Matching Items (5)
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- All Subjects: Performing Arts education
- Creators: Schmidt, Margaret
- Status: Published
Description
Johann Sebastian Bach's violin Sonata I in G minor, BWV 1001, is a significant and widely performed work that exists in numerous editions and also as transcriptions or arrangements for various other instruments, including the guitar. A pedagogical guitar performance edition of this sonata, however, has yet to be published. Therefore, the core of my project is a transcription and pedagogical edition of this work for guitar. The transcription is supported by an analysis, performance and pedagogical practice guide, and a recording. The analysis and graphing of phrase structures illuminate Bach's use of compositional devices and the architectural function of the work's harmonic gravities. They are intended to guide performers in their assessment of the surface ornamentation and suggest a reduction toward its fundamental purpose. The end result is a clarification of the piece through the organization of phrase structures and the prioritization of harmonic tensions and resolutions. The compiling process is intended to assist the performer in "seeing the forest from the trees." Based on markings from Bach's original autograph score, the transcription considers fingering ease on the guitar that is critical to render the music to a functional and practical level. The goal is to preserve the composer's indications to the highest degree possible while still adhering to the technical confines that allow for actual execution on the guitar. The performance guide provides suggestions for articulation, phrasing, ornamentation, and other interpretive decisions. Considering the limitations of the guitar, the author's suggestions are grounded in various concepts of historically informed performance, and also relate to today's early-music sensibilities. The pedagogical practice guide demonstrates procedures to break down and assimilate the musical material as applied toward the various elements of guitar technique and practice. The CD recording is intended to demonstrate the transcription and the connection to the concepts discussed. It is hoped that this pedagogical edition will provide a rational that serves to support technical decisions within the transcription and generate meaningful interpretive realizations based on principles of historically informed performance.
ContributorsFelice, Joseph Philip (Author) / Koonce, Frank (Thesis advisor) / Feisst, Sabine (Committee member) / Swartz, Jonathan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
This study examined attitudes and perspectives of classroom guitar students toward the reading of staff notation in music. The purpose of this qualitative research was to reveal these perceptions in the student's own words, and compare them to those of orchestra and band students of comparable experience. Forty-seven students from four suburban middle and high schools on the east coast were selected through purposeful sampling techniques. Research instruments included a Musical Background Questionnaire and a thirty-five question Student Survey. Follow-up interviews were conducted with students to clarify or expound upon collected data. Guitar, orchestra, and band teachers were interviewed in order to provide their perspectives on the issues discussed. The Student Survey featured a five-point Likert-type scale, which measured how much students agreed or disagreed with various statements pertaining to their feelings about music, note-reading, or their class at school. Collected data were coded and used to calculate mean scores, standard deviations, and percentages of students in agreement or disagreement with each statement. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed into a word processing document for analysis. The study found that while a variety of perspectives exist within a typical guitar class, some students do not find note-reading to be necessary for the types of music they desire to learn. Other findings included a perceived lack of relevance toward the classical elements of the guitar programs in the schools, a lack of educational consistency between classroom curricula and private lesson objectives, and the general description of the struggle some guitarists experience with staff notation. Implications of the collected data were discussed, along with recommendations for better engaging these students.
ContributorsWard, Stephen Michael (Author) / Koonce, Frank (Thesis advisor) / Schmidt, Margaret (Thesis advisor) / Buck, Nancy (Committee member) / Rogers, Rodney (Committee member) / McLin, Katherine (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
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.
ContributorsTang, Tee Tong (Author) / Swartz, Jonathan (Thesis advisor) / Schmidt, Margaret (Committee member) / Feisst, Sabine (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Since the 1920's, the school musical has been an important event in American high schools and in the lives of students. This study begins with a condensed history of the American musical theatre, into focus on selected shows' value as potential high school repertoire. Review of literature included studies of high school musical theatre, production guides and related materials, and writings both against and in favor of musicals at the high school level. The school musical is usually undertaken as an extra-curricular activity led by performing arts faculty. This study focuses on the preparation, responsibilities, and attitudes of high school music educators toward musical theatre direction. Musical direction is defined as teaching the vocal music, and teaching and leading the instrumental music of the production where applicable. A researcher-designed survey was distributed to Arizona music educators in schools that included grade 12. The response rate was 71%. Questions included items designed to assess the pervasiveness of musical theatre productions, the roles and responsibilities of music educators, and their preparation for those roles. Additional Likert-type questions comprised an inventory measuring attitudes toward musical theatre productions. Results of the survey showed that musicals are produced in 80% of Arizona high schools, and music faculty are expected to lead at least the musical aspects of these productions. Although 62% report that they learned about teaching musical theatre on the job, and that they received no other preparation, 70% report a large amount of personal enjoyment and fulfillment from their work in musical theatre. The mean attitude score for positive feelings about work in musical theatre was found to be significantly higher for choral teachers than instrumental teachers. The primary implications of the study are the need for better preparation and in-service opportunities for music educators in musical theatre pedagogy.
