How to build a successful team Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

How to build a successful team - Essay Example The team leader is usually elected from the members of the team through voting. There are a number of desirable qualities that a team leader should possess in order to guide the team and keep the people in it together. There are different leadership styles that a leader may adopt in order to be effective at his job, such as visionary leadership, participatory leadership, charismatic leadership, authoritative leadership and others. A leader must be able to visualize the end goal of the team and formulate strategies to bring the team closer to the goal. Also, the leader must know how to listen actively and communicate assertively to influence the members of the team. 2. The Size of the Team The number of people within the team is very important so if the team is to functional and efficient, it needs to be at the right size. Too small teams may be too lean to be effective while too big teams may be difficult to manage. As a general rule, teams must have 8-10 members to be effective. If the group is too big, the members may be divided into smaller sub-groups. 3. Variety of Skills Among Members of the Group The skills of the members of the team are important and it is desirable that these skills be varied. No, it is not a good idea to choose team members that are of the same skills levels and the same frame of mind. Although homogenous types of groups have their own advantages, they also have their own disadvantages and more often than not, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. Note that members have to play different roles within the team so if these members have varied skills, they can be assigned to certain tasks that are within their areas of expertise. Also, if the members of the group are of the same skills level and way of thinking, these people may tend to compete with each other instead of complement each other. For a team to stay strong, the people inside the team must complement each other and work together in a harmonious manner. Yes, there may be s ome degree of competition is a heterogeneous team but the competition may not be as fierce as it is in a homogenous team. 4. The Personalities of the Members of the Team The degree of maturity and the overall personalities of the people within the team contribute much to the strength and quality of the team. Choosing the personalities of the people in the team depend on the tasks that need to be done. For instance, if the task requires more mature judgment, it would be best to go for older and more mature team members. On the other hand, if the tasks to be performed require the agility and energy of young people, it would be best to select younger members for the team. However, if the team is to perform varied tasks, having both mature and young team members would be more appropriate. 5. Team Bonding Team bonding is very important to create rapport among the members. Creating a friendly and collegial atmosphere in the team will help facilitate the sharing of ideas and smoothen out t he working relationship between team members. Team bonding activities may include participation in training courses, strategic planning and social activities where the members of the team can interact freely with each other. A good time to promote team bonding is during celebrations of achievements and celebration of certain occasions such as birthdays and the likes. 6. internal conflict resolution mechanism Since teams are composed of individuals with different personalities,

RESEARCH CRITIQUE Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

CRITIQUE - Research Paper Example oned in the article is not the lack of hourly rounding taking place; in fact it is that as the staff shortage has worsened over the years, the patient satisfaction had decreased which causes hindrance in the patient outcomes. The author identifies the significance of the problem as he mentions the detailed study about the change in the hourly rounding pattern in nursing and how it affects the patients and the whole system. The background information provided by the author supports the problem fully as he explains why the patient satisfaction rates fell, how they could be improved and what role does hourly rounding play. The purpose of the study is to work out the challenges faced by nurses every day and to improve the patient satisfactory level. The authors used previous researchers and their articles to support the current analysis and changing trends. The