Mapping the Musical Lifecourse
Poster Abstracts
A training program in classical guitar sight-reading: some preliminary results
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Ricardo Arôxa
Ph.D. student in Music Education at the Faculty of Music, Laval University
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Sight-reading is an important skill for professional musicians, especially those who devote themselves to a career in classical music performance. This ability is strongly associated with musical accompaniment activities. Usually, classical guitarists are poor sight-readers, but a significant number of them, who invest quite some time preparing memorized performances, believe sight-reading improvement is not a priority since their focus is not playing in musical ensembles. One negative consequence of this issue for classical guitarists’ musical lifecourse is the inability to work with short deadlines because they must memorize the musical piece before playing it. Nevertheless, various strategies and activities could be presented to them in order to improve their instrumental learning and increase their professional opportunities. This poster is about the first results of a Ph.D. research project that aims to investigate the effectiveness of a training program to improve the sight-reading skill of classical guitarists.
Pedagogy of Traditional Musics and World Musics in Quebec Elementary Schools
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Rita Belisle
1) An introduction to the historical context of teaching traditional musics in Quebec schools and its place in the Programme de formation de l’école québécoise (2001);
2) A conceptual framework regarding intercultural music education principles, concepts of tradition, transmission, authenticity, and hybridization relating to traditional music;
3) The social and scientific relevance of this research supported by the growing cultural diversity in schools and the lack of research focusing on French educational materials used in intercultural music education contexts and on music teaching practices in Quebec;
4) Research questions and objectives;
5) A brief presentation of the two methodological components of the research, namely a content analysis of teaching materials and an ethnographic inquiry focusing on teaching practices;
6) The preliminary results of the content analysis;
7) The most important references.
Development of a pedagogical tool promoting the adoption of safe practices amongst violinists
Julie Ferland-Gagnon
Ph.D. student in Music Education at the Faculty of Music, Laval University
Considerable literature attests to the fact that a vast majority of musicians will experience playing-related musculoskeletal disorders during their musical lives. These functional disorders can lead to significant consequences for the confirmed musician, such as a loss of income, psychological health problems, or even the permanent interruption of the musical career or amateur practice. Since many of the disorders that affect the musician could be avoided by measures such as preventive education (Chesky, Dawson and Manchester, 2006), several researchers agree to recommend a prophylactic approach from the beginning of the musician's training. From then on, our project consists of the development of a pedagogical toolpromoting the adoption of safe practices amongst violinists, making it possible for them to enjoy the use of their body throughout their musical life, and to realize their full artistic potential.
Inclusive and creative later life music-making with Soundbeam
David Fortier
Ph.D. student in Music Education at the Faculty of Music, Laval University
My research is concerned with the potential for music technology to be used in such a way as to promote access to creative and participative musical activities, among older people in the community. This poster is focused on music technologies that may mitigate physical and attitudinal barriers that may limit musical participation among older people. I consider principles of inclusion, and the ways in which these can be applied in later-life contexts, using music technologies as a vehicle for creative music-making. I will specifically consider the use of the Soundbeam and its potential as a pedagogical tool that promotes a ‘critical geragogy’, whereby older people are empowered to use music-making as a creative and expressive outlet.
The contribution of intercultural musical activities practiced in groups and the experience of continuity during the migration project : case study
Pascaline Lebrun
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The research presented here explored ways in which participatory music workshops involving Quebecers and permanent residents alongside recently arrived refugees in Quebec could support social integration and psychological well-being. ​
Co-creation of music learning games with young musicians
as a pedagogical approach for music education
Astrid Patricia Marin Jimenez
Ph.D. student in Music Education at the Faculty of Music, Laval University
This poster presents a research project in process which aims to document the co-creation of music learning games with music students aged 10 to 14. Game co-creation has been researched previously in various academic disciplines, showing positive outcomes in students’ creativity, engagement, and learning. However, there has been very limited empirical research concerned with this pedagogical approach in the field of music education. Thus, this project responds to the following research question: What are the implications of co-creating music learning games in an independent music teaching context with young music instrument students, for creativity and learning engagement towards this approach? Two groups of 15 young students learning a musical instrument (n = 30) will participate in a 10-day summer camp where they co-create music learning games. The structure of the game co-creation process will be guided by the Creative and Playful Learning model (Kangas 2010), while the framework of Creative Pedagogy (Lin 2011) will be used to design the pedagogical practices needed to develop their games in a creative way.
Early experiences and music performance anxiety among post-secondary jazz students
Gabriel Martin-Gagnon
Ph.D. student in Music Education at the Faculty of Music, Laval University.
The aim of this study is to explore the Music performance anxiety (MPA) of jazz music students at the post-secondary level. MPA has been conceptualized as a painful apprehension of music performance manifesting through affective, somatic, cognitive and behavioral symptoms. Although MPA has been extensively studied with classical musicians, almost no research has exclusively investigated the MPA of jazz musicians. Participants were 74 jazz music students who have completed an online questionnaire assessing MPA and trait anxiety. The questionnaire also explored the relationship of early experiences with MPA. Results suggest that jazz music students suffer from a significant MPA strongly related to trait anxiety. For the most part, participants identified significant early experiences as being positive. These findings may suggest that positive early experiences may have contributed towards the resilience needed to cope with MPA and may therefore have implications for the musical lifecourse of these musicians.
