Jacob M Dakon editor Issue No 1 December 2013

STRINGS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

String Pedagogy KU

Introducing the Class of 2017 and SofC Issue No 1

Whatrsquos in this issue

Introducing the Class of 2017 And SofC Issue No 1 1 New Violin Professor Takes the Helm at KU 2 Undergraduate Column ldquoMy First Semester at KUrdquo 2 3 By Sarah Wray KIO to Perform at KMEA 3 Graduate Column Fighting String Intonation Perceptions The Need for Higher Standards 4 By Rebecca Tast Upcoming Events 5

ldquoMusic expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silentrdquo

-Victor Hugo

A Newsletter for String Educators by String Educators at the KU School of Music

2

bull Articles examining pedagogical curricular and other educational perspectives

bull Articles examining psychological perspectives pertaining to music and human behavior

bull Research abstracts or reports that suggest direct application to instructional environments

bull Other written forms of creative expression (eg poetry)

bull Reviews (eg books music research) and bull Rebuttals and letters that promote healthy and

progressive discussion We believe that sharing knowledge and skills is one of the primary means of advancing string education Such advancements we hope will continue to enhance educational experiences for all Kansan music students and teachers past present and future Please enjoy the issue

1

The 2013-14 school year is off to a great start The inaugural issue of Strings of Consciousness has officially been published and four new freshmen joined the KU string education program this semester making our total enrollment eleven string education majors Please help me welcome Kat Sterbenz (cello) Casey Gregory Sarah Wray and Haley Grant (violins) when you see them at KMEA this February Also a special thank you to Sarah Wray for writing our Undergraduate Column in the present issue (see page 2) So why another newsletter Strings of Consciousness is a tri-annual publication that is based out of the University of Kansas Music Education amp Music Therapy Division Our mission is to promote communication and a sense of community between collegiate pre-service and professional string educators throughout the state of Kansas by disseminating critical thought and opinion through discussion of string-specific topics These include but are not limited to

Front row left Heather Madgwick Hannah Glatter Kat Sterbenz and Haley Grant Back row left Russell Clark Rebecca Tast Tyler Harvey and Casey Gregory

Unavailable Hope Jackson Cale Cindric and Sarah Wray

Strings of Consciousness

Issue No 1 December 2013

2

New Violin Professor Takes the Helm at KU

1

There is a new violinist in town Her name Veacuteronique Mathieu This past August Veacuteronique joined the KU School of Music string faculty as our new Violin Assistant Professor after serving as faculty for the State University of New York in Buffalo and the Toronto School for Strings A native of Canada Veacuteronique completed a Bachelors Degree in Music at the Queacutebec Conservatory and an Artist Diploma with lsquoOutstanding Achievement in Violin Performancersquo from McGill University under the tutelage of Denise Lupien Veronique went on to complete a Performers Diploma and a Masters Degree in Music at Indiana University where she studied with Miriam Fried Currently she is a candidate for the Doctor of Music degree in violin performance at Indiana University under the guidance of Mark Kaplan Veacuteronique has performed as a soloist and chamber musician on the international stage with engagements throughout parts of

2

Europe South Africa South America and the United States As a soloist Veacuteronique has performed with the National Arts Centre Orchestra the Oakville Symphony Orchestra the Filarmonica de Americana the Kokomo Symphony and the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic She is also a frequent guest soloist with the Montreal Contemporary Ensemble Veacuteronique possesses a unique passion for contemporary music Throughout her performance career she has commissioned and premiered many works by both American and Canadian composers Veacuteronique has also recorded for the CD series New Music at Indiana University and the Radio-Canada label She continues to build relationships with renowned contemporary composers throughout the world Veacuteronique would be happy to come and work with your students To schedule a visit contact her by phone or E-mail

Veacuteronique Mathieu can be contacted by phone (785) 864-9757 or E-mail

vmathieukuedu

Undergraduate Column ldquoMy First Semester at KUrdquo A Freshmenrsquos Perspective

By Sarah Wray

ldquoBeing a Jayhawk is a wonderful ex-perience and be-ing a part of the string education

program at KU is life changingrdquo

2

Murphy is similar to a black hole only itrsquos the kind that you want to be sucked in to When surrounded by fantastic professors helpful classmates and incredible musicians it is hard to yank yourself away not to mention that classes are enjoyable I am a music education major with an emphasis on violin so I get to take several classes where I am taught how to play many different instruments Currently I am learning how to play the cello the baritone and hand drums It is so much fun gaining all of these musical skills and knowledge Not only do I get to play drums and brass instruments on a daily basis I also spend a good portion of my day playing violin One of my favorite parts of the day is orchestra rehearsal The KU Symphony Orchestra repertoire has been amazing I have never enjoyed playing in orchestra more than I do now The conductor

1

Sarah is an undergraduate violinist majoring in music education She is from Olathe KS where she was a student of Sarah Dorian at Spring Hill High School __________________________ Every aspect of KU is wonderful the residence halls the beautiful campus the basketball games I could go on and on But what really has made me feel like a true Jayhawk is the University of Kansas School of Music In my short four months at KU Murphy Hall KUrsquos music building has become my home I can proudly say that I spend a great deal of my day there for two reasons The first and most obvious reason is that Murphy is where most of my classes are held (which I am very thankful for on cold rainy days) Secondly I just want to be there Murphy is where you make lifelong friends expand your love for music and become an incredible musician all while having a good time (Continued on p 3)

Strings of Consciousness Issue No 1 December 2013

3

Undergraduate Column (Continued from p 2)

