A critical study of voice teaching method, with specific reference to solo singing, choral singing and vocal health for the teenage singer
- Authors: Olivier, Madelie Charlotte
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Singing -- Instruction and study , Voice culture -- Exercises , Singing -- Methods
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:8523 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1019926
- Description: This dissertation presents a critical study of voice teaching method as this pertains to the high school learner studying voice within the South African educational environment, with learning outcomes determined for subject music within the GET (General Education and Training) and FET (Further Education and Training) bands of the Department of Basic Education at each school grade level, as well as by external examining bodies such as Unisa (University of South Africa), Trinity Guildhall and ABRSM (Amalgamated Board of the Royal Schools of Music). Emphasis is placed on the methodological principles applicable in the case of the Western classical music solo vocal repertoire, but reference is also made to the applicability of this method in other vocal genres and, in particular, in the case of choral music participation. Special attention is given to the subject of the vocal health of the developing teenage voice, which includes an overview of vocal disorders and suggestions for rehabilitation and remedial programmes where necessary. Triangulation of research results is achieved in this study through inclusion of: - A thorough survey of selected pertinent bibliographic sources - Description of and engagement with the researcher’s own numerous phenomenological encounters in this field - Interviews conducted in Port Elizabeth with Jill Nock, voice teacher, on the subject of voice teaching method, and with John Black, Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist, on the subject of vocal health. The researcher concludes that there is a need for continued education and training of music educators in the South African high school environment, many of whom are not trained voice specialists, in order to cater for the growing number of high school music learners who choose to specialise in voice. Although educator networking can go a long way towards creating an informal support system to address this need, it is ultimately the responsibility of the Department of Basic Education to address this in a formal and all-encompassing fashion.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Olivier, Madelie Charlotte
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Singing -- Instruction and study , Voice culture -- Exercises , Singing -- Methods
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:8523 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1019926
- Description: This dissertation presents a critical study of voice teaching method as this pertains to the high school learner studying voice within the South African educational environment, with learning outcomes determined for subject music within the GET (General Education and Training) and FET (Further Education and Training) bands of the Department of Basic Education at each school grade level, as well as by external examining bodies such as Unisa (University of South Africa), Trinity Guildhall and ABRSM (Amalgamated Board of the Royal Schools of Music). Emphasis is placed on the methodological principles applicable in the case of the Western classical music solo vocal repertoire, but reference is also made to the applicability of this method in other vocal genres and, in particular, in the case of choral music participation. Special attention is given to the subject of the vocal health of the developing teenage voice, which includes an overview of vocal disorders and suggestions for rehabilitation and remedial programmes where necessary. Triangulation of research results is achieved in this study through inclusion of: - A thorough survey of selected pertinent bibliographic sources - Description of and engagement with the researcher’s own numerous phenomenological encounters in this field - Interviews conducted in Port Elizabeth with Jill Nock, voice teacher, on the subject of voice teaching method, and with John Black, Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist, on the subject of vocal health. The researcher concludes that there is a need for continued education and training of music educators in the South African high school environment, many of whom are not trained voice specialists, in order to cater for the growing number of high school music learners who choose to specialise in voice. Although educator networking can go a long way towards creating an informal support system to address this need, it is ultimately the responsibility of the Department of Basic Education to address this in a formal and all-encompassing fashion.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
An evaluation of the efficacy of digital real-time noise control techniques in evoking the musical effect
- Authors: Warneke, Andrew Travis
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Music -- Acoustics and physics , Signal processing -- Digital techniques
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:8524 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020158
