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The presence of the phenomenological body is central to music in all of its varieties and contradictions. With the explosion of scholarly works on the body in virtually every field in the humanities, the social as well as the biomedical sciences, the question of how such a complex understanding of the body is related to music, with its own complexity, has been investigated within specific disciplinary perspectives. The Oxford Handbook of Music and the Body brings together scholars from across these fields, providing a platform for the discussion of the multidimensional interfaces of music and the body. The book is organized into six sections, each discussing a topic that defines the field: the moving and performing body; the musical brain and psyche; embodied mind, embodied rhythm; the disabled and sexual body; music as medicine; and the multimodal body. Connecting a wide array of diverse perspectives and presenting a survey of research and practice, the Handbook provides an introduction into the rich world of music and the body.

Music performance requires a high degree of physical skill, yet until recently, musical training has paid little attention to the considerable demands made on the mind and body. The Biology of Musical Performance and Performance-Related Injury presents singers and instrumentalists with accurate information on the physical processes that underlie their craft. The book provides a concise overview of the biological principles associated with performance technique while assuming no prior scientific knowledge, making it accessible to both musicians and to health professionals who treat performance-related medical conditions. Author Alan H. D. Watson explains the concepts and techniques of music performance, discussing themes such as posture and the back; movements of the arm and hand and associated problems; breathing in singers and wind players; the embouchure and respiratory tract in wind playing; the larynx and vocal tract in singers; the brain and its role in skill acquisition and aural processing; and stress and its management. Watson offers performers and teachers the tools they need to create a rational approach to the development and communication of technique. He also provides insight into the origins of performance-related injury, helping to reduce the risk of such problems by encouraging a technique that is sustainable in the long term. Each chapter includes several illustrations and an extensive bibliography for further reading. To support the text, a CD-Rom is included, featuring original diagrams that clearly illustrate the relevant aspects of body structure and function, explaining and illuminating key concepts through an extensive set of animations, sound files, and videos.

\"The Feldenkrais Method is a self-discovery process using movement that aims for performance with minimum effort and maximum efficiency-it can help musicians hone their bodies to perfect a balance of strength, skills, and agility. This guide to the Method for instrumentalists includes many beneficial exercises, activities, and case studies\"-- Provided by publisher.

Music is surrounded by movement, from the arching back of the guitarist to the violinist swaying with each bow stroke.   To John Paul Ito, these actions are not just a visual display; rather, they reveal what it really means for musicians to move with the beat, organizing the flow of notes from beat to beat and shaping the sound produced. By developing \"focal impulse theory,\" Ito shows how a performer's choices of how to move with the meter can transform the music's expressive contours. Change the dance of the performer's body, and you change the dance of the notes.   As  Focal Impulse Theory deftly illustrates, bodily movements carry musical meaning and, in a very real sense,  are meaning.

Musical talent in Western culture is regarded as an extraordinary combination of technical proficiency and interpretative sensitivity. InMusic, Disability, and Society, Alex Lubet challenges the rigid view of technical skill and writes about music in relation to disability studies. He addresses the ways in which people with disabilities are denied the opportunity to participate in music. Elaborating on the theory of \"social confluence,\" Lubet provides a variety of encounters between disability and music to observe radical transformations of identity. Considering hand-injured and one-handed pianists; the impairments of jazz luminaries Django Reinhardt, Horace Parlan, and \"Little\" Jimmy Scott; and the \"Blind Orchestra\" of Cairo, he shows how the cultural world of classical music contrasts sharply with that of jazz and how musicality itself is regarded a disability in some religious contexts.Music, Disability, and Societyalso explains how language difference can become a disability for Asian students in American schools of music, limiting their education and careers. Lubet offers pungent criticism of the biases in music education and the music profession, going so far as to say that culture disables some performers by adhering to rigid notions of what a musician must look like, how music must be played, who may play it, and what (if any) is the legitimate place of music in society. InMusic, Disability, and Society, he convincingly argues that where music is concerned, disability is a matter of culture, not physical impairment.

Peppered with tips, helpful hints, and personal anecdotes to illustrate real-life application, this performance guide is essential for any wind player interested in taking his or her virtuosity to the next level. Internationally renowned bassoonist Kim Walker has compiled into one book the teachings and exercises that have made her known as an expert on bassoon performance, practice, and instruction. From basics like posture, breathing techniques, and articulation to a survey of the performance practices of key woodwind and brass masters, Walker includes an analysis of each technique along with images and exercises that present the mechanics of each method.

Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) has been proven to affect many individuals, independent of age, gender, experience and hours of practice. This book provides an excellent and updated review of the literature on the topic, including concept, epidemiology, methodical aspects and interventional studies. Suggestions of the correct use of the term MPA and the identification of necessary future studies, as well as comments on and critiques of those already published, will also be provided.

