A quantitative assessment of students’ experiences of studying music: a Spanish perspective on the European credit transfer system (ECTS)

The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate whether or not the allocation of time proposed in the Music Study Guide, adapted from the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) guidelines, is consistent and adequate for students with minimal musical knowledge. The report takes into account the importance of students’ previous knowledge and the relation this has to the time and effort expended by students in acquiring appropriate knowledge and skills. This is related also to the adequacy of the course specification to meet the demands of university study and the labour market. Results show that those students who enrolled at university without any previous musical knowledge are likely to experience significant difficulty in the acquisition of certain musical and professional competences. This highlights a need to reinforce the music curriculum, or establish zero-level courses, in order to enable such students to succeed in the subject.

Human-computer interaction for optical music recognition tasks

The need to digitise music scores has led to the development of Optical Music Recognition (OMR) tools. Unfortunately, the performance of these systems is still far from providing acceptable results. This situation forces the user to be involved in the process due to the need of correcting the mistakes made during recognition. However, this correction is performed over the output of the system, so these interventions are not exploited to improve the performance of the recognition. This work sets the scenario in which human and machine interact to accurately complete the OMR task with the least possible effort for the user.

Recognition of online handwritten music symbols

Paper submitted to MML 2013, 6th International Workshop on Machine Learning and Music, Prague, September 23, 2013.

Music and movement: A comparative study between the BAPNE and Suzuki Methods

The aim of this article is to compare the Suzuki and BAPNE methods based on bibliography published for both approaches. In the field of musical and instrumental education and especially for the childhood stage, the correct use of the body and voice are of fundamental importance. These two methods differ from one another; one principally musical and instrumental, which is the Suzuki method, and one non-musical, the BAPNE method, which aims at stimulating attention, concentration, memory and the executing function of the pupil through music and body percussion. Comparing different approaches may provide teachers with a useful insight for facing different issues related to their discipline.

IV. Sheet music of Father Abbey's Will dedicated to the Graduates of Harvard University, 1850

Sheet music for Father Abbey's Will published in Boston by Oliver Ditson.

A Translation of the oration deliver'd at the funeral of Rev'd. President Holyoke, by Mr. Sewall, Professor of ye Languages, at Cambridge, 1769 June 25

This small 11-page pamphlet contains a handwritten English translation of Professor Sewall's funeral oration for President Edward Holyoke on June 25, 1769. The translation begins, "Whereas the Summer advancing when we survey the Earth mantled in green..." The copy includes a small number of edits.

An Oration Delivered on the eighth day of May one thousand seven hundred and seventy nine. At the Funeral of the Hon'ble John Winthrop..., 1779-1780

Small pamphlet bound in brown paper containing a handwritten nine-page copy of Stephen Sewall's funeral oration for Hollis Professor Mathematics and Natural Philosophy John Winthrop delivered May 8, 1779. The title page includes the inscription: "The lips of the wise disperse knowledge,/ A Man shall be comended [sic] according to his Wisdom -- Solomon."

A collection of the most approved pieces of music from various authors: transcribed while member of Harvard University, from July 1789 to July 1793

John Pierce kept this journal while he was a student at Harvard College. It consists of manuscript musical scores with annotations indicating the occasions at which the music was performed. These occasions included commencements, public exhibitions and Dudleian lectures. A note indicates that one anthem was prepared by Samuel Holyoke at Pierce's request, to be performed at Pierce's class commencement exercises, held on July 13, 1793. Several annotations were made in May 1794, the year following Pierce's graduation. There is a table of contents on the last page.

Two funeral orations : manuscript, [17--]

Two speeches possibly given by members of the Masonic order; second speech delivered at Philadelphia.

The other side of protest music: the extreme-right and skinhead culture in democratic Portugal (1974-2015)

Although Portugal does not have a significant radical right presence in its party system, in the last decades the country did witness the development of a neo-Nazi skinhead movement that expresses its white nationalist nature and goals through the musical genres of Rock Against Communism (RAC) and the related Oi!. Utilizing various historical sources and theoretical analysis, this study contextualizes the development of nationalist music in Portugal, both before and especially during the democratic period (1974-2015). It focuses on its protagonists, domestic and international networks, as well as on the few attempts to establish a common cause with radical right-wing political parties at the turn of the century and in present times.

The utilitarian and hedonic outcomes of music information seeking in everyday life

This qualitative study focuses on what contributes to making a music information-seeking experience satisfying in the context of everyday life. Data were collected through in-depth interviews conducted with 15 younger adults (18 to 29 years old). The analysis revealed that satisfaction could depend on both hedonic (i.e., experiencing pleasure) and utilitarian outcomes. It was found that two types of utilitarian outcomes contributed to satisfaction: (1) the acquisition of music, and (2) the acquisition of information about music. Information about music was gathered to (1) enrich the listening experience, (2) increase one's music knowledge, and/or (3) optimize future acquisition. This study contributes to a better understanding of music information-seeking behavior in recreational contexts. It also has implications for music information retrieval systems design: results suggest that these systems should be engaging, include a wealth of extra-musical information, allow users to navigate among music items, and encourage serendipitous encountering of music.