Active Music-making Research Articles

Adults’ engagement in music learning during and after online coaching

ABSTRACT This article sheds light on adult engagement in a learning activity during and after online coaching on piano, guitar, or songwriting. Data was collected from the participants using thematic semi-structured interviews and experience sampling. To investigate the extent to which adult learners are involved in learning during and after online music coaching, we analysed the visibility of four components of engagement – namely behavioural, cognitive, affective and social. During the coaching, flexibility, a regular and repetitive course structure and the learning community positively influenced engagement. However, only a few participants continued their active music-making after the coaching period ended. A lack of time and goals were potential explanations for non-continuance, whereas participation in a music-related community beyond the coaching was recognised as a potential factor in continuing to make music when it stopped.

Transformative engagement with community music-making for older adults: a scoping review protocol.

This scoping review has 3 objectives: to identify the literature on older adults' engagement with community music-making in which an experience of transformative change is noted; to explore the different ways transformation is described; and to identify factors that enable this experience. Music has been shown to stimulate transformation (positive change) in individuals. Documented experiences of transformation fall into 3 broad areas: self-perception, quality of life, and personal growth. Yet the specific elements of musical experience that enable such effects remain little understood. Identifying the literature on this topic will enable deeper understanding and identify gaps in knowledge. The review will include peer-reviewed publications, systematic and scoping reviews, and gray literature, including theses and reports. Studies will focus on older community-dwelling adults (60 years or over) engaged in group music-making in community settings. The studies must include enquiry into transformative effects. Music used therapeutically in health settings; individual music-making; and listening (rather than active music-making) will be excluded. Any empirical methodology will be accepted. The review will follow the JBI guidelines for scoping reviews. Databases to be searched will include MEDLINE (Ovid), CINAHL (EBSCOhost), PsycINFO (Ovid), Scopus, Embase (Ovid), Informit, Cochrane Library, Campbell Collaboration, JBI EBP, Web of Science, JSTOR, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCOhost), ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, and Google Scholar. Studies must be published in English, from 2000 until the present. Retrieved studies will be independently screened by at least 2 reviewers. Data will be extracted using a data extraction tool developed by the research team. The findings will be presented in tabular format, supported by a narrative summary. https://osf.io/ftuhx.

The development of a Modular Accessible Musical Instrument Technology Toolkit using action research

Within the field of digital musical instruments, there have been a growing number of technological developments aimed at addressing the issue of accessibility to music-making for disabled people. This study summarizes the development of one such technological system—The Modular Accessible Musical Instrument Technology Toolkit (MAMI Tech Toolkit). The four tools in the toolkit and accompanying software were developed over 5 years using an action research methodology. A range of stakeholders across four research sites were involved in the development. This study outlines the methodological process, the stakeholder involvement, and how the data were used to inform the design of the toolkit. The accessibility of the toolkit is also discussed alongside findings that have emerged from the process. This study adds to the established canon of research around accessible digital musical instruments by documenting the creation of an accessible toolkit grounded in both theory and practical application of third-wave human–computer interaction methods. This study contributes to the discourse around the use of participatory and iterative methods to explore issues with, and barriers to, active music-making with music technology. Outlined is the development of each of the novel tools in the toolkit, the functionality they offer, as well as the accessibility issues they address. The study advances knowledge around active music-making using music technology, as well as in working with diverse users to create these new types of systems.

Digital Musical Instruments in Special Educational Needs Schools: Requirements from the Music Teachers’ Perspective and the Status Quo in Germany

