The Bow

Achieving Musical Success in the String Classroom ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190602888.003.0004 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 101-130

Author(s):

Karel Butz

Keyword(s):

Pitch Accuracy ◽

Tone Quality ◽

Right Hand ◽

Balance Exercises

This chapter discusses how beginning bow balance exercises allow the mastery of the three fundamental bowings: martelé, détaché, and legato. Other related bowings that serve as an extension of these three fundamental bowings are provided as well. Preparation of the bow, the students’ path to earning their bows by demonstrating proper physical alignment and instrument posture, and games and beginning rote pieces that build strong bilateral playing motion are explained. Several activities are explored on how to develop pitch accuracy with the bow. In addition, the chapter discusses common bowing errors and offers solutions: how to maintain rhythmic precision, create a rich tone quality, and keep right-hand fingers loose and flexible.

Download Full-text

Musicians’ Earplugs: Do They Affect Performance or Listeners’ Perceptions?

Medical Problems of Performing Artists ◽

10.21091/mppa.2020.4027 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 35 (4) ◽

pp. 188-195

Author(s):

Karen S. Thomas ◽

Raychl Smith ◽

Sandra Teglas ◽

Donald A. Hodges

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Music Education ◽

Music Perception ◽

Dynamic Control ◽

Sound Quality ◽

Education Students ◽

Pitch Accuracy ◽

Tone Quality ◽

Faculty Teachers

BACKGROUND: Does wearing musicians’ earplugs while performing affect the quality of the performance? Can listeners perceive a difference in sound when musicians are performing with or without earplugs? The risk of hearing loss is a concern for musicians, but some are reluctant to wear hearing protection due to factors such as an inability to hear their own instrument properly and the possibility of decreased sound quality for listeners. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of musicians’ earplugs on instrumental pitch accuracy and the perception of tone quality, intonation, and dynamic contrast, as perceived by musicians and listeners. METHODS: Ten university studio faculty teachers were recorded performing single pitches and lyrical and technical passages, first without earplugs and then immediately after with earplugs. A sample of 8 studio faculty teachers and 88 undergraduate music education students completed a researcher-created music perception test of tone quality, intonation, and dynamic contrast. RESULTS: Objective analyses of the single pitch recordings made by faculty with and without earplugs indicate that pitch accuracy did not favor either condition consistently. Results from the perception test indicate that although both faculty and student listeners perceived some differences, the most frequent perception was that the audio pair was equal, and there was no clear difference between performing with and without earplugs in terms of tone quality, intonation, or dynamic contrast. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that musicians should feel confident that wearing musicians’ earplugs while performing does not adversely affect pitch accuracy or listeners’ perceptions of their timbre and dynamic control.

Download Full-text

Intermediate-Advanced Level

Achieving Musical Success in the String Classroom ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190602888.003.0007 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 175-202

Author(s):

Karel Butz

Keyword(s):

Music History ◽

Musical Form ◽

Harmonic Structure ◽

Pitch Accuracy ◽

Advanced Level ◽

Left Hand ◽

Right Hand ◽

String Playing ◽

Left Hand Technique ◽

History And Theory

The chapter provides several exercises that aim to refine left-hand technique in the intermediate-advanced levels of string playing. These techniques include building better pitch accuracy, tuning double stops, executing trills, producing both natural and false harmonics, shifting, perfecting vibrato, and performing glissando. Right-hand bowing techniques that develop phrasing as well as various sound colors and advanced bowing styles are discussed. The author explains how incorporating western music history and theory concepts in rehearsals help students gain a deeper understanding about a piece’s purpose, musical form, harmonic structure, and rhythmic principles so that students can convey a powerful and emotional performance.