3

Professor Neely pushes us to sound our best and he uses encouragement to get us there Being involved in the orchestra is an incredible experience We recently played a Halloween concert where there were dancing bananas and a battle between Harry Potter and Voldemort Being a part of KUrsquos School of Music instantly gives you a connection with all of the music majors at KU In Murphy you

4

will meet first-year students graduate students and even some doctoral students and they all offer you a helping hand Being a Jayhawk is a wonderful experience and being a part of the string education program at KU is life changing I have never felt more proud to be a musician and I can honestly say that I would never want to be in any other place than Murphy Hall

1

The Kansas American String Teachers Association (KASTA) together with the Kansas Music Educators Association (KMEA) invites you to attend the Kansas Intercollegiate Orchestra concert on Friday February 28 2014 at 245 PM at KMEA Teachers In-Service Conference in Wichita KS Our conductor this year is Dr James Allen Anderson Dr Anderson is the current Director of Orchestral Activities at the

2

University of Delaware and past president of the Conductorrsquos Guild The program will feature the Overture to Russlan and Ludmilla by Mikhail Glinka Memorial to Lidice by Bohuslav Martinu and the Russian Easter Overture by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Join us for an exciting afternoon of music and in support of our collegiate musicians from all over the great state of Kansas

Kansas Intercollegiate Orchestra to Perform at KMEA

Strings of Consciousness

Issue No 1 December 2013

4

1

You have probably heard the classic one-liner ldquoWhatrsquos the string playersrsquo motto Itrsquos better to be sharp than out of tunerdquo String players have a bit of a reputation for struggling with intonation Just Google violin intonation the search engine will return page after page on how to improve finger placement technique Recently researchers put the old adage to the test Herersquos what they did John Geringer and Justine Sasanfar from The Florida State University and Rebecca MacLeod from University of North Carolina-Greensboro investigated middle school and high school string playersrsquo perception of intonation in accompanied solo performances on violin trumpet and voice For each instrument (violin trumpet and voice) participants were presented with three listening examples one that was in tune one that became progressively sharper by 10 20 and 30 cents and one that became gradually flatter by 10 20 and 30 cents (100 cents = half step) Participants were given an 11-point rating sheet with lsquo0rsquo being ldquovery in-tunerdquo and lsquo10rsquo being ldquoextremely out-of-tunerdquo Then participants were asked to rate their perception of the varying degrees of intonation in the excerpts What they found may surprise you When participants were presented with the excerpt that was in-tune there was little difference between the instruments and voice with the voice being rated most in-tune As the intonation for the instruments and voice were altered in the sharp direction the violin performance was rated as being the most out-of-tune of all the trials followed by trumpet and then voice When the intonation for instruments and voice were altered in the flat direction the violin was again rated as the most out-of-tune however the trumpet and voice excerpts were perceived as slightly more in-tune than the violin excerpt In other words the violin performance at 30 cents sharp was perceived by string students to be the most ldquoout-of-tunerdquo when compared with the trumpet and vocal performances These results were consistent between males and females and between the string instrument groups represented It seems perfectly natural that string students even at the middle school and high school levels are more apt to be critical of violin intonation over trumpet or voice After all as teachers we hope that our students develop good aural skills and are actively listening for pitch errors especially on their own instruments It would be interesting to replicate a study of this nature with middle and high school vocalists and brass players

Graduate Column Fighting String Intonation Perceptions The Need for Higher Standards

by Rebecca Tast

2

to see if congruent results emerge For now though these are some things we can take away

1) Intonation that was 30-cents sharp was perceived as more ldquoout-of-tunerdquo than 30-cents flat Although we want to train our students to focus on intonation issues as a whole students may need more help becoming aware of intonation issues when pitches are performed flat

2) With an ldquoin-tunerdquo accompaniment and direct instructions to listen for intonation middle school and high school students can distinguish between ldquoin-tunerdquo and ldquoout-of-tunerdquo pitches correctly This suggests that novice string students are capable of perceiving correct intonation even during the early stages of technical development This being the case they can also take steps to correct poor intonation

3) Intonation perception was probably influenced at least in part by sympathetic vibrations (or lack there of) Fingered notes such as G on the D string for example produce a ringing tone when played ldquoin-tunerdquo This ringing tone comes from the sympathetic vibrations produced by the open G-string When that same note is played ldquoout-of-tunerdquo the open G-string does not give off the same sympathetic vibrations Not only is this a sign that the fingered note is ldquoout-of-tunerdquo it also changes the tone and resonant quality of the instrument This has the potential to change perceptions of intonation and the overall tone quality of the instrument

It is reasonable to conclude that if students perceive the violin as being more ldquoout-of-tunerdquo than other instruments then the audience could have similar perceptions Audience members even those with little musical knowledge can differentiate between ldquoin-tunerdquo and ldquoout-of-tunerdquo This makes developing studentsrsquo aural skills even more critical and it goes far beyond asking students to listen Students must know what they are listening for There are a number of ways to help develop studentsrsquo aural skills including singing scales and intervals the use of drones and teacher modeling If we want the perceptions of string playing to change we must spend an appropriate amount of time teaching aural skills to our students Article Geringer J M MacLeod R B amp Sasanfar J K (2012) High

school string playersrsquo perception of violin trumpet and voice intonation String Research Journal 3 81-96

Rebecca Tast is a cellist and PhD student in Music Education She is also a former strings teacher in Arkansas City Public School District USD 470 Her current research interests include string

pedagogy and behaviorism __________________________________________________________________________________

