Music
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Browsing Music by Author "Chambers, Mark K."
Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Open Access A New Place at the Table: Ancient Cadential Patterns for Modern Improvision and Aural Skills Training(2023-03-28) Stein, Benjamin Charles; Chambers, Mark K.Contemporary efforts to integrate improvisation practice into institutional music education are many and varied, but lack of improvisatory skill remains an ongoing problem, especially in classical music instruction. Drawing on artisanal training, in which a corpus of memorized repertoire becomes a stylistic knowledge base, source of cognitive schemata and raw material for creative variation, a useful set of historically-derived “standards” can be found in the three introductory cadences used in the Neapolitan conservatory partimento tradition (It. Cadenza Semplice, Cadenza Composta, Cadenza Doppia) of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Referencing music cognition research, music theory sources and improvisation discourse, this paper argues that intervallic suspensions in these schemata (4-3, 7-6) can be seen as a simple demonstration of error perception and correction, a cognitive process that can be deployed to develop and strengthen both aural and creative skills. Integration of these cadences into beginner training also suggests a reassessment of the order of introduction of musical elements found in formal music instruction, which privileges the chord as a discrete entity, and relegates intervallic suspension, schemata and counterpoint to intermediate, advanced, or supplementary study. These cadences concisely synthesize and demonstrate contrapuntal interplay and voice leading between bass and treble voices, basic syncopation and rhythmic division, and the concept of dissonance/consonance within linear parameters as an integral aspect of musical form. A series of beginner to intermediate exercises for use in vocal and instrumental training are presented. The dissertation recommends that intervallic suspensions be given a renewed “place at the table,” once again taking their former role as primal examples of compositional structure and aesthetic possibility.Item Open Access Improvisation in the Strings Classroom: Compositions and Arrangements for Teaching Creative Music Making(2018-03-01) Cheng, Meghan Bethany; Chambers, Mark K.In a traditional classroom, string instrument education is often taught using written, classical music. Teachers must instruct on how to play violin, viola, cello and bass, as well as how to read music and play as an ensemble. Rarely are string students provided the opportunity to improvise in any style of music. Several pieces were composed that incorporate improvisation in a harmonic context as well as essential string techniques. The pieces progress from easy to challenging in their technical requirements and improvisation language. The compositions help fill a gap in the music for strings that encompass improvisation.Item Open Access Standard Orchestra Excerpts for French Horn: A Discussion of Practice and Pedagogy(2020-11-13) Porretta, Julia Alexandra; Chambers, Mark K.This study will explain the preparation process needed by an aspiring orchestral French horn player to be sufficiently ready for an orchestral audition in both Canada and the United States. Through a survey of the most prestigious orchestras in both Canada and the United States, this study determines the common excerpts used for French horn auditions. Furthermore, the physical and mental aspects of preparation are discussed. This study seeks to provide both the necessary tools and the insight needed to enable a player to take a given excerpt and learn not only the notes and rhythms, but also discern many other subtleties inherent in the music, resulting in a full understanding and mastery of the music. The most common excerpts are musically analyzed in order understand why the excerpts are commonly chosen and how a French horn player can use pre-established pedagogical techniques and exercises in their individual practicing. This study will provide advice for future French horn players auditioning for the top orchestras in Canada and the United States.Item Open Access The Sound of Silence: An Ethnography on the Sama 'Ritual in the Nematollahi Kaneqah in Toronto(2018-11-21) Ghanai, Katayoun; Chambers, Mark K.This thesis examines the Sufi ritual of Sama as practiced by the Nematollahi order in Toronto and will explore how music induces trance in Sufis during their ceremonies called Sama. My approach is ethnomusicological. Sama, includes poetry and music through which Sufis enter into trance. The structural coupling theory may be applied to understand how Sufis participate in ritual and through active faith, undergo physical and physiological changes. The Sufis are coupled to the ritual through a common history, music, or previous participation (conditioning), practiced consciously by a group of individuals. A Samas script is never predictable; it is always improvisatory. A good Sama is when the Sufis emotional arousal matches the intensity of the music and a transcendent symbiosis occurs. Based on my interviews with the Sufis in the Nematollahi Kaneqah, each experienced the central factors of happiness, which is synonymous with well-being, however subjective this term may be.