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From the prenatal to postnatal/infancy stages, to early childhood and beyond, music plays an integral role in development. This research study aims to detail and describe the benefits of a prenatal, postnatal/infant, and early childhood Christian music education. Employing a mixed-methods and historical research approach, this study seeks to answer the question, in what ways, if any, could a prenatal, postnatal/infant, and early childhood Christian music education be beneficial for developing children and their mothers? By combining the benefits of an early childhood music education with Christian principles, the results of this study will have significance in not only the field of music education but in ministry settings as well. As a result of this study, a curriculum was developed to teach prospective music educators and children's ministry personnel how to effectively use Christian music in the early childhood stages of development. While many music education programs are readily available for infants and children in the early childhood stages, these programs do not include the prenatal and immediate postnatal development stages and lack biblical principles. The proposed curriculum will teach students how to successfully implement age-appropriate music activities in all three stages of development to support developing children and their mothers through a music-based ministry. This curriculum embodies the call of the Great Commission and strives to transform lives through the power of Jesus while incorporating the immense blessing of music and education.

Modern music educators are faced with many unique challenges while teaching in the early childhood and elementary classroom. With these challenges come the added stressors of students' individual and collective experiences as they learn to process and regulate their behaviors and emotions through a variety of often unfamiliar social, political, and familial challenges. Currently, while many university teacher preparation programs focus on teaching content differentiation, curriculum creation, and content knowledge, they do not often focus on cultural relevance and responsiveness. One champion of cultural relevance and responsiveness in music education is composer, educator, minister, and children's television host, Fred Rogers, most commonly known as the man behind the acclaimed show, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. This study seeks to examine and apply the life, works, and pedagogical approaches of Fred Rogers to propose a curriculum to help collegiate music educators foster a culturally responsive environment for young students in the early childhood music classroom.

"Mental control of musical imagery is a complex, but understudied, process that consists of two components: initiation--whether the musical imagery experience began voluntarily or involuntarily--and management--whether instances of control occur after the experience has begun (e.g., changing the song, stopping the experience). The present research examined these two components of mental control using both behavioral lab-based musical imagery tasks and self-reports of mental control in daily life using experience sampling methods. Both music students and members of the general university community participated. This project had four primary aims: (1) examining the relationship between initiation and management of musical imagery; (2) assessing how mental control abilities differ as a function of stimulus type; (3) describing perceptions of initiation and management in daily life; and (4) evaluating how well performance on lab-based behavioral tasks aligns with self-reported mental control in daily life. The findings suggest that initiation and management abilities are closely related, people perform equivalently when asked to control tonal stimuli and song stimuli, people generally report the ability to control musical imagery in daily life, and self-report and behavioral assessments of mental control of musical imagery show a modest association. These findings have implications for current understandings of control of musical imagery and identify several avenues for future research."--Abstract from author supplied metadata

We all need Music in our lives. Music education is valued less in the education system, but present data from these literature sources of articles, books, and research, tells us another story. For decades school systems have struggled with whether or not to include Music in the education system. There are many values for Music, including individual growth and development. In this research study, I intend to showcase the central benefits of Music to help show there is a need for these programs and to help promote music programs based on their own merits and not just because of academic success. A change also needs to occur in how to teach Music to the young. We need to preserve music education in schools and create a new music curriculum to help promote Music. The research on the main aspects of the Orff, Kodaly, and Suzuki approaches show that Music engages school children on both a personal and social level, as well as impacting their academic growth. I will then analyze this data, collected from journal articles and books about the values of music and learning approaches, to answer my research questions. I will then use this analytical data in my thesis to explain the significance of Music, the importance of these approaches in music education, and layout guidelines and ideas for a new curriculum. In completing my research, I hope to create more awareness of the values of Music and what it brings to the educational system. I will explain the different teaching approaches and how they promote Music and lead to success in personal, social, and academic areas while generating ideas and guidelines for a new curriculum for young children.