Digital musical instruments (DMIs) offer the possibility to create barrier-free access to active music-making and to unique sound aesthetics for a broad group of people, including those who experience disabling barriers to access when using traditional acoustic musical instruments. However, current music education research focuses primarily on app-based DMIs. Although these devices have numerous advantages, such as ubiquitous availability and flexibility, they may be experienced as disabling by people with severe cognitive or complex disabilities. Thus, they only partially exploit the potential of DMIs for special educational needs (SEN) music practices, which we outline in this article. However, given that no comprehensive studies have yet been conducted on the use of DMIs in SEN schools, the actual motives and barriers for SEN school teachers to employ different types of DMIs in class are largely unknown. To address this research gap, we present the results of a quantitative survey covering all SEN schools in 12 of Germany's 16 federal states. We surveyed the status quo of DMI use in SEN schools and the perceived potential of DMIs and DMI-related information needs from the music teachers’ perspective. Our findings demonstrate that DMIs are only rarely used in Germany, with the exception of established standard DMIs such as keyboards and music apps. Unfortunately, accessible DMIs (ADMIs) are hardly used. Related to the rare use of DMIs in SEN schools, we also identified a lack of domain-specific knowledge among music teachers and concluded that there was a need to develop DMIs specifically designed for use in classroom education. Finally, we discuss the potential of using open-source DMI technology as well as the importance of identifying music teachers’ attitudes during DMI development.

Enhancing student agency in the primary music classroom through culturally responsive practice

In Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia work is ongoing to upskill teachers in culturally responsive practice as a way of addressing inequalities for Māori and Aboriginal students (Macfarlane, 2004; Morrison et al., 2019). Through supplementary materials to the New Zealand Curriculum, such as Tātaiako and The Hikairo Schema (New Zealand Ministry of Education & New Zealand Teachers Council, 2011; Rātima et al., 2020), cultural competencies and culturally responsive teaching and learning practices have been schematised. Internationally, student agency has been theorised in the context of addressing inequities in learning outcomes (Toshalis & Nakkula, 2012). Many of the teaching practices embedded in active music-making approaches, such as Orff and Kodály, are characteristically agentic. However, for a number of reasons, specialist teachers in primary schools may be isolated from current educational philosophical trends and imperatives. Drawing on the literatures of culturally responsive practice and student agency, this article identifies themes that resonate with and potentially enhance active music-making in the classroom. Based on years of practice as a classroom teacher and my current role as an Orff-trained primary music specialist, I offer examples of ways music teachers can enhance student agency informed by cultural competencies. These include approaches to group and individual tasks, cross-curricular creative projects, sourcing and curating content and integrating digital learning.

Patients' voices from music therapy at a South African psychiatric hospital.

BackgroundIn the Life Esidimeni tragedy, crucial voices of mental healthcare users and practitioners were silenced, captured in the Ombud’s report as a ‘failure to listen’. Working against this kind of failure, various therapeutic interventions listen deliberately and uncover the voice of the patient, that is, what matters from his or her subjective perspective in his or her particular circumstances. Amongst these interventions, music therapy provides for this sensitive listening by expanding the scope and means of expression from the verbal to the musical.AimThis article reports on a qualitative exploration of patients’ lived experiences both during and after their course of individual music therapy, expressed both verbally and in the language of active music-making.SettingA tertiary public psychiatric hospital in South Africa.MethodsAudio-video recordings of 131 music therapy sessions and 15 post-therapy interviews were analysed thematically. From three sets of themes accounting for patients’ verbal contents, musical participation and verbal post-therapy reflections, 11 salient voices were identified.ResultsThe 11 voices that emerged were (1) the voice of struggle, (2) the voice of disturbance, (3) the voice that feels, (4) the voice of isolation, (5) the powerless voice, (6) the voice that desires, (7) the voice of flow and connection, (8) the reflecting voice, (9) the symbolic voice, (10) the resilient voice and (11) the voice of liberation.ConclusionAlthough mental health practitioners may recognise these voices from their clinical experience, space and opportunity for hearing the voice of each patient should be generated deliberately.

