Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2014 Factors Influencing Listener Preference for Music Therapists' Performances of Familiar Popular Songs Chelsea Chason Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MUSIC FACTORS INFLUENCING LISTENER PREFERENCE FOR MUSIC THERAPISTS’ PERFORMANCES OF FAMILIAR POPULAR SONGS By CHELSEA CHASON A Thesis submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2014 Chelsea Chason defended this thesis on April 17, 2014. The members of the supervisory committee were: John Geringer Professor Directing Thesis Dianne Gregory Committee Member Jayne Standley Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my professors, Dr. Jayne Standley, Dr. Clifford Madsen, Dr. Alice- Ann Darrow, and Professor Dianne Gregory for their knowledge, leadership, inspiration, and encouragement. A special thanks goes to Dr. John Geringer who has overseen this research project, offering valuable guidance and support. Thank you also to Eitaro Kawaguchi, for his expertise in recording and editing the musical excerpts used in the study. A very special thank you to the four music therapists who allowed me record their renditions of popular songs for use in my survey—thank you for lending your voices to this investigation. Thank you also to the students who volunteered to complete my survey, and their professors for allowing me to recruit research participants during their classes. Lastly, I would like to thank my family, my friends, music and music therapy colleagues, and coworkers for allowing me to vent and brainstorm while they listened, and for offering me all the encouragement and support I could ever need. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ vi List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. viii Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... .ix 1. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 Purpose of Study ......................................................................................................1 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ..............................................................................................3 Music Preferences ....................................................................................................3 Influence of listener’s background and experience .....................................3 Preferences for popular music .....................................................................4 Listener Discrimination and Music Preference........................................................5 Patient Preferred Music in Music Therapy ..............................................................6 Live versus Recorded Music ...................................................................................7 Music Competency in Music Therapy .....................................................................8 Rationale for Study ................................................................................................10 Research Questions ................................................................................................10 3. METHOD ..........................................................................................................................12 Recruitment of Participants....................................................................................12 Survey ....................................................................................................................12 Song selection ............................................................................................13 Recording of music therapist performances ..............................................14 Procedure ...............................................................................................................14 4. RESULTS ..........................................................................................................................16 Participant Data ......................................................................................................16 Data Analysis for Research Question One.............................................................17 Data Analysis for Research Question Two ............................................................23 Data Analysis for Research Question Three ..........................................................24 Data Analysis for Research Question Four ............................................................27 iv Data Analysis for Research Question Five ............................................................28 5. DISCUSSION ....................................................................................................................30 Limitations of Study and Suggestions for Future Research...............................................31 Differences from music therapy settings ...............................................................31 Study design ...........................................................................................................32 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................33 APPENDICES A Text of Web-Based Survey ................................................................................................35 B Song Selection Survey and Results...................................................................................41 D Performer Background Information ...................................................................................46 E Text Responses to Survey Questions .................................................................................47 F Text Response Analysis Categories ...................................................................................51 G IRB Approval Memo and Participant Consent ..................................................................52 REFERENCES ..............................................................................................................................55 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .........................................................................................................60 v LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Participants’ ages .............................................................................................................16 Table 2: Frequency of participants responses to questions about music experiences ...................17 Table 3: Correlation between ratings of overall preference and music/performance elements for all performances of all songs, video and audio-only conditions combined. ...................18 Table 4: Spearman Correlation between ratings of overall preference and music/ performance elements for the first performance of “The Climb,” video and audio-only conditions combined .........................................................................................................................19 Table 5: Spearman Correlation between ratings of overall preference and music/performance elements for the second performance of “The Climb,” video and audio-only conditions combined .........................................................................................................................19 Table 6: Spearman Correlation between ratings of overall preference and music/performance elements for the first performance of “Don’t Stop Believing,” video and audio-only conditions combined .......................................................................................................20 Table 7: Spearman Correlation between ratings of overall preference and music/performance elements for the second performance of “Don’t Stop Believing,” video and audio-only conditions combined .......................................................................................................20 Table 8: Spearman Correlation between ratings of overall preference and music/performance elements for the first performance of “Firework,” video and audio-only conditions combined .........................................................................................................................21 Table 9: Spearman Correlation between ratings of overall preference and music/performance elements for the second performance of “Firework,” video and audio-only conditions combined .........................................................................................................................21 Table 10: Spearman Correlation between ratings of overall preference and music/performance elements for the first performance of “Hey Jude,” video and audio-only conditions combined .......................................................................................................................22 Table 11: Spearman Correlation between ratings of overall