Musical Practice Research Articles

Time, Risk and Control in Musical Performance Practices

Time, control and risk are interrelated concepts that provide a valuable framework for exploring the connections among various performative practices and their cultural functions. By referencing sports, circus arts, and musical performance, this article examines the similarities and differences between musical reproductive performance and improvisation. It focuses on the concept of transformational processes through analogies.

The Impact of Piano Game-Based Learning on the Mental Health of Elderly Individuals.

The main research purpose was to investigate the impact of piano courses on the mental health of the elderly. The sample consisted of 30 individuals. The age range of the participants was from 60 to 70 years. For 6 months, the respondents had piano lessons two times a week. One lesson lasted 2 hours and included the development of playing skills and improvisation techniques. The results confirmed the validity of the proposed learning strategy. The Taylor anxiety scale decreased by 19 points. These results showed a decrease of more than half of its original value. The Beck test for depression decreased by 21.5 points. The result shows a decrease two times. The test on the emotional background (the WAM questionnaire) shows an improvement in Well-Being by 3.3 points. In the group of respondents, Activity increased by 3.3 points, and the Mood factor increased by 3.5 points. The direction of further research should be related to the study of the impact of musical practices on various components of the clinical picture of depression and negative emotional states. The results can find practical implementation in the practice of psychotherapeutic work in reducing anxiety and eliminating depression in the elderly in clinics, hospitals, and other medical institutions.

Educational Perspectives on the Literacy of Chinese Folk Music Recomposed for Saxophone

Chinese folk music, rich in cultural and historical significance, represents a vital element of the nation’s intangible heritage. This study investigates the educational perspectives on the literacy of Chinese folk music recomposed for saxophone. Recomposing such music involves adapting traditional melodies for modern instruments like the saxophone, blending cultural authenticity with contemporary techniques. Through a qualitative research approach, the study explores how recomposed Chinese folk music fosters technical proficiency, cultural literacy, and creative expression in students. Data were collected through interviews with three key informants, document analysis, and performance observations. Thematic analysis revealed four key findings: recomposed music enhances cultural literacy, supports technical and artistic development, fosters pedagogical innovation, and balances tradition with modernity. Despite these benefits, challenges persist in preserving the core identity of traditional music while innovating for modern audiences. The study highlights the role of educators in designing curricula that integrate historical context and cultural narratives alongside technical skills. Recommendations for future research include exploring the use of recomposed music with other instruments, examining student perceptions, and leveraging digital tools to enhance accessibility. This research contributes to cultural preservation and the evolution of music education practices by addressing these areas and offering insights for educators, composers, and performers.

#Runningupthathill, revival and popular music fandom on TikTok

ABSTRACT The fourth season of Stranger Things (2022) used Kate Bush’s 1985 single ‘Running up that Hill’ for a key narrative moment, propelling the song back into the charts. This resurgence also inspired new generations of listeners who turned to TikTok to perform covers, analyses or parodies of the song. While TikTok has been discussed as an emerging player in the music industry and as a space of agency and expression, there is still limited understanding of how audiences use the platform to express and negotiate their musical affinities. To investigate this, we conducted a content analysis of TikTok videos tagged with the hashtag #runningupthathill (N = 442). We identified two primary themes which fostered musical meaning on TikTok: (1) platform dynamics and possibilities for creativity, and (2) affective nostalgia. Our findings show that these factors cultivated a two-fold sense of musicking: a renewal of communal, fandom practices alongside a reflective engagement with music cultures and their cyclicity. The analysis reveals a convergence between platformisation and the role of music in identity formation, self-creation and self-maintenance. Ultimately, this research offers empirical insight into how digital spaces reshape and renew music fan practices.

