AUGMENTING THE INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PROGRAM: A CASE STUDY OF MARK WOOD’S ELECTRIFY YOUR STRINGS PROGRAM A Thesis by Jeremy Charles Samuel Bachelor of Music, Fort Hays State University, 2004 Submitted to the Department of Music and the faculty of the Graduate School of Wichita State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music Education May 2018 © Copyright 2018 by Jeremy Charles Samuel All Rights Reserved AUGMENTING THE INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PROGRAM: A CASE STUDY OF MARK WOOD’S ELECTRIFY YOUR STRINGS PROGRAM The following faculty members have examined the final copy of this thesis for form and content, and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Music Education, with a major in Instrumental Music. _______________________________ Steve Oare, Committee Chair _______________________________ Elaine Bernstorf, Committee Member _______________________________ Robert Bubp, Committee Member iii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my wife, Alison, and my daughter, Layla, whose love, understanding and support are unwavering in all my undertakings. iv An experience-based philosophy of music education is inclusive of all musics and of all ways of being engaged with it because every particular kind and type of music, and every particular way music is made and received, represents a particular opportunity for musical experience. All such opportunities are precious. -Bennet Reimer v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my adviser, Steve Oare, for guiding me through the thesis process to completion and for his masterful editorial skills. I would also like to thank Elaine Bernstorf for introducing me to research and convincing me that I had the skills to complete a thesis. My wife, Alison and my daughter, Layla have my deepest gratitude. Thank you for your support and love despite the long hours this thesis kept me away. I am so fortunate to have you ladies in my life. Thank you also to Bill and Judy Pettijohn for pushing me to continue my education; I wouldn’t have done it otherwise. I am so fortunate to have you as parents. To all the participants in this study, and especially Mark Wood and Laura Kaye. Thank you for allowing me the time in your busy schedules for interviews and follow-up questions. Your insight into the Electrify Your Strings program made this thesis a reality. Finally, I would like to thank all of the music mentors I have had throughout the years who have shaped the way I think about music: Brad Shores, my high school band teacher; Neal Allsup, who gave me my first shot at playing jazz bass; Brad Dawson, who made sure I always found paid gigs; and especially Paul Ranieri, who has become not only my bass mentor, but also a good friend. vi ABSTRACT The purpose of this research was to examine Mark Wood’s Electrify Your Strings (EYS) program. Three research questions guided this study: 1) What is the history of the EYS program and what was the driving philosophy behind its start? 2) What are the pedagogical benefits, if any, that EYS provides for a typical music ensemble? 3) What is the perception of EYS by current music educators, students, parents and school administrators? This case study attempted to triangulate current research against participant interviews and their member checking, (Creswell and Poth, 2018). Participants were selected from current music educators, former high school students, parents of high school students, and school administrators who all had participated in an EYS event. Interviews were semi-structured in nature, transcribed, and double coded using a set of a priori codes that evolved between the first and second coding. Perception of the program was positive, citing increased student confidence, increased camaraderie in the ensemble, increased program growth and retention, and increased support of the program as benefits of participation in EYS. Perceived hindrances were few, cost of the program and logistics of hosting a program, but insignificant against the perceived benefits. EYS is not a new paradigm in music pedagogy. It doesn’t replace the long standing tradition of Western European classical music. It augments the successful pedagogy already being used in the classroom, incorporating classic rock and contemporary music, to encourage students to use creativity, innovation, movement, and self-expression to connect with music more deeply. Keywords: Popular music, informal learning, Mark Wood, Electrify Your Strings vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page 1. INTRODUCTION 01 Mark Wood’s Electrify Your Strings 01 The Problem 01 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 02 Perception 03 Teacher Perception 03 Student Perception 06 Perception in the United States 08 Perception outside the United States 09 Incorporating Popular Music-Informal Learning 10 Incorporating Popular Music-Creativity 13 Incorporating Popular Music-Notation 14 Incorporating Popular Music-Issues 15 Incorporating Popular Music-Benefits 16 Conclusion 18 3. METHODOLOGY 19 Introduction to Methodology 19 