Strings of Consciousness Issue No 1 December 2013

5

MURPHY HALL 460

1530 NAISMITH DRIVE

LAWRENCE KS 66045

785-864-3436 | musickuedu

Undergraduate programs inc lude mult ip le leve ls of

c l in ica l exper ience in chora l band orchestra and

genera l music

Mul t ip le f ie ldwor k oppor tun i t ies through par tnerships

with Lawrence Schools rsquo Music Programs and

Lawrence Youth Symphony

A research component for understanding and us ing

best pract ices in the c lassroom

Conduct ing exper ience with KUrsquos Rock Chalk S ingers

and the KU Youth Chorus

GR A D UAT E P RO G R A M S C O M P L E T E D I N 3 S U M M E R S

ON LY KA N S A S UN I V E R S I T Y TO H AV E A VOCOLOGY LAB

FOR RESEARCH I N VO C A L P E DAG O G Y

CH O R A LVO C A L P E DAG O G Y P RO G R A M

INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED

A N E W M A S T E R S I N S T RU M E N TA L P E DAG O G Y P RO G R A M

T H AT C A N B E COMPLETED IN THREE SUMMERS

M o r e i n f o r m a t i o n a v a i l a b l e a t

musickuedu

MUSIC EDUCATION amp MUSIC THERAPY

MARTIN BERGEE

JACOB DAKON

JAMES DAUGHERTY

ROBERT FOSTER

DEBRA HEDDEN

CHRIS JOHNSON

2014 Upcoming Events

Feb 1 Student application deadline for regular admis-sion to the University of Kansas

Feb 8 amp 22 Student audition dates | For more information see wwwmusickueduprospectiveauditionsshtml

Feb 9 730 PM | Faculty Virtuosi Concert Swarthout Recital Hall Murphy Hall Lawrence

Feb 28 Pre-Bowing Exercises Navigating the Awk-ward Steps between Pizzicato and Deacutetacheacute Presented by Prof Jacob M Dakon at the 2014 Kansas Music Educators Association In-Service Workshop Wichita KS

March 7 Memorization from the Perspective of the Be-ginning-Level Strings Student Presented by Profs Jacob M Dakon amp Ve-ronique Mathieu at the 2014 American String Teachers National Conference in Louisville KY

March 7 The Selection and Usage of String Method Books by String Teachers in the Beginning Strings Classroom A Pilot Study Presented by Rebecca Tast KU PhD Student at the 2014 American String Teachers National Conference in Louisville KY

March 12 700 PM | Scholarship Concert Kauffman Cen-ter Kansas City

April 6 730 PM | Faculty Virtuosi Concert Swarthout Recital Hall Murphy Hall Lawrence KS

May 2 700 PM | KU Symphony Orchestra Concert Lied Center Lawrence

Interested in submitting material to Strings of Consciousness

Contact Jacob M Dakon editor Murphy Hall 1530 Naismith Dr Rm 448 Lawrence KS 66045

jmdakonkuedu | office 785-864-4518 | fax 785-864-9640

Strings of Consciousness

Issue No 1 December 2013

2

New Violin Professor Takes the Helm at KU

1

There is a new violinist in town Her name Veacuteronique Mathieu This past August Veacuteronique joined the KU School of Music string faculty as our new Violin Assistant Professor after serving as faculty for the State University of New York in Buffalo and the Toronto School for Strings A native of Canada Veacuteronique completed a Bachelors Degree in Music at the Queacutebec Conservatory and an Artist Diploma with lsquoOutstanding Achievement in Violin Performancersquo from McGill University under the tutelage of Denise Lupien Veronique went on to complete a Performers Diploma and a Masters Degree in Music at Indiana University where she studied with Miriam Fried Currently she is a candidate for the Doctor of Music degree in violin performance at Indiana University under the guidance of Mark Kaplan Veacuteronique has performed as a soloist and chamber musician on the international stage with engagements throughout parts of

2

Europe South Africa South America and the United States As a soloist Veacuteronique has performed with the National Arts Centre Orchestra the Oakville Symphony Orchestra the Filarmonica de Americana the Kokomo Symphony and the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic She is also a frequent guest soloist with the Montreal Contemporary Ensemble Veacuteronique possesses a unique passion for contemporary music Throughout her performance career she has commissioned and premiered many works by both American and Canadian composers Veacuteronique has also recorded for the CD series New Music at Indiana University and the Radio-Canada label She continues to build relationships with renowned contemporary composers throughout the world Veacuteronique would be happy to come and work with your students To schedule a visit contact her by phone or E-mail

Veacuteronique Mathieu can be contacted by phone (785) 864-9757 or E-mail

vmathieukuedu

Undergraduate Column ldquoMy First Semester at KUrdquo A Freshmenrsquos Perspective

By Sarah Wray

ldquoBeing a Jayhawk is a wonderful ex-perience and be-ing a part of the string education

program at KU is life changingrdquo

2

Murphy is similar to a black hole only itrsquos the kind that you want to be sucked in to When surrounded by fantastic professors helpful classmates and incredible musicians it is hard to yank yourself away not to mention that classes are enjoyable I am a music education major with an emphasis on violin so I get to take several classes where I am taught how to play many different instruments Currently I am learning how to play the cello the baritone and hand drums It is so much fun gaining all of these musical skills and knowledge Not only do I get to play drums and brass instruments on a daily basis I also spend a good portion of my day playing violin One of my favorite parts of the day is orchestra rehearsal The KU Symphony Orchestra repertoire has been amazing I have never enjoyed playing in orchestra more than I do now The conductor

