Dissertation Blog

 Ahh life. I have Covid over here so I am trying to do bite sized writing without social media disruption. I really struggle to focus for more than 30 minutes at a time- and I have a pretty good headache today so I will be on and off.  I meet with my advisor tomorrow at 3:00pm. Today I will rewrite a conclusion paragraph to an article that we are working on revisions for. With the time leftover, I will work on my literature review but- I am really tired and worn down today so being gentle with self. 

Life is happening at the speed of sound and this weekend was filled with many ArtsFest performances with rappers and string players from Liberty High AND my daughter's senior recital- where I accompanied her on pedal harp and fiddle. Wowsers. Life.  All joy related tasks though. Turning back to writing. This am was a near wash of kids and home exploding into the morning. I need to focus in very narrow for the next few days. My literature review. Friday I did make big strides in the application of Zotero and saving APA formats. So- continuing that work this week.  I also have an article that was accepted into String Research Journal and I am re-writing the conclusion paragraph. Two neat and tidy (and fun) tasks for the week. 

 I feel like I am just now settling into the mindset of writing with the focus away from my public school teaching job to allow it. My goal today is first, to not check my email and allow for this focused mindset to start to become a reality. I am pretty confident I have adult onset attention deficit disorder. Perhaps as a by product of my lifestyle.  So. Being with that this morning.  Writing goals:  1. Work through the discussion section of the String Research Journal article that has been accepted for publication with revisions. 2. Locate (!) my dissertation proposal with track changes from advisor.  3. Enjoy the literature review search for very new research around my topic- which is essentially the nexus of cultural relevance, creativity, and the skill set that allows for a lifetime in music (in and outside of the academy).   

 Day 2 was my last day of school with students and we had a district wide internet outage (!)  After the smoke cleared and I got home, I received notification that a study I wrote about non-traditional string ensembles and courses was accepted into the String Research Journal with revisions. So- I pivoted and spent the evening perusing these revisions and making a plan with my co-author to address them. My first peer reviewed journal publication! Very exciting. 

  I am a 5th year PhD candidate in music education with a speciality in the nexus of culturally relevance, creativity, and the skills that are required for a lifetime of music making. I am using this summer's writing camp to edit and submit a proposal for my dissertation. I have worked on the proposal and literature review but my area us quite specialized.  Here is a rationale for the work I do... I had the good fortune to sit in on Bela Fleck’s keynote speech at the IBMA convention in Raleigh recently. In it, he reflected on his own journey from playing “by the rules” to breaking the rules, to coming back again. He quoted Miles Davis as saying, “Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself."   This spirit of spontaneous individualism is what we find in fiddling that many of us might not have found or been able to express in violin playing. And nowhere does a player find themselves faster than in the art of improvisation.   Improvisation…...