Teaching Sight-Reading to Undergraduate Choral Ensemble Singers: Lessons from Successful Learners

This study was designed to investigate professional choral singers’ training, perceptions on the importance of sight-reading skill in their work, and thoughts on effective pedagogy for teaching sight-reading to undergraduate choral ensemble singers. Participants in this study (N=48) included self-selected professional singers and choral conductors from the Summer 2015 Oregon Bach Festival’s Berwick Chorus and conducting Master Class. Data were gathered from questionnaire responses and audio recorded focus group sessions. Focus group data showed that the majority of participants developed proficiency in their sight-reading skills from instrumental study, aural skills classes, and through on-the-job training at a church job or other professional choral singing employment. While participants brought up a number of important job skills, sightreading was listed as perhaps the single most important skill that a professional choral singer could develop. When reading music during the rehearsal process, the data revealed two main strategies that professional singers used to interpret the pitches in their musical line: an intervallic approach and a harmonic approach. Participants marked their scores systematically to identify problem spots and leave reminders to aid with future readings, such as marking intervals, solfege syllables, or rhythmic counts. Participants reported using a variety of skills other than score marking to try to accurately find their pitches, such as looking at other vocal or instrumental lines, looking ahead, and using knowledge about a musical style or time period to make more intuitive “guesses” when sight-reading. Participants described using additional approaches when sight-reading in an audition situation, including scanning for anchors or anomalies and positive self-talk. Singers learned these sight-reading techniques from a variety of sources. Participants had many different ideas about how best to teach sight-reading in the undergraduate choral ensemble rehearsal. The top response was that sight-reading needed to be practiced consistently in order for students to improve. Other responses included developing personal accountability, empowering students, combining different teaching methods, and discussing real-life applications of becoming strong sight-readers. There was discussion about the ultimate purpose of choir at the university level and whether it is to teach musicianship skills or produce excellent performances.

Alternative media for public pedagogy: "Chief" concerns and human agency

To demonstrate how the growing influence of alternative media in civil society correlates with the rise of social movements and their influence on contemporary manifestations of resistance, this research uses critical ethnographic methodologies to document the narratives of alternative media producers in the pro-Indigenous and anti-“Chief” campaigns at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign during the 2006-2007 school year. These narratives demonstrate not only the ways alternative media help transmit dissent by distributing information to diverse populations, but also the manner they facilitate contexts that influence identity formations and strengthen counter-cultural communal practices. Particular lineages of critical social theory are used to situate knowledge construction and social relationships within specific socio-historic contexts to approach issues of subjectivity, human agency, and resistance. These include the Frankfurt School for Social Research, the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, and the Brazilian education philosopher Paulo Freire, who emphasize criticality based on the engagement of ideological analysis, as well as developing capacities to critique and resist oppressive social and political relationships. Thus, this study argues for expanding traditional notions of literacy to include the ability to decode and produce media as a critical element of meaningful democratic participation.

Robert Edward’s Commonplace Book: the context and function of a seventeenth-century Scottish music manuscript (GB-En MS.9450), with an edition of the musical content

This study concerns the manuscript music book of Robert Edward (c. 1614–c. 1697), minister, author and musician. The manuscript, formerly part of the library at Panmure House, is now held in the National Library of Scotland and is commonly referred to as ‘Robert Edward’s Commonplace Book’ (GB-En MS.9450). The present study is in two parts and begins with an exploration of the physical book, including the structure, compilation, hands and ownership before a second chapter explores the biography of the eponymous owner, contextualising GB-En MS.9450 locally and nationally. The third chapter concerns the function of the manuscript which, it is argued, is closely related to pedagogy. The final three chapters discuss the content of the manuscript, taking in turn the vocal music, instrumental music and the selection of Italian three-part villanelle. The implications for dating and use arising from the first part of this

W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte An Arrangement and Performance Edition for Wind Instruments and Vocal Soloists