Music’s ability to foster prosocial behavior: a teleofunctionalist perspective

Drawing on recent interdisciplinary music research—biologically or developmental psychologically oriented—which conceptualizes music as a communicative toolkit primarily serving affiliative communicative interaction, this paper investigates the question of whether and to what extent music is capable of fostering prosocial behavior within the framework of teleofunctionalism—a philosophical theory of mind. A teleofunctionalist perspective allows us to specify this question as follows: To what extent might a function of establishing affiliative socio-interactional relationships be considered a proper function of music, a concept suggested by philosopher Ruth Millikan? From an ontogenetic perspective, musical activities are considered to be rooted in protoconversational communication in early infancy, characterized as interpersonal coordination without involving propositional understanding. These activities develop into coordinated, non-representational forms of vitality, involving basic empathy, shared intentionality, and forms of understanding allowing for shared experiences. This effect of musical activities—establishing shared experiences—can be considered a proper function of music. A teleofunctional explanation of why musical practices that foster cooperation and prosocial behavior are reproduced is provided by the participants’ positive evaluation of shared experiences structured by musical activities. By discussing a proper function of a musical activity, the author refines her own considerations concerning the minimal necessary conditions of music and musicality that can be conceived in a broader sense.

Beyond conformity: King Pinn's counter-hegemonic rap in post-2000 ZANUfied Zimbabwe

The post-2000 period in Zimbabwe is known as the decade of the crisis because of rising poverty, hyperinflation, a collapsed economy, poor service delivery, political violence, and a myriad of problems that made the lives of the majority of Zimbabweans precarious. It was also the period of the land reform programme which the government embarked on to, among many other reasons, galvanise the ruling party’s waning political fortunes. The land reform programme was complemented by an ultra-nationalist imaginary which took the form of the 75% (later upgraded to 100%) local content policy for radio and television. The policy was meant to create cultural support for ZANU – PF’s land exercise by rejecting the cultural products of western countries. These western countries, in ZANU – PF parlance, were enemies of Zimbabwe because of their oppositional stance towards the land reform exercise. Thus, the 100% local content became a way of policing musical production to make it agree with this anti-western stance. The Urban Grooves movement of the post-2000 period emerged from this policy change and dominated Zimbabwe’s airwaves for a decade. This movement was not a musical genre per se but a mish-mash of genres comprising dancehall, soul, Afro-pop, house, hip-hop, among others. Using Zimbabwe’s hip-hop music, with special reference to the late King Pinn’s ‘I Salute You’, this paper explores how youth artists operated in post-2000 ZANUfied and Mugabeist Zimbabwe. Did their musical practices pander to the policing whims of the state? Did they, contrary to the state’s expectations, come up with alternative identities that sought to challenge the ZANUist political hegemony of their time? If youth cultures can act as conveyors of alternative phenomenological forms of social and political reality and as indicators of ideological resistance, how have Zimbabwean hip-hop artists acted as conveyors of ideological resistance?

Scènes à Faire: Genre Practice in Music Copyright Infringement Cases

ABSTRACT Recent copyright infringement litigation has revealed ambiguity in the scope of legal protection for musical works. Courts have especially struggled to distinguish between unprotectable, foundational musical ideas and copyrightable expressions of them. This article advocates for increased application of the legal doctrine of scènes à faire—which permits the exclusion of indispensable ideas when proving infringement—to contextualize more acutely similarities identified in a lawsuit according to evolving creative practices and repertories that are essential to genre communities. In so doing, this article furthers methodological discourse in forensic musicology to promote future case outcomes attuned to musical genre practices.

Unpacking transformation in community music discourse

PurposeTransformation has become a commonly employed phrase in the field of community music. However, there has been little critical examination of its employment. This study aimed to explore how and why community musicians and project participants used this concept to describe their experiences of community music-making programmes.Design/methodology/approachA mixed methodological approach was utilised for this study. This included conducting an extensive literature review to establish a conceptual framework of transformations meaning within community music literature. Additionally, a historiography of the use of transformation in cultural policymaking and community music practice was developed to examine how this concept has gained prominence in the discourse. Alongside this, a case study was conducted on a music-making programme for adults with a mental health diagnosis to investigate the practical application of the concept of transformation.FindingsThe research reveals that musicians and participants often use “transformation” as a metaphor to articulate the personal impacts of community music programmes. These impacts include enhanced self-confidence, a greater sense of control and shifts in how individuals perceive themselves. The widespread use of this term is influenced by the messaging of funders and policymakers, who use the concept of personal transformation to rationalise funding for arts and cultural initiatives.Originality/valueThis research provides a new perspective on transformation and its meaning in community music practice. Additionally, it highlights the interconnection between community music activity and cultural policymaking, a relationship that has yet to receive much attention from scholars across both fields.