- Description: This study sought to determine whether or not it may be possible to evoke ‘the musical effect' – the emotional response perceived by music listeners – using white noise as a sound-source and real-time digital signal processing techniques. This information was considered to be valuable as in a world driven by technological progress the potential use of new or different technologies in creating music could lead to the development of new methods of – and tools for – composition and performance. More specifically this research asked the question 'what is music?' and investigated how humans – both trained musicians and untrained people – perceive it. The elements of music were investigated for their affective strengths and new fields of research explored for insights into emotion identification in music. Thereafter the focus shifted into the realm of Digital Signal Processing. Common operations and techniques for signal manipulation were investigated and an understanding of the field as a whole was sought. The culmination of these two separate, yet related, investigations was the design and implementation of a listening experiment conducted on adult subjects. They were asked to listen to various manipulated noise-signals and answer a questionnaire with regard to their perceptions of the audio material. The data from the listening experiment suggest that certain DSP techniques can evoke ‘the musical effect’. Various musical elements were represented via digital techniques and in many cases respondents reported perceptions which suggest that some effect was felt. The techniques implemented and musical elements represented were discussed, and possible applications for these techniques, both musical and non-musical, were explored. Areas for further research were discussed and include the implementation of even more DSP techniques, and also into garnering a more specific idea of the emotion perceived by respondents in response to the experiment material.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Warneke, Andrew Travis
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Music -- Acoustics and physics , Signal processing -- Digital techniques
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:8524 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020158
- Description: This study sought to determine whether or not it may be possible to evoke ‘the musical effect' – the emotional response perceived by music listeners – using white noise as a sound-source and real-time digital signal processing techniques. This information was considered to be valuable as in a world driven by technological progress the potential use of new or different technologies in creating music could lead to the development of new methods of – and tools for – composition and performance. More specifically this research asked the question 'what is music?' and investigated how humans – both trained musicians and untrained people – perceive it. The elements of music were investigated for their affective strengths and new fields of research explored for insights into emotion identification in music. Thereafter the focus shifted into the realm of Digital Signal Processing. Common operations and techniques for signal manipulation were investigated and an understanding of the field as a whole was sought. The culmination of these two separate, yet related, investigations was the design and implementation of a listening experiment conducted on adult subjects. They were asked to listen to various manipulated noise-signals and answer a questionnaire with regard to their perceptions of the audio material. The data from the listening experiment suggest that certain DSP techniques can evoke ‘the musical effect’. Various musical elements were represented via digital techniques and in many cases respondents reported perceptions which suggest that some effect was felt. The techniques implemented and musical elements represented were discussed, and possible applications for these techniques, both musical and non-musical, were explored. Areas for further research were discussed and include the implementation of even more DSP techniques, and also into garnering a more specific idea of the emotion perceived by respondents in response to the experiment material.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
An exploratory study of South African choral identity with specific reference to three regional children's choirs
- Authors: Swart, Jan-Erik
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Children's choirs , Cultural pluralism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:8519 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1013205
- Description: This qualitative mini-treatise explores how South African choral identity is perceived by three regional children’s choirs, facing challenges of representing cultural diversity against the background of an ongoing process of social transformation. The study proposes that choirs from South Africa project a distinctly South African “choral” identity which they themselves have constructed by fabricating a mental representation of themselves, and which they project outwardly by means of a range of musical and extra-musical elements observable in the cultural product and artifacts generated over time. The researcher has analyzed a selection of cultural products and artifacts of the Eastern Cape Children’s Choir, the Cantare Children’s Choir and the Tygerberg Children’s Choir, in order to identify common practices among three subject choirs which sustain their continuity, in terms of Richard’s definition of identity (in Torres 2008: 3): “to name a set of practices which subjects may adopt in sustaining both the individual and, to varying degrees, collective continuity”. Research findings indicate that subject choirs are perceived, and project their choral identities, according to their musical ability to communicate and interact with other world-class choirs. Recurring practices undertaken by each subject choir, in order to maintain their international perspective, are identified as key to sustaining their continuity. Choral identity is furthermore strongly influenced by the choral tradition of the choir and the role of the conductor in developing their choral tone. This study is significant to regional children’s choirs seeking to overcome challenges of renegotiating cultural identity, as well as sustaining and expanding choral singing as an art form in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Swart, Jan-Erik
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Children's choirs , Cultural pluralism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:8519 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1013205
