What is it that drives people to undertake music research? Such interest frequently grows from on-the-ground experiences as learners, performers, facilitators, composers, arts administrators, and educators. It can emerge, for example, from music teachers trying out new teaching methods, performers wishing to know more about how to improvise effectively, educators pursuing the most effective ways to structure music curricula, musicians aiming to explain why their music enhances wellbeing among different groups of people, and orchestral managers seeking to promote and protect the health of their players. At the heart of all of these enquiries lies a question of some sort, and it is these research questions that determine the direction of the research to be undertaken.
Performing Music Research is a comprehensive guide to planning, conducting, analyzing, and communicating research in music performance. The book examines the approaches and strategies that underpin research in music education, psychology, and performance science. It reviews the knowledge and skills needed to critique existing studies in these fields and to design and carry out new investigations. Perspectives on qualitative, quantitative, and multistrategy methodologies are highlighted across the book in ways that help aspiring researchers bring precision to their research questions, select methods that are appropriate for addressing their questions, and apply those methods systematically and rigorously. Each chapter contains a study guide, comprising a chapter summary, a list of keywords, and suggestions for further discussion, and the book concludes with a resources section, including a glossary and supplementary material to support advanced statistical analysis.
The book''s companion website provides information designed to facilitate access to original research and to test
knowledge and understanding.
Industry Reviews
`Performing Music Research takes students on a journey toward becoming a knowledgeable and productive scholar. Beginning with formulation of the research question, the text lays out a path through data collection processes and analysis techniques that embraces a diversity of methodological approaches. Guidance on scholarly presentations and publications completes the picture of the student as an emerging researcher. Drawing perspectives from across the
music discipline, the authors provide relevant examples and address timely topics to effectively connect the doing of music with its systematic examination as a distinctive human phenomenon. This is an
excellent guide for any student interested in the study of musical behaviors, attitudes, and practices.
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Steven Morrison, Professor of Music, Music Education, Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music, Northwestern University
`The authors have provided a start-to-finish manual of how to conceive, execute, analyse, and report empirical research on musical behaviour. Drawing on their extensive experience as researchers and teachers in music higher education, they have provided a resource which will be a useful refresher to experienced researchers as well as a systematic guide for novices. The authors illustrate fundamental principles of empirical research by well-chosen examples
of contemporary music research, engagingly illustrating how, by following the general requirements of best research practice, musicians can gain better answers to the questions that concern them in their
practice and pedagogy. It should be widely welcomed in conservatoires and university music departments as a valuable resource for researchers and teachers alike.
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John Sloboda, Research Professor, Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