Researcher Bias 19 Research Questions 19 Methodology and Design 20 Population Sample 20 Instrumentation 21 Data Analysis 22 Ethical Considerations 22 Consent 22 Procedure 23 First Coding 24 Second Coding 25 4. RESULTS 26 Introduction to Results 26 Tallied Results 26 History of Electrify Your Strings 28 The EYS Process 29 Perception of EYS-Hindrances 32 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Chapter Page Cost 32 Logistics 33 Perception of EYS-Benefits 34 Increased Support for the Orchestra Program 34 Increased Growth and Retention of the Orchestra Program 37 Increased Confidence Among Orchestra Students 38 Increased Camaraderie Among Orchestra Students 38 Personal Relationship with Wood and Kaye 39 Philosophy of Electrify Your Strings 39 5. DISCUSSION 41 Discussion 41 Research Question 1 42 Research Question 2 45 Research Question 3 47 Increased Confidence 47 Increased Growth and Retention of Orchestra Program 49 Increased Camaraderie 50 Increased Support 51 Personal Relationship 53 Summary 54 Recommendations for Future Research 55 Conclusion 56 BIBLIOGRAPHY 58 APPENDICES 62 A. Semi-Structured Interview Questions 63 B. A Priori Codes 77 C. Interview Transcripts 79 D. Consent Form 187 ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EYS Electrify Your Strings TLP The Lakewood Project S.T.E.M. Science, Technology, Engineering and Math x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Mark Wood’s Electrify Your Strings I first heard about Mark Wood and his Electrify Your Strings (EYS) program when I attended a strings workshop led by Julie Lyonn Lieberman. She described a wild electric violin shaped like a ‘flying-v’ guitar that Wood invented and the rock music he was playing with high school students all over the United States. The Problem My first observation of an EYS event was in 2008. The performance was the culmination of a community youth orchestra’s EYS event which incorporated Mark Wood as well as The Mark Wood Experience. The Mark Wood Experience consisted of electric guitar and bass, drums, keyboard, vocals and Mark Wood playing his Viper seven string electric violin. The music performed ranged from The Beatles to Led Zeppelin and was presented in ‘rock concert’ fashion. In Humphreys’ (2004) paper on the history of popular music in schools he stated that the current public school music model has remained virtually unchanged since the late nineteenth century. Chapter 2: Literature Review discusses current incorporation of popular music in public school ensembles in the United States of America and other countries, examining hindrances to and potential benefits of full incorporation. This study set out to examine EYS as a means of incorporating popular music in the public school ensemble. 1 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW According to Mantie (2013), popular music research has experienced a growth recently, though little information exists related to Mark Wood’s Electrify Your Strings (EYS) program, and no material specifically addresses the EYS program directly. For a program that has been in existence since 2001 in public school music programs across the United States (Robbins, 2011), this is surprising and it suggests that research of the EYS program is needed. Discussion of popular music has potential pitfalls, one of which is the language we use when discussing music other than that in the Western European classical tradition. Bowman (2004) defines popular music as music created for the enjoyment and enrichment of everyday people in their everyday lives. Rodriguez (2004) goes further, stating that, “Popular music had become the vernacular music of the young, suggesting they are more fluent in it in terms of basic skills like describing, performing, creating and responding: than in other types of music,” (pg. 21). Vernacular music is ordinary everyday music such as pop and folk music and often defined in part in terms of accessibility and in stark contrast to Art music. Vernacular as a term does not carry the dichotomy that popular does; if one music is described as popular, then there is a music that is not popular, which can often be easily misconstrued as ‘un-popular.’ Western European classical music, as well a jazz, was once the popular music of its time, yet it is no longer referenced as vernacular music. For the purpose of this paper, the term popular music will refer to music that is commonly found on the “Top 40” charts of the last 60 years. The term school music will refer to music common in the public school system. These include jazz, Western European classical music, and music specifically for the wind band. 2 In examining popular music, some common themes started to become clear. These themes involve the perception of popular music in school, the incorporation of popular music within the school music setting, and the over-arching rationale for the incorporation of popular music into school music settings. Perception There are four aspects of the perception of popular music in the classroom discussed in current research: How current music educators perceive popular music in the classroom.