Musical improvisation is an infinite artistic well. It helps the musician to make a personal performance and lets the music reflect the inner feelings. It is a language with which the performer can adapt the formulation to the specific situation. Yet so many have fear and respect when facing the phenomenon. In this study Dan Alkenäs discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using musical improvisation as a pedagogical method in school education.

The purpose in this Bachelor degree project has been to create a visual identity and to design a compilation cassette for the small music distributor Kyrkvägen Kassett. My way of approaching the task has been to draw parallells between the cassette as an obsolete music format and more or less abandoned or anachronistic formats, materials and printing methods in the graphic design area. The result is a visual identity that is built upon materials and methods of production rather than specific visual elements. The work is to be seen as a tribute to the small non-profit producers of music and graphic design. As often done in the DIY movement, I chose to consider my lack of practical knowledge in these fields not as an encumbrance but as an asset and an incentive.

Abstract:Styrdokument i musikämnet-En komparativ studie av norska och svenska styrdokument i Musikämnet i skolan.(Music Subject governing documents- A comparative study of Norwegian and Swedish policy documents in the Music subject in school)The purpose of this study is to compare the Norwegian and Swedish policy documents on teaching in the Music topic. The comparison also applies to the requirements which have been in Sweden over time. In comparison, the policy document LGR 11 from Sweden, analyzed, and the governing documents MUS1-01 and R94 from the Norwegian School.The main issue in the study is: How does the policy documents for the topic music in Sweden, compared to Norway? In order to answer the question, I compared the above-mentioned policy documents and set in relation to the musical substance is designed in Norway and Sweden.In curriculum theory treats one problem based approaches in structural functionalism, pragmatism, social epistemology and post structuralism. The starting points are then used to explore various relationships between curriculum theory and didactics.The principal researcher and proponent of curriculum theory is Ulf Lundgren.

Music and religion are concepts, which have been continually associated with spirituality throughout the history of Western religion. Since the dawn of mankind, it has been considered that music has had a clear function about how individuals grasp their inner emotions to reach the transcendent and comprehend "Self". The aim of this thesis is to gain greater understanding as to how a group of young catechists in the Swedish Lutheran Church feel, interpret and construct their identities through popular music. An exploration as to how this specific group perceives concepts such as the Bible, church, spirituality, and religion was undertaken. The theory forming the basis of this essay is derived from a sociological perspective of postmodernism.

Title: Organic / Synthetic in today's creative music making. This work intends to find out what synthetically versus organically produced music means for a songwriter / producer as well as for an artist in their everyday role of occupation. What are the positions regarding these two methods and how do they relate to these concepts? This study also concerns the general view of music produced with each one of these methods and to which extent there exists prejudice towards them. The method used for data collection is qualitative interviews.

Recent papers and bills from the Swedish Government deal with the possibilities  of giving all Swedish citizens the possibility of their own creative actlvities in the cultural sector. This work is about where such actlvities shall be placed in order to make them obtainable  for all. As an example of creative work this work takes computer-based music-making. At the public library in Odense, Denmark there is a weil functioning sound workshop where the public gets the opportunity of making music with some assistance from the staff. This work shows  that also in Sweden  the public libraries are the most suitable  institutions  for placing studies for computer-based music-making  for the public depending  on the public libraries'  traditions in adult education.

Title: Artists? identity and image ? a brand perspective The purpose of this study has been to create an understanding of how artists in the music business can be seen as brands and to see what stands out when having this approach. During the study we have focused on the two terms identity and image. We find this issue interesting and relevant since branding has been widely discussed in business economy, but not enough when it comes to artists in the music business. To answer our research question we have targeted three aims for this essay, which is to clarify and analyze:? Identity and image when people are viewed as brands? What specifically characterizes the image of the artists when they are seen as brands and what it might mean that artists are considered as brands? How artists identity and image can be highlighted, shaped, influenced and how it can changeIn this study we have used a qualitative approach to get the topic in depth and gain a greater understanding for the subject.

Purpose: Which type of social critique does hiphop music present and is it possible to categorize the critique?Is it possible to categorize the social critique ideologically on the basis of socialism, liberalism and conservatism?Procedure and method: A qualitative text method has been used to see which arguments the songs portray. Two different analyzes has been used. The first one was a theory based on Thomas Denk and Daniel Silanders book: Att studera demokratisering and Arvidssons book: Musik och politik hör ihop and its purpose were to categorise the critique. The second one was based on a book by Reidar Larssons: Politiska ideologier i vår tid.