The purpose of this dissertation is to produce a new Harmonie arrangement of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte suitable for modern performance, bringing Joseph Heidenreich’s 1782 arrangement—one of the great treasures of the wind repertoire—to life for future performers and audiences. I took advantage of the capabilities of modern wind instruments and performance techniques, and employed other instruments normally found in the modern wind ensemble to create a work in the tradition of Heidenreich’s that restored as much of Mozart’s original thinking as possible. I expanded the Harmonie band to include flute and string bass. Other instruments provide special effects, a traditional role for wind instruments in the Classical opera orchestra. This arrangement is conceived to be performed with the original vocal soloists, making it a viable option for concert performance or for smaller staged productions. It is also intended to allow the wind players to be onstage with the singers, becoming part of the dramatic action while simultaneously serving as the “opera orchestra.” This allows creative staging possibilities, and offers the wind players an opportunity to explore new aspects of performing. My arrangement also restores Mozart’s music to its original keys and retains much of his original wind scoring. This arrangement expands the possibilities for collaboration between opera studios, voice departments or community opera companies and wind ensembles. A suite for winds without voices (currently in production) will allow conductors to program this major work from the Classical era without dedicating a concert program to the complete opera. Excerpted arias and duets from this arrangement provide vocalists the option of using chamber wind accompaniment on recitals. The door is now open to arrangements of other operas by composers such as Mozart, Rossini and Weber, adding new repertoire for chamber winds and bringing great music to life in a new way.

Acoustic analysis of vocal dysphonia

Voice acoustic analysis is becoming more and more usefúl in diagnosis of voice disorders or laryngological pathologies. The facility to record a voice sigiial is an advantage over other invasive techniques. This paper presents the statistical analyzes ofa set of voice parameters like jitter, shimmer and HNR over a 4 groups of subjects vvith dysphonia, fünctional dysphonia, hyperfünctional dysphonia, and psychogenic dysphonia and a control group. No statistical signifícance differences over pathologic groups were found but clear tendencies can be seen between pathologic and control group. The tendencies indicates this parameters as a good features to be used in an intelligent diagnosis system, moreover the jitter and shimmer parameters measured over different tones and vowels.

Parálisis de cuerda vocal unilateral: estudio de la calidad vocal después del tratamiento logopédico

Fundamento. Describir los factores sociodemográficos de pacientes con parálisis de cuerda vocal unilateral (PCVU) a los que se aplica un tratamiento logopédico y analiza el impacto en la calidad vocal tras la terapia. Metodología. Se incluyeron 47 pacientes con PCVU diagnosticada mediante vídeo-laringoscopia. Todos recibieron intervención logopédica repartida en 15 sesiones y estructurada en tres etapas progresivas. Se instruyó al paciente en técnicas vocales, coordinación fono-respiratoria, control del soplo, tonificación glótica e impostación vocal. Los parámetros incluidos en el estudio antes y después de la terapia fueron: cierre glótico, Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) para medir la autopercepción de calidad vocal y escala GRABS para la calidad vocal. Resultados. La edad media fue 51 años (rango 20-80), 60% mujeres. La causa quirúrgica fue la más frecuente (72%). El 40% desempeñaban una profesión relacionada con la voz. El tiempo medio desde el diagnóstico hasta el inicio del tratamiento fue 5 meses (2-12). El cierre glótico completo aumentó de 34 a 80% (p<0,001), la puntuación en VHI-10 descendió de 24,24 a 16,09 puntos (p<0,001) y los valores de GRABS mejoraron en todas las cualidades de la voz (p<0,001). Solo un 8,5% requirió cirugía post-tratamiento. Conclusiones. La terapia de reeducación vocal es eficaz como primera indicación terapéutica en pacientes con PCVU, reservando la medialización con material no reabsorbible o cirugía de tiroplastia a aquéllos con mala evolución. No obstante, es necesario reducir el tiempo que se demora el paciente en llegar a la Unidad de Voz tras el diagnóstico laringoscópico.

Vocal differentiation parallels development of auditory saccular sensitivity in a highly soniferous fish

Vocal differentiation is widely documented in birds and mammals but has been poorly investigated in other vertebrates, including fish, which represent the oldest extant vertebrate group. Neural circuitry controlling vocal behaviour is thought to have evolved from conserved brain areas that originated in fish, making this taxon key to understanding the evolution and development of the vertebrate vocal-auditory systems. This study examines ontogenetic changes in the vocal repertoire and whether vocal differentiation parallels auditory development in the Lusitanian toadfish Halobatrachus didactylus (Batrachoididae). This species exhibits a complex acoustic repertoire and is vocally active during early development. Vocalisations were recorded during social interactions for four size groups (fry: <2 cm; small juveniles: 2-4 cm; large juveniles: 5-7 cm; adults >25 cm, standard length). Auditory sensitivity of juveniles and adults was determined based on evoked potentials recorded from the inner ear saccule in response to pure tones of 75-945 Hz. We show an ontogenetic increment in the vocal repertoire from simple broadband-pulsed 'grunts' that later differentiate into four distinct vocalisations, including low-frequency amplitude-modulated 'boatwhistles'. Whereas fry emitted mostly single grunts, large juveniles exhibited vocalisations similar to the adult vocal repertoire. Saccular sensitivity revealed a three-fold enhancement at most frequencies tested from small to large juveniles; however, large juveniles were similar in sensitivity to adults. We provide the first clear evidence of ontogenetic vocal differentiation in fish, as previously described for higher vertebrates. Our results suggest a parallel development between the vocal motor pathway and the peripheral auditory system for acoustic social communication in fish.