1

Sarah is an undergraduate violinist majoring in music education She is from Olathe KS where she was a student of Sarah Dorian at Spring Hill High School __________________________ Every aspect of KU is wonderful the residence halls the beautiful campus the basketball games I could go on and on But what really has made me feel like a true Jayhawk is the University of Kansas School of Music In my short four months at KU Murphy Hall KUrsquos music building has become my home I can proudly say that I spend a great deal of my day there for two reasons The first and most obvious reason is that Murphy is where most of my classes are held (which I am very thankful for on cold rainy days) Secondly I just want to be there Murphy is where you make lifelong friends expand your love for music and become an incredible musician all while having a good time (Continued on p 3)

Strings of Consciousness Issue No 1 December 2013

3

Undergraduate Column (Continued from p 2)

3

Professor Neely pushes us to sound our best and he uses encouragement to get us there Being involved in the orchestra is an incredible experience We recently played a Halloween concert where there were dancing bananas and a battle between Harry Potter and Voldemort Being a part of KUrsquos School of Music instantly gives you a connection with all of the music majors at KU In Murphy you

4

will meet first-year students graduate students and even some doctoral students and they all offer you a helping hand Being a Jayhawk is a wonderful experience and being a part of the string education program at KU is life changing I have never felt more proud to be a musician and I can honestly say that I would never want to be in any other place than Murphy Hall

1

The Kansas American String Teachers Association (KASTA) together with the Kansas Music Educators Association (KMEA) invites you to attend the Kansas Intercollegiate Orchestra concert on Friday February 28 2014 at 245 PM at KMEA Teachers In-Service Conference in Wichita KS Our conductor this year is Dr James Allen Anderson Dr Anderson is the current Director of Orchestral Activities at the

2

University of Delaware and past president of the Conductorrsquos Guild The program will feature the Overture to Russlan and Ludmilla by Mikhail Glinka Memorial to Lidice by Bohuslav Martinu and the Russian Easter Overture by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Join us for an exciting afternoon of music and in support of our collegiate musicians from all over the great state of Kansas

Kansas Intercollegiate Orchestra to Perform at KMEA

Strings of Consciousness

Issue No 1 December 2013

4

1

You have probably heard the classic one-liner ldquoWhatrsquos the string playersrsquo motto Itrsquos better to be sharp than out of tunerdquo String players have a bit of a reputation for struggling with intonation Just Google violin intonation the search engine will return page after page on how to improve finger placement technique Recently researchers put the old adage to the test Herersquos what they did John Geringer and Justine Sasanfar from The Florida State University and Rebecca MacLeod from University of North Carolina-Greensboro investigated middle school and high school string playersrsquo perception of intonation in accompanied solo performances on violin trumpet and voice For each instrument (violin trumpet and voice) participants were presented with three listening examples one that was in tune one that became progressively sharper by 10 20 and 30 cents and one that became gradually flatter by 10 20 and 30 cents (100 cents = half step) Participants were given an 11-point rating sheet with lsquo0rsquo being ldquovery in-tunerdquo and lsquo10rsquo being ldquoextremely out-of-tunerdquo Then participants were asked to rate their perception of the varying degrees of intonation in the excerpts What they found may surprise you When participants were presented with the excerpt that was in-tune there was little difference between the instruments and voice with the voice being rated most in-tune As the intonation for the instruments and voice were altered in the sharp direction the violin performance was rated as being the most out-of-tune of all the trials followed by trumpet and then voice When the intonation for instruments and voice were altered in the flat direction the violin was again rated as the most out-of-tune however the trumpet and voice excerpts were perceived as slightly more in-tune than the violin excerpt In other words the violin performance at 30 cents sharp was perceived by string students to be the most ldquoout-of-tunerdquo when compared with the trumpet and vocal performances These results were consistent between males and females and between the string instrument groups represented It seems perfectly natural that string students even at the middle school and high school levels are more apt to be critical of violin intonation over trumpet or voice After all as teachers we hope that our students develop good aural skills and are actively listening for pitch errors especially on their own instruments It would be interesting to replicate a study of this nature with middle and high school vocalists and brass players

Graduate Column Fighting String Intonation Perceptions The Need for Higher Standards

by Rebecca Tast

2

to see if congruent results emerge For now though these are some things we can take away

1) Intonation that was 30-cents sharp was perceived as more ldquoout-of-tunerdquo than 30-cents flat Although we want to train our students to focus on intonation issues as a whole students may need more help becoming aware of intonation issues when pitches are performed flat

2) With an ldquoin-tunerdquo accompaniment and direct instructions to listen for intonation middle school and high school students can distinguish between ldquoin-tunerdquo and ldquoout-of-tunerdquo pitches correctly This suggests that novice string students are capable of perceiving correct intonation even during the early stages of technical development This being the case they can also take steps to correct poor intonation

3) Intonation perception was probably influenced at least in part by sympathetic vibrations (or lack there of) Fingered notes such as G on the D string for example produce a ringing tone when played ldquoin-tunerdquo This ringing tone comes from the sympathetic vibrations produced by the open G-string When that same note is played ldquoout-of-tunerdquo the open G-string does not give off the same sympathetic vibrations Not only is this a sign that the fingered note is ldquoout-of-tunerdquo it also changes the tone and resonant quality of the instrument This has the potential to change perceptions of intonation and the overall tone quality of the instrument

It is reasonable to conclude that if students perceive the violin as being more ldquoout-of-tunerdquo than other instruments then the audience could have similar perceptions Audience members even those with little musical knowledge can differentiate between ldquoin-tunerdquo and ldquoout-of-tunerdquo This makes developing studentsrsquo aural skills even more critical and it goes far beyond asking students to listen Students must know what they are listening for There are a number of ways to help develop studentsrsquo aural skills including singing scales and intervals the use of drones and teacher modeling If we want the perceptions of string playing to change we must spend an appropriate amount of time teaching aural skills to our students Article Geringer J M MacLeod R B amp Sasanfar J K (2012) High

school string playersrsquo perception of violin trumpet and voice intonation String Research Journal 3 81-96