Educational Creativity at the Service of Music Creativity: A Community of Practice to Foster Change in Instrumental Teaching
Marie-Audrey Noël
Creativity in teaching and learning music is an important area to improve in instrumental pedagogy to enrich and fully support the musical life course of students. This poster explores the ways in which a community of practice focused on developing the creative identity and pedagogy of instrument teachers can foster the integration of creative activities into their practice.
Most instrument teachers in Quebec do not incorporate or have very little creative musical activity in their teaching. However, they would promote understanding of musical concepts, stimulate the student's imagination by developing his ability to "think in sounds" and personalize his learning by leading him to make aesthetic musical decisions. Since teachers' conceptions and practices still seem strongly influenced by the traditional "teacher-student" approach, it seems pertinent to look at the flexibility of their teaching posture. In other words, to build a creative global pedagogy, the teacher must develop (a) a creative teaching approach that leads the student to (b) learn in a creative way. It would therefore be better equipped to (c) integrate more creative activities into the curriculum.
A cooperative pedagogical approach for allow the Brazilian guitar students to the deep learning.
Emanuel de Carvalho Nunes
Ph.D. student in Music Education at the Faculty of Music, Laval University
This presentation considers the context of teaching Brazilian music for guitar in small groups, asking ourselves what will be the characteristics of a cooperative approach that can support deep learning that can underpin a lifelong musical identity as a Brazilian guitarist. To achieve this goal, I will present an overview about the teaching of guitar in small groups in Brazil, aiming at the personalized service with each guitar student through cooperative pedagogical practices that can allow them to the deep learning. Thus, the focus will be on the psychological foundations related to the proposed question, based on the concept of deep learning discussed by Entwistle, McCune and Walker (2000), the cooperative approaches discussed by Heron (1999) and the work by Creech and Hallam (2017) about on facilitating in small group learning.
Could your learning experience of aural skills during youth be linked to the teacher you became?
Justine Pomerleau Turcotte
Ph.D. student in Music Education at the Faculty of Music, Laval University
Aural skills (AS) are part of the curriculum for many young music learners and constitute a real challenge to some of them. While teachers can use a variety of approaches to help students, their own previous experience with AS learning might shape their attitude toward AS teaching, but how? This poster presents a few results obtained from an online survey completed by 142 instrumental music teachers in the province of Quebec. Data were analyzed both quantitatively, with Chi-square and Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel tests, and qualitatively, using content analysis (Krippendorf, 2013). Results suggest that teachers’ perception of AS learning is linked to their perception of AS teaching, and that their training is linked to the activities they choose to do with their students during lessons. Furthermore, teachers are mostly satisfied with their capacity to teach AS. It highlights the fact that musical experiences might be crucial in future teachers’development.
Pathways in becoming a professional folklore musician
Matias Recharte
At the National School of Folklore Jose Maria Arguedas in Lima, Peru, students become professional folklore musicians and dancers by engaging in a complex process of identification deeply influenced by the intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, class, region and nationality. My research project is an ethnographic study of this institution during which I will try to understand the experience of the students and the roles of peers, teachers, administrators, curriculum and the wider world of media and politics. My hope is that the analysis of the data I gather will illuminate the affective, embodied process by which music students come to identify as professional folklore musicians through a complex negotiation of these identity formations and how their experience complicates or enriches current theories of musical identity.
A Method in Process: Toward an Interdisciplinary Understanding of Music Improvisation for Mental Health and Wellbeing
Deborah Seabrook
MMT, MTA, PhD Candidate Concordia University
This poster will present my research, which is in the planning stages, and aims to move towards an interdisciplinary understanding of music improvisation for mental health and wellbeing by investigating this practice across three highly relevant disciplines. The poster will further situate the research problem and provide a brief literature review. The primary research question is: What is an interdisciplinary conceptualization of music-centered music improvisation for mental health inclusive of music therapy, community music, and music performance disciplines? Research sub-questions further focus the investigation. This qualitative study uses a modified grounded theory methodology. The method, including the fit for the study, participant recruitment, interview questions, data analysis, and an arts- based dissemination component, will be presented in detail using images for clarity and to invite feedback. Potential findings and the current status of the project will be described.
Age-related differences in the self-regulation of Canadian music learners
Varela Wynnpaul
This study examined age-related differences in the self-regulation of Canadian music learners via extensive secondary analyses of survey data collected in 2014. The 3,920 respondents were aged 7 to 78 and primarily identified through the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) exams database. First, MANOVA analyses were conducted, with dependent variables comprising 18 previously derived factors. Next, Discriminant Function Analyses (DFA) were performed in order to yield weighted linear combinations of those factors which might best predict age groups. Finally, 1,184 responses to the survey’s open-ended question were thematically coded. The quantitative findings revealed that while certain self-regulatory processes (e.g., intrinsic motivation and self-reflection) improved with age, others such as the use of aural skills, perceived aural abilities, and personal competency beliefs behaved in more surprising or complex ways. Furthermore, the qualitative findings suggested additional factors, such as co-regulation, socio-contextual factors, and attitudes towards the RCM, may also distinguish age groups.