This study was conducted in the Master program at The Music Pedagogical Center (MPC) at The Royal College of Music in Stockholm. Korta musikresor (Short Music Journeys) is the Swedish term used for a receptive method of music therapy adapted from the tradition of The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (BMGIM) and the theory and practice of Expressive Arts Therapy. The KMR method uses carefully selected short pieces of music, lasting between 2 and 5 minutes, to work on various psychological problems and life- crises. The music session is conducted in a slightly altered state of consciousness with a clear focus being established beforehand in a verbal dialogue with the psychotherapist. There is also the possibility of using artwork to process and explore the imagery after the music listening.

This study was conducted in the Master program at The Music Pedagogical Center (MPC) at The Royal College of Music in Stockholm. Korta musikresor (Short Music Journeys) is the Swedish term used for a receptive method of music therapy adapted from the tradition of The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (BMGIM) and the theory and practice of Expressive Arts Therapy. The KMR method uses carefully selected short pieces of music, lasting between 2 and 5 minutes, to work on various psychological problems and life- crises. The music session is conducted in a slightly altered state of consciousness with a clear focus being established beforehand in a verbal dialogue with the psychotherapist. There is also the possibility of using artwork to process and explore the imagery after the music listening.

Thesis in Musicology and Artistic Practice by Anders Soldh. Part of the work for the master?s degree. Studies from School of Music, Theatre and Art, University of O?rebro, 2007.

Syftet med arbetet är att undersöka hur musiklärare tolkar målen i kursplanen i musik och hur de applicerar dessa tolkningar på sin undervisning. Syftet är även att ta reda på hur musiklärare använder sig av läromedel för att nå dessa mål. Bakgrunden till ämnet är tankar som jag har haft angående musikundervisningen på grundskolans lägre stadier och huruvida denna undervisning är likvärdig över hela landet. Skulle det vara möjligt att ett läromedel i musik, skapat utifrån de nationella målen i kursplanen, åstadkommer en sådan likvärd utbildning? Mina forskningsfrågor syftar till att kartlägga användandet och behovet av läromedel i musik och dessutom till att förstå hur målen i kursplanen för musik kan tolkas av olika lärare.

Music has always been an important form of communication and it can be found in many different contexts including aesthetical, cultural and emotional forms. In the globalized society of today music can be distributed fast through radio, TV, CD: s and the Internet. For many people consumption of music is an important part of the daily life and it can contribute to shape an individual?s attitudes and personality.The main purpose of this study is to find out whether there are any differences between men and women?s musical preferences. I will apply an explorative approach using qualitative interviews to describe what causes the differences.

The purpose of this master thesis is to examine different factors that may influence the librarian in the selection of popular music. The study is conducted through a qualitative method, influenced by grounded theory. The results are based on patterns drawn from both interviews with six libraries and from literature. The literature review concerns foremost cultural politics, music aesthetics, the sphere of popular music in Sweden today and the impact of commercialism. Also the purposes of popular music in a library, aspects of values of popular music and assortment policies are being discussed.

This thesis strives to demonstrate my increasingly phenomenological approach to musical composition in relation to the extensive body of musical works connected in different ways to the poetry collection ORDER by the Swedish author and play-wright Lars Norén. The hand, the touch, the voice, the space (environment) and its philosophical implications are scrutinised from a poetic perspective (my poetics). The question of language (the word), the sign (text), sound/noise/music and its immanent bodily qualities are focused and questioned in my own work as well as in primarily two case studies of the music of Pierluigi Billone (1960-) and Morton Feldman (1926-1987).The text reflects the emancipatory process my music has undergone the last 4- 5 years: moving away from language and text (representation) to body and sound, although preserving and nurturing the extended idea of the sign (as signification of sound and body) as a possible embodied vehicle in my composing and artistic thinking.The reader is invited through the extensive use of sketches and work methods to witness and follow this process as a manifestation of the ?doing? rather than the presentation or construction of an analysis in an academic sense.The thesis offers no solution and it fails to encapsulate all of the so-called ORDER-MUSIC (the music that is connected with Norén's collection of poetry) Instead it proposes a possible way of ?opening? the process to a basically phenomenological methodology inside the musical field of score based chamber music..