Rebecca Tast is a cellist and PhD student in Music Education She is also a former strings teacher in Arkansas City Public School District USD 470 Her current research interests include string

pedagogy and behaviorism __________________________________________________________________________________

Strings of Consciousness Issue No 1 December 2013

5

MURPHY HALL 460

1530 NAISMITH DRIVE

LAWRENCE KS 66045

785-864-3436 | musickuedu

Undergraduate programs inc lude mult ip le leve ls of

c l in ica l exper ience in chora l band orchestra and

genera l music

Mul t ip le f ie ldwor k oppor tun i t ies through par tnerships

with Lawrence Schools rsquo Music Programs and

Lawrence Youth Symphony

A research component for understanding and us ing

best pract ices in the c lassroom

Conduct ing exper ience with KUrsquos Rock Chalk S ingers

and the KU Youth Chorus

GR A D UAT E P RO G R A M S C O M P L E T E D I N 3 S U M M E R S

ON LY KA N S A S UN I V E R S I T Y TO H AV E A VOCOLOGY LAB

FOR RESEARCH I N VO C A L P E DAG O G Y

CH O R A LVO C A L P E DAG O G Y P RO G R A M

INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED

A N E W M A S T E R S I N S T RU M E N TA L P E DAG O G Y P RO G R A M

T H AT C A N B E COMPLETED IN THREE SUMMERS

M o r e i n f o r m a t i o n a v a i l a b l e a t

musickuedu

MUSIC EDUCATION amp MUSIC THERAPY

MARTIN BERGEE

JACOB DAKON

JAMES DAUGHERTY

ROBERT FOSTER

DEBRA HEDDEN

CHRIS JOHNSON

2014 Upcoming Events

Feb 1 Student application deadline for regular admis-sion to the University of Kansas

Feb 8 amp 22 Student audition dates | For more information see wwwmusickueduprospectiveauditionsshtml

Feb 9 730 PM | Faculty Virtuosi Concert Swarthout Recital Hall Murphy Hall Lawrence

Feb 28 Pre-Bowing Exercises Navigating the Awk-ward Steps between Pizzicato and Deacutetacheacute Presented by Prof Jacob M Dakon at the 2014 Kansas Music Educators Association In-Service Workshop Wichita KS

March 7 Memorization from the Perspective of the Be-ginning-Level Strings Student Presented by Profs Jacob M Dakon amp Ve-ronique Mathieu at the 2014 American String Teachers National Conference in Louisville KY

March 7 The Selection and Usage of String Method Books by String Teachers in the Beginning Strings Classroom A Pilot Study Presented by Rebecca Tast KU PhD Student at the 2014 American String Teachers National Conference in Louisville KY

March 12 700 PM | Scholarship Concert Kauffman Cen-ter Kansas City

April 6 730 PM | Faculty Virtuosi Concert Swarthout Recital Hall Murphy Hall Lawrence KS

May 2 700 PM | KU Symphony Orchestra Concert Lied Center Lawrence

Interested in submitting material to Strings of Consciousness

Contact Jacob M Dakon editor Murphy Hall 1530 Naismith Dr Rm 448 Lawrence KS 66045

jmdakonkuedu | office 785-864-4518 | fax 785-864-9640

Strings of Consciousness Issue No 1 December 2013

3

Undergraduate Column (Continued from p 2)

3

Professor Neely pushes us to sound our best and he uses encouragement to get us there Being involved in the orchestra is an incredible experience We recently played a Halloween concert where there were dancing bananas and a battle between Harry Potter and Voldemort Being a part of KUrsquos School of Music instantly gives you a connection with all of the music majors at KU In Murphy you

4

will meet first-year students graduate students and even some doctoral students and they all offer you a helping hand Being a Jayhawk is a wonderful experience and being a part of the string education program at KU is life changing I have never felt more proud to be a musician and I can honestly say that I would never want to be in any other place than Murphy Hall

1

The Kansas American String Teachers Association (KASTA) together with the Kansas Music Educators Association (KMEA) invites you to attend the Kansas Intercollegiate Orchestra concert on Friday February 28 2014 at 245 PM at KMEA Teachers In-Service Conference in Wichita KS Our conductor this year is Dr James Allen Anderson Dr Anderson is the current Director of Orchestral Activities at the

2

University of Delaware and past president of the Conductorrsquos Guild The program will feature the Overture to Russlan and Ludmilla by Mikhail Glinka Memorial to Lidice by Bohuslav Martinu and the Russian Easter Overture by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Join us for an exciting afternoon of music and in support of our collegiate musicians from all over the great state of Kansas