АКТИВАЦІЯ СТРЕС-ПЕРЕБОРЮВАНИХ СТРАТЕГІЙ МАЙБУТНІХ УЧИТЕЛІВ ПОЧАТКОВИХ КЛАСІВ ЗАСОБАМИ МУЗИКИ

The article examines the use of music in the process of students’ implementation of stress-relieving strategies during the period of martial law. A theoretical analysis of musical means (imaginative music-making, therapeutic song-writing, active music-making, joint music-making, joint improvisation, music listening, integrative music therapy techniques, in particular using the Orff approach) as factors in the activation of stress-overcoming strategies was carried out. An empirical study of the structure of personal stress coping strategies of future teachers in war conditions was conducted with the help of a survey and the Coping Strategy Indicator (CSI) method by James H. Amirkhan. The optimal musical techniques for the activation of the mentioned strategies have been found out. According to the empirical study, it was found that the vast majority of students choose musical techniques in view of their positive effect on communication processes, activation of mechanisms of social and psychological adaptation, psychophysiology. Moreover, students choose musical techniques taking in consideration the influence on the processes of excitation and inhibition, self-awareness and self-regulation, and regulation of psycho-emotional and cognitive activity. The analysis of students’ stress-coping strategies indicates a significant advantage of the stress-coping tendency of ‘problem solving’ and ‘seeking social support’, which are considered to be more effective strategies in a stressful situation compared to the ‘avoidance’ strategy, which is not often used by students. Using Spielberger – Hanin State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) the dynamics of changes of anxiety levels as a result of the musical intervention were analyzed. Based on the results obtained, a positive relationship between musical techniques and the level of situational and personal anxiety was revealed. The tendency to decrease the level of situational anxiety is more pronounced compared to personal anxiety, which corresponds to the norms of response to stressful factors in the conditions of a war situation. According to the research results, a conclusion was made about the expediency of using certain musical techniques during the performance of stress-relieving strategies, in order to do certain tasks that ensure efficiency of their introduction.

Short-term effects of passive listening to an Indian musical scale on blood pressure and heart rate variability among healthy individuals – A randomised controlled trial

Objectives: Listening to music is entertaining but also has different health benefits. Music medicine involves passive listening to music, while music therapy involves active music-making. Indian music is broadly classified into Hindustani and Carnatic music, each having its system of musical scales (ragas). Scientific studies of Indian music as an intervention are meagre. The present study determines the effect of passive listening to one melodic scale of Indian music on cardiovascular electrophysiological parameters. Materials and Methods: After informed consent, healthy individuals aged 18–30 years of either gender were recruited and randomly divided into two groups (n = 34 each). Group A was exposed to passive listening to the music intervention (Hindustani melodic scale elaboration [Bhimpalas raga alaap]), while Group B received no intervention except for a few natural sounds (played once in every 2 min). Blood pressure (BP, systolic, SBP; diastolic, DBP) and electrocardiogram in Lead II were recorded with each condition lasting for 10 min (pre, during and post). Heart rate variability (HRV) analysis was done. Data were analysed using SPSS 18.0 version and P ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. Results: In Group A, the SBP did not change during the intervention but increased mildly after the intervention (P = 0.054). The DBP increased in both the groups during the intervention, significant in Group A (P = 0.009), with an increase of 1.676 mmHg (P = 0.012) from pre-during and 1.824 mmHg (P = 0.026) from pre-post intervention. On HRV analysis, mean NN interval increased and HR reduced in both the groups, but was significant only in Group B (P = 0.041 and 0.025, respectively). In Group A, most of the HRV parameters were reduced during music intervention that tended to return toward baseline after the intervention, but the change was statistically significant for total power (P = 0.031) and low frequency (P = 0.013); while in Group B, a consistent significant rise in parasympathetic indicators (SDNN, RMSSD, total power and HF [ms2]) over 30 min was observed. Conclusion: Unique cardiovascular effects were recorded on passive listening to a particular Indian music melodic scale. The scale, raga Bhimpalas, produced a mild arousal response. This could be due to attention being paid to the melodic scale as it was an unfamiliar tune or due to the features of this melodic scale that led to an arousal or excitation response. In contrast, the control group had only a relaxation response. Exploring electrophysiological effects of different genres, melodic scales and their properties after familiarising with the music may thus be illustrative.

