Journal of Research in Music Education

This study is an investigation of the effects of multiple listenings on error-detection identification and labeling accuracy among brass and woodwind instrumentalists. Examples derived from band music used balanced four-voice incipits performed with differing timbres, and errors that occurred in one or multiple voices. Response rates for correct and incorrect identification and labeling of errors were greatest during the first listening, less for the second, and least for the third. Identification mistakes outnumbered correct responses in the last two listenings. Error-labeling mistakes outnumbered correct responses in all listenings. Most correct responses in the first listening were made in the top two lines. During all listenings, the fewest correct identification and labeling responses occurred in the bottommost voice. Data suggest that multiple listenings and a correct aural referent may not help error-detection acuity in multitimbral, multivoice settings. These data may be useful in informing practice in