Kansas Intercollegiate Orchestra to Perform at KMEA

Strings of Consciousness

Issue No 1 December 2013

4

1

You have probably heard the classic one-liner ldquoWhatrsquos the string playersrsquo motto Itrsquos better to be sharp than out of tunerdquo String players have a bit of a reputation for struggling with intonation Just Google violin intonation the search engine will return page after page on how to improve finger placement technique Recently researchers put the old adage to the test Herersquos what they did John Geringer and Justine Sasanfar from The Florida State University and Rebecca MacLeod from University of North Carolina-Greensboro investigated middle school and high school string playersrsquo perception of intonation in accompanied solo performances on violin trumpet and voice For each instrument (violin trumpet and voice) participants were presented with three listening examples one that was in tune one that became progressively sharper by 10 20 and 30 cents and one that became gradually flatter by 10 20 and 30 cents (100 cents = half step) Participants were given an 11-point rating sheet with lsquo0rsquo being ldquovery in-tunerdquo and lsquo10rsquo being ldquoextremely out-of-tunerdquo Then participants were asked to rate their perception of the varying degrees of intonation in the excerpts What they found may surprise you When participants were presented with the excerpt that was in-tune there was little difference between the instruments and voice with the voice being rated most in-tune As the intonation for the instruments and voice were altered in the sharp direction the violin performance was rated as being the most out-of-tune of all the trials followed by trumpet and then voice When the intonation for instruments and voice were altered in the flat direction the violin was again rated as the most out-of-tune however the trumpet and voice excerpts were perceived as slightly more in-tune than the violin excerpt In other words the violin performance at 30 cents sharp was perceived by string students to be the most ldquoout-of-tunerdquo when compared with the trumpet and vocal performances These results were consistent between males and females and between the string instrument groups represented It seems perfectly natural that string students even at the middle school and high school levels are more apt to be critical of violin intonation over trumpet or voice After all as teachers we hope that our students develop good aural skills and are actively listening for pitch errors especially on their own instruments It would be interesting to replicate a study of this nature with middle and high school vocalists and brass players

Graduate Column Fighting String Intonation Perceptions The Need for Higher Standards

by Rebecca Tast

2

to see if congruent results emerge For now though these are some things we can take away

1) Intonation that was 30-cents sharp was perceived as more ldquoout-of-tunerdquo than 30-cents flat Although we want to train our students to focus on intonation issues as a whole students may need more help becoming aware of intonation issues when pitches are performed flat

2) With an ldquoin-tunerdquo accompaniment and direct instructions to listen for intonation middle school and high school students can distinguish between ldquoin-tunerdquo and ldquoout-of-tunerdquo pitches correctly This suggests that novice string students are capable of perceiving correct intonation even during the early stages of technical development This being the case they can also take steps to correct poor intonation

3) Intonation perception was probably influenced at least in part by sympathetic vibrations (or lack there of) Fingered notes such as G on the D string for example produce a ringing tone when played ldquoin-tunerdquo This ringing tone comes from the sympathetic vibrations produced by the open G-string When that same note is played ldquoout-of-tunerdquo the open G-string does not give off the same sympathetic vibrations Not only is this a sign that the fingered note is ldquoout-of-tunerdquo it also changes the tone and resonant quality of the instrument This has the potential to change perceptions of intonation and the overall tone quality of the instrument

It is reasonable to conclude that if students perceive the violin as being more ldquoout-of-tunerdquo than other instruments then the audience could have similar perceptions Audience members even those with little musical knowledge can differentiate between ldquoin-tunerdquo and ldquoout-of-tunerdquo This makes developing studentsrsquo aural skills even more critical and it goes far beyond asking students to listen Students must know what they are listening for There are a number of ways to help develop studentsrsquo aural skills including singing scales and intervals the use of drones and teacher modeling If we want the perceptions of string playing to change we must spend an appropriate amount of time teaching aural skills to our students Article Geringer J M MacLeod R B amp Sasanfar J K (2012) High

school string playersrsquo perception of violin trumpet and voice intonation String Research Journal 3 81-96

Rebecca Tast is a cellist and PhD student in Music Education She is also a former strings teacher in Arkansas City Public School District USD 470 Her current research interests include string

pedagogy and behaviorism __________________________________________________________________________________

Strings of Consciousness Issue No 1 December 2013

5

MURPHY HALL 460

1530 NAISMITH DRIVE

LAWRENCE KS 66045

785-864-3436 | musickuedu

Undergraduate programs inc lude mult ip le leve ls of

c l in ica l exper ience in chora l band orchestra and

genera l music

Mul t ip le f ie ldwor k oppor tun i t ies through par tnerships

with Lawrence Schools rsquo Music Programs and

Lawrence Youth Symphony

A research component for understanding and us ing

best pract ices in the c lassroom

Conduct ing exper ience with KUrsquos Rock Chalk S ingers

and the KU Youth Chorus

GR A D UAT E P RO G R A M S C O M P L E T E D I N 3 S U M M E R S

ON LY KA N S A S UN I V E R S I T Y TO H AV E A VOCOLOGY LAB

FOR RESEARCH I N VO C A L P E DAG O G Y

CH O R A LVO C A L P E DAG O G Y P RO G R A M

INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED

A N E W M A S T E R S I N S T RU M E N TA L P E DAG O G Y P RO G R A M

T H AT C A N B E COMPLETED IN THREE SUMMERS

M o r e i n f o r m a t i o n a v a i l a b l e a t

musickuedu

MUSIC EDUCATION amp MUSIC THERAPY

MARTIN BERGEE

JACOB DAKON

JAMES DAUGHERTY

ROBERT FOSTER

DEBRA HEDDEN

CHRIS JOHNSON

2014 Upcoming Events

Feb 1 Student application deadline for regular admis-sion to the University of Kansas

Feb 8 amp 22 Student audition dates | For more information see wwwmusickueduprospectiveauditionsshtml

Feb 9 730 PM | Faculty Virtuosi Concert Swarthout Recital Hall Murphy Hall Lawrence

Feb 28 Pre-Bowing Exercises Navigating the Awk-ward Steps between Pizzicato and Deacutetacheacute Presented by Prof Jacob M Dakon at the 2014 Kansas Music Educators Association In-Service Workshop Wichita KS