Social and Cognitive Predictors of Collaborative Learning in Music Ensembles

There have been many attempts to find ways to make music education more relevant and useful for pupils. Learning theories, performance-based learning, contract-learning, discovery-learning, cooperative learning, daily clocking, stage practice, and music-focused required and elective courses are all part of the implementation of these methods. Since high vocational students tend to have lower GPAs, it is imperative that they discover strategies to enhance their academic performance. Reform, rather than relying on theoretical frameworks, should be grounded on practical, innovative human actions. Both instructors and pupils possess the capacity to comprehend what they have learnt, according to the humanistic perspective. This paper provides evidence that collaborative learning is beneficial for first-year music practice students in a popular music program at a Chinese institution. The students work in small, diverse groups. Data was collected and analyzed from students over the course of one academic year with grades 4-6.. Collaboration is a powerful tool that has many applications, including but not limited to popular music degree programs, which is implemented in this paper using machine learning techniques. It zeroed down on seven important characteristics, all of which had obvious applications in the educational process. Another online course could use the method to predict students' performance, including real-time tracking of their progress and risk of dropping out, after it has been adjusted to capture relevant features corresponding to different contexts. This method could also be applied to other management learning platforms.

The Impact of an Orofacial Muscle Strengthening Program on Temporomandibular Muscles and on the Performance of Wind Instrumentalists.

Playing a wind instrument is one of the most complex tasks for the musculoskeletal system. Verify the effectiveness of a strengthening exercise programme on musical performance and the strength of the temporomandibular muscles. The sample was 60 participants (36 men; 24 women), with a mean age of 24.67 ± 13.06 years, divided into experimental group (EG) (16 brass; 15 woodwind) and control group (CG) (15 brass; 14 woodwind). The initial assessment (T0) consisted of a sociodemographic questionnaire, the EQ-5D-5L, an assessment of maximum bite force and endurance time and sound recording, before (T0) and after a musical practice of 8.5 min (T1). The EG, during 5 weeks, underwent 10 sessions of a temporomandibular muscle strengthening program, consisting of a series of 25 repetitions of isometric bite contraction, followed by a reassessment (T2) and sound recording (T2 and T3). Statistically significant differences were found between groups in maximum bite force between T0 and T2, explained by the improvement in the EG (p = 0.014, bilaterally). We found no differences in endurance. In musical performance, statistically significant differences were found in the mean intensity values. There was an improvement in performance in the brass EG, with statistically significant differences in the high-piano note (p = 0.025) and in the woodwind EG all the notes were played at a significantly lower intensity (p ≤ 0.05), compared to the CG, where all the notes increased in intensity. The isometric exercise improves the maximum bite force, accompanied by an improvement in the high note's performance in brass and greater sound stability in woodwinds.

Improvising with Machines: A taxonomy of musical interactions

This article maps out some of the relationships between performers and their instruments in live and improvised electronic music. In these practices, musical machines – be they computers, mechanical assemblages or combinations of different sound-makers and processors – act as generators of musical material and sources of unpredictability with which to improvise. As a lens through which to consider these practices, we examine a number of different roles these musical machines may take on during improvised performances. These include running, playing, surprising, evolving, malfunctioning, collaborating and learning. We explore the values of these different roles to the improvising musician, and contextualise them within some broad and historical trends of contemporary music. Finally, we consider how this taxonomy may make us more open to the vital materialism of musical instruments, and offer novel insights into the flows of agency and interaction possibilities in technologically mediated musical practices.

