The chamber work Mood, scored for Guitar and String Quartet, was inspired by my fieldwork in Pang Ma Pha, Mae Hong Son province in the Northern part of Thailand. I worked with the musician guru Fu Deua who taught me about folk music of the Lisu, the hill tribe. I decided to adapt this music for a Western ensemble to connect a new audience with this little-known musical culture. Mood uses standard string techniques such as plucking and strumming to imitate the sounds of the Sue-bue, a Lisu three-stringed instrument. My compositional process was an exploration of the integration of musical traditions. Through the sound of Western Instruments and the procedures of development, variation, and improvisation, Mood expresses and transforms the original musical idiom it borrows from the Lisu’s tune. This paper describes the process behind Mood, both regarding its underlying philosophy and the compositional procedures I used. Besides, I discuss how Mood relates to other forms of dance music w.....

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This article reviews the status of Lanna music in higher education, offering suggestions for the development of Lanna music in Northern Thai universities. The researcher adopts a phenomenological method, utilising data from a number of interviews (N=20) and observations. The results suggest that Lanna music in higher education plays a significant role in shaping the cultural identity of the community. This unique style of music is often taught as a core area of study, as an extension to existing music curricula, or is being offered elsewhere as a general subject of study pursued by non-music students. In the development of Lanna music curricula, the main objective is to sustain musical traditions, musical creativity and to promote professionalism in performance. The curriculum needs to consider the readiness of the elements, especially those pertaining to culture and community, which form the foundation of knowledge. The curriculum should develop learners on the basis of their interest.....

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This article explores the notion of ‘in-betweenness’ through transcultural thinking in my compositional practice. My thinking has been inspired by Tim Ingold’s philosophical idea of ‘wayfaring’ as a way to navigate processes by which insights emerge from collaborative investigations. 'Interbreathment’ is one of the earlier projects focusing on music and dance collaborations. Associated with a gong installation, this particular project explored a hybrid form of notation between musical and choreographical elements engaging with Chinese, as well as Malaysian indigenous cultural references (Kadazandusun) in which I sought a creative threshold for opening up new cultural dialogues to deepen my experience and understanding of the notions of entanglement and of how highly diverse elements can be unified through collaboration in my compositional work...

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In the nineteenth century, listening to a symphony was a rare and precious treat. Few could afford to attend the symphony regularly, and even those who could would be lucky to hear a favourite work once every few years. There was, however, one way for nineteenth-century music lovers to hear their favourite symphonies anytime on demand: by playing arrangements. Arrangements of symphonies, particularly those for piano four-hands, were phenomenally popular. Amateur musicians would play through arrangements before a concert to familiarise themselves with unknown works and after to re-experience the music they enjoyed. In the twentieth century, recordings took over this function. Today, it is not the sonic magnificence of the orchestra that is rare and precious; it is the act of music-making. This paper examines the roles that four-hand piano transcriptions played in the reception of symphonic repertoire during the nineteenth century and, by way of conclusion, suggests some pedagogical appl.....

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The Holistic Music Educational Approach for Young Children (HMEAYC) is a professional method that aims to provide a music curriculum for children in both mainstream and special education settings. The purpose of this research was to examine the effectiveness of the HMEAYC in communication development through the use of the Soundbeam trigger modes in young children from the mainstream and with special needs. The participants were divided into two groups, and they were aged between 41 and 55 months. All the children received the same number of hours of music instruction per week incorporating the ‘Soundbeam technology’ adapted from the HMEAYC method. The duration was 32 weeks with a 40-minute instructional session once a week. The results and findings showed that both of the groups increased their participation in the musical activities and improved their communication ability by the end of the study. The findings suggest the HMEAYC curriculum framework is beneficial for making conne.....

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One of the greatest challenges for wind instrument beginners is developing the ability to listen for harmony when practicing and performing. Even though harmony is one of the most fundamental musical elements in western art music, attaining such a listening proficiency can be especially difficult for wind instrument beginners who are much more accustomed to focusing on a single melodic line, which can in turn have significant implications for the students’ performance. This study accordingly investigated the benefits of listening for harmony on first-year wind instrument students in the Young Artists Music Program (YAMP) at the College of Music, Mahidol University, Thailand. The students who participated in the study were selected because they had no previous experience playing harmonic instruments and received a score of no higher than 69 percent on their aural skills entrance exams. The main purpose of the study was to explore the ways in which developing the students’ aptitude i.....

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This study aims to assess the effectiveness of Poiesis as an approach to integrating music and visual art. It uses the descriptive inquiry approach making use of qualitative research instruments and qualitative data analysis techniques. Data was collected through interviews, observation, examination of audiovisual materials and student reflections. Data was analysed using the coding process, yielding the following themes: 1) opportunities for socialisation in the project; 2) developing appreciation for the two disciplines and for the creative process; 3) personal growth through the project; and 4) growth as an artist through the project. Data from the interviews, observations and reflections tallied with some of the themes that emerged from the audio-visual materials. This means that the collaboration project is effective in exhibiting the connection between the two disciplines and in providing holistic learning for its participants...

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This study aimed to develop an up-to-date canon for electric guitar for use in popular music education in Australia through research of relevant industry data. A prospective pedagogical canon of ten songs was derived and discussed with suggestions for further curricula content and exemplars proposed. Quantitative and qualitative methodologies were employed to analyse data collected from a variety of industry sources. Findings of the study revealed some enlightening cultural insights from the perspective of Australian music education. The development of electric guitar culture in Australia was shown to be driven by international influences with Australia following the lead from the United States and the United Kingdom rather than offering uniquely Australian input. These factors may have led to a potential stifling of a uniquely Australian electric guitar culture via the widespread use of pedagogical methodologies that have simply adopted international content rather than focussed on de.....

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Kertas kerja ini membentangkan hasil kajian yang akan dijalankan untuk mengkaji secara khusus tentang seni melukis ‘Kolam’. Seni ‘Kolam’ boleh didefinisikan sebagai kerja seni yang melibatkan kemahiran tangan yang memerlukan daya cipta dan diwarisi melalui pendidikan informal oleh masyarakat India. Fokus kajian ini ialah mengenalpasti makna di sebalik jenis-jenis motif yang digunakan untuk melukis ‘kolam’. Selain itu, fokus kajian ini juga adalah untuk mengkaji makna penggunaan warna dalam seni ‘kolam’ yang dihasilkan oleh masyarakat India di bandar Sitiawan, Perak yang merupakan tempat popular melukis ‘Kolam’. Penyelidikan ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif kajian kes. Kaedah pengumpulan data melalui pemerhatian, temubual, rakaman visual dan kajian dokumen. Data-data yang akan diperolehi dianalisis secara berterusan semasa di lapangan menggunakan model interaktif Miles dan Huberman (1992). Manakala kajian ini akan menggunakan pendekatan interdisiplin dengan kons.....

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This paper presents an insight on the preliminary studies and pilot testing conducted to implement blended learning approach in learning 3D drawing for secondary school students by blending face-to-face classroom with ICT-based settings using 3D Blender Tutorial Courseware, Youtube and Whatsapp interactive group chat apps. The objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of blended learning approach on the students’ drawing skills, motivation, and learner autonomy, and also to determine the impact of students’ perspective of blended learning and teachers’ attitudes on their learning outcomes. The study was conducted by using quantitative method through performance evaluation and survey on 40 secondary school students from Malaysian Arts School, Johor and English College, Johor. It was found that there was a significant difference in the respondent’s level of 3D drawing skills, motivation and learner autonomy after using the blended learning approach. This study also revealed that.....

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