A Reeducação Postural Global (RPG) e as Autoposturas Respiratórias de Philippe Souchard, implicações na prática vocal/coral

A Investigação científica que se apresenta enquadra-se no âmbito do Projeto Educativo, integrado no Mestrado em Ensino da Música, especialidade em Música de Conjunto, realizado no Conservatório Superior de Música de Gaia (CSMG). Esta Investigação-ação, de análise qualitativa, centrou-se na implementação de um Programa de Intervenção: A Reeducação Postural Global (RPG) e As Autoposturas Respiratórias, na Produção Sonora Musical no Canto (Philippe Souchard, 1987; 1997; 2011). Assente no modelo de Relação Pedagógica (RP) de Renald Legendre (2005), teve como Sujeitos (S) de aprendizagem dois grupos das Classes de Conjunto de Coro, da Fundação Conservatório de Música de Gaia: o Grupo de Ação (GA) e o Grupo de Controlo (GC). Aplicadas sessões de fisioterapia ao GA, ambos os grupos interpretaram a Obra Coral Pange Lingua, de Zoltán Kodály. Pelos registos apresentados na análise de dados, ditos em diários de bordo dos Sujeitos (S) e do Agente (A) professor da Classe de Conjunto, e em imagens fílmicas e fotográficas realizadas, verificamos a eficácia deste Programa. À luz dos exercícios da Reeducação Postural Global (RPG) e das Autoposturas Respiratórias, de Philippe Souchard, aplicados ao estudo da obra mencionada, pudemos verificar que os Sujeitos (S) do Grupo de Ação apresentaram progressos vocais de significativa importância.

Herramienta para mejorar la afinación vocal en Android

In this paper, a tool to improve vocal tuning in Android devices is presented. This application aims to offer exercises to practice and improve singing skills. The designed tool includes two main functionalities: sound synthesis, to provide with singing sound references, and fundamental frequency analysis, to analize the sound and check if the user sings the right musical note. The well-known Yin algorithm has been selected to perform the fundamental frequency analysis. Three different singing exercises are included: sing single notes, sing intervals and sing a note in order to complete a chord. The system also includes a graphical interface in which musical notation is employed to write down the singing sound. The system has been evaluated in order to test out its correct performance regarding both the analysis and synthesis of musical sounds.

Critical pedagogy theory and the family business

In contemporary times family business research has been dominated by three theoretical perspectives; principal-agent theory, stewardship theory, and resource-based view theory (Siebels 2012) but at the same time scholars argue that what still needs further attention is how underlying processes and phenomena can be explained (Melin, Nordqvist & Sharma  2014). In order to understand themes such as repression or relations of asymmetry the suggestion in this chapter is to move towards a critical stance of thinking which involves problematizing the obvious issues in family firms (Alvesson & Deetz 2000) and moreover allowing the critical perspective to destabilize assumptions made within earlier research (Freire, 1974). By discussing critical theory in general but foremost the Freirean  (1970, 1974) critical pedagogy specifically, the arguments in the chapter revolves around how critical pedagogy can open up for a more novel view on family business. The purpose is via critical pedagogy discuss family business from a limited situation perspective, and to argue for a Freirean (1970) dialogue as means of developing a critical consciousness for family members in the family business context. The chapter concludes with some recommendations on platforms or common grounds in which dialogue and raising of consciousness can occur in which the concept can open up possibilities for interesting learning transfer and bring multidimensional knowledge into the family firm.

In search of a social science research methods pedagogy for the digital era: the story so far

Presentation given at the 2016 British Educational Research Association (BERA) conference

Keys on the Formation and Human Development in Pedagogy

This paper is based on the experiences of the author, who has worked in the various levels of the Venezuelan educational system. This has been a very important platform to understand the ideas of education and human development within the Venezuelan institutionality in the educational field. The idea of education that we have, as teachers, should be rethought in order to consider the personal stories of those who share with us their time, interests and willingness: children, young people or adults, all with particular identities, differences and coincidences. The teachers, the schools and the State cannot consider an education for someone they do not know. In this sense, we provide some reflections resulting from our ethnographic work, based on the school life, interviews, class analysis, observations, and stories, among others. Our thoughts are classified as formation, hope, dialogue, attitude, and school life.