Resonant relationships and ecological crisis

As a means of world relation and interaction, music can be a powerful medium for situating human beings in relation to other entities and spaces by which they are surrounded. While Christian musical practices often focus most strongly on human–divine relationships, a recent turn to concepts of resonance suggests the potential to consider a wider range of interactions and aspirations. I propose that attentiveness to dimensions of resonance might prove productive in connection with contemporary experiences of ecological crisis and I suggest that rethinking our patterns of resonant interaction may be an important part of our response to these challenges.

Musical Education in Kindergarten. Importance on the quality of life in children

Musical education in early childhood is a crucial component for holistic development, promoting cognitive, emotional, and social skills. This systematic review explores the impact of musical education on preschool children, emphasizing the Latin American and Argentine contexts.Methods: A systematic review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines. Studies from 2000 to 2023 focusing on the effects of musical education in children aged 3-6 years were included. Databases like Scopus, PubMed, ERIC, and Scielo were searched using keywords such as "musical education," "preschool," and "child development." Data extraction covered demographics, study design, interventions, and outcomes. Study quality was assessed using the CASP checklist.Results: The review highlights that musical education significantly enhances cognitive development, improving memory, attention, and mathematical skills. Emotional and social benefits include better emotional expression, empathy, and cooperation. Active musical practices, such as singing and using simple instruments, foster creativity and self-esteem. In Latin America and Argentina, musical education reinforces cultural identity and promotes inclusion, albeit with challenges like resource disparities and teacher training limitations.Conclusions: Musical education in preschool is a powerful tool for holistic development, with well-documented cognitive, emotional, and social benefits. In Latin America and Argentina, it also serves as a cultural and inclusive practice. Efforts should focus on reducing inequalities in access to resources and strengthening teacher training programs.

Educating Ungrounded Values: Interrogating Political Versus Academic Epistemologies in Music Teacher Education

All music education endeavors depend on the hierarchical ordering of values. Although philosophical researchers have considered which values should inform music education practices, both the nature of values and possible epistemologies or ways of thinking about values have gone largely unexamined in the music education literature. The twofold purpose of this philosophical inquiry is to examine differences between political versus academic epistemologies and to consider the benefits and limitations of utilizing these contrasting ways of knowing during preservice music teacher preparation. Political epistemologies involve promoting narrow values, encouraging emotional attachments to them, and treating them as unquestionable. Although political epistemologies enable professional cohesion that can sustain and improve practice, they limit both complexity and critiques of actions associated with favored values. Political epistemologies can also reinforce echo chambers, causing students who anticipate counterarguments to harden their initial stances. Alternatively, academic epistemologies involve sustained, rigorous, dispassionate analysis of the complexities surrounding competing values and their associated consequences. Academic epistemologies enable music educators to reimagine their actions and engage with stakeholders promoting contrasting values. Both political and academic epistemologies can serve a key role in preservice music teacher education, and teacher educators might question when and why they favor each in their practices.

Creating affordances for families with young children: Experiences of music education in social work

The current research examines the possibilities of music education in supporting the well-being of families living in demanding life situations. The context for the study is Family Sound Hammock, a 3-year research and development project that took place in the metropolitan area of Finland from 2020 to 2023. The project aimed at systematically supporting the well-being of families especially by strengthening their capacities for interaction in and through music education activities. This phenomenological-hermeneutic research focusses on the affordances emerging in family music activities, asking the following: What kinds of affordances can be recognised in and through music activities as part of family social work? The findings are presented in three categories: (1) Experiential environment of music education practice, (2) Social interaction and (3) Experiences of consistency that each highlight the potential of music education for redirecting agency, participation and inclusion of parents and children. The findings emphasise the professional facilitation of an inviting and safe musico-pedagogical environment applying pedagogical sensitivity.

Spiralling Out of a Shell: Fictioning more-than-machine listening

This article critiques the anthropocentric tendencies in machine listening practices and narratives, developing alternative concepts and methods to explore the more-than-human potential of these technologies through the framework of sonic fiction. Situating machine listening within the contemporary soundscape of dataveillance, the research examines post-anthropocentric threads that emerge at the intersection of datafication, subjectivation and animalisation. Theory and practice interweave in the composition of a music piece, The Spiral, enabling generative feedback between concept, sensation and technique. Specifically, the research investigates the figure of a mollusc bio-sensor between science fact and fable, as the (im)possible locus of musicality. This emergent methodology also offers new insights for other sound art and music practices aiming to pluralise what listening might be.

