Journal of Research in Music Education

Twenty-two children, 5 through 9 years old, were tested in structured and unstructured contexts (software environments) to determine their ability to demonstrate contrasts in tempo and dynamics using a synthesizer keyboard. EZ Vision sequencing software provided the unstructured environment—students heard exactly what they played when they depressed keys. Instant Pleasure software produced a harmonized version of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” regardless of which keys were played. Under both environments, children could control tempo and dynamics of individual events. Tempo was defined as the average duration in milliseconds of notes played. Dynamics was defined as “MIDI on” data, ranging from 1-127. Each child demonstrated four single discriminations (fast, slow, loud, and soft) and four double discriminations (fast/loud, fast/soft, slow/loud, and slow/soft) in each of the two environments, resulting in a total of 16 performances. These performances were recorded via MIDI, and data were prepared for subsequent statistical analyses. Results showed that the children were able to demonstrate contrasts in loudness (dynamics) and duration (tempo) by playing a synthesizer keyboard. The more structured environment (Instant Pleasure) had the effect of producing louder performances and a greater range of total playing times across performance demands than did the less structured environment (EZ Vision). There was no clear evidence that the double-discrimination demands were obviously more difficult than were the single-discrimination demands except that when given a double-discrimination task, children played significantly louder than when making a single discrimination. Children consistently paired slower (longer durations) with softer performances even when both conditions were not required.

This study is an examination of the relationship between accuracy in singing the starting pitch of a song and four variables: (a) perception of tonal center, (b) ability to maintain a consistent key while singing a song, (c) self-selected pitch level, and (d) previous music experience. The subjects, 42 elementary education majors, sang “Row, Row, Row Your Boat ”at the pitch level of their choice. They were then asked to sing the song in the keys of B, C, and D with the keys established by (a) a single tonic pitch played on a piano, (b) a I-V7-I cadence played on a piano, and (c) a I-V7-I cadence played on an Autoharp. A multiple-regression analysis was performed to determine the extent to which the variables predicted initial pitch accuracy scores. Analyses of variance were conducted to determine the effects of (a) subjects' self-selected pitch level and target pitch level on initial pitch accuracy and (b) method of establishing the target key on initial pitch accuracy.

This study was designed to investigate the similarities and differences in how listeners with different levels of educational experience demonstrate perception of tempo modulation in music using a Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI). Subjects (N = 210) were divided into seven education-level groups of 30 subjects each. Musical experience ranged from minimal through extensive. Melodies gradually increased or decreased in tempo from a beginning rate of 112 beats per minute (bpm). Rates heard in accelerating examples were 120 bpm, 128 bpm, 136 bpm, 144 bpm, 152 bpm, and 160 bpm. Rates heard, in decelerating examples were 104 bpm, 96 bpm, 88 bpm, 80 bpm, 72 bpm, and 64 bpm. Change scores demonstrating perception of tempo modulation were calculated from the midpoint of the CRDI and were compared by group and tempo. Subjects' responses were significantly different among degrees of tempo change in increasing and decreasing examples. Significant differences were also found among subject groups for both increasing and decreasing examples. Significant interactions were found between education level (group) and tempo change for increasing and decreasing examples.

The purpose of the study was to explore the effect of aptitude, two methods of introducing wind and string instruments, and the effect of socioeconomic status (SES) on fourth-grade students' attitude toward playing an instrument. Students (N = 531) in nine different elementary schools were divided into two experimental groups (recorder and demonstration) and a control group. Students in the recorder group were taught to play the recorder, whereas the demonstration group encountered the instruments via films and live student performances. After 10 weeks of instruction, students completed an attitude assessment questionnaire. When low aptitude/attitude correlations were found, ANCOVA procedures were abandoned, and ANOVA procedures revealed a statistically significant interaction among the three groups and three SES levels. Simple main effects analyses indicated that the type of recruiting strategy does not significantly affect low-SES stuents' attitudes, but significant differences in both the middle- and high-SES classifications were examined using the Tukey-Kramer test.

