Stephanie Pitts – författare

Music pervades everyday life - in homes, on trains and planes, in cars and shops, at births and deaths, at weddings and war, in concert halls, clubs, stadiums, and fields. In so many ways, music marks and orchestrates the ways in which people experience the world together. What is it that makes people want to live their lives to the sound of music, and why do so many of our most private experiences and most public spectacles incorporate - or even depend on - music? 'Music and Mind in Everyday Life' uses psychology to understand musical behaviour and experience in a range of circumstances, including composing and performing, listening and persuading, and teaching and learning. Starting from 'real world' examples of musical experiences, it critically examines the ways in which psychology can explain people's diverse experience of, and engagement with music, focusing on how music is used, acquired, and made in a range of familiar musical contexts. Using a framework of real and imagined musical scenarios, the book draws on a wide range of research in the psychology of music and music education.The book is organized into three central sections. In Making Music it tackles the psychology of playing, improvising, and composing music, understood as closely related and integrated activities. In Using Music the authors address the ways in which people listen to music, manage their emotions, moods, and identities with music, and use music for therapy, persuasion and social control. In Acquiring Music they consider music in human development, and in a range of more formal and informal educational contexts. The final chapter provides an overview of the history and preoccupations of music psychology as a discipline, and concludes with some remarks on the wider significance of music psychology for an understanding of human subjectivity. Drawing on a wide range of research in music psychology and music education, the book will make fascinating reading for musicians and music scholars, as well as those in the fields of music psychology and music education.

Chances and Choices: Exploring the Impact of Music Education considers the aims and impact of formative musical experiences, evaluating the extent to which music education of various kinds provides a foundation for lifelong involvement and interest in music. The discussion draws upon rich qualitative data, in which over 100 adults with an active interest in music reflect upon the influences and opportunities that shaped their musical life histories. Pitts addresses the relationship between the claims made for music education, the practice and policy through which those aims are filtered, and the recollections of the lived experiences of learning music in a variety of contexts. This consideration of school music is set in the broader context of learning in the home and community, and illustrates the circumscribed yet immensely powerful role that music teachers and other potential role models can play in nurturing open-minded, active musicians. The four central chapters focus on generational change in home and school experiences of music; the locations in which musical learning takes place, including cross-cultural comparisons; the characteristics of teachers, parents and others as musical mentors and role models; and the lifelong outcomes of musical engagement for performers, teachers, listeners and adult learners. This analysis is then used to illuminate the claims made for music education in historical and contemporary debate, and to propose ways in which school music might better prepare young people for lifelong engagement in music. Poised to shed new light on the long-term effects of music education, this book is an important resource to understand how we can encourage lifelong involvement with music and general engagement in cultural activities in every individual.

Chances and Choices: Exploring the Impact of Music Education considers the aims and impact of formative musical experiences, evaluating the extent to which music education of various kinds provides a foundation for lifelong involvement and interest in music. The discussion draws upon rich qualitative data, in which over 100 adults with an active interest in music reflect upon the influences and opportunities that shaped their musical life histories. Pitts addresses the relationship between the claims made for music education, the practice and policy through which those aims are filtered, and the recollections of the lived experiences of learning music in a variety of contexts. This consideration of school music is set in the broader context of learning in the home and community, and illustrates the circumscribed yet immensely powerful role that music teachers and other potential role models can play in nurturing open-minded, active musicians. The four central chapters focus on generational change in home and school experiences of music; the locations in which musical learning takes place, including cross-cultural comparisons; the characteristics of teachers, parents and others as musical mentors and role models; and the lifelong outcomes of musical engagement for performers, teachers, listeners and adult learners. This analysis is then used to illuminate the claims made for music education in historical and contemporary debate, and to propose ways in which school music might better prepare young people for lifelong engagement in music. Poised to shed new light on the long-term effects of music education, this book is an important resource to understand how we can encourage lifelong involvement with music and general engagement in cultural activities in every individual.

Not that long ago there were fairly clear divisions between researchers at different stages throughout their career, starting with doctoral students then progressing to postdoctoral workers and finishing with academic staff. However, more recently the term Early Career Researcher (ECR) has been introduced partly as a response to their growing importance which has been reflected by their increased respect and status shown by national, international and funding bodies. There are several common features of an ECR’s job including the need to establish a professional identity and develop into an independent researcher, competing for grants and increasing one’s output of research publications; this book offers proven practical advice to help ECRs kick-start a successful academic career.With advice on:Choosing research topicsMaking best use of a Research Supervisor/MentorDeveloping your research writingGetting published: journals and booksWriting a research grant/fellowshipBecoming a supervisorBecoming a teacher, andDeveloping your career This guide will help academics at the start of their career no matter what discipline they are engaged in… Arts, Humanities, Sciences or Social Sciences. For example, in sciences and engineering, ECRs are commonly part of a large research team and often have to work in collaborative groups; requiring strong interpersonal skills but can lead to tension in the interaction with one’s supervisor or mentor. In contrast, in the arts and humanities and perhaps the social sciences, an ECR is more likely to be an independent scholar with a requirement to work alone, leading to a different type of relationship (but not necessarily any less stressful) with one’s supervisor or mentor.Using case studies from across the subject areas to illustrate key points and give suitable examples this vital guide will help all early career academics.