Accessible Digital Musical Instruments in Special Educational Needs Schools – Design Considerations Based on 16 Qualitative Interviews with Music Teachers

Accessible digital musical instruments (ADMIs) can provide access to active music-making to a broad range of people, including those who may experience different access barriers due to impairments and exclusive social practices. While there is an increase in publications regarding ADMI design and evaluation in specific use cases, little is known on the actual use of ADMIs in special educational needs (SEN) schools. Therefore, the aim of the first part of the ongoing sequential mixed-methods survey that is presented in this paper is to collect data on the use of ADMIs in SEN-schools and to derive design considerations from a music teacher’s perspective. The information presented here is based on 16 qualitative interviews that have been conducted with German SEN music teachers from schools with specializations in eight different SEN areas.

Music Interventions for Early-Stage Cognitive Decline: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Older adults in the early stages of Alzheimer’s and dementia deserve effective modalities that support their cognition, emotional well-being, and social engagement. Music has demonstrated potential to support these critical outcomes through its ability to simultaneously stimulate multiple areas of the brain and induce neuroplasticity. We reviewed randomized controlled trials for studies that specifically utilized active music-making interventions for older adults with early-stage cognitive decline to assess their effects on cognition, emotional well-being, and social engagement. Additionally, this review categorized the specific music activities employed by each intervention. We conducted searches on Medline (Ovid), APA PsycInfo (Ovid) CINAHL (Ebsco), and Embase (Elsevier). Our search yielded 285 potential studies. We analyzed 19 studies with 1,387 participants for potential effect sizes and intervention ingredients. Of the 19 studies, eight studies, recruiting a total of 460 participants, were used to conduct a random-effects meta-analysis to assess the effect of music on cognition. Meta-analytic aggregration of effect sizes showed that music had a modest positive effect on cognition compare with the control conditions (SMD= 0.26; P= 0.008; 95% confidence interval, 0.07, 0.45; I2= 5%). The musical activities of 1) singing and/or playing pre-composed songs and/or 2) creating music in the moment were utilized in the protocols. This research demonstrates that active music-making supports cognition for older adults with early-stage cognitive decline. Future music programs should consider inclusion of pre-composed songs, as well as music creation, to better understand the power for music to provide critical support for a rapidly growing segment of the population.

CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT OF STUDENTS IN THE MUSICAL AND PEDAGOGICAL CONCEPT OF K. ORFF

The essence of K. Orff’s musical and pedagogical concept is considered in the article; the importance of the creative development of students of secondary schools is revealed. The meaning of 'elementary music,' which is connected with movement, dance, and word and creates a basis for the child’s development, is clarified. The five-volume collection 'Orff-Schulwerk. Musik für kinder' is analyzed; its role in creating analogues in different countries is revealed. The problem of stimulating the creative potential of the individual by means of the music-pedagogical system is highlighted.
 The instruments of the children’s orchestra developed by K. Orff together with K. Sachs are described, which included melodic and noise percussion instruments, the simplest wind, and strings. The principle of active music-making and creative development of personality on the basis of playing children’s musical instruments, rhythmic movements, dance, and pantomime is analyzed. The role of rhythmic, vocal, and instrumental improvisations for the creative development of students is revealed. The curriculum at the Orff’ Institute is covered, which included the methods of teaching children’s musical instruments, a course of rhythmic exercises, choreography, conducting, solfeggio, instrumentation.
 The work ‘Theory and practice of music and aesthetic education according to the system of K. Orff’ (by E. Kurishev, L. Kurisheva) is analyzed, which highlights the practical experience of Ukrainian teachers in the classroom and extracurricular activities with students. The countries that have shown interest in Orff's pedagogy and continue to work actively on this system are listed. K. Orff's conviction is formulated that the art of the future is inherent in the nature of human abilities and it is only necessary to create conditions for the creative development of the individual.

