The purpose of this study was to investigate how somatic (mind–body) instruction facilitated participants’ understanding of embodiment and affected their singing performance. Using an integrated case study and action research design, I, as participant-researcher, led movement lessons based on the Feldenkrais Method® that were intended to elicit a greater understanding of embodiment in relation to singing. The participants were high school choral singers and their teacher from a suburban school in the Midwestern United States. Data included participant journals, group and individual interviews, and researcher field notes. Findings suggest that theoretical and practice-oriented perspectives on embodiment provided new possibilities for the choral teacher’s practice and the students’ learning. From this perspective, choral music teaching is, in essence, the facilitation of embodied singing. The implications and suggestions for future research guide those interested in exploring an embodied perspective in choral music education.
AlerbyE.FermC. (2005). Learning music: Embodied experience in the life-world. Philosophy of Music Education Review, 13(2), 177–185. doi:10.1353/pme.2005.0030
2.
BensonB. E. (2003). The improvisation of music dialogue: A phenomenology of music. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
3.
BowmanW. (2000). A somatic, “here and now” semantic: Music, body, and self. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 144, 45–60.
4.
BowmanW. (2004). Cognition and the body: Perspectives from music education. In BreslerL. (Ed.), Knowing bodies, moving minds: Towards embodied teaching and learning (pp. 29–50). Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Kluwer Academic.
5.
BowmanW.PowellK. (2007). The body in a state of music. In BreslerL. (Ed.), International handbook of research in arts education (pp. 1087–1106). Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer.
6.
BreslerL. (Ed.). (2004). Knowing bodies, moving minds: Towards embodied teaching and learning. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic.
7.
BreslerL. (Ed.). (2007). International handbook of research in arts education. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer.
8.
CliftonT. (1983). Music as heard: A study in applied phenomenology. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
9.
ConableB. (2000). Structures and movements of breathing: A primer for choirs and choruses. Chicago, IL: GIA.
10.
CreswellJ. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
11.
FeldenkraisM. (1972). Awareness through movement. San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco.
12.
FeldenkraisM. (1994). Awareness Through Movement® Lesson from Alexander Yanai (BanielA. Trans., & SolowayE., Ed.) (Vol. 1). Paris, France: International Feldenkrais Federation.
13.
GlaserB.StraussA. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago, IL: Aldine.
14.
HeirichJ. R. (2011). Voice and the Alexander technique (2nd ed.). Berkeley, CA: Mornum Time Press.
15.
HockingB.HaskellJ.LindsW. (Eds.). (2001). Unfolding bodymind: Exploring possibility through education. Brandon, VT: Foundation for Educational Renewal.
16.
HolgersenS. (2010). Body consciousness and somaesthetics in music education. Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education, 9(1), 31–44.
17.
JuntunenM. (2004). Embodiment in musical knowing: How body movement facilitates learning within Dalacroze eurhythmics. British Journal of Music Education, 21, 199–214. doi: 10.1017/S0265051704005686
18.
KemmisS.McTaggartR. (Eds.). (1998). The action reader. Burwood, Australia: Deakin University Press.
19.
Merleau-PontyM. (1962). Phenomenology of perception (SmithC. Trans.). New York, NY: The Humanities Press.
20.
NelsonS. H.Blades-ZellerE. (2002). Singing with your whole self: The Feldenkrais method and voice. Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press.
21.
O’NeillS. A. (2002). The self-identity of young musicians. In MacdonaldR. A. R.HargreavesD. J.MiellD. (Eds.), Musical identities (pp. 79–96). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
22.
PattonM. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
23.
PierceA. (2007). Deepening musical performance through movement: The theory and practice of embodied interpretation. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
24.
RaoD.PiersonW. (2005). Circle of sound voice education: A contemplative approach to singing through meditation, movement and vocalization. Van Nuys, CA: Boosey & Hawkes/Alfred Publishing.
25.
SeidmanI. (1998). Interviewing as qualitative research. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
26.
ShustermanR. (2004). Somaesthetics and education: Exploring the terrain. In BreslerL. (Ed.), Knowing bodies, moving minds: Towards embodied teaching and learning (pp. 51–60). Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Kluwer Academic.
27.
ShustermanR. (2009). Body consciousness and performance: Somaesthetics east and west. Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 67(2), 133–145.
28.
StubleyE. V. (1998). Being in the body, being in the sound: A tale of modulating identities and lost potential. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 32(4), 93–105.
29.
WalkerM. E. (2000). Movement and metaphor: Towards an embodied theory of music cognition and hermeneutics. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 145, 27–42.
30.
WisR. (1993). Gesture and body movement as physical metaphor to facilitate learning and to enhance musical experience in the choral rehearsal (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (UMI No. 9327319)
31.
WoodardK. (2009). Recovering disembodied spirits: Teaching movement to musicians. British Journal of Music Education, 26(2), 153–172. doi: 10.1012/S0265051709008419
32.
YinR. K. (2003). Case study research: Design and methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