references that were used from the past 10 years were Meade and co-authors (2006), Krauss and co-authors (2005), Amador and Loera (2007) and Olive and co-authors (2006). The references used from the last 5 years are Culley (2008), Assi, Wilson, Bodino, Bognar and Lemenski (2008), Healy, Oliver, Milne, and Connelly (2008), Coussement and co-authors (2008) and Roszell, Jones and Lynn (2009). The authors suggest that future qualitative research should be done focusing on discharged patients’ perceptions about how nurses treated them during their hospitalization. The study is based on a theoretical framework discussing the many kinds of variables that need to be considered. The studies analyzed discuss the various views and methods used to implement the hourly rounding. The overall article shows a theoretical perspective of why the hourly rounding is needed, is significant, is effective, improves the patient satisfaction, and how it should be managed to ensure the future results are effective too. The research hypotheses are the use of hourly rounding in the nursing profession to improve the quality of services

Hager Shipley in The Stone Angel Essay Example for Free

Hager Shipley in The Stone Angel Essay In Margaret Laurences novel, The Stone Angel, Hagar Shipley is the main character. Born the daughter of Jason Currie, she is one who possesses incredible depth in character. Mingling past and present, we observe the very qualities, which sustained her and deprived her of joy such as her lack of emotional expression. As well, inheriting her fathers harsh qualities, she exhibited pride that detested weakness in any form. Despite of her negative attributes she also displayed a positive mannerism through courage. Thus, Hagar is a cold, but strong willed woman. Such qualities give us a portrait of a remarkable character. Hagars most noticeable characteristic was her lack of feeling and emotion. Indeed there where many situations where she could not physically express what she felt in her heart. She did not cry at the death of her son John. That night she was transformed to stone and never wept at all (Laurence 243). During Marvins childhood, she would impatiently dismiss him due to his slowness of speech. Once when an ecstatic Marvin told Hagar that he finished his chores, Hagar bluntly sends him away saying, I can see youve finished. Ive got eyes. Get along now  ¼ (Laurence 112). Even as a child she was lacked emotion when she could not provide comfort to her dying brother, Daniel. Daniel needed the comfort of his mother, but for Hagar, to play at being her it was beyond me (Laurence 25). Indeed, Hagars deficiency in feeling or expressing emotion was a visible characteristic throughout the novel. As a result of her upbringing, Hagar possesses pride that despises weakness in any form. As a young girl she displayed this trait when her dad slapped her hand, I wouldnt let him see me cry, I was so enraged (Laurence 9). As previously mentioned before, Hagar could not portray her mother to comfort her dying brother. She characterized her mother as the woman Dan was said to resemble so much and from whom hed inherited a frailty I could not help but detest (Laurence 25). When Hagar brought upon the subject of marriage with Bram Shipley to her father he made it clear that theres not a decent girl in this town would wed without her familys consent (Laurence 49). Hagar rebelliously responded, It will be done by me (Laurence 49) and eventually marries Bram. Thus, throughout the novel, Hagars attribute of scornful pride is evidently exhibited. In contrast to her negative character, Hagar exhibits a great deal of courage. Following Hagars marriage to Bram, she immediately faced the reality of the life. The next day Hagar cleaned the house inside out. I had never scrubbed a floor in my life, but I worked that day as though Id been driven by a whip (Laurence 52). Hagar also had the courage to leave Bram for the sake of her childrens future. Physically, Hagar did not lack courage. At the age of 90, Hagar was able to painfully endure her journey to Shadow Point. Thus, her courageous character classifies her as a strong willed woman. Theres no question that Hagar, young or old, is a cold yet courageous woman. She was deficient in physically expressing her feelings and emotions. She also possessed an unbending pride, which despised weakness in any form. However, despite of her negative attributes she still exhibits a positive aspect through her courage. Hagars character has such immense depth. She may not be perfect; nevertheless she is unique. Important Note: If youd like to save a copy of the paper on your computer, you can COPY and PASTE it into your word processor. Please, follow these steps to do that in Windows: 1. Select the text of the paper with the mouse and press Ctrl+C. 2. Open your word processor and press Ctrl+V. Companys Liability 123HelpMe.com (the Web Site) is produced by the Company. 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English Pronunciation And Accent For Students English Language Essay