- Description: This qualitative mini-treatise explores how South African choral identity is perceived by three regional children’s choirs, facing challenges of representing cultural diversity against the background of an ongoing process of social transformation. The study proposes that choirs from South Africa project a distinctly South African “choral” identity which they themselves have constructed by fabricating a mental representation of themselves, and which they project outwardly by means of a range of musical and extra-musical elements observable in the cultural product and artifacts generated over time. The researcher has analyzed a selection of cultural products and artifacts of the Eastern Cape Children’s Choir, the Cantare Children’s Choir and the Tygerberg Children’s Choir, in order to identify common practices among three subject choirs which sustain their continuity, in terms of Richard’s definition of identity (in Torres 2008: 3): “to name a set of practices which subjects may adopt in sustaining both the individual and, to varying degrees, collective continuity”. Research findings indicate that subject choirs are perceived, and project their choral identities, according to their musical ability to communicate and interact with other world-class choirs. Recurring practices undertaken by each subject choir, in order to maintain their international perspective, are identified as key to sustaining their continuity. Choral identity is furthermore strongly influenced by the choral tradition of the choir and the role of the conductor in developing their choral tone. This study is significant to regional children’s choirs seeking to overcome challenges of renegotiating cultural identity, as well as sustaining and expanding choral singing as an art form in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Evaluating the efficacy of training programmes for secondary school music teachers at higher education institutions in the province of the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Rademan, Carika
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Music in universities and colleges -- South Africa , Music teachers -- Training of , School music -- Instruction and study , Teacher effectiveness
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:8522 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1019925
- Description: Frequent changes in the school music curriculums in South Africa necessitated changes in teaching music in schools. Music teachers in secondary schools who are responsible for teaching music as a subject have been confronted with the challenges presented in such a changing educational climate and often found that their pre-service teacher training did not sufficiently prepare them for changing syllabi. The quality of teaching in schools is directly linked to the quality of teacher training at universities and when institutional policies prohibits pre-service teachers from qualifying themselves sufficiently for their in-service careers, frustration and disillusionment sets in. This study explores the perceptions of music teachers of the effectiveness of their pre-service training. It also explores the content of university music degree courses and whether it is in line with school music curricula. The study addressed the research questions through the use of questionnaires and interviews. The finding suggested that there is a need for teacher training courses to be adapted and contextualised so that there is continuum between university and school curriculums. This research also exposed the policies barring music graduates from fully qualifying themselves as teachers and raised important issues that music teacher educators need to address in order to ensure that music graduates are adequately prepared for classroom music teaching.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Rademan, Carika
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Music in universities and colleges -- South Africa , Music teachers -- Training of , School music -- Instruction and study , Teacher effectiveness
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:8522 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1019925
- Description: Frequent changes in the school music curriculums in South Africa necessitated changes in teaching music in schools. Music teachers in secondary schools who are responsible for teaching music as a subject have been confronted with the challenges presented in such a changing educational climate and often found that their pre-service teacher training did not sufficiently prepare them for changing syllabi. The quality of teaching in schools is directly linked to the quality of teacher training at universities and when institutional policies prohibits pre-service teachers from qualifying themselves sufficiently for their in-service careers, frustration and disillusionment sets in. This study explores the perceptions of music teachers of the effectiveness of their pre-service training. It also explores the content of university music degree courses and whether it is in line with school music curricula. The study addressed the research questions through the use of questionnaires and interviews. The finding suggested that there is a need for teacher training courses to be adapted and contextualised so that there is continuum between university and school curriculums. This research also exposed the policies barring music graduates from fully qualifying themselves as teachers and raised important issues that music teacher educators need to address in order to ensure that music graduates are adequately prepared for classroom music teaching.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Haul Music : transnationalism and musical performance in the Saharaui refugee camps of Tindouf, Algeria
- Authors: Gimenez Amoros, Luis
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Bedouins -- Music -- Research Sahrawi (African people) -- Migrations Social change -- Arab countries Arab countries -- Social life and customs Civilization, Arab