The ministry of the minister of music is essential when the local church has experienced a shared-traumatic event. Since many churches have never experienced a shared-traumatic event, there is little research to aid worship leaders in leading their congregation through loss and grief. There is a need to study the significant role of the minister of music when confronted with a life-changing event that has affected the local church ministry. Mother Emanuel AME Church, located in Charleston, SC, experienced a tragic event that significantly influenced the worship leader's role in leading the congregation through a shared-traumatic event. This phenomenological study seeks to increase the awareness of the non-musical role of the worship leader, leading pastoral care, counseling, and worship planning. The authentic experience in hymnody singing is a valuable part of the corporate worship experience. The shared-traumatic realities of many congregants often generate a desire for empathy and healing.

This thesis proposal, entitled "Learning to Play a Musical Instrument Affects Student Behavioral Health", consists of a research paper detailing how learning to play a musical instrument has made a significant impact on the behavioral health of students, and the need for this study in today's society. This study will provide readers with solid research and evidence for the results obtained from this musical education study in the hopes it can show that music therapy needs strengthening in these areas. Through research, clinical studies, assessments, test results, and surveys, this project will show if there are physiological benefits and psychological benefits from music education. Physiological benefits include: the control of hands, fingers, and breath control with wind instruments, as well as the mastery of the written language of musical scores and the ability to count out time values. Psychological benefits include attitude, self-esteem, confidence, and mood. This research will attempt to show how learning to play a musical instrument impacts the behavioral health and attitude of students (presumably the confidence and self-esteem one gains through mastering skills on an instrument). Since music can have an impact on a person's mood and perspectives, this study hopes to show that learning to engage in music can even help with managing numerous behavioral health conditions, as other studies have already shown that not only does performing on a musical instrument utilize more areas of the brain than other activities, but also that students who play musical instruments do better with math and reading skills

Music in relation to peace and conflict, whether constructive or destructive, has had deep and profound effects that unite people based on commonality and shared interest. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is no different when it comes to these two dichotomies. There are those who use music for protest to either escalate conflict or use it as a social and political platform. Then, there are those who use music for resolving their differences, to promote peacemaking and peacebuilding, further unifying and embracing the diversity that's between them. The ethnographic approach that I took in this research gives insight and a perspective to those who may dismiss the ethnomusicological aspect to this topic of study. Understanding how music speaks in the context of a culture can also give insight to understanding a people. Once we gain this understanding, then we know how to approach them. Additionally, through my exploration of the construct of modern identity, I examine musical identity and how both can affect each other. Moving through these identities and addressing them can bridge the interethnic gap. The applied methods and theories behind such movements, as peacemaking and music, is what I have sought to explore in my research; further aiming to discover if there is anything tangible and sustainable in their attempt to build lasting relationships through music.

"Inner music--hearing music inside your head that isn't playing in the environment--is a common experience that takes many forms. Research on inner music, however, has primarily emphasized instances of involuntary, aversive musical imagery, such as "earworms." The present research develops a new conceptual framework, consisting of five fundamental dimensions, that can advance our understanding of inner music. In an experience-sampling study, a sample of musicians and people from the general university community (N = 132) was recruited to examine inner music as it occurs in-the-moment in everyday life. Over the course of a week, participants were contacted throughout the day and asked about their experiences with inner music, with an emphasis on the five dimensions: Affective Valence, Repetitiveness, Vividness, Mental Control, and Length. The results showed that there is variability at both the within-person and between-person levels on each of the proposed dimensions--people have a variety of musical imagery experiences, not just a few different types. Additionally, these dimensions were related to three different individual difference factors: personality, musical expertise, and auditory imagery ability. Openness to experience and extraversion, musical training, and the ability to form vivid auditory images were the primary predictors of the qualities of inner music. Additionally, the present research has implications for how musical imagery is measured--retrospective and in-the-moment reports differed considerably, suggesting people cannot accurately recall their inner music experiences. Overall, the findings show considerable variability in musical imagery and that focusing on specific types of inner music (e.g., earworms) ignores many other experiences. Looking at the qualities of inner music will be fruitful for future work and broaden the scope of research."--Abstract from author supplied metadata.