March 7 Memorization from the Perspective of the Be-ginning-Level Strings Student Presented by Profs Jacob M Dakon amp Ve-ronique Mathieu at the 2014 American String Teachers National Conference in Louisville KY

March 7 The Selection and Usage of String Method Books by String Teachers in the Beginning Strings Classroom A Pilot Study Presented by Rebecca Tast KU PhD Student at the 2014 American String Teachers National Conference in Louisville KY

March 12 700 PM | Scholarship Concert Kauffman Cen-ter Kansas City

April 6 730 PM | Faculty Virtuosi Concert Swarthout Recital Hall Murphy Hall Lawrence KS

May 2 700 PM | KU Symphony Orchestra Concert Lied Center Lawrence

Interested in submitting material to Strings of Consciousness

Contact Jacob M Dakon editor Murphy Hall 1530 Naismith Dr Rm 448 Lawrence KS 66045

jmdakonkuedu | office 785-864-4518 | fax 785-864-9640

Strings of Consciousness

Issue No 1 December 2013

4

1

You have probably heard the classic one-liner ldquoWhatrsquos the string playersrsquo motto Itrsquos better to be sharp than out of tunerdquo String players have a bit of a reputation for struggling with intonation Just Google violin intonation the search engine will return page after page on how to improve finger placement technique Recently researchers put the old adage to the test Herersquos what they did John Geringer and Justine Sasanfar from The Florida State University and Rebecca MacLeod from University of North Carolina-Greensboro investigated middle school and high school string playersrsquo perception of intonation in accompanied solo performances on violin trumpet and voice For each instrument (violin trumpet and voice) participants were presented with three listening examples one that was in tune one that became progressively sharper by 10 20 and 30 cents and one that became gradually flatter by 10 20 and 30 cents (100 cents = half step) Participants were given an 11-point rating sheet with lsquo0rsquo being ldquovery in-tunerdquo and lsquo10rsquo being ldquoextremely out-of-tunerdquo Then participants were asked to rate their perception of the varying degrees of intonation in the excerpts What they found may surprise you When participants were presented with the excerpt that was in-tune there was little difference between the instruments and voice with the voice being rated most in-tune As the intonation for the instruments and voice were altered in the sharp direction the violin performance was rated as being the most out-of-tune of all the trials followed by trumpet and then voice When the intonation for instruments and voice were altered in the flat direction the violin was again rated as the most out-of-tune however the trumpet and voice excerpts were perceived as slightly more in-tune than the violin excerpt In other words the violin performance at 30 cents sharp was perceived by string students to be the most ldquoout-of-tunerdquo when compared with the trumpet and vocal performances These results were consistent between males and females and between the string instrument groups represented It seems perfectly natural that string students even at the middle school and high school levels are more apt to be critical of violin intonation over trumpet or voice After all as teachers we hope that our students develop good aural skills and are actively listening for pitch errors especially on their own instruments It would be interesting to replicate a study of this nature with middle and high school vocalists and brass players

Graduate Column Fighting String Intonation Perceptions The Need for Higher Standards

by Rebecca Tast

2

to see if congruent results emerge For now though these are some things we can take away

1) Intonation that was 30-cents sharp was perceived as more ldquoout-of-tunerdquo than 30-cents flat Although we want to train our students to focus on intonation issues as a whole students may need more help becoming aware of intonation issues when pitches are performed flat

2) With an ldquoin-tunerdquo accompaniment and direct instructions to listen for intonation middle school and high school students can distinguish between ldquoin-tunerdquo and ldquoout-of-tunerdquo pitches correctly This suggests that novice string students are capable of perceiving correct intonation even during the early stages of technical development This being the case they can also take steps to correct poor intonation

3) Intonation perception was probably influenced at least in part by sympathetic vibrations (or lack there of) Fingered notes such as G on the D string for example produce a ringing tone when played ldquoin-tunerdquo This ringing tone comes from the sympathetic vibrations produced by the open G-string When that same note is played ldquoout-of-tunerdquo the open G-string does not give off the same sympathetic vibrations Not only is this a sign that the fingered note is ldquoout-of-tunerdquo it also changes the tone and resonant quality of the instrument This has the potential to change perceptions of intonation and the overall tone quality of the instrument

It is reasonable to conclude that if students perceive the violin as being more ldquoout-of-tunerdquo than other instruments then the audience could have similar perceptions Audience members even those with little musical knowledge can differentiate between ldquoin-tunerdquo and ldquoout-of-tunerdquo This makes developing studentsrsquo aural skills even more critical and it goes far beyond asking students to listen Students must know what they are listening for There are a number of ways to help develop studentsrsquo aural skills including singing scales and intervals the use of drones and teacher modeling If we want the perceptions of string playing to change we must spend an appropriate amount of time teaching aural skills to our students Article Geringer J M MacLeod R B amp Sasanfar J K (2012) High

school string playersrsquo perception of violin trumpet and voice intonation String Research Journal 3 81-96

Rebecca Tast is a cellist and PhD student in Music Education She is also a former strings teacher in Arkansas City Public School District USD 470 Her current research interests include string

pedagogy and behaviorism __________________________________________________________________________________