Download Full-text

Use of Vestibular Rehabilitation in the Pediatric Population

Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups ◽

10.1044/2019_pers-sig7-2019-0002 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 (6) ◽

pp. 1399-1405 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jennifer Christy

Keyword(s):

Pediatric Population ◽

Dynamic Balance ◽

Vestibular Rehabilitation ◽

Rehabilitation Program ◽

Gross Motor ◽

Gaze Stabilization ◽

Motor Delay ◽

Rehabilitation Programs ◽

Motor Practice ◽

Balance Exercises

Purpose The purpose of this article was to provide a perspective on vestibular rehabilitation for children. Conclusion The developing child with vestibular dysfunction may present with a progressive gross motor delay, sensory disorganization for postural control, gaze instability, and poor perception of motion and verticality. It is important that vestibular-related impairments be identified early in infancy or childhood so that evidence-based interventions can be initiated. A focused and custom vestibular rehabilitation program can improve vestibular-related impairments, enabling participation. Depending on the child's age, diagnosis, severity, and quality of impairments, vestibular rehabilitation programs may consist of gaze stabilization exercises, static and dynamic balance exercises, gross motor practice, and/or habituation exercises. Exercises must be modified for children, done daily at home, and incorporated into the daily life situation.

Download Full-text

Editorial Note

Journal of Speech Disorders ◽

10.1044/jshd.1101.02 ◽

1946 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 2-2

Keyword(s):

Editorial Note ◽

Speech Sounds ◽

Left Hand ◽

Hand Column ◽

Right Hand ◽

Infant Speech ◽

The Right

In the article “Infant Speech Sounds and Intelligence” by Orvis C. Irwin and Han Piao Chen, in the December 1945 issue of the Journal, the paragraph which begins at the bottom of the left hand column on page 295 should have been placed immediately below the first paragraph at the top of the right hand column on page 296. To the authors we express our sincere apologies.

Download Full-text

Eosinophilic vasculitis: an inhabitual and resistant manifestation of a vasculitis

VASA ◽

10.1024/0301-1526/a000060 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 39 (4) ◽

pp. 344-348 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Jandus ◽

Bianda ◽

Alerci ◽

Gallino ◽

Marone

Keyword(s):

Skin Biopsy ◽

Intravenous Iron ◽

Small Vessel Vasculitis ◽

High Dose ◽

Raynaud Phenomenon ◽

The Third ◽

Left Elbow ◽

Right Hand ◽

The Right ◽

Trunk Skin

A 55-year-old woman was referred because of diffuse pruritic erythematous lesions and an ischemic process of the third finger of her right hand. She was known to have anaemia secondary to hypermenorrhea. She presented six months before admission with a cutaneous infiltration on the left cubital cavity after a paravenous leakage of intravenous iron substitution. She then reported a progressive pruritic erythematous swelling of her left arm and lower extremities and trunk. Skin biopsy of a lesion on the right leg revealed a fibrillar, small-vessel vasculitis containing many eosinophils.Two months later she reported Raynaud symptoms in both hands, with a persistent violaceous coloration of the skin and cold sensation of her third digit of the right hand. A round 1.5 cm well-delimited swelling on the medial site of the left elbow was noted. The third digit of her right hand was cold and of violet colour. Eosinophilia (19 % of total leucocytes) was present. Doppler-duplex arterial examination of the upper extremities showed an occlusion of the cubital artery down to the palmar arcade on the right arm. Selective angiography of the right subclavian and brachial arteries showed diffuse alteration of the blood flow in the cubital artery and hand, with fine collateral circulation in the carpal region. Neither secondary causes of hypereosinophilia nor a myeloproliferative process was found. Considering the skin biopsy results and having excluded other causes of eosinophilia, we assumed the diagnosis of an eosinophilic vasculitis. Treatment with tacrolimus and high dose steroids was started, the latter tapered within 12 months and then stopped, but a dramatic flare-up of the vasculitis with Raynaud phenomenon occurred. A new immunosupressive approach with steroids and methotrexate was then introduced. This case of aggressive eosinophilic vasculitis is difficult to classify into the usual forms of vasculitis and constitutes a therapeutic challenge given the resistance to current immunosuppressive regimens.

Download Full-text