Author ORCID Identifier
Date Available
5-11-2023
Year of Publication
2023
Document Type
Doctoral Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA)
College
Fine Arts
Department/School/Program
Music Performance
Advisor
Prof. James Campbell
Abstract
This study reviews and compares percussion literature pertaining to polyrhythms and scientific literature pertaining to bimanual coordination. There exists a gap in the pedagogical approach to polyrhythms, and there is much disagreement between common instructional methods, especially when considered against the findings of several bimanual coordination studies. The purpose of this study is to reveal insight to the percussion community that the learning of polyrhythms is facilitated by the brain in novel ways, and the uniqueness of this learning process requires a rethinking of the current pedagogical approach. Percussion articles, method books, popular literature, and music scores are surveyed alongside primarily neuroscience research on bimanual coordination regarding the nervous system, perception, feedback, and error. The results show that limb independence as a concept must be divorced from polyrhythmic coordination, and tools used in the learning process must promote an internalization of the polyrhythm as a composite coordination pattern. The implications of this study are that a unique curricular approach is necessary for polyrhythmic learning, and, though antithetical to common practice methods, a brute-force approach may be optimal for idiosyncratic coordination patterns in the percussion musical literature.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2023.176
Recommended Citation
Swafford, Christian, "Polyrhythmic Pathways: Using Bimanual Coordination Research to Develop a New Framework for Practice, Performance, and Pedagogy" (2023). Theses and Dissertations--Music. 220.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/music_etds/220
Included in
Behavioral Neurobiology Commons, Cognition and Perception Commons, Cognitive Neuroscience Commons, Music Pedagogy Commons, Music Practice Commons