MTO


Volume 9, Number 4, October 2003
Copyright © 2003 Society for Music Theory

New Dissertations

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Van Colle, S. J. "Music therapy process with young people who have severe and multiple disabilities." University of Reading, January 2003.

AUTHOR: Van Colle, S. J.

TITLE: "Music therapy process with young people who have severe and multiple disabilities."

INSTITUTION: University of Reading, Department of Music, 35 Upper Redlands Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 5JE, UK.

BEGUN: 4,1988

COMPLETION: 1,2003

ABSTRACT:
This research was inspired by the responses of children with cerebral palsy and severe and multiple disabilities during music therapy at the Cheyne Hospital for Spastic Children, London, 1985-1986. These responses were surprisingly full of life, optimism and awareness. They prompted the writer to investigate her work in the hope of finding some explanation.

A detailed description was made of the processes of interactive music therapy with two groups each of four children who were described as having cerebral palsy and severe and multiple disabilities. The writer's interest was that of a developmental music therapist. The sessions took place over one academic year and were video-taped. Two early and two late sessions were transcribed, first as a written musical score with coded observables, then distilled into a computer file as a list of timed events.

The study was qualitative and quantitative. Descriptions and interpretations were made of selected portions, and corroborative evidence of the findings sought by performing analyses of the event list. In relation to the enormity and complexity of the data gathered, this study has only explored a fraction of the possibilities.

There were two major aims: (1) to investigate the hypothesis that the role of the music therapist is like that of the 'good-enough mother' as described by D. W. Winnicott (2) to generate some broad guidelines of music therapy.

Three main questions were addressed:
(1) Did the children take more part in music therapy sessions over a period of time?
(2) When did the major child-therapist interactions occur?
(3) When the music therapist focused on an individual child how could it be known that the child was aware of this attention?

The study showed that the children responded to music therapy and had some expectation of how the music 'worked'. For example, some beat on the downbeat, pitched in the therapist's tonality and followed V7-I shifts. One child sang four notes of a scale.

There was every indication that children with severe and multiple disabilities possessed and used a musical understanding which enabled them to connect and relate to the therapist.