English Pronunciation And Accent For Students English Language Essay The Language has three basic constituents: Sound, structure and vocabulary. The main problem of language learning is to master its sound system, to understand the streams of speech, to hear the distinctive sound features and to approximate their production .Accuracy Of sound, rhythm of innovation, structural forms and arrangement within a limited range of expression must be acquired first before the other linguistic aspect of the language. Correct pronunciation imparts clarity to the speech and correct tone. It makes the language more fluent. It makes an impression on the mind of the listener. The pronunciation has to be learnt through constant and sustained practices. This section provides the different sounds and practices to master the English pronunciation. Received PronunciTION Like all languages English has wide variation in its pronunciation. The variation is especially salient in English because the language is spoken over such a wide territory, being the predominant language in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, South Africa and India. Although there are many dialects of English, the Received Pronunciation is usually used as the standard accent. To learn the exact pronunciation of the words in English language we need to first identify the different speech, sounds in English language. There are 44 sounds in English language and they are divided into vowels sounds and consonant sounds. There are 20 vowels and 24 consonants. The vowels sounds are further classified into Monophthongs and diphthongs. Monophthongs are either short or long. VOWEL SOUND A vowel sound is produced by the free flow of air. During the articulation of vowel sound,the active articulator is raised towards the passive articulator in such a way that there is a sufficient gap between the two for air to escape through the mouth without friction. For example when we say True the air escapes freely and continuously without any friction. To begin with we first focus on the vowel sound. The vowel sound is the nucleus of the word. No word can exist without it. The consonant sound is the marginal element. It appears either before of after the nucleus. The Consonant sound at the beginning of the nucleus is called the releasing consonant and the one at the end is called the arresting consonant for egg. PICK pik p is known as the releasing consonant. Examples of short vowels: /É ª/ in kit and mirror, /ÊÅ  / in put, /e/ in dress and merry, /ÊŒ/ in strut and curry, /à ¦/ in trap and marry, /É’/ in lot and orange, /Éâ„ ¢/ in ago and sofa. Examples of long vowels: /iË / in fleece, /uË / in goose, /ɜˠ/ in nurse, /ɆÃƒâ€¹Ã‚ / in north and thought, /É‘Ë / in father and start. RPs long vowels are slightly diphthongised. Especially the high vowels /iË / and /uË / which are often narrowly transcribed in phonetic literature as diphthongs [É ªi] and [ÊÅ  u]. Long and short are relative to each other. Because of phonological process affecting vowel length, short vowels in one context can be longer than long vowels in another context. In addition to such length distinctions, unstressed vowels are both shorter and more centralized than stressed ones. In unstressed syllables occurring before vowels and in final position, contrasts between long and short high vowels are neutralized and short [i] and [u] occur.