This research targets retired singers from the university choral ensemble, offering an in-depth examination of the older adults' choir experiences, with a focus on their experiences and reflections. Prior studies have highlighted the benefits of musical involvement for retirees, including extending life expectancy, enhancing quality of life, and…

Despite existing research in popular music education, a gap exists in the literature concerning popular music education for rural East Tennessee high school band programs. The purpose of this qualitative research was to address the history of societal acceptance of popular music styles as well as changes within the field of music education…

This study was designed to fill a need to explore the hypothesis that students who participate in middle school bands and or chorus have higher math cognitive functioning than their non-music peers. Using the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP), this study identified specific math domains that middle school music students showed higher functioning…

Grounded in the Rogers (1995) theory of diffusion, this field study applied th? theory to the problem of technology obsolescence within the music scoring industry. Technology obsolescence is important to study because it plays a specific and pivotal role in business success, longevity, and sustainability. The purpose of this study was to examine…

This research studied prevalence, manifestation, and associated factors of Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) in school band directors. Band directors (N = 625) who were members of the National Association of Music Education (NAfME) completed the survey which included the Kenny Music Performance Anxiety Inventory (K-MPAI) and demographic questions.…

This thesis is an historical account of the band program at Auburn University from 1991--2021. The Auburn University Band Program has experienced a long history of rich traditions and continued excellence, so much so that the school's fight song even contains the line "On to vict'ry, strike up the band." What started as a small ensemble…

What should the core purpose of educational wind bands in the United States be? Many music students may not pursue the activity in college (or may not even play a band instrument again after their formal schooling). Musical and artistic values, however, can be applied in creative practice throughout one's life. This dissertation explores what it…

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are commonly used words on college campuses to describe support for students of color on campus. Rarely are these terms ever utilized to examine how staff conducting diversity work are experiencing their respective institutions. In this study, I explored how staff of color performing diversity work navigate working…

Two dissertation recitals and a piano pedagogy workshop were given in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctoral of Musical Arts in Piano Pedagogy and Performance at the University of Michigan. The first dissertation lecture recital, "Afro-Cuban and Brazilian Dances," was presented in McIntosh Theatre on…

Much has been written on the topic of critical pedagogy since the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire brought his critical approach and theory of knowledge to the world stage in "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" in 1968. As a self-reflexive pedagogy, it is in a near constant state of shaping and re-shaping. Through all of this, critical pedagogy…

The purpose of the study was to observe the understanding and motivation of second-grade Tier III students' achievement in skip-counting patterns by implementing music and non-music learning activities. The case study was performed using a qualitative design. A pretest-posttest and repeated measures design was used to analyze and triangulate the…

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of music educators' perceptions of ways in which marching band and college music education curricula connect. By examining the music educators' perceptions, the study hoped to influence existing collegiate music education programs by providing possible avenues of interdisciplinary…

Throughout recent decades, there has been a surge in work to create a diverse classical music canon by finding and promoting works written by composers of underrepresented identities. Despite these efforts, one area that has received little attention is the music written by women during the 18th and early 19th centuries. Reviving the works of…

Because Western art music is harmonically more complex than popular music and because it is written with musical notation, it may be challenging for certain people with no music training (non-musicians), those who did not grow up with Western art music, or those who did not choose to listen to this type of music for enjoyment to understand and…

The purpose of this study was to investigate non-music major college and university students' self-efficacy beliefs and their perceptions of the four sources of self-efficacy as they related to their participation in active music making and creation in college (e.g., ensembles and musicals, group and private lessons, music theory classes). An…