ContributorsDavey, Debra Jo (Author) / Stauffer, Sandra (Thesis advisor) / Bush, Jeffrey (Thesis advisor) / Reber, William (Committee member) / Schmidt, Margaret (Committee member) / Sullivan, Jill (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
This study examined directors’, master teachers’, graduate and undergraduate
String Project teachers’ perspectives of the skills and behaviors important for teaching strings. Participants were from the 40 String Projects listed on the National String Project Consortium website, including String Project directors (n = 16), master teachers (n = 7), graduate (n = 6) and undergraduate string teachers (n = 46) involved in String Projects across the United States. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 72 years old.
The survey for this study was based on Teachout’s 1997 survey pertaining to teachers’ skills and behaviors in three categories: teaching, personal, musical. A cover letter containing a link to the electronic survey was sent to directors and master teachers for the 40 String Projects, requesting their participation and the participation of their string teachers. Seventy-five participants from 19 String Projects completed the survey.
Means and standard deviations were calculated for each item for each of the four participant groups. Overall means for each category of skills and behaviors were calculated followed by a one-way Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) to determine which of the three categories the teachers and directors believed most important. Three one-way MANOVAs were used to analyze participants’ perspectives for three broad categories of skills and behaviors (personal, teaching, and musical) across the four participant groups. No significant differences were found across all three MANOVA analyses. Additionally, descriptive statistics were used to determine the rankings of importance for the four participant groups on 40 survey items.
Results showed that participants in all four groups believed that personal skills and behaviors were more important than teaching and musical skills and behaviors.
Also conducted were Pearson Product-Moment Correlations, which analyses revealed a strong positive relationship between the ranked perceptions of musical and teaching skills and behaviors (r = .78, p = .00), between musical and personal skills and behaviors (r = .65, p = .00), and between personal and teaching skills and behaviors (r = .84, p = .00). Strong positive correlations were found between the three categories. Recommendations for research and practice were given.
String Project teachers’ perspectives of the skills and behaviors important for teaching strings. Participants were from the 40 String Projects listed on the National String Project Consortium website, including String Project directors (n = 16), master teachers (n = 7), graduate (n = 6) and undergraduate string teachers (n = 46) involved in String Projects across the United States. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 72 years old.
The survey for this study was based on Teachout’s 1997 survey pertaining to teachers’ skills and behaviors in three categories: teaching, personal, musical. A cover letter containing a link to the electronic survey was sent to directors and master teachers for the 40 String Projects, requesting their participation and the participation of their string teachers. Seventy-five participants from 19 String Projects completed the survey.
Means and standard deviations were calculated for each item for each of the four participant groups. Overall means for each category of skills and behaviors were calculated followed by a one-way Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) to determine which of the three categories the teachers and directors believed most important. Three one-way MANOVAs were used to analyze participants’ perspectives for three broad categories of skills and behaviors (personal, teaching, and musical) across the four participant groups. No significant differences were found across all three MANOVA analyses. Additionally, descriptive statistics were used to determine the rankings of importance for the four participant groups on 40 survey items.
Results showed that participants in all four groups believed that personal skills and behaviors were more important than teaching and musical skills and behaviors.
Also conducted were Pearson Product-Moment Correlations, which analyses revealed a strong positive relationship between the ranked perceptions of musical and teaching skills and behaviors (r = .78, p = .00), between musical and personal skills and behaviors (r = .65, p = .00), and between personal and teaching skills and behaviors (r = .84, p = .00). Strong positive correlations were found between the three categories. Recommendations for research and practice were given.
ContributorsAlsayegh, Yousef A (Author) / Schmidt, Margaret (Thesis advisor) / Sullivan, Jill (Thesis advisor) / Stauffer, Sandy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019