[ CONSONANT SOUND A consonant sound may be defined as a speech sound that is produced with stoppage of air. For Ex ample when we say the word CUP to pronounce the initial /k/ and the final /p/the voice or breathe is particularly hindered by the tongue teeth, lip or other organ of articulation. The consonant sounds are classified according to the nature of the constrictions plosives friction, affricated , and lateral consonants. The sound of the language is known as phonemes. Phoneme is a minimal,distinctive, functional unit of the sound system of a language. Phonetics is the science of speech sounds, their production,transmission and reception, It studies the medium of spoken language. To learn the pronunciation and improve spoken Phonetic transcription. It may be defined as a way of representing speech sounds through symbols. A phonemic symbol represents each English sound. It is important to learn the phonemic symbol to acquire the accurate pronunciation because these symbols help to recognise the sound easily. knowledge of these symbols is useful while referring a Dictionary. It helps to know the pronunciation of the word. PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION It may be defined as a way of representing speech sounds through symbols. A phonemic symbol represents each English sound. To acquire the exact pronunciation it is important to learn phonemic transcription. This helps to identify the sounds easily .Knowledge of these symbols is useful while referring to a dictionary. The table below contains the list of these pronunciation symbols; VOWELS PHONEMIC SYMBOLS Monophthongs Front Central Back long short long short long short Close iË  É ª uË  ÊÅ   Mid e ɜˠ Éâ„ ¢ ɆÃƒâ€¹Ã‚  Open à ¦ ÊŒ É‘Ë  É’ EXAMPLES Symbols words /e/ bet, let, men /i/ sit, lit, bit /Ɇ/ hot, shot , pot /ÊŒ/ hut, but, nut / à ¦ / bat, mat, sat /u/ would, could, should / Éâ„ ¢ / ago, aloud, about DIPHTHONGS SYMBOLS EXAMPLES Diphthong Example Closing /eÉ ª/ /beÉ ª/ Bay cake, lake, play /aÉ ª/ /baÉ ª/ buy /ɆÃƒâ€°Ã‚ ª/ /bɆÃƒâ€°Ã‚ ª/ boy /Éâ„ ¢ÃƒÅ Ã…  / /bÉâ„ ¢ÃƒÅ Ã…  / beau /aÊÅ  / /baÊÅ  / bough Centring /É ªÃƒâ€°Ã¢â€ž ¢/ /bÉ ªÃƒâ€°Ã¢â€ž ¢/ beer /eÉâ„ ¢/ /beÉâ„ ¢/ bear /ÊÅ  Ãƒâ€°Ã¢â€ž ¢/ /bÊÅ  Ãƒâ€°Ã¢â€ž ¢/ boor CONSONANT SYMBOLS Consonant phonemes of Received Pronunciation Bilabial Labio- dental Dental Alveolar Post- alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal Nasal m n ņ¹ Plosive p  Ã‚  b t  Ã‚  d k  Ã‚  g Affricate tʃ  Ã‚  dÊ’ Fricative f  Ã‚  v ÃŽÂ ¸Ã‚  Ã‚  ÃƒÆ' ° s  Ã‚  z ʃ  Ã‚  ÃƒÅ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ h  Ã‚   Approximant É ¹ j w Lateral l Nasals and liquids may be syllabic in unstressed syllables. /ÃÆ' °/ is more often a weak dental plosive; the sequence /nÃÆ' °/ is often realized as [nÃÅ' ªnÃÅ' ª]. /h/ becomes [É ¦] between voiced sounds. /É ¹/ is postalveolar unless devoicing results in a voiceless fricative articulation (see below). /l/ is velarized in the syllable coda. Unless preceded by /s/, fortis plosives (/p/, /t/, and /k/) are aspirated before stressed vowels; when a sonorant /l/, /É ¹/, /w/, or /j/ follows, this aspiration is indicated by partial devoicing of the sonorant. Syllable final /p/, /t/, /tʃ/, and /k/ are preceded by a glottal stop; /t/ may be fully replaced by a glottal stop, especially before a syllabic nasal (button [bÉ ÃƒÅ Ã¢â‚¬ nÃÅ' ©]). SYMBOLS EXAMPLES /P/ Pin, pick /b/ but, cup /t/ tin, stick /d/ bud , doll /k/ could, cake /g/ girl, mug / tʃ / church, chew / dÊ’ / jug, judge /f/ graph, fast /v/ give, vary / ÃŽÂ ¸ / theory, earth / ÃÆ' ° / mother, further /s/ sea, ask /z/ zero, design / ʃ   / ash, shift / Ê’ / garage, pleasure /m/ machine, charm /n/ nature, born / ņ¹ / ring, king /h/ hymn, harp /l/ life, style /l/ /r/ rose, correct /w/ water, work, /j/ yes, you DUALITY OF LETTERS AND SOUNDS Duality of letters and sounds mean that there is no one to one correspondence between letters and sounds in English. Different letters may represent different sounds . Following table gives example of words where different letters represent the same sound. /s/ see, censor, miss /SH/ chef, mention, passion /z/ zoo, season /k/ kill, sick, chemistry / ee/ key, deal, physique / oo/ movie, soup, true /AH/ market, fast, aunt, heart ACCENT Word Stress in English Word stress is the key to understand spoken English. In English, we do not say each syllable with the same force or strength. In one word, we accentuate ONE syllable. We say one syllable very loudly (big, strong, important) and all the other syllables very quietly for example if we say photograph, photographer and photographic. They do not sound similar because we accentuate (stress) ONE syllable in each word. And it is not always the same syllable. So the shape of each word is different . shape total syllables stressed syllable PHO  TO  GRAPH 3 #1 PHO   TO  GRAPH  ER 4 #2 PHO  TO   GRAPH  IC 4 #3 This happens in all words with two or more syllables: TEACHer, JaPAN, CHINa, aBOVE, converSAtion, INteresting, imPORtant, deMAND, etCETera, etCETera, etCETera The syllables that are not stressed are weak or small or quiet. Native speakers of English listen for the STRESSED syllables, not the weak syllables. If you use word stress in your speech, you will instantly and automatically improve