TOC:
Chapter 1 Music Therapy: Introduction and Broad Historical Overview
1.1 A Background to Music Theray
1.2 The Legacy of the Greeks
1.3 The Transitional Period
1.4 Music Therapy in the Middle Ages: Religion and Magic
1.5 The Renaissance and Musical Harmony
1.6 Views of Other Cultures
1.7 Music Therapy in Victorian Britain
1.8 The Development of the Music Therapy Profession
1.9 Difficulty in Defining Music Therapy
1.10 Current Trends in Music Therapy Practice
1.11 The Research of Fenwick and Robertson
1.12 Conclusions
Chapter 2 Music Therapy Research in Great Britain
2.1 Foundations of British Research
2.2 The Shape of British Research
2.3 The Writer's Research Position
2.4 Conclusion
Chapter 3 Intervals and the Piano
3.1 Introduction
3.2 The Piano as One of Many Instruments in Music Therapy
3.3 Fundamental Properties of the Piano and their Value to the Music
Therapist
3.4 The Psychological Relationship Between Therapist and Piano
Chapter 4 Donald W. Winnicott
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Towards Sharing the External World
4.3 Environmental Provision
4.4 Early Psychic Functioning
4.5 Conclusion
Chapter 5 Mother-Infant Relationship: A Model for the
Therapist-Client Relationship?
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Ethology
5.3 Development of the Mother-Infant Relationship
5.4 The Basic Structure
5.5 The Basic Structure and the Good-Enough Mother
5.6 The Writer's Philosophical Position
5.7 Conclusion
Chapter 6 Research Methods
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Orientation
6.3 Description of Cerebral Palsy
6.4 Augmentative and Alternative Communication
6.5 The Writer's Clinical Technique
6.6 Design of Study: Development
Chapter 7 Measures of Behaviours
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Choice of Sessions
7.3 Choice of Observables
7.4 The Number of Observables
7.5 Reliability Test
7.6 Rating Scales
7.7 Definitions of Observables
7.8 Overview of Catalogue of Observables
Chapter 8 Descriptive Analysis of Observables
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Frequency of Observables
8.3 Duration of Observables
8.4 Children's Observables of the Head
8.5 Children's Observables of the Arms and Torso
8.6 Children's Observables of the Legs and Feet
8.7 Children's Observables and BAR
8.8 Children's Vocalisations
8.9 Therapist's Visibles
8.10 Therapist's Audibles
8.11 Helper Observables
Chapter 9 Rare Events and Change Events
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Rare Events
9.3 Discussion of Rare Events
9.4 Change Events
9.5 Summary of Change Events
9.6 Conclusions
Chapter 10 Therapist's Time-Signature Change
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Background to Episode
10.3 Comments on Background
10.4 Conclusion
10.5 Description of Episode
10.6 Comments on Episode
10.7 Conclusion
Chapter 11 Mahmoud's Vocalisation
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Background to Episode
11.3 Comments on Background
11.4 Conclusion
11.5 Description of Episode
11.6 Comments on Episode
11.7 Conclusion
Chapter 12 Making Music with an Instrument
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Background to Episode
12.3 Comments on Background
12.4 Conclusion
12.5 Description of Episode
12.6 Comments on Episode
12.7 Conclusion
Chapter 13 Barnaby's Imitative Behaviour
13.1 Introduction
13.2 Background to Episode
13.3 Comments on Background
13.4 Conclusion
13.5 Description of Episode
13.6 Comments on Episode
13.7 Conclusion
Chapter 14 Christopher's Smile
14.1 Introduction
14.2 Background to Episode
14.3 Comments on Background
14.4 Conclusion
14.5 Description of Episode
14.6 Comments on Episode
14.7 Conclusion
Chapter 15 Teachers' Ratings
15.1 Introduction
15.2 Changes in Ratings across each Session
15.3 Mean and Standard Deviation of Change Scores
15.4 Student's t-Test
15.5 Discussion
Chapter 16 Examining the Process of Music Therapy
16.1 Introduction
16.2 Short-Term Sequential Analysis
16.3 Long-term Sequential Analysis
16.4 Analysis of Observables on the Downbeat
16.5 The Basic Structure and Child-Therapist Relationship
16.6 The Three Research Questions
16.7 Music Therapy Guidelines
16.8 Ways in which the Research could have been Improved
16.9 Conclusions
Appendix A Themes of the Basic Structure
Appendix B Consent Form
Appendix C Register of Attendance
Appendix D Detailed Definitions of Observable Codes
Appendix E The Event List: Format and Sample
E.1 Event List Format
E.2 Sample Excerpt
Appendix F Reliability Test Results (Kappa)
Appendix G Observable Occurrence Totals
Appendix H Descriptions of Rare Events
Appendix I Descriptions of Change Events
Appendix J Transcriptions
Appendix K Teachers' Ratings
Appendix L Short Term Sequential Analysis Results
Appendix M Long Term Sequential Analysis Results
Appendix N Methods of Data Analysis
N.1 Reliability Test (Kappa)
N.2 Co-Occurrence Analysis and Long-Term Sequential Analysis
N.3 Short Term Sequential Analysis
N.4 'Downbeat' Analysis
References

CONTACT:
Email: suevancolle@sjvc.co.uk

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Polyvios, Androutsos. "Development and Experimental Implementation of a Model of Teaching the History of Music in Secondary Education." Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, December 2002.

AUTHOR: Androutsos Polyvios

TITLE: Development and Experimental Implementation of a Model of Teaching the History of Music in Secondary Education

INSTITUTION: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Music Department

BEGUN: January, 1995

COMPLETED: December, 2002

ABSTRACT:
The purpose of the study was to develop and implement a model of teaching the history of music in secondary education. The researcher investigated whether and to what degree this model facilitated student achievement in the history of music, including the development of skills of historic perception, comprehension of historic continuity, and listening recognition and placement of musical works in their historic framework. The model consisted of the following components: strategy, methods, tools, and teaching material. Subjects were ninth-grade public general secondary education students in Greece (N=176). An experimental-control group post-test only design was used. Eight intact classes were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups taking under consideration regional representation (i.e., urban and rural areas). The instruction period for both groups was 10 weeks, during which the Baroque and Classical eras of Western art music were covered. The experimental group was taught accordingly to the model whereas the control group according to the choices of the control group teachers. During the 11th week, a review and format trial test took place. During the 12th week, a multiple-choice format test, designed by the investigator, was administered. The results showed the test to be reliable. The data were analyzed through three-way ANOVA procedures. The statistically significant difference between the control and experimental groups in favor of the experimental group and the statistical significance of two interactions (treatment x gender and region x gender) demonstrated the success of the model and its components. The results in general showed that the model and its components had a substantial positive effect on male students' achievement. The model proved to be useful and viable and the teaching materials appropriate for actual use in the schools.

