Music composition for iPad performance: Examining perspectives

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia E. Riley

This qualitative research investigated a music composition created specifically for performance on iPads. It examined perspectives of the composers, performers and audience member participants. Composers were undergraduate music education majors with concentrations in music composition, performers were undergraduate music education majors, and audience members included music majors, composers, music theory professors and conductors of traditional large ensembles. Data included the notated composition and written reflection statements by the composers, performers and audience members. Reflection questions guided the statements, and included: how does composing for iPad instruments differ from composing for more traditional instruments? How do you feel performing on an iPad differs from performing on more traditional instruments? What were the challenges that you encountered and how did you respond to them? And, what did you like best and least about this composition and/or performance? The data were analysed for emergent themes, and the themes discussed.

2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert H. Woody ◽  
Danni Gilbert ◽  
Lynda A. Laird

For music teachers to be most effective, they must possess the dispositions that best facilitate their students’ learning. In this article, we present and discuss the findings of a study in which we sought to explore music majors’ self-appraisals in and the extent to which they value the disposition areas of reflectivity, empathic caring, musical comprehensiveness, and musical learnability orientation. Evidence from a survey of 110 music majors suggested that music education students possess and value the dispositions of reflectivity, musical comprehensiveness, and musical learnability orientation more highly after they have matured through their college careers. Additionally, based on their responses to music teaching scenarios, it appears that senior music education majors possess greater empathic caring than do their freshman counterparts.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina Verrico ◽  
Jill Reese

This phenomenological case study describes the lived experiences of eleven university music majors participating in an iPad ensemble. The research was guided by the following question: What are their perceptions of their experiences using technology to create and perform music in an iPad ensemble? Participants were six music education majors and five music therapy majors. They met for seven weeks and concluded with a performance that included original compositions, improvisations and cover songs. Data included weekly written reflections and interviews with each participant. The essence of their experience was a sense of freedom from restrictions imposed by previous formal training and a feeling of empowerment developed through collective exploration and creativity in an autonomous environment free from judgement. Four themes support the essence: (1) informal and judgement-free context; (2) exploration, socially constructed knowledge and collaboration; (3) democracy, shared leadership and autonomy and (4) process and enjoyment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-474
Author(s):  
Lori F Gooding ◽  
D Gregory Springer

Abstract Music teachers play an important role in exposing students to career options in the field of music. As a result, there is a need to explore music education students’ interest in and knowledge of music therapy. The purpose of this study was to investigate music education students’ exposure to, knowledge of, and willingness to promote music therapy as a career option for prospective collegiate students. A survey was given to 254 music education majors from four research institutions, two with and two without music therapy degree programs. Participants answered demographic, yes/no, Likert-type scale, and open-ended questions about their exposure to, knowledge of, and willingness to promote careers in music therapy. Results indicate that exposure to music therapy occurred in both pre-collegiate and college settings, and that music teachers appear to be influential in exposing students to music therapy. Students often sought out information on music therapy independently, which played an important role in how individuals learned about music therapy, though it has the potential of providing misinformation. Significant differences were found in participants’ knowledge and willingness to promote music therapy as a career option based on the presence of music therapy degree programs. Exposure seemed to be a key factor in music therapy knowledge and promotion; thus, music therapists need to ensure accurate dissemination of music therapy-related information in both pre-collegiate and college settings. Increasing the visibility of the field has the potential to expand interest and potentially attract young musicians well suited for a career in music therapy.


2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian A. Silvey ◽  
Mark Montemayor ◽  
Christopher M. Baumgartner

The purpose of this study was to investigate undergraduate instrumental music education majors’ score study practices as they related to the effectiveness of their simulated conducting. Participants ( N = 30) were video recorded in two sessions in which they completed a 20-min score study session and a simulated conducting performance. In the first score study session, all 30 conductors studied Mini-Suite for Band, Movement 1. In Session 2, participants studied Portrait of a Clown but this time either with a model recording ( n = 15) or without one ( n = 15). We computed the overall duration of participants’ score study behaviors for both pieces. Additional data included graduate students’ evaluations of participants’ post–score study conducting performances and an inventory of participants’ score study markings. We found a significant difference in the proportion of time spent in score studying activities between the model and no-model condition conductors, with more time spent in gesturing when studying along with a model. Evaluations of participants’ conducting revealed no differences between those conductors who used a model and those who did not while studying Portrait of a Clown. Our analysis of conductors’ score markings revealed a small number of notable differences between stronger/weaker conductors and between model/no-model conditions. Implications for undergraduate conductor preparation programs are discussed.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002242942110614
Author(s):  
Michelle S. McConkey ◽  
Christa R. Kuebel

Researchers have identified high levels of stress among music education students, but we know very little about how students manage this stress and how emotional competence skills might be utilized within stress coping mechanisms for this population. Through this qualitative study, we sought to understand the stress coping strategies of eight music education majors through the lens of emotional competence as outlined by Saarni. We identified several sources of participants’ stress: general life stress, schedule, performance expectations, and coursework. Student coping strategies included awareness of stress, an attitude of pushing through, self-care, and seeking support. Through coding and utilization of the theoretical framework, we concluded that all eight of Saarni’s emotional competence skills were evident in the data as a whole, but not for each individual participant. Minimal evidence was found for half of the skills and for some students they were nonexistent, thus indicating a need for growth in emotional competency. Gaining an understanding of how music education majors cope with their stress could be a key step toward understanding how to better support students throughout their degree programs and as they transition into the field of music education.


2008 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Napoles

The author investigates relationships between instructor, peer, and self-evaluations. Undergraduate music education students each taught three micro-teaching segments. Immediately after teaching, they filled out an evaluation for themselves indicating four things they did well, one suggestion for improvement, and an effectiveness score from 1 to 10. All students in the class also completed this task, as did the instructor. Ratings were compared and correlated, and comments were analyzed to determine whether self-comments were the same as peer comments, instructor comments, both, or none. One week after the fact, students were asked to recall every comment that had been made after their teaching. Results indicate that (a) peer ratings were consistently the lowest, (b) self-comments made immediately after teaching were most similar to peer comments or comments made by neither instructor nor peers, and (c) most comments recalled 1 week later were those made by peers or by both instructor and peers.


2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Gregory Springer ◽  
Brian A. Silvey

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of accompaniment quality on the evaluation of solo instrumental performance. Undergraduate instrumental music education majors ( N = 71) listened to and evaluated the accuracy and expressivity of six excerpts of Haydn’s Concerto for Trumpet in E-Flat Major, which we created by synchronizing recordings of good and bad performances of a trumpet soloist with good and bad performances of a piano accompaniment (as well as a no-accompaniment condition). Participants also chose one “best aspect of the performance” and one “aspect needing most improvement” for each excerpt. Significant main effects for accompaniment condition (good, bad, or none) and solo condition (good or bad) were found, in addition to interaction effects. Results of a Solo × Accompaniment interaction signified that participants’ ratings were not independent of accompaniment condition, and this effect was moderated by the performance quality of the trumpet soloist. Additionally, participants noted different “best aspects” and “aspects needing most improvement” based on both solo performance quality and accompaniment condition.


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