Date of Graduation
1988
Document Type
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
This study examines through an historical perspective the implementation of Comprehensive Musicianship (CM) from 1966 through 1968 in the five colleges and universities that formed the Southern Region of the Contemporary Music Project's Institutes for Music in Contemporary Education (IMCE) program: East Carolina University (ECU), Greenville, North Carolina; Florida State University (FSU), Tallahassee; George Peabody College for Teachers (GPCT), Nashville, Tennessee; University of Georgia (UG), Athens; and University of Kentucky (UK), Lexington. To provide background information, the study also includes an overview of the Contemporary Music Project from 1959 through 1965, with special emphasis on events leading to the formation of the IMCE program. Information for the study was obtained largely from interviews with former IMCE faculty participants; documents located at the MENC Historical Center, University of Maryland, College Park; and MENC publications and journals. In addition to an account of IMCE program activities, the study contains descriptions of CM courses in each of the Southern Region schools. In some cases, examples of CM tests and course materials are included. The short- and long-term impact of the IMCE program on each of the five schools is also discussed. The major findings of the study are: (1) The largest and most influential CM program was fostered at ECU, followed closely by GPCT. The smallest program existed at UG. (2) CM course sequences at ECU and GPCT featured integrated theory-history courses taught on the freshman, sophomore, and junior levels. CM courses remained a part of the musicianship curricula at both schools until the early 1970s. (3) At FSU, UG, and UK, freshman and sophomore theory courses affected the IMCE participation, although CM instructors attempted to coordinate ear training, sight-singing, and keyboard harmony with written theory. Music curricula were not altered at any of the three schools as a result of IMCE participation. (4) UG was the only Southern Region school to employ an experimental research design as part of the IMCE program. (5) In general, long-term influences of the IMCE program were minimal in the five Southern Region Schools. This may have been due in part to CMP's top-down approach to curricular reform.
Recommended Citation
Bess, David Michael, "A history of comprehensive musicianship in the Contemporary Music Project's Southern Region Institutes for Music in Contemporary Education." (1988). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 8476.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/8476