KEYWORDS: teaching model, teaching strategy, history of music, experimental research

TOC:
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 2: HISTORY OF MUSIC AND ITS TEACHING
CHAPTER 3: MODEL, STRATEGY, METHODS, and TEACHING MATERIAL
CHAPTER 4: METHODS, PROCEDURES, AND RESULTS
CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

CONTACT:
Polyvios Androutsos
PO Box 533, Plagiari, 57500, Thessaloniki, Greece
Tel. +30 23920 63589
Fax. +30 23920 63370
email: pand@mus.auth.gr

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Lopes, Eduardo. "Just In Time: towards a theory of rhythm and metre." University of Southampton, March 2003.

AUTHOR: Lopes, Eduardo

TITLE: Just In Time: towards a theory of rhythm and metre

INSTITUTION: University of Southampton

COMPLETED: March, 2003

ABSTRACT:
Many musicians (whether composers, performers, or writers) see rhythm as the most fundamental and indispensable element of music. But paradoxically, the general recognition of the paramount importance of the durational parameters of music (rhythm and metre), ended up working against them: the 'naturalness' of rhythm and metre made theorists feel too confident that their own aesthetic preferences reflected the essence of these parameters. The result is the subordinate position attributed to rhythm and metre by traditional music theory, which seeks to understand them in relation to pitch structure. This thesis instead proposes a purely durational approach which assesses the operation and qualities (mainly salience and kinesis) of rhythm and metre, and their interaction with other music parameters. The proposed model is supported by a series of experiments and illustrated in three analytical case studies.

KEYWORDS: theory, analysis, perception, rhythm, metre

CONTACT:
R. da Igreja Velha, 145-1D
4465-173 S. M. Infesta
Portugal
Phone: 00 351 933434346
Email: ejtlopes@yahoo.co.uk

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Julien, Patricia A. "The Structural Function of Harmonic Relations in Wayne Shorter's Early Compositions: 1959-1963." University of Maryland, May 2003.

AUTHOR: Julien, Patricia A

TITLE: The Structural Function of Harmonic Relations in Wayne Shorter's Early Compositions: 1959-1963

INSTITUTION: University of Maryland, College Park

BEGUN: October, 1998

COMPLETED: May, 2003

ABSTRACT:
Of the fifty-three compositions by jazz saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter copyrighted between 1959-1963, six, representing the scope of Shorter's practice, are analyzed in this dissertation. The dissertation examines some of Shorter's compositional contributions to the transformations in harmonic practice after bebop, focusing on his treatment of tonality and structural use of harmonic relations. While some compositions (e.g., "Suspended Sentence" and "Callaway Went That 'A Way") from this period are organized according to traditional tonal relationships, others (e.g., "Pug Nose" and "Sakeena's Vision") establish an unequivocal tonic through atypical means (combining tonal roles of harmony and voice leading with a contextually-defined hierarchy); still others (e.g., "Sincerely Diana" and "El Toro") project ambiguous tonal function (establishing no single centric sonority whose influence acts as a basis for the harmonic relations). Analyses employ layered reductions distilling the essential harmonic relations that articulate the structure and form of the composition.

Several fundamental issues are revealed through the analyses. Shorter elegantly transforms melodic relations of the foreground level (such as neighboring tones, nonharmonic tones, and phrase asymmetry) not only to harmonic relations but also to formal relations at the deepest structural levels. Whether clearly tonal, atypically tonal, or ambiguous regarding an expression of tonality, stepwise chord roots often are more significant to Shorter's 'progressions' than traditional harmonic motion. In his frequent use of minor dominant chords, Shorter demonstrates that chord quality may be structurally inconsequential. This is part of Shorter's general practice of granting functional primacy to chord roots over chord quality and the function that might be suggested by such chord quality. Shorter's works also disclose the composer's critical interest in third relations.

These findings help fulfill one goal of the dissertation research, which is to gain an understanding of Shorter's early compositions, furthering an appreciation of his structural use of functional and non-functional harmonies. The dissertation adds Shorter's early compositions to the body of studied works that exemplify an expansion of both tonality and the structural function of harmonic relations.

KEYWORDS: Jazz theory, jazz composition, analysis, Hard Bop, harmonic relations, structural function, Wayne Shorter, tonality

TOC:
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Unequivocally Tonal
Chapter 3: Tonality Achieved Through Atypical Means
Chapter 4: Tonal Ambiguity

CONTACT:
Patricia Julien
Southwick Music Complex
University of Vermont
Burlington, VT 05405
patricia.julien@uvm.edu 802-656-7760

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Updated 24 October 2003 by Eric Isaacson, co-editor