Effects of a 1-year piano intervention on cognitive flexibility in older adults.

We analyzed the data of a randomized controlled trial to examine the effects of piano practice on cognitive flexibility in healthy older adults. Participants (N = 153, 69.5 ± 3.5 years of age, 57.5% females) were randomly assigned to a piano practice group (PP) or a control group engaged in active music listening (MC). Both groups underwent a year-long intervention with weekly 60-min lessons and daily homework. We assessed switch and mixing costs in terms of speed (mean reaction times) and variability (standard deviation of reaction times) with a number switch and a perceptual switch task. We employed scale analysis based on musical instrument digital interface to assess pianistic performance. Tests were conducted at baseline, after 6 months, postintervention (12 months), and at follow-up (18 months). Results revealed more pronounced improvements in pianistic performance in the PP group compared with the MC group over the course of the intervention. Both groups exhibited gains in several cognitive flexibility outcomes, which originated primarily in the latter half of the intervention. For mixing costs of the number switch test, the PP group showed greater improvements compared with the MC group. Changes in pianistic performance were not related to changes in cognitive flexibility. Additionally, the findings indicated a compensation account in both groups, which was more pronounced in the PP group for mixing costs. This study suggests that both piano practice and active music listening-with piano practice to a higher degree-enhance cognitive flexibility, particularly in sustained control mechanisms linked to mixing costs. Both interventions potentially require longer than 6 months to induce behavioral transfer effects and are especially beneficial for individuals with lower cognitive flexibility levels. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Wagner's Musical Thought and Practice:Exemplified by Tristan and Isolde

The studies on <Tristan and Isolde> are very heterogeneous, and most of the articles discussing its relationship with Schopenhauer's philosophy discuss Wagner's connection with Schopenhauer in the time and circumstances of his life or writing. This paper makes more use of the music itself composed by Wagner as material for analysis, taking <Tristan and Isolde> as an example, this article introduces the philosophical ideas implicit in <Tristan and Isolde> and discusses Wagner's philosophical reflections in the light of Schopenhauer's philosophy and its influence on Wagner. The specific use of versmelodie in <Tristan and Isolde> is also analyzed to explore the origin and influence of Wagner's gesamtkunst ideas. This paper using music and textual analysis as the main methods, in order to distinguishes between Wagner's self-expressed ideas in his writings and those embodied in his musical compositions, attempts to explore Wagner's underlying expressive intentions and the reasons for the enduring popularity of Tristan and Isolde.

Popular Music and LGBTQ+ Identities in the Age of Streaming: An Explorative Audience Study

ABSTRACT For this study, we conducted 24 in-depth interviews with LGBTQ+ Spotify users to understand the relations between LGBTQ+ identities, music, and music streaming. Participants displayed a wide range of meaningful music practices and views on music and identity. At the same time, the interviews showcased how the impalpable and ever-changing nature of music, new media, and identities make it difficult and often undesirable to actively dissect or define the relations between music and LGBTQ+ identities, but affectively, personally, and socially they are as meaningful and prominent as ever before.

The Practical Guidance of Music Aesthetics in Musical Art Practice

In musicology, music aesthetics is a fundamental discipline that highly summarizes musical art and uses it as a starting point to explore the laws and essence of music, providing guidance for musical art practice. With music aesthetics as the foundation, audiences can clearly grasp emotional expressions and performance styles in musical art practice, leading to a deeper understanding of musical works. The degree to which performers master music aesthetics can also be demonstrated through musical art practice. Music aesthetics and musical art practice complement and promote each other. Music is not only an art form but also a practical activity. Continuous innovation in theory within practical activities guides the activities of musical art practice. This paper aims to discuss the importance of music aesthetics and musical art practice for the development of music, their intrinsic connections, and the specific guiding significance of music aesthetics in musical art practice, hoping to provide theoretical support and practical guidance for music creation, performance, and education.