your pronunciation and comprehension There are two very important rules about word stress: One word, one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. So if you hear two stresses, you have heard two words, not one word.) The stress is always on a vowel. The stress in English language can be learned by listening to engish news on radio or television. This serves as a good practice exercise to learn the right stress pattern. Sentence Stress in English Sentence stress is the music of spoken English. Like word stress, sentence stress can help you to understand spoken English, especially when spoken fast. Sentence stress is what gives English its rhythm or beat. You remember that word stress is accent on one syllable within a word. Sentence stress is accent on certain words within a sentence. Most sentences have two types of word: content words structure words Content words are the key words of a sentence. They are the important words that carry the meaning or sense. Structure words are not very important words. They are small, simple words that make the sentence correct grammatically. They give the sentence its correct form or structure. If you remove the structure words from a sentence, you will probably still understand the sentence. If you remove the content words from a sentence, you will not understand the sentence. The sentence has no sense or meaning. Imagine that you receive this telegram message: Will you SELL me CAR because Im GONE to FRANCE This sentence is not complete. It is not a grammatically correct sentence. But you probably understand it. These 4 words communicate very well. Somebody wants you to sell their car for them because they have gone to France. We can add a few words: Will you SELL my CAR because Ive GONE to FRANCE The new words do not really add any more information. But they make the message more correct grammatically. We can add even more words to make one complete, grammatically correct sentence. But the information is basically the same: Content Words Will you SELL my CAR because Ive GONE to FRANCE. Structure Words Why is this important for pronunciation? It is important because it adds music to the language. It is the rhythm of the English language. It changes the speed at which we speak (and listen to) the language. The time between each stressed word is the same. In our sentence, there is 1 syllable between SELL and CAR and 3 syllables between CAR and GONE. But the time (t) between SELL and CAR and between CAR and GONE is the same. We maintain a constant beat on the stressed words. To do this, we say my more slowly, and because Ive more quickly. We change the speed of the small structure words so that the rhythm of the key content words stays the same. syllables 2 1 3 1 Will you SELL my CAR because Ive GONE to FRANCE. t1 beat t1 beat t1 beat t1 beat Important rules of word stress 1 Stress on first syllable rule example Most 2-syllable nouns PRESent, EXport, CHIna, TAble Most 2-syllable adjectives PRESent, SLENder, CLEVer, HAPpy 2 Stress on last syllable rule example Most 2-syllable verbs to preSENT, to exPORT, to deCIDE, to beGIN   3 Stress on penultimate syllable (penultimate = second from end) rule example Words ending in -ic GRAPHic, geoGRAPHic, geoLOGic Words ending in -sion and -tion teleVIsion, reveLAtion 4 Stress on ante-penultimate syllable (ante-penultimate = third from end) rule example Words ending in -cy, -ty, -phy and -gy deMOcracy, dependaBIlity, phoTOgraphy, geOLogy Words ending in -al CRItical, geoLOGical 5 Compound words (words with two parts) rule example For compound nouns, the stress is on the first part BLACKbird, GREENhouse For compound adjectives, the stress is on the second part bad-TEMpered, old-FASHioned For compound verbs, the stress is on the second part to underSTAND, to overFLOW

Euthanasia Essay - Religious Views on Assisted Suicide -- Euthanasia P

Official Religious Views on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This essay is dedicated to the expression of the various official views of religious bodies within our nation. Most major denominations are represented. These religions have long been the custodians of the truth, serving to check the erratic and unpredictable tendencies of political, judicial and social bodies which would have Americans killing off their elderly and handicapped.    The National Association of Evangelicals believe that human beings are made in the image of God and are, therefore, of inestimable worth. God has given people the highest dignity of all creation. Such human dignity prohibits euthanasia, that is actively causing a person's death.    Is it moral to withdraw a life-support system which is believed to be an inappropriate extension of the dying process? The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) believes that in cases where patients are terminally ill, death appears imminent and treatment offers no medical hope for a cure, it is morally appropriate to request the withdrawal of life-support systems, allowing natural death to occur. In such cases, every effort should be made to keep the patient free of pain and suffering, with emotional and spiritual support being provided until the patient dies. The National Association of evangelicals believes that in cases where extensive brain injury has occurred and there is clear medical indication that the patient has suffered brain death (permanent unconscious state), no medical treatment can reverse the process. Removal of any extraordinary life-support system at this time is morally appropriate and allows the dying process to proceed.(National)    The Union of Orthodox... ...rson cannot be legitimately interrupted. The use of painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at the risk of shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death is not willed as either an end or a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable. Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity. As such it should be encouraged. (Catechism) WORKS CITED: National Association of Evangelicals of America http://www.euthanasia.com/evangel.html Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America http://www.ou.org/public/statements/1999/nate43.htm   Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod http://www.euthanasia.com/missouri.html Reformed Church in America http://www.euthanasia.com/lakes.html Catechism of the Catholic Church http://www.euthanasia.com/catech.html

Leadership and Organizational Culture Essay -- Leadership Theory, Powe

House et al. (2007) discovers that leadership and Organisational culture are closely linked together as leaders influence the culture of their organisations. Researches talk about a range of leadership definitions but it is not easy to define. (E.g. Western, 2008; Yukl, 2010). However, Cohen (2009) critically analyses definitions from Dracker (1996), Eisenhower (1969), Northouse (2004) and finally summarised the definition of leadership constitutes five elements. First of all, ask question to set direction, which means effective leaders need to listen to followers’ voice respectfully and then share the common goals and ideas with them. In addition, leaders need to seek insights and allocate resources optimally; act ethically; allow their employees to work in a conformable and most effective way. This essay will explain different leadership styles and how they influence the organisations with examples of organisations and leaders with main focus on well-known entrepreneur: Sir Alan Sugar. He grows from nothing to incredible success ( £ 730 million), is a legend in the UK business history; his reality TV show â€Å"The Apprentice†, a great entertainment for recruitment appeals to the public without reasons. However, he as a person is controversial amongst people, probably due to his leadership style as bullying or harassment (destructive). There are four schools of leadership styles: Trait, behavioural, contingency and transformational. Nevertheless, in the case of Alan Sugar, trait and transactional styles match him which will be illustrated following in detail. As Yukl (2010) indicates, such factors (e.g. personality, values and capacities) attributed to a leader. Normally it is widespread acknowledged that someone is born to be a lead... ...l man who enables others to think and do in his way (role model) and his employees work him for unconditional loyalty (e.g. his PA), also, adopt a fair system of rewards and punishments; however, as a leader sometimes he just needs some transformational styles which respect and communicate with followers equally rather than forced them to shut up rudely. As for organizational culture, the article obtains further understanding that some factors attribute to detect cultures existed in an organisation, communication system, for example. As a result, it can be identified that his culture not only can be classified as power but task. Moreover, due to the changeable outside environment, compounded and flexible cultures seems to be a better way for an organisation’s sustainable development. Therefore, leadership is tightly related to organizational culture.

Idiophones Essay

Idiophones have a long-standing tradition in African music, and that tradition is an interesting one. Trumpets, flutes and other wind instruments provide an intriguing case study because of their existence in a host of sub-Saharan African cultures. They have always been a part of not only music in those areas, but also the culture of those areas. This history dates back hundreds of years, and the instruments have seen some changes over the centuries. As the book indicates, the different variations of idiophones are inherently African in nature, and the cultures that brought them about have given these wind instruments their characteristic sound that is now commonplace in many different societies. As African Musicology indicates, instruments like the trumpet and the flute are a part of a characteristic musical phenomenon arising in sub-Saharan nations dating back to the fifteenth century. Instead of having individual performers and instruments take entire parts of various works, the musical tradition during that time saw individual performers play their own notes, each of which was combined to create the musical production in whatever social setting might have taken place. The book reads, â€Å"Musical ensembles of this kind or of a similar structure, in which the players may produce two to three notes on their flutes or trumpets, can be found in many African cultures south of the Sahara. The interlocking playing technique of this ensembles is characteristically African: the single parts individually cannot stand alone; their composition, however, is ingenious. It is the group, not the individual, that counts† (Nketia, 183). In this way, it is easy to see that idiophones were considered for what they produced as a whole, rather than what they produced individually. This is important to note as one studies the development of such instruments, since it is likely that any new implementations were designed to work alongside some other new or established instrument. When taken out of that context, new implementations might have been viewed differently from their intention. When musical styles are being discussed, it is common to compare one culture with another for the purpose of finding any commonalities or discussing differences. The book goes to great lengths to discuss the distinctiveness of African music, and points out the fact that much of traditional African music was designed to stand alone and retain its strong cultural ties. Particularly of interest is the â€Å"hocket† technique, which is discussed at length in chapter six. In the International Folk Music Journal, J. H. Kwabena Nketia discusses this technique and how it relates to music in places such as Ghana. She writes, â€Å"Closely allied to these procedures it the hockey-technique – the technique whereby constituent notes of a tune, a rhythm, or a tone pattern, or the constituent notes of a supporting ground-accompaniment, are played at the exactly appropriate point in time by those particular instruments that include them within their compass, or by those particular instruments that provide the required contrasts. This technique, discussed subsequently with particular reference to examples recorded in Ghana, shows itself in its clearest form in the music of flute ensembles, and trumpet (or ‘horn’) ensembles† (Nkeita, 1962). The book takes this to another level, noting how the music played in some African cultures is distinctive in its own right, and though it shares some similarities in name to the European style of â€Å"hoquetus†, the two styles were not born of each other. The book reads, â€Å"It becomes clear that the so-called ‘hocket’ technique in African music is not equivalent to the ‘hoquetus’ in European medieval music. Further, within these composition techniques, there is no complete uniformity to be found in South, Central, West, and East Africa† (184). From this, one can see that the wind instruments across Africa were used structurally in very different ways, with each particular culture coming up with its own rhythms based upon preference, equipment, and cultural needs. One of the issues facing musical research of wind instrument styles in Africa is that not enough solid research has been published to document the different styles. A lot of the analysis consists of speculation, since the large number of cultures across Africa made it difficult to compile information on techniques, pitch, instrument variations, and style. To this effect, the book reads, â€Å"Ethnomusicological research in this area has to be characterized as merely marginal, and little research on this topic has been published to date† (188). For that reason, it is difficult to know exactly how the Berta, Ingessana, and Gumuz people interacted from a musical standpoint. One work on the history of African music even suggests that such a study would be impractical. According to a book by Samuel A. Floyd, the fact that African nations have such diverse and vibrant religious traditions and cultural preferences, studying African music as a whole lends very little information that can be used. Instead, it must be studied individually, to be understand how these cultures developed their own uses for certain instruments, including idiophones. In The Power of Black Music, he writes, â€Å"Since African cultures are many and diverse, there is no single concept in African religion, and thus a study of them all would not be productive† (Floyd, 14). One of the things that has long characterized idiophones in African music has been the creativity of certain cultures. Many cultures have not been afraid to look beyond the traditional construct of music to find great instrument ideas and also ideas on how to most effectively play those instruments. From that, the world has been given some of its favorite types of music. An example of this type of resourcefulness can be seen in a study done by Dumisani Maraire. He writes, â€Å"Stamped sticks and stamped tubes also form another category of idiophones (in this case concussion idiophones). These sticks and tubes are held in the player’s hand and performed by being held at an angle and striking the ground or a slab of stone at an angle. On occasion three tubes are played at the same time each of which is playing a different rhythm† (Maraire). This is an important part of the African tradition that cannot be ignored if one seeks to truly understand the role of various instruments. The chapter itself did a nice job of explaining some of the important historical details about the pitch, tone, and rhythm of some of the most traditional of the African instruments. It did an especially good job of explaining the development of these musical traditions in African culture. Since so many cultures existed, musical traditions often developed individually, with each culture becoming very resourceful in the development and implementation of different styles. The isolated nature of African also comes into play, and that was explained well in the chapter. Much of the music and the musical techniques that were born in Africa over time as completely their own, since many of these areas had little contact with outsiders. This helped to increase diversity in music for all.