From Machine to Musical Instrument

Media histories of music often frame technological innovation in the early twentieth century within a general zeal for automated musical reproduction. The engineering efforts of the Aeolian Company and its Pianola counter such narratives by fostering active music-making rather than passive listening. As a pneumatically powered attachment to a piano, the Pianola was initially limited to reproducing strictly mechanical renditions of music from perforated paper rolls. But the invention of the Metrostyle in 1903, a hand lever to achieve tempo-specific effects, significantly refined the musical capacities of the instrument. It allowed for inscribing onto the music rolls authoritative performance instructions that could be enacted by the player. Revisiting the various places that the Metrostyle Pianola inhabited, from the manufacturing site to the concert hall and the bourgeois living room, I illuminate the different sociocultural relationships and musical experiences that it mediates. By relegating certain tasks of conventional piano-playing to the mechanical workings inside the instrument, the Pianola was marketed as facilitating simplified music-making in ever wider parts of society. The Metrostyle annotations served as a pedagogical device for instructing novice players in principles of nuanced and tasteful interpretation. My analysis exposes the reciprocal relationships between the instrument and its human players, from attempts to adapt the physical interface to human physiologies, to the ways in which the instrument, in turn, imposes certain mechanistic affordances on its players.

Playing with the enemy: Investigating the impact of musical peacebuilding.

Musical performances are frequently used in peacebuilding initiatives. Can performing music together indeed change interpersonal and intergroup perceptions of the other as the enemy? Using contact theory for our theoretical framework, we hypothesize that the specific mechanism of listening during active music-making helps to establish the positive effects of intergroup contact. Additionally, we explore to what extent participants become peace facilitators when returning to their home environments. In two small-scale studies, we find preliminary support for active listening as a mechanism of trust-enhancing contact. However, this effect mainly surfaces in unstructured encounters within the larger organized structure, like late-night chamber music jam sessions. Repeated participation builds the necessary trust for a new common ingroup. Because participation is mostly driven by career and performance motivations, we argue that peacebuilding through musical performances may help overcome the common selection bias in research on contact theory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Music facilitation for promoting well being through the lifecourse

A growing body of research is concerned with how lifelong music learning and participation in community contexts may support well being and quality of life. Research focused on how non-formal community music learning and participation can be supported and facilitated is more limited. This article sets out three case study examples of the ways in which facilitators of music learning in diverse community contexts (including the home) can be supported and trained. Following these examples, a model for music facilitation is presented and discussed, highlighting key tools for supporting active music-making across the lifecourse.

Laying the foundations for lifelong family music practices through Music Early Learning Programs

To lay the foundations for lifelong musical practices, parents need to feel confident using music as a part of their everyday parenting. Music Early Learning Programs (MELPs) can empower parents to use music by laying the foundations for family-based active music-making. Little is known about why parents attend, however, what their aspirations are for their child’s musical engagement now and in the future, or how attendance shapes the way they use music at home. This study investigated parental beliefs, aspirations, and use of music in the home by five families and identified MELP structures that support parenting. The longitudinal case study approach drew on ethnographic methods of data collection. Reasons for attending MELPs were a high value for music, belief that music supports child development, enriched family relationships, and social support. Parental hopes and aspirations from attendance included laying the foundations for lifelong engagement with music. Six MELP structures shaped the way parents used music in the home: voice leading, repertoire, models of interaction, models of attunement and emotional regulation, music use to structure behavior, and models of improvisation. Parental use of MELP experiences at home included singing, music to regulate, and music to scaffold learning.

DOES MUSICKING IMPROVE WELL-BEING IN LATER LIFE? USING BASIC PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS THEORY TO EXPLORE THE QUESTION

Older adults are vulnerable to developing poor mental health as they experience significant life changes such as retirement, widowhood, living alone, institutionalisation, physical and/or cognitive deterioration in oneself or one’s partner, which are associated with increased depression and loneliness. Understanding the mechanisms and identifying effective measures that strengthen their capacities to cope are therefore very important. Extensive research has suggested that active music-making with others has many psychosocial benefits for older adults. This study explored in detail the musical experiences drawn from different settings of Japanese and Hong Kong music communities. Semi-structured group interviews were conducted for members of music-making groups in Japan and Hong Kong who regularly practised, rehearsed, and performed their instruments together in community settings. A phenomenological approach was used to capture and analyse their lived experiences. A needs satisfaction theoretical framework was adopted to shed light on links between their musical engagement and wellbeing outcomes. Active musical engagement was found to be an important source of support for older musicians’ psychological needs. It was central to their positive identity development and sense of purpose in old age. The presentation will further elaborate on underlying mechanisms that linked social, emotional, and artistic experiences of active musical engagement to wellbeing. This study identified active musical engagement as an effective agent in healthy ageing. Differential manifestations of need-supportive practices in musically and culturally distinct communities in Japan and Hong Kong were also described, giving evidence for the positive value of community music groups for promoting mental health and wellbeing.