Not that long ago there were fairly clear divisions between researchers at different stages throughout their career, starting with doctoral students then progressing to postdoctoral workers and finishing with academic staff. However, more recently the term Early Career Researcher (ECR) has been introduced partly as a response to their growing importance which has been reflected by their increased respect and status shown by national, international and funding bodies. There are several common features of an ECR’s job including the need to establish a professional identity and develop into an independent researcher, competing for grants and increasing one’s output of research publications; this book offers proven practical advice to help ECRs kick-start a successful academic career.With advice on:Choosing research topicsMaking best use of a Research Supervisor/MentorDeveloping your research writingGetting published: journals and booksWriting a research grant/fellowshipBecoming a supervisorBecoming a teacher, andDeveloping your career This guide will help academics at the start of their career no matter what discipline they are engaged in… Arts, Humanities, Sciences or Social Sciences. For example, in sciences and engineering, ECRs are commonly part of a large research team and often have to work in collaborative groups; requiring strong interpersonal skills but can lead to tension in the interaction with one’s supervisor or mentor. In contrast, in the arts and humanities and perhaps the social sciences, an ECR is more likely to be an independent scholar with a requirement to work alone, leading to a different type of relationship (but not necessarily any less stressful) with one’s supervisor or mentor.Using case studies from across the subject areas to illustrate key points and give suitable examples this vital guide will help all early career academics.

Increasingly, it is becoming evident that those involved in socio-musical studies must focus their investigative lens on musical practice and articulation of the self, on music and community involvement and on music as a social medium for social relationships. What motivates people to be involved in musical performance, and how do they articulate these needs and drives? What do performers gain from their involvement in musical activities? How do audience members perceive their relationship to the performer, the music and the event? These questions and many more are addressed here with the benefit of detailed empirical work, including case studies of a chamber music festival and a contemporary music summer school. Pitts investigates the value of musical participation for performers and audience members in a range of contexts, using a multi-disciplinary approach to place new empirical data in the framework of existing theory and literature. Themes examined include: the shared musical experience; the social structures of performing societies; how people identify with music; the values implicit in musical preferences; the social responsibilities of the performer; the audience view of concerts and festivals; the social power of music and educational implications and responsibilities. Pitts draws upon literature from musicology, sociology and psychology of music, ethnomusicology, music education and community music to demonstrate the diversity of enquiry about musical behaviours. The conclusions of the book are based upon empirical evidence gleaned through case studies, with the data integrated thematically throughout, to enable a greater depth of discussion than individual studies usually permit.

Coughing and Clapping: Investigating Audience Experience explores the processes and experiences of attending live music events from the initial decision to attend through to audience responses and memories of a performance after it has happened. The book brings together international researchers who consider the experience of being an audience member from a range of theoretical and empirical perspectives. Whether enjoying a drink at a jazz gig, tweeting at a pop concert or suppressing a cough at a classical recital, audience experience is affected by motivation, performance quality, social atmosphere and group and personal identity. Drawing on the implications of these experiences and attitudes, the authors consider the question of what makes an audience, and argue convincingly for the practical and academic value of that question.

Published in 2000. Education in our schools is a constant feature of media headlines, often blamed for many of society’s ills. Perceived throughout the ages as civilizing force, music has a fundamental role to play in education, yet the last twenty years have seen a consistent erosion of the time and money made available to music teachers in our schools.This book is a timely reminder of how we have arrived at the current debates and challenges of music education. Stephanie Pitts charts the history of music teaching in British secondary schools over the course of the twentieth century. Each chapter looks at a significant period of music education history in which the ideas and practices of a generation were established, and refined. The main educational publications of each decade are examined, from the early by MacPherson, Somervell and Yorke Trotter to the more recent thinking of Paynter and Swanwick.The shifting perceptions of music in the school curriculum are nowhere better highlighted than in the changing focus on children’s engagement with music, from the musical appreciation lessons of the 1920’s and 1930’s to the post-war concentration on performance and the 1970’s emphasis on improvisation and composition. There and many other trends are discussed in the book, allowing today’s music educators to see their own practice in its historical context.

Published in 2000. Education in our schools is a constant feature of media headlines, often blamed for many of society’s ills. Perceived throughout the ages as civilizing force, music has a fundamental role to play in education, yet the last twenty years have seen a consistent erosion of the time and money made available to music teachers in our schools.This book is a timely reminder of how we have arrived at the current debates and challenges of music education. Stephanie Pitts charts the history of music teaching in British secondary schools over the course of the twentieth century. Each chapter looks at a significant period of music education history in which the ideas and practices of a generation were established, and refined. The main educational publications of each decade are examined, from the early by MacPherson, Somervell and Yorke Trotter to the more recent thinking of Paynter and Swanwick.The shifting perceptions of music in the school curriculum are nowhere better highlighted than in the changing focus on children’s engagement with music, from the musical appreciation lessons of the 1920’s and 1930’s to the post-war concentration on performance and the 1970’s emphasis on improvisation and composition. There and many other trends are discussed in the book, allowing today’s music educators to see their own practice in its historical context.