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:2637 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002302
- Description: The thesis presents ethnographic data and musical analysis (in the form of transcriptions) of Haul music which is the music style performed by Bedouin societies in Trab el Bidan region (Mauritania, Western Sahara, northern Mali, southern Algeria and northern Morocco). It is based on field research undertaken in Algeria in 2004-05 in the refugee camps of Tindouf, Algeria, where Saharaui people (a Bedouin society)live in exile. This research is unique and original as Haul has not, until now, been explored in depth by any scholar. My research on Haul reveals that the changes in Saharaui music in the refugee camps of Tindouf reflect changes in the musical traditions of Bedouin societies as whole; changes that can be traced to the revolution which occurred in Western Sahara in 1975, and changes that are a result of the migrations and life in exile that followed. I argue that these changes occurred due to the transnational experiences undergone by Saharaui people in their forced exile (caused by the Moroccan state) from their homeland in Western Sahara to Algeria. Further, I assert that the invocation of memory in Bedouin musical styles is evidence of past musical practices being retained in contemporary Haul performance, although other musical changes are similarly in progress.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Gimenez Amoros, Luis
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Bedouins -- Music -- Research Sahrawi (African people) -- Migrations Social change -- Arab countries Arab countries -- Social life and customs Civilization, Arab
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:2637 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002302
- Description: The thesis presents ethnographic data and musical analysis (in the form of transcriptions) of Haul music which is the music style performed by Bedouin societies in Trab el Bidan region (Mauritania, Western Sahara, northern Mali, southern Algeria and northern Morocco). It is based on field research undertaken in Algeria in 2004-05 in the refugee camps of Tindouf, Algeria, where Saharaui people (a Bedouin society)live in exile. This research is unique and original as Haul has not, until now, been explored in depth by any scholar. My research on Haul reveals that the changes in Saharaui music in the refugee camps of Tindouf reflect changes in the musical traditions of Bedouin societies as whole; changes that can be traced to the revolution which occurred in Western Sahara in 1975, and changes that are a result of the migrations and life in exile that followed. I argue that these changes occurred due to the transnational experiences undergone by Saharaui people in their forced exile (caused by the Moroccan state) from their homeland in Western Sahara to Algeria. Further, I assert that the invocation of memory in Bedouin musical styles is evidence of past musical practices being retained in contemporary Haul performance, although other musical changes are similarly in progress.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
The jazz divas an analysis of the musical careers of six New Brighton vocalists
- Authors: Butete, Netsayi
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Jazz musicians -- Research -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth Ethnomusicology -- Research -- South Africa Sex discrimination against women -- South Africa Sex discrimination in employment -- South Africa Apartheid -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:2633 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002298
- Description: There has been insufficient academic research on the music of the Eastern Cape in general and Port Elizabeth and New Brighton in particular. This study, as part of the International Library of African Music (ILAM)lRed Location Museum Music History Project (ILAMIRLMHP) - an oral history intervention to save the music history of New Brighton from extinction through research and documentation of the memories of veteran musicians - is focused on jazz vocalists. The primary objective of my study is to investigate, critically analyze, interpret and document the career experiences of six New Brighton jazz vocalists in the context of performing in the Port Elizabeth music industry during the apartheid and the post-apartheid eras. The secondary objectives are to stimulate research interests in music students and ethnomusicologists to pursue research on the music of Port Elizabeth and the Eastern Cape and to inspire and motivate the vocalists to continue making music with renewed zeal. A qualitative research paradigm informed the field research necessary for this study. The fieldwork paved the way for an eclectic framework of analysis grounded in Pierre Bourdieu's notions of habitus, field and capital, examining the impact of the context on the vocalists' habitus which influenced how they viewed and interpreted their past and current experiences in the performance field. Data obtained through extensive interviewing of New Brighton's contemporary female vocalists and their male counterparts revealed that they have no opportunity to make commercial recordings. The musicians have to migrate to Johannesburg to have successful music careers, although personality politics, greed and lack of professionalism also work against the musicians' success. The data shows that New Brighton musicians, both male and female, do not have enough performance opportunities and there are fewer chances to tour now than there were from the 1960s through the 1980s. As in the apartheid era, female vocalists are still discriminated against in terms of pay, and men discriminate in how they pay other male musicians. Analysis of the vocalists' jazz compositions revealed that their song lyrics depict a bona fide urban African culture and reflect the emotional needs of the society in which they live.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Butete, Netsayi
