The Effectiveness of Alexander Technique on Music Performance and Musicians' Health and Well-being – a Systematic Review

Purpose Musicians often suffer injuries related to their music playing. Therefore, some use the Alexander Technique (AT), a psycho-physical method that helps to release unnecessary muscle tension and re-educates non-beneficial movement patterns through enhanced kinaesthetic awareness. According to a recent review AT may be effective for chronic back pain. This review aimed to evaluate the evidence for the effectiveness of AT lessons on music performance and musicians’ health and well-being. Methods The following electronic databases were searched up to July 2012 for relevant literature: PUBMED, Google Scholar, CINAHL and EMBASE. The search criteria were "Alexander technique" AND "music*" [all fields]. References were searched, and experts and societies of AT or musicians' medicine contacted for further publications. Results 100 studies were identified. 35 studies were included for further analysis, 5 of which were randomised controlled trials (RCTs), 5 controlled but not randomised, 5 not controlled, 5 qualitative case studies, 2 mixed-models (RCT and case studies), 7 surveys, 4 qualitative case reports and 2 unpublished pilot studies. 13 to 72 musicians participated per RCT. In 5 RCTs AT groups received between 12 and 20 one-to-one lessons. In 4 RCTs control groups received no interventions. Primary outcomes were performance anxiety, performance, "use" as well as respiratory function and pain. Performance anxiety decreased by AT in 3 of 4 RCTs. Music performance was improved by AT in 1 RCT, yet in 2 RCTs comparing neurofeedback (NF) to AT, only NF showed improvements. Conclusions To investigate the effectiveness of AT in musicians a variety of study designs and outcome measures have been used. Evidence from RCTs suggests that AT may improve performance anxiety in musicians. Effects on music performance, body use and respiratory function yet remain inconsistent. Future trials with well-established study designs are warranted to further and more reliably explore the potential of AT as a relatively low cost and low risk method in the interest of musicians.

Music Piracy on Peer-to-Peer Networks

Content providers from the music industry argue that peer-to-peer (P2P) networks such as KaZaA, Morpheus, iMesh, or Audiogalaxy are an enormous threat to their business. They furthermore blame these networks for their recent decline in sales figures. For this reason, an empirical investigation was conducted during a period of 6 weeks on one of the most popular files-sharing systems, in order to determine the quantity and quality of pirated music songs shared. We present empirical evidence as to what extent and in which quality music songs are being shared. A number of hypotheses are outlined and were tested. We studied, among other things, the number of users online and the number of flies accessible on such networks, the free riding problem, and the duration per search request. We further tested to see if there are any differences in the accessibility of songs based on the nationality of the artist, the language of the song, and the corresponding chart position. Finally, we outline the main hurdles users may face when downloading illegal music and the probability of obtaining high quality music tracks on such peer-to-peer networks.

Recent developments in European thought; essays arranged and ed.

"This volume, like its two predecessors ['The unity of western civilization' and 'Progress'] arises from a course of lectures delivered at a summer school at Woodbrooke, near Birmingham, in August, 1919."

Evocations of Nature in the Piano Music of Franz Liszt and the Seeds of Impressionism

Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Electronic dance music culture and religion: An Overview

This article provides a comprehensive and critical overview of existing research that investigates (directly and indirectly) the religio-spiritual dimensions of electronic dance music culture (EDMC) (from disco, through house, to post-rave forms). Studies of the culture and religion of EDMC are explored under four broad groupings: the cultural religion of EDMC expressed through 'ritual' and 'festal'; subjectivity, corporeality and the phenomenological dance experience (especially 'ecstasy' and 'trance'); the dance community and a sense of belonging (the 'vibe' and 'tribes'); and EDMC as a new 'spirituality of life'. Moving beyond the cultural Marxist approaches of the 1970s, which held youth (sub)cultural expressions as 'ineffectual' and 'tragic', and the postmodernist approaches of the early 1990s, which held rave to be an 'implosion of meaning', recent anthropological and sociological approaches recognise that the various manifestations of this youth cultural phenomenon possess meaning, purpose and significance for participants. Contemporary scholarship thus conveys the presence of religiosity and spirituality within contemporary popular cultural formations. In conclusion, I suggest that this and continuing scholarship can offer useful counterpoint to at least one recent account (of clubbing) that overlooks the significance of EDMC through a restricted and prejudiced apprehension of 'religion'.

“FOR THE UNION MAKES US STRONG”: PROTEST MUSIC IN THE 1989−90 PITTSTON STRIKE

Music making was a common practice during the 1989−90 strike against the Pittston Coal Company, an action led by the United Mine Workers of America. The types of music made varied greatly based on the contexts in which musicians and protesters were participating. In this thesis, I discuss how performers and audiences engaged with the music of the Pittston strike, with a focus on how different participatory and presentational contexts included music with similar or the same lyrics to achieve different goals. I argue that the musicians’ understanding of the people around them as potential participants, audiences, or inherent audiences shifted their use of music as they worked to use music strategically and effectively for the strike. The musical methods and considerations of the Pittston strike protesters have had a lasting impact on more recent protest movements.