Optimal performance requires a relaxed concentration which is incompatible with experiencing certain emotions (Juslin, 2009). This research aimed to explore the extent to which performers emotionally engage with music during a solo recital, from the performer's perspective. The research project was a qualitative study, using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The research participants consisted of eight concert pianists (four students and four professionals), each of whom performed solo recitals lasting 60 -70 minutes. The pianists were interviewed by means of semi-structured, in-depth interviews immediately after their performances. The interview data was collated from the semi-final round of the 2011 National University of South Africa (UNISA) piano competition (student pianists), and professional performances in South African concert halls in 2011/2012 (professional pianists). The results suggested that the performers experienced two categories of emotions during performance: musical emotions which relate to the emotional content of the music, and performance-related emotions which relate to the performance circumstances. Musical emotions appeared significantly more complex and nuanced than emotions experienced in an everyday context. Performers preferred to represent musical emotions perceived to be in the score rather than experience them directly (induced) during performance. The performers maintained strict emotional control during performance, as excessive musical and performance-related emotions impacted negatively on a performance. An intense dialogue evolved between performer and composer when preparing for a performance. This manifested in performance as a stage persona, and was experienced by performers as a cognitive-emotive duality. During optimal performance, the performers appeared to transcend reality and enter a "zone", or state of altered consciousness. The heightened elation experienced by the performers when in the zone was synonymous with a state of Flow (Csíkszentmihályi, 1990). Several factors facilitated or inhibited musical Flow, but did not guarantee its occurrence. In conclusion, the research suggests that the performers' engagement with musical emotions (perceived and induced) during performance is incidental and does not play a significant role either in the successful representation of musical emotions, or the performer's experience during performance. The euphoric "high" which performers experience during optimal performance does not relate to musical emotions, but reflects rather the altered state of consciousness experienced during Flow.

A study was conducted with 251 undergraduate psychology students at a Christian university to determine the nature of the relationship between spirituality and music-based emotions. Two hypotheses were proposed: First, students with higher levels of spirituality would experience higher emotional intensity while listening to music. Second, students will experience equal emotional intensity when listening to the "sacred" or "secular" selections. In answer to the first hypothesis, results indicated that overall intensity in emotional response to musical selections did significantly and positively correlate with higher spirituality scores. In answer to the second hypothesis, the strength of emotional intensity did differ, and intensity was found to be significantly higher for the secular musical selections. Implications of these results are explored.

"This study investigates the hypothesis that music has the ability to strongly influence emotions in listeners. It begins by challenging the accuracy of this presumption, provides a general psychological and philosophical overview of human emotions and their relation to music, and hypothesises a theory that accounts for the numerous different findings by authors around this topic. The study then attempts to investigate in what manner specific musical structures are linked to the expression of certain emotions; firstly through a literature review and secondly through the execution of empirical tests. These findings are summarised in the Conclusion. An Annexure to this study provides graphic representations of specific musical structures on valence x arousal diagrams that are of value to composers of music."

"Why do people get chills in response to music? Most people report feeling chills--experienced as goose bumps, shivers down the spine, or hair standing on end--at least sometimes when listening to music, but a small minority of people say they've never had this experience. Past work indicates that personality, experience, and engagement in music are partially responsible for individual differences in the experience of chills in response to music, but there is still significant variance in chills that is unexplained. In the present study, experience sampling methods were used to better understand the within-person variability in the experience of chills. Eighty-nine undergraduates completed surveys of Big Five personality traits and music preferences, habits, and experience. For one week, participants responded to multiple daily surveys asking about activities, emotions, and environment, with an emphasis on music listening and chills. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to estimate several models of the variability in chills. Several factors of music listening were examined as potential predictors of chills, including the location, involvement of friends, music choice, structural components of the music, purpose of music listening, and concurrent activities. Of these, music that had special meaning and music that was instrumental had significant main effects on the occurrence of chills, as did taking more music classes and scoring high in facets of neuroticism and openness to experience. In addition, neuroticism and openness facets significantly interacted with contextual aspects of music listening, such as music familiarity, paying close attention to the music, and listening on headphones. Directions for future theorizing are discussed.