Strings of Consciousness Issue No 1 December 2013

5

MURPHY HALL 460

1530 NAISMITH DRIVE

LAWRENCE KS 66045

785-864-3436 | musickuedu

Undergraduate programs inc lude mult ip le leve ls of

c l in ica l exper ience in chora l band orchestra and

genera l music

Mul t ip le f ie ldwor k oppor tun i t ies through par tnerships

with Lawrence Schools rsquo Music Programs and

Lawrence Youth Symphony

A research component for understanding and us ing

best pract ices in the c lassroom

Conduct ing exper ience with KUrsquos Rock Chalk S ingers

and the KU Youth Chorus

GR A D UAT E P RO G R A M S C O M P L E T E D I N 3 S U M M E R S

ON LY KA N S A S UN I V E R S I T Y TO H AV E A VOCOLOGY LAB

FOR RESEARCH I N VO C A L P E DAG O G Y

CH O R A LVO C A L P E DAG O G Y P RO G R A M

INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED

A N E W M A S T E R S I N S T RU M E N TA L P E DAG O G Y P RO G R A M

T H AT C A N B E COMPLETED IN THREE SUMMERS

M o r e i n f o r m a t i o n a v a i l a b l e a t

musickuedu

MUSIC EDUCATION amp MUSIC THERAPY

MARTIN BERGEE

JACOB DAKON

JAMES DAUGHERTY

ROBERT FOSTER

DEBRA HEDDEN

CHRIS JOHNSON

2014 Upcoming Events

Feb 1 Student application deadline for regular admis-sion to the University of Kansas

Feb 8 amp 22 Student audition dates | For more information see wwwmusickueduprospectiveauditionsshtml

Feb 9 730 PM | Faculty Virtuosi Concert Swarthout Recital Hall Murphy Hall Lawrence

Feb 28 Pre-Bowing Exercises Navigating the Awk-ward Steps between Pizzicato and Deacutetacheacute Presented by Prof Jacob M Dakon at the 2014 Kansas Music Educators Association In-Service Workshop Wichita KS

March 7 Memorization from the Perspective of the Be-ginning-Level Strings Student Presented by Profs Jacob M Dakon amp Ve-ronique Mathieu at the 2014 American String Teachers National Conference in Louisville KY

March 7 The Selection and Usage of String Method Books by String Teachers in the Beginning Strings Classroom A Pilot Study Presented by Rebecca Tast KU PhD Student at the 2014 American String Teachers National Conference in Louisville KY

March 12 700 PM | Scholarship Concert Kauffman Cen-ter Kansas City

April 6 730 PM | Faculty Virtuosi Concert Swarthout Recital Hall Murphy Hall Lawrence KS

May 2 700 PM | KU Symphony Orchestra Concert Lied Center Lawrence

Interested in submitting material to Strings of Consciousness

Contact Jacob M Dakon editor Murphy Hall 1530 Naismith Dr Rm 448 Lawrence KS 66045

jmdakonkuedu | office 785-864-4518 | fax 785-864-9640

Strings of Consciousness Issue No 1 December 2013

5

MURPHY HALL 460

1530 NAISMITH DRIVE

LAWRENCE KS 66045

785-864-3436 | musickuedu

Undergraduate programs inc lude mult ip le leve ls of

c l in ica l exper ience in chora l band orchestra and

genera l music

Mul t ip le f ie ldwor k oppor tun i t ies through par tnerships

with Lawrence Schools rsquo Music Programs and

Lawrence Youth Symphony

A research component for understanding and us ing

best pract ices in the c lassroom

Conduct ing exper ience with KUrsquos Rock Chalk S ingers

and the KU Youth Chorus

GR A D UAT E P RO G R A M S C O M P L E T E D I N 3 S U M M E R S

ON LY KA N S A S UN I V E R S I T Y TO H AV E A VOCOLOGY LAB

FOR RESEARCH I N VO C A L P E DAG O G Y

CH O R A LVO C A L P E DAG O G Y P RO G R A M

INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED

A N E W M A S T E R S I N S T RU M E N TA L P E DAG O G Y P RO G R A M

T H AT C A N B E COMPLETED IN THREE SUMMERS

M o r e i n f o r m a t i o n a v a i l a b l e a t

musickuedu

MUSIC EDUCATION amp MUSIC THERAPY

MARTIN BERGEE

JACOB DAKON

JAMES DAUGHERTY

ROBERT FOSTER

DEBRA HEDDEN

CHRIS JOHNSON

2014 Upcoming Events

Feb 1 Student application deadline for regular admis-sion to the University of Kansas

Feb 8 amp 22 Student audition dates | For more information see wwwmusickueduprospectiveauditionsshtml

Feb 9 730 PM | Faculty Virtuosi Concert Swarthout Recital Hall Murphy Hall Lawrence

Feb 28 Pre-Bowing Exercises Navigating the Awk-ward Steps between Pizzicato and Deacutetacheacute Presented by Prof Jacob M Dakon at the 2014 Kansas Music Educators Association In-Service Workshop Wichita KS

March 7 Memorization from the Perspective of the Be-ginning-Level Strings Student Presented by Profs Jacob M Dakon amp Ve-ronique Mathieu at the 2014 American String Teachers National Conference in Louisville KY

March 7 The Selection and Usage of String Method Books by String Teachers in the Beginning Strings Classroom A Pilot Study Presented by Rebecca Tast KU PhD Student at the 2014 American String Teachers National Conference in Louisville KY

March 12 700 PM | Scholarship Concert Kauffman Cen-ter Kansas City

April 6 730 PM | Faculty Virtuosi Concert Swarthout Recital Hall Murphy Hall Lawrence KS

May 2 700 PM | KU Symphony Orchestra Concert Lied Center Lawrence

Interested in submitting material to Strings of Consciousness

Contact Jacob M Dakon editor Murphy Hall 1530 Naismith Dr Rm 448 Lawrence KS 66045

jmdakonkuedu | office 785-864-4518 | fax 785-864-9640