We experience and understand the world, including music, through body movement–when we hear something, we are able to make sense of it by relating it to our body movements, or form an image in our minds of body movements. Musical Gestures is a collection of essays that explore the relationship between sound and movement. It takes an interdisciplinary approach to the fundamental issues of this subject, drawing on ideas, theories and methods from disciplines such as musicology, music perception, human movement science, cognitive psychology, and computer science. R olf Inge Godøy is professor of musicology at the University of Oslo in Norway. Marc Leman is research professor of systematic musicology at Ghent University in Belgium. Foreword Preface 1. Why study musical gestures? Marc Leman and Rolf Inge Godøy 2. Musical gestures: concepts and methods in research Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Marcelo M. Wanderley, Rolf Inge Godøy, and Marc Leman 3. Gesture in performance Sofia Dahl with contributions from Frédéric Bevilacqua, Roberto Bresin, Martin Clayton, Laura Leante, Isabella Poggi, and Nicolas Rasamimanana 4: Music and Gestures: a historical introduction and survey of earlier research Albrecht Schneider 5. Gestural Affordances of Musical Sound Rolf Inge Godøy 6. Music, gesture, and the formation of embodied meaning Marc Leman 7. The Functional Role and Bio-Kinetics of Basic and Expressive gestures in Activation and Sonification Leon van Noorden Chapter 8. Gesture and Timbre Tor Halmrast, Knut Guettler, Rolf Bader, and Rolf Inge Godøy 9. Sensorimotor control of sound-producing gestures} Sylvie Gibet 10. Visual Gesture Recognition: from motion tracking to expressive gesture Antonio Camurri and Thomas B. Moeslund 11. Conductors' Gestures and Their Mapping to Sound Synthesis Gunnar Johannsen and Teresa Marrin Nakra Contributors Index

'A boy sings...a beautiful thing' (www.boychoirs.org), but is it? What kinds of boy, singing what kinds of music and to whom? Martin Ashley presents a unique consideration of boys' singing that shows the high voice to be historically, culturally and physiologically more problematic even than is commonly assumed. Through Ashley's extensive conversations with young performers and analysis of their reception by 'peer audiences', the research reveals that the common supposition that 'boys don't want to sound like girls' is far from adequate in explaining the 'missing males' syndrome that can perplex choir directors. The book intertwines the study of singing with the study of identity to create a rich resource for musicians, scholars, teachers and all those concerned with young male involvement in music through singing. The conclusions of the book will challenge many attitudes and unconsidered positions through its argument that many boys actually want to sing but are discouraged by a failure of the adult world to understand the boy mind. Ashley intends the book to stand as an indictment of much complacency and myopia with regard to the young male voice. A substantial grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council has enabled the production of a multi-media resource for schools, choirs and youth organizations called Boys Keep Singing. Based on the contents of this book, the resource shows how, once the interest of boys is captured in primary schools, their singing can be sustained and developed through the difficult but vital early secondary years of ages 11 - 14, about which this book says so much. The resource is lavishly illustrated by short films of boys singing, supported by interviews with boys and their teachers, and a wealth of of animated diagrams and cartoons. It is available to schools and organizations involved in musical education through registration at www.boys-keep-singing.com.

Mental fatigue, a psychobiological state induced by prolonged and sustained cognitive tasks, impairs both cognitive and physical performance. Several studies have investigated strategies to counteract mental fatigue. However, potential health risks and contextual restrictions often limit these strategies, which hinder their practical application. Due to its noninvasive and portable nature, music has been proposed as a promising strategy to counteract mental fatigue. However, the effects of music on performance decrements vary with different music styles. Synthesizing studies that systematically report music style and its impact on counteracting performance decrements is crucial for theoretical and practical applications. This review aims to provide a comprehensive systematic analysis of different music styles in counteracting mental fatigue and their effects on performance decrements induced by mental fatigue. Additionally, the mechanisms by which music counteracts mental fatigue will be discussed. A comprehensive search was conducted across five databases-Web of Science, PubMed, SCOPUS, SPORTDiscus via EBSCOhost, and the Psychological and Behavioral Sciences Collection via EBSCOhost-up to November 18, 2023. The selected studies focused solely on music interventions, with outcomes including subjective feelings of mental fatigue, physiological markers, and both cognitive and behavioral performance. Nine studies met the predetermined criteria for inclusion in this review. The types of music interventions that counteract mental fatigue include relaxing, exciting, and personal preference music, all of which were associated with decreased subjective feelings of mental fatigue and changes in objective physiological markers. Cognitive performance, particularly in inhibition and working memory tasks impaired by mental fatigue, was countered by both relaxing and exciting music. Exciting music was found to decrease reaction time more effectively than relaxing music in working memory tasks. The physiological marker of steady-state visually evoked potential-based brain-computer interface (SSVEP-BCI) amplitude increased, confirming that exciting music counteracts mental fatigue more effectively than relaxing music. Behavioral performance in tasks such as arm-pointing, the Yo-Yo intermittent test, and the 5 km time-trial, which were impaired by mental fatigue, were counteracted by personal preference music. Relaxing music, exciting music, and personal preference music effectively counteract mental fatigue by reducing feelings of fatigue and mitigating performance decrements. Individuals engaged in mentally demanding tasks can effectively counteract concurrent or subsequent cognitive performance decrements by simultaneously listening to relaxing or exciting music without lyrics or by using music during recovery from mental fatigue. Exciting music is more effective than relaxing music in counteracting mental fatigue. Personal preference music is effective in counteracting behavioral performance decrements in motor control and endurance tasks. Mentally fatigued individuals could apply personal preference music to counteract subsequent motor control performance decrements or simultaneously listen to it to counteract endurance performance decrements. Future studies should specify and examine the effects of different music genres, tempos, and intensities in counteracting mental fatigue. Additionally, the role of music in counteracting mental fatigue in contexts such as work productivity, traffic accident risk, and sports requires further investigation, along with the underlying mechanisms.