La Educación Artística del estudiante superior de Música: Diagnóstico mediante un estudio de revisión

The understanding of the cultural and social dimension of the work of art is indispensable in a music professional, artistic disciplines coexist and create synergies throughout history. The aim is to determine the current situation of the Spanish centers of higher artistic education in music and the student's contact with the arts that surround him, knowing that in his professional future he will have to coexist and participate in them. The research methodology is based on a systematic review of the curricula of the higher conservatories of music in Spain. In the entire system of higher institutions analyzed, only 44 subjects related to art are offered, of which 63.6% are optional. The study concludes that we are facing a compartmentalization of knowledge, where instrumental practice is the center of the curriculum, leaving aside the spaces of confluence between the arts.

Development and validation of a measure of instrumental practice–related affect

The article presents the development and validation of the instrumental practice–related affect measure (IPAM), based on the circumplex model of affect. This 16-item measure assesses four types of affect related to practicing a musical instrument: anxiety, comfort, depression, and enthusiasm. We conducted two studies. Confirmatory factor analysis supports the measure’s four-factor structure, allowing also for the distinction of two higher-order factors: positive and negative affect. The IPAM scales are highly reliable and correlate with affective traits, confirming the validity of the measure. The IPAM allows for capturing affective experiences in the musical learning context, in both basic and applied research.

Mental practice of musically gifted adolescents

In the last decade, the growing interest in the subject of musicians’ mental practice has produced a significant increase in research on mental and instrumental practice. More than half of all the studies concerns professional musicians, and relatively little research is conducted on children or adolescents. The article will describe research on the mental practice of teenagers attending music schools in Poland and Germany. Questionnaire surveys answer the question of whether young people use mental practice, how they do it, and what the content of mental training while practicing an instrument is. The analysis suggests that gifted adolescents from both countries (1) do not use mental rehearsal very often and (2) use mental practice strategies in a similar way. What they differ in is the frequency of using mental practice as an integral part of their instrumental learning, using musical-analytical strategy, and the quality of mental practice. The study indicates the need to teach mental practice and its importance in increasing the effectiveness of instrumental practice.

The identity politics: competition of new theoretical meanings and political strategies

The fragility of the modern unstable world has created both theoretical and methodological crises, and opened up opportunities for discursive and politicalpragmatic transcending the boundaries of linear normative constructions of Modernity. The inclusion of the concepts of identity and identity politics paradigm in the interpretation of political reality, and in instrumental practice appropriate strategies and technologies that lead to improving the performance of scientific research, and at the same time – to the aggravation of the uncertainty and destructive due to the use of political practices, guided around them. The subject field of these concepts is diversified and fragmented, reflecting the multiplicity of referents and generating conceptual and political-instrumental competition. The aim of the research is to trace the theoretical response to changing reality, which is poorly described by the traditional institutional paradigm of political science and requires the incorporation of socio-cultural meanings, which then becomes a catalyst and legitimizing basis for certain political practices. The authors address the conceptual positions of the theories of protest identity (M. Castells) resentiment (F. Fukuyama), pseudo-politics (M. Lilla), politics of life (A. Giddens), tribes and new tribalism (M. Maffesoli) and retrotopia (Z. Bauman).

Esperienza, Teacher of All Things

This paper reexamines the music and experimental science of Vincenzo Galilei through the lens of artisanal epistemology. Where previous scholars have questioned the veracity of Vincenzo’s experiments, I unpack how Vincenzo himself understood and utilized esperienza. Arguing against Cohen and Prins especially, I assert that Vincenzo’s esperienza functioned as a rational-empirical way of studying nature. I then show how esperienza played analogous roles in his science and practice. By treating his music as artisanal epistemology, I portray Vincenzo’s musical composition, like his experimentalism, as a form of natural knowledge-making. He deployed esperienza in science to capture knowledge of consonance and in art to express knowledge of music’s effects on passions. Finally, I situate Vincenzo within broader humanistic and artistic trends and consider his influence on Galileo. This study explores Renaissance music at the nexus of mathematical theory and empirical and instrumental practice while reinterpreting the early modern concept of esperienza.

The role of affect in practicing a musical instrument: A systematic review of the literature

Affect impacts people’s cognitive processes as well as provides the energy to pursue goals and engage in actions. Research suggests that affect might influence instrumental learning behavior. This review aims to summarize the existing literature concerning the relationship between affect and instrumental practice. In order to determine the role of affect in undertaking instrumental practice and in engagement in practice, we conducted a systematic search via electronic databases and reference lists; we also hand-searched the key journals. Studies were included in the review if they concerned both affect and practicing behavior in musicians and instrumental students across all age groups and if the relationships between the two constructs were investigated. We focused on individual instrumental practice in the classical repertoire. Eleven studies met our inclusion criteria. They reported quantitative relationships between affect and the amount of practice or qualitatively described the role of affect in practice engagement. The results of this systematic review show that practicing a musical instrument is associated with different types of affect—practice-related, performance-related, and context-free affect. Further investigation of affect in the context of music learning may inform future interventions for instrumentalists motivating them to practice.

How Can Abstract Objects of Mathematics Be Known?†

The aim of the paper is to answer some arguments raised against mathematical structuralism developed by Michael Resnik. These arguments stress the abstractness of mathematical objects, especially their causal inertness, and conclude that mathematical objects, the structures posited by Resnik included, are inaccessible to human cognition. In the paper I introduce a distinction between abstract and ideal objects and argue that mathematical objects are primarily ideal. I reconstruct some aspects of the instrumental practice of mathematics, such as symbolic manipulations or ruler-and-compass constructions, and argue that instrumental practice can secure epistemic access to ideal objects of mathematics.

Are there differences in practice depending on the instrument played?

There has been little research on instrument differences in the length and nature of instrumental practice or how these may interact with level of expertise. This paper aimed to address this issue. A total of 3,325 young people ranging in level of expertise from beginner to the level required for entry to higher education conservatoire completed a questionnaire which consisted of a number of statements relating to time spent practicing, practicing strategies, organization of practice, and motivation to practice with a seven-point rating scale. Data were analyzed in relation to nine levels of expertise. Factor analysis revealed seven factors which were used to make comparisons between those playing different classical instruments. The findings showed that those playing keyboard instruments practiced the most, followed by strings, brass, and woodwind. There were relatively few statistically significant instrument differences in practice strategies. Where there were differences it was the woodwind players who tended to adopt less effective strategies. There were some interactions between level of expertise and practice which generally showed no clear patterns suggesting complexity in the development of musical expertise in relation to different instruments. The findings are discussed in terms of possible reasons for these differences.