Journal of Research in Music Education

This study is concerned with the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of a standardized method for teaching English diction for choral music performance. Review and analysis of various approaches to choral diction reveal that such methods generally are inconsistent and based primarily on tradition and personal preference. A review of research in the language, speech, hearing, and acoustical sciences facilitates a more systematic foundation for product planning and design. The product, the Articulatory Diction Development Method (ADDM), focuses on developing kinesthetic awareness and on controlling the speech articulators through various sung exercises. This type of approach is essential since the practices that transfer from speech into song generally are habitual and unconscious.

After 12 weeks of preliminary and prototype testing and refining, the ADDM was implemented for 6 weeks in three high school choirs. Pretraining and posttraining recordings provided data for evaluating the method's effectiveness. Evaluation was based on choral tone preference responses and text intelligibility scores from a group of 47 judges. The method was significantly effective in improving choral tone and textual intelligibility in all three choral ensembles.

In this study, I investigated the relationship between the diagnostic skills of string teachers and the performance competencies of their students in simple detaché violin bowing. Twenty-two string teachers took a video violin-bowing diagnostic skills test. Three students of each teacher were randomly selected and their violin bowing skills were rated. Data revealed no significant correlation between the diagnostic test scores of the teachers and the performance ratings of their students. In addition, teachers rated the influence of 22 different factors on the development of the performance competencies of their students.

Using four teaching evaluation variables selected from the Texas Teacher Appraisal System Teacher Orientation Manual (Texas Education Agency, 1986), 100 music education majors and 100 nonmusic, education majors evaluated a 12-minute videotaped segment of a fifth-grade music class. Each subject was assigned one of four different tasks to be performed during the observation period.

Ratings given by nonmusic majors were significantly higher than were ratings given by music majors for the variables Reinforces Correct Responses, Gives Corrective Academic Feedback, and Reinforces Appropriate Behavior. There was no significant difference in evaluation ratings among the four observation task conditions. Only among observers who were directed both to record teacher feedback during the observation and to calculate the total numbers of teacher approvals and disapprovals was there any significant relationship between the teacher behavior recorded and subjects' evaluation ratings. The correlations between teacher behavior and evaluation ratings in this condition, although statistically significant, were relatively low.

Two studies were completed to investigate young children's ability to identify single and combined musical elements in response to listening, movement, and singing activities. Study 1 was an examination of the effects of short-term instruction on preschool children's ability to apply decentration to musical tasks. Subjects (N = 30) were divided into (a) an experimental group, which participated in four small-group instruction sessions designed to teach the discriminations fast/slow and smooth/choppy as well as these elements' four possible combinations and (b) a posttest-only control group. Results indicated that instruction was significantly related to subjects' ability to identify and label musical characteristics, and that subjects were significantly more accurate with single versus double discrimination responses. Study 2 was designed to replicate aspects of the previous study, with the addition of singing as a response mode and age as a variable. All the preschool-age subjects (N = 42) received the instruction component of Study 1. Results of the listening test again indicated that subjects were significantly more successful with the single discrimination task and that older children scored significantly higher than younger children. The subjects were better able to label simultaneous musical characteristics in their own singing than in recorded listening examples. Conclusions drawn, based on both studies, include: (1) preschool-age children can easily learn to make and label single discriminations; (2) most young children may not be ready for music listening tasks requiring attention to more than one element at a time; (3) children's ability to make discriminations based on their own performance may develop earlier than their ability to make discriminations in listening situations; and (4) initial indications of discrimination may be demonstrated through singing in simultaneous imitation with a model.

The purpose of this study was to examine listener response to music as a function of the personality variables measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Undergraduate nonmusic majors (N = 328) who were enrolled in music appreciation courses indicated characteristic responses to music on the Music Listener Response Scale (MLRS) (after Hedden, 1973). The MLRS contained statements that focused on responses to music that were classified as associative, cognitive, physical involvement, or enjoyment. Subjects responded to statements on a scale that ranged from “all of the time” to “none of the time.” Pearson product-moment correlations were determined between the MIMS and the Myers-Briggs variables. Significant (p < .001) correlations were found between the MLRS and sensing-intuition for the entire sample and subgroups of male and female subjects. A significant (p < .01) correlation was found between judgment-perception and the MLRS for female subjects. MBTI scores were used to identify 16 subgroups according to the 16 possible combinations among the variables. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed for the MLRS composite with Myers-Briggs type as the independent variable having 16 levels. The overall F test was significant [F(15, 312) =3.06, p < .05] and accounted for 13% of the variance in the MLRS.

The purpose of this study was to describe, categorize, and compare data concerning music preferences, experiences, and skills obtained from interviews with 228 students labeled “disabled” (n = 73) or “nondisabled” (n = 155). A structured assessment interview was used by university student proctors to collect information from the students in four age-groups. Students identified by their respective schools as eligible for special education services constituted the group labeled “disabled.” Questions developed for the interview focused on listening preferences and experiences, musical instrument preferences and performance, and singing and clapping (steady beat) performance. Following procedures consistent with naturalistic inquiry, audiotapes and transcriptions of the interviews were content-analyzed, and categories were developed from the responses. Perhaps the most notable outcome of this study is the similarity of responses between students with disabilities and their nondisabled peers. Results are discussed specific to music curriculum development, the integrated music classroom, and peer/teacher acceptance.