Music education researchers have found biological sex to be in important determinant of whether elementary students persevere in musical instrument training. Psychological sex type may also play an important role. A sample of 108 students from two elementary schools completed the Children's Sex Role Inventory (Boldizar, 1991) and, following a presentation of nine typical band instruments, completed a survey assessing most- and least-preferred instruments. Results showed that masculine sex-typed students preferred, masculine-stereotyped instruments, feminine sex-typed students preferred feminine-stereotyped instruments, and androgynous students preferred neutral instruments. The converse pattern was obtained for least-preferred instruments, with the exception that androgynous children disliked both categories of sex-typed instruments. These results suggest that to enhance retention in musical instrument education, children's psychosocial identity ought to be considered.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the comparative effects of home practice using three different kinds of cassette-tape models on the performance achievement of beginning clarinet students. Subjects were 146 volunteer fifth- and sixth-grade students who were randomly assigned one of three cassette tapes: a videotape, a modeling audio-tape, or a nonmodeling audiotape. Information on amounts of student practice, tape use, and parental involvement in student music-making was collected. Performance achievement was assessed at the conclusion of an 8-week experimental treatment period. Two further assessments were conducted to determine retention of performance achievement. All performances were rated by two independent judges, with resulting agreement correlations of 0.84 or higher. Results of analysis of variance indicated that videotape-group students scored significantly higher (0.05) on visual/physical performance criteria than did students in the nonmodeling audiotape group immediately after the treatment and scored higher on tone quality/intonation performance criteria in subsequent, delayed longitudinal assessments.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine the effects of multicultural music lesson planning and implementation on preservice elementary teachers' attitudes toward teaching from a multicultural perspective. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was developed to measure attitude changes of elementary education majors enrolled in music methods courses. The assumption was made that, through the process of developing multicultural music lessons plans and implementing them in their methods classes, preservice teachers would increase their familiarity with multicultural teaching, thereby positively affecting their attitudes toward future teaching. Results reveal that there was a significant difference between treatment conditions and attitudes of willingness to teach multicultural music, indicating that the experience of developing and implementing multicultural music lessons can positively affect preservice teachers' attitudes toward future multicultural music teaching. No difference was found with regard to attitudes of preparedness for multicultural music teaching, nor attitudes of willingness to teach in culturally diverse environments.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of sequential patterns of instruction and individual pattern components (including task presentation, student response, and teacher feedback) to the overall teacher effectiveness of music lessons taught by elementary education majors. Subjects were enrolled in three sections of a music methods course for elementary education majors (n = 20; n = 21; n = 20). All groups received similar instruction, and additionally, Experimental Groups 1 (passively) and 2 (actively) received instruction in sequential patterns. Groups completed four teaching tasks, which served as training for the presentation and analysis of a fifth music-concept lesson that provided data for the study. Music-concept lessons were evaluated by a master teacher for overall teacher effectiveness. Additionally, lessons were analyzed for time spent in and frequency of patterns and components. Results indicated no differences in teacher effectiveness scores. However, groups differed in amount of time spent in individual pattern components. Experimental groups spent more time in student response and less time in task presentation, while the contact control group did the reverse. Examination of pattern-usage frequency indicated that the contact control group implemented more complete patterns than did experimental groups. When subdividing complete patterns into specific and nonspecific feedback patterns, however, both experimental groups used more specific feedback, and the contact control group used more nonspecific feedback. Some correlations between teacher effectiveness scores and pattern usage were low to moderate, and implications are discussed. All groups completed a posttest to ascertain that teaching skill instruction did not interfere with required academic content, and no differences in achievement were noted.

This study compared self-reported music class activity time use and actual time use of general music teachers. Responses from a questionnaire provided self-report data regarding general music instruction from 45 elementary general music teachers participating in a one-day Orff-Schulwerk workshop, whereas observed data were obtained by time analysis on videotaped lessons taught by 19 teachers from the same group. Variables observed included student activities and teacher behaviors. Student activities were measured as the amount of time spent in reading, listening, singing, describing, playing, creating, and moving to music; teachers were observed for the amount of talking or modeling as well as the provision of academic and social reinforcement. Comparison of self-reported activity estimates and time-analyzed data indicate that the teachers' own estimate of time use is greater than is the actual time recorded for each music activity. Additional findings related to general music teaching, teaching intensity, and effectiveness. Correlations among activities are also reported.

The study was designed to investigate specific rehearsal behaviors exhibited by band directors in rehearsal settings. Of particular interest was the amount of time band directors engaged in conceptual teaching behaviors, defined as verbal behaviors of band directors in rehearsal settings in which the band director attempts to make students aware of, have an understanding of, and/or be able to transfer any musical concept. Participants (N = 18) were full-time middle school or high school band, directors teaching in Florida. Each participant prepared a videotape of two or three regular band rehearsals. Randomly ordered 20-minute segments counterbalanced across all examples were extracted from each videotape for data analyses. Two trained observers viewed the prepared videotapes and simultaneously manipulated the dial of a Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI) to indicate perceived teacher behaviors. The CRDI dial was partitioned along a 256-degree arc into seven specific teacher behaviors. Results indicated that, on average, directors spent less than 3% of observed teaching time engaged in conceptual teaching behaviors. Percentages of time were computed for additional instructional, non-interactive, and feedback behaviors.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether physical attractiveness of singers would affect judges' ratings of their vocal performances. Fourteen singers (6 female, 8 male) were videotaped. They and their performances were rated by 82 musicians, who were randomly assigned to one of three groups. The visual group rated singers on physical attractiveness only; they viewed the videotape with the sound turned off. The audiovisual group subjects rated musical performance from the videotape. Subjects in the audio group rated musical performance from an audiotape dubbed from the videotape. On the basis of visual group ratings, male and female singers were each divided into more-attractive and less-attractive groups. Four-way mixed-design analyses of variance (treatments by sex of rater by sex of singer by singer attractiveness) subsequently were calculated for each of the seven rating categories on the rating forms. Results revealed in every category a significant treatment by sex of singer by attractiveness interaction. For male singers only, there was no difference in performance ratings between more-attractive and less-attractive singers when rated by audiotape; but audiovisual ratings significantly favored the more attractive singers over the less attractive singers. Results for female singers were confounded by the audio-alone ratings, which favored the more-attractive singers over the less-attractive singers. Other results showed that, for both male and female singers, male raters were more severe than were female raters; that audiovisual ratings were higher than were audio-alone ratings; and that ratings of undergraduate majors versus graduate students and faculty members combined were not differently affected by singers' attractiveness.

We tested 27 male and female high school band members performing solos under three levels of audience presence. Participants performed alone in a practice room, in a practice room with one researcher present, and in the rehearsal room with all researchers, a peer group, and a tape recording being made. Dependent measures were an analog scale self-report of perceived anxiety, heart rate recorded during performance, judges' rating of the final performance, and an exit interview. Self-reported anxiety rose with each succeeding performance condition, and each reported increase was significant. Heart rate was steady across the first two performance conditions, but rose significantly at the third. Female participants presented better performances, reported significantly higher anxiety levels than did males in the third performance condition, and attained significantly higher heart rates than did males in the first and third conditions. Gender emerged as a significant predictor of heart rate during performance, with female performers attaining higher heart rates.