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Jazz musicians -- Research -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth Ethnomusicology -- Research -- South Africa Sex discrimination against women -- South Africa Sex discrimination in employment -- South Africa Apartheid -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:2633 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002298
- Description: There has been insufficient academic research on the music of the Eastern Cape in general and Port Elizabeth and New Brighton in particular. This study, as part of the International Library of African Music (ILAM)lRed Location Museum Music History Project (ILAMIRLMHP) - an oral history intervention to save the music history of New Brighton from extinction through research and documentation of the memories of veteran musicians - is focused on jazz vocalists. The primary objective of my study is to investigate, critically analyze, interpret and document the career experiences of six New Brighton jazz vocalists in the context of performing in the Port Elizabeth music industry during the apartheid and the post-apartheid eras. The secondary objectives are to stimulate research interests in music students and ethnomusicologists to pursue research on the music of Port Elizabeth and the Eastern Cape and to inspire and motivate the vocalists to continue making music with renewed zeal. A qualitative research paradigm informed the field research necessary for this study. The fieldwork paved the way for an eclectic framework of analysis grounded in Pierre Bourdieu's notions of habitus, field and capital, examining the impact of the context on the vocalists' habitus which influenced how they viewed and interpreted their past and current experiences in the performance field. Data obtained through extensive interviewing of New Brighton's contemporary female vocalists and their male counterparts revealed that they have no opportunity to make commercial recordings. The musicians have to migrate to Johannesburg to have successful music careers, although personality politics, greed and lack of professionalism also work against the musicians' success. The data shows that New Brighton musicians, both male and female, do not have enough performance opportunities and there are fewer chances to tour now than there were from the 1960s through the 1980s. As in the apartheid era, female vocalists are still discriminated against in terms of pay, and men discriminate in how they pay other male musicians. Analysis of the vocalists' jazz compositions revealed that their song lyrics depict a bona fide urban African culture and reflect the emotional needs of the society in which they live.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
The solo piano music of Einojuhani Rautavaara
- Authors: Matambo, Lotta Eleonoora
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Rautavaara, Einojuhani, 1928 -- Piano music -- Criticism and interpretation Piano music -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:2646 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002311
- Description: Einojuhani Rautavaara's oeuvre is characterised by four distinctive creative periods, each demonstrating a remarkable variety of compositional idioms and styles. His application of multifaceted elements, often within a single work leading to notions of postmodernism, is derived from multifarious sources, such as (Finnish) folklore, Orthodox mysticism and a wide variety of standard twentieth century compositional techniques. Furthermore, Rautavaara regularly quotes from his own material, thus creating elements of auto-allusions within his oeuvre; a predisposition which forms an essential part of his compositional aesthetic. Analyses of eight piano works (1952-2007) provide a cross-section of Rautavaara's output which, together with a consideration of biographical factors and analytical focus on the intertextual elements of his writing, offers a rationale for determining the development of his musical identity. The analyses conclude that intertextual elements, which appear through a diverse array of expressive modes (such as mysticism, nationalism and constructivism) are an essential part of Rautavaara's eclectic compositional style and contribute to an understanding of the on-going development of his musical identity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Matambo, Lotta Eleonoora
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Rautavaara, Einojuhani, 1928 -- Piano music -- Criticism and interpretation Piano music -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:2646 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002311
- Description: Einojuhani Rautavaara's oeuvre is characterised by four distinctive creative periods, each demonstrating a remarkable variety of compositional idioms and styles. His application of multifaceted elements, often within a single work leading to notions of postmodernism, is derived from multifarious sources, such as (Finnish) folklore, Orthodox mysticism and a wide variety of standard twentieth century compositional techniques. Furthermore, Rautavaara regularly quotes from his own material, thus creating elements of auto-allusions within his oeuvre; a predisposition which forms an essential part of his compositional aesthetic. Analyses of eight piano works (1952-2007) provide a cross-section of Rautavaara's output which, together with a consideration of biographical factors and analytical focus on the intertextual elements of his writing, offers a rationale for determining the development of his musical identity. The analyses conclude that intertextual elements, which appear through a diverse array of expressive modes (such as mysticism, nationalism and constructivism) are an essential part of Rautavaara's eclectic compositional style and contribute to an understanding of the on-going development of his musical identity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
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