Music Technology and Alternate Controllers for Clients with Complex Needs

Abstract Music technology can provide unique opportunities to allow access to music-making for clients with complex needs. While there is a growing trend of research in this area, technology has been shown to face a variety of issues leading to underuse in this context. This literature review is a collation of information from peer-reviewed publications, gray literature, and practice. Focusing on active music-making using new types of alternate controllers, this review aims to bring together information regarding the types of technology available, categorizes music technology and its use within the music therapy setting for clients with complex needs, catalogues work occurring within the field, and explores the issues and potentials surrounding music technology and its use in practice.

Making Music: A community–school music partnership

The purpose of this study was to explore a fledgling community–school music partnership, Making Music, and to examine the benefits and challenges of this partnership. The partnership was initially conceived to fill gaps in the music curriculum in an urban school district where few middle schools housed music programs and music at the elementary and high school levels were inconsistent. What made this partnership unusual was that any school participating in the program received free music instruction on a weekly basis, but only for three years. In the third year, if administrators felt the program was useful and effective, they had to commit to hiring at least a .3 full-time equivalent music teacher for the next school year, although this has been met with mixed results. Findings indicated that the strengths of this program exist in the flexibility of the teaching artists in meeting students where they are and in teaching in a variety of environments, providing students opportunities for active music-making, giving students space to build classroom community, and reaching out to the larger community. However, the program struggled with unanticipated issues like insufficient facilities, a lack professional development for teaching artists with little to no classroom teaching experience, and meeting their desired goal of social justice education.

The impact of participation in music on learning mathematics

Music psychologists have established that some forms of musical activity improve intellectual performance, spatial–temporal reasoning and other skills advantageous for learning. In this research, the potential of active music-making for improving pupils' achievement in spatial– temporal reasoning was investigated. As spatial–temporal skills are considered to be high-level mathematical abilities, this study also aimed to explore if learning music might have an effect on pupils' achievement in mathematics, and whether spatial–temporal reasoning plays a role in this process. The study had a quasi-experimental design in which groups of children aged 4 to 7 participated in a music programme containing a variety of musical, predominantly rhythmical, activities. Parallel classes made up control groups. Throughout the intervention, pupils' attainment in mathematics, reading, writing and spatial–temporal reasoning was recorded and compared between the music and control groups. The findings of the project supported the hypothesis that music instruction has an impact on the development of spatial–temporal skills. A statistically significantly greater progression was observed in most of the intervention groups, as compared in all periods of measurement to the control groups. The attainment in general mathematics did not always differ between the intervention and control groups but the analyses provided evidence of a consistent and statistically significant enhancement in learning mathematics between the youngest participants of the programme. This knowledge could inform pedagogical practice, while further research in this area could offer more insight into the association between music and mathematics.

“We were learning together and it felt good that way.” A case study of a participatory group music program for cancer patients

Though there are similarities to music therapy, the field of community music in healthcare, while in its infancy, is steadily growing. This case study explored how semi-formal, active music-making can play a role in illness and recovery and provide patients with a sense of voice, connection, and community, and the efficacy of community music programming in a hospital. Six participants began and three participants completed a 6-week music class learning the ukulele. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used as a method for data analysis from semi-structured pre-questionnaires, transcribed classes, transcribed post-interviews, and weekly questionnaires from both the participants and the facilitator. Emergent and recurrent themes central to the participants’ experiences were discovered: (1) Music as a connector, (2) Music within us external to cancer, (3) Musical experiences interrupted by cancer, (4) Music creates empowerment. Subthemes and individual experiences are also explored. Implications for future research and music’s role in improving the Patient Experience in hospital settings are discussed.