Forum

An important aim of the JRME is to provide a venue for inquiry that can move the field forward in new directions. All of the authors represented in this issue tread relatively new scholarly ground and offer compelling perspectives on issues of consequence for music educators and scholars alike.

Pfrodresher and Demorest challenge us to rethink common assumptions regarding the prevalence of singing ability in the general population. The authors gathered data from a very large and diverse sample via their recently developed Seattle Singing Accuracy Protocol, an innovative web-based platform that provides access to a variety of pitch matching and singing proficiency tests. Among several interesting findings, they report that singing ability is indeed widespread and found that some who are quite proficient singers may tend to underestimate their own proficiency. It is an honor to be able to share this work, as it is another example of the tremendous legacy left by the recently departed Dr. Steven Demorest. Dr. Demorest was a consummate scholar and a dear colleague whose impact upon the field will be felt for many years to come.

Rossin and Bergee also report on a relatively new and robust tool for measuring musical performance, describing their study as a culminating piece in a line of work regarding how to conceptualize and measure school band performance. Their analyses confirm Bergee and colleagues’ prior work indicating that the construct of school band performance comprises of a secondary-order global factor and three primary-order factors representing Rhythm–Technique, Tone Quality–Intonation, and Expressiveness–Musicianship. The school band performance rating scale that emerged from this work will be of value to instrumental music teachers.

Several of the articles in this issue introduce fresh theoretical perspectives for us to consider as well. dos Santos and dos Santos employ a novel theoretical framework in their development of an assessment of novice music learners’ abilities. Drawing from Serafine’s (1988) earlier work, they created a series of tasks that reveals the musical understanding people develop through everyday music listening and participation without relying on knowledge of formal terms, music theory, or notation. Taylor and Raadt import theoretical perspectives that have been used to investigate the social psychological phenomenon of stereotyping to explore how implicit biases may lead music teachers to perceive heterosexual and homosexual teachers differently. In addition, Haning reports on the development of an emergent theory that illustrates the role and influence of performance within school music programs.

In the final article in the issue, Conway, Vaughan-Marra, and Marra investigate how to best meet the varied needs of those pursuing a master’s degree in music education. The authors describe how for some, the master’s degree can be a terminal degree, whereas for others, it is a step towards a doctoral degree. In general, their findings suggest that institutions should continue to develop programs that (a) are flexible enough that students with diverse needs can customize their experience to some degree and (b) offer several tracks from which students with different goals could choose.

I hope you will enjoy this issue and that the articles within provoke you to consider your work in a new light.