Meyer’s Approach on Musical Analysis and Its Relevance to Indonesian Analytical Study of Western Music

Abstract

This critical review of Leonard Bunce Meyer's musical analysis theory is aimed at obtaining a basic understanding of an approach that seems uncommon in Indonesian studies of Western music. This study uses a speculative method with descriptive as well as critical approaches, where Meyer's analysis theory is depicted critically by conforming it toward Nicolas Cook's critical review which was based on the Shenkerian concept. The relevance application of this analysis model in the studies of musical form in Indonesia then is discussed. This study concluded that the psychological music analysis of Meyer was carried out by the foreground expectations of the tonal music linear and rhythmical analysis. Compared to the Shenkerian approach which gives greater attention to the harmonic reduction that focused on the harmonic background of tonal music, Meyer’s approach would be less practical in observing at large-scale musical structures. Meyer’s analysis would be valuable to the performers as well as music analysts if they also take into account their musical style concepts which mostly regarded as the area of aesthetic rather than technical analysis. For Indonesia, this method is appropriate for Master and Doctorate studies in Western Music.

Mothers as Home DJs: Recorded Music and Young Children’s Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…First and foremost, the survey data showed that mothers utilized recorded music to fulfill various emotional needs in their everyday lives. Consistent with previous studies (Trehub and Schellenberg, 1995;Ilari, 2005;Trehub et al, 2010), children's mood and states were often used as indicators of when and what kinds of music mothers put on. Overall, mothers tended to use music to maintain or reinforce their child's positive mood rather than to improve a negative mood, given that out of the 197 episodes, only 26% were related to situations when children were in uncomfortable states physically and/or mentally.…”

“…Parents are known to listen to music with young children for similar reasons, oftentimes with expectations that music will positively impact their youngsters' lives (Lamont, 2008). Music has been used to regulate mood and behaviors of infants, young children and their caregivers (Trehub and Schellenberg, 1995;Shenfield et al, 2003;Trehub et al, 2010). But unlike some adults who often sit and listen quietly to a musical piece, young children are known to listen to music in idiosyncratic ways.…”

“…That is, parents and caregivers shape the sonic environment in the home by curating children's musical experiences from very early on (Ilari, 2018). Parents curate musical experiences in the home based on their own previous musical experiences and taste (Custodero and Johnson-Green, 2003), song characteristics (Sulkin and Brodsky, 2015), and children's mood and time in the routine (Trehub and Schellenberg, 1995). Parents are also known to craft and adjust musical experiences in the home, based on family routines and children's reactions to the different songs and musical pieces that they encounter (Ilari, 2018).…”