| This three-volume study develops and evaluates a comprehensive music curriculum for stringed instruments, with emphasis on the viola. The study represents a major development and extension of the original work of William Lincer, Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at The Julliard School.;The first volume (Part 1: Historical) reviews violin and viola instructional literature from the 16th through the 20th centuries, and divides this history into three periods: a period of romance (1520-1750), a period of precision (1750-1900), and a period of generalization (1900-present). Twentieth century violin instructional literature is further divided into three categories: European and American traditional approaches (Auer, Flesch, and Galamian), a language-acquisition model of instruction (Suzuki), and several psychophysical and biomechanical models of violin instruction. The general music programs of Dalcroze, Orff, Kodaly, as well as the Manhattanville Music Curriculum and the Hawaii Music Curriculum, are also reviewed.;The second volume (Part 2: Curricular) presents a modular music curriculum for stringed instruments. This curriculum integrates four aspects of music education into a 20-level content matrix. The four aspects of music education are: Musical Concepts (pitch, rhythm, form, phrase structure, performing styles, harmony, timbre, and dynamics), Musical Sources (notated repertoire, etudes, and improvisation), Instrumental Skills (instrument-specific performing techniques), and Interdisciplinary Concepts and Skills (general intellectual, perceptual, motor, and emotional aspects of performing and practicing). The Interdisciplinary Concepts and Skills portion of the curriculum is based on the theories of J. P. Guilford, J. J. Gibson, L. Sweigard, and R. Plutchik. Guilford presents a theory of cognitive information perception, coding, and transformation. Gibson offers a theory of the senses as an interlocking set of five perceptual systems which derive patterns of information from man's terrestrial, social, and cultural environments. Sweigard advocates a theory of posture and volitional movement re-education based on imaginal processes, in particular, the activation of the body's compression and tensile forces through nine lines-of-movement in the head, neck, spine, pelvis, and legs. Plutchik proposes a psychoevolutionary theory of emotion based on eight behavior patterns that vary in intensity, polarity, and similarity, but may be found in some form at all evolutionary levels of man and animals. Curriculum design follows the concepts of Elliot Eisner, George Willis, and Francine Shuchat-Shaw on curriculum development and evaluation. This part of the study concludes with a formative, intrinsic, qualitative evaluation of the proposed curriculum.;The third volume (Part 3: Biographical) is a biography of Professor William Lincer's performing and teaching career, and includes a detailed review of his teaching concepts. |
