string playing technique and performance, which suggests that its practice can be beneficial to improve not only the posture of string players but also various other areas. Studies about Pilates as a treatment show the varied areas in which Pilates can help, which are all of interest to instrumentalists. However, the application of Pilates into the music curriculum as a way to help string players improve awareness and reduce injuries has not yet been fully explored. This document addresses the similarities between Pilates and string playing, identifies postural tendencies of string players, and demonstrates how specific Pilates exercises can help counteract asymmetries, restore balance, and reduce the number of musculoskeletal injuries of string players. All anatomical drawings included in this document were adapted from other sources, as cited, or originally drawn by the author.
ContributorsGallo, María Luciana (Author) / Norton, Kay (Thesis advisor) / Landschoot, Thomas (Thesis advisor) / Humphreys, Jere T. (Committee member) / Rotaru, Catalin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
ABSTRACT A cultural overview of the so-called "early music movement" in Arizona, specifically the musicians who performed early music in the mid-to-late twentieth century, has never been undertaken. In applying ethnographic methods to Western art music, Kay Kaufman Shelemay suggests, in her 2001 article, "Toward an Ethnomusicology of the Early Music Movement," that a musical anthropology "would seem to hold great potential for the study of `Western music.'" In this paper I analyze and discuss issues related to "early music" in Arizona from roughly 1960 to 2008. In focusing primarily on the musicians themselves, I address issues in three primary areas: 1) the repertory and the so-called "early music revival;" 2) specific types of early music which have been presented in Arizona and the effects of economic factors; and 3) Arizona musicians' attitudes toward the repertory and their motivations for specializing in it. I then analyze Arizona musicians' involvement with both the early music repertory itself and with the community, identifying how musicians were exposed to early music and whether or not those first exposures began a long-lasting involvement with the repertory. In this section I also describe ways in which musicians define early music for themselves as well as analyze more critical areas such as musicians' formation of an "early music identity." I also asked informants to discuss how they see early music as being fundamentally different from other types of "classical" music and how they view their own places in that community of "difference." Finally, I compare musicians' thoughts on the "transformative" effect that some early music can have on performers and listeners and how that effect compares with similar phenomena in other types of Western art music.
ContributorsDe Fazio, James M (Author) / Haefer, John R (Thesis advisor) / Solis, Theodore (Committee member) / Saucier, Catherine (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
The majority of trust research has focused on the benefits trust can have for individual actors, institutions, and organizations. This “optimistic bias” is particularly evident in work focused on institutional trust, where concepts such as procedural justice, shared values, and moral responsibility have gained prominence. But trust in institutions may not be exclusively good. We reveal implications for the “dark side” of institutional trust by reviewing relevant theories and empirical research that can contribute to a more holistic understanding. We frame our discussion by suggesting there may be a “Goldilocks principle” of institutional trust, where trust that is too low (typically the focus) or too high (not usually considered by trust researchers) may be problematic. The chapter focuses on the issue of too-high trust and processes through which such too-high trust might emerge. Specifically, excessive trust might result from external, internal, and intersecting external-internal processes. External processes refer to the actions institutions take that affect public trust, while internal processes refer to intrapersonal factors affecting a trustor’s level of trust. We describe how the beneficial psychological and behavioral outcomes of trust can be mitigated or circumvented through these processes and highlight the implications of a “darkest” side of trust when they intersect. We draw upon research on organizations and legal, governmental, and political systems to demonstrate the dark side of trust in different contexts. The conclusion outlines directions for future research and encourages researchers to consider the ethical nuances of studying how to increase institutional trust.
ContributorsNeal, Tess M.S. (Author) / Shockley, Ellie (Author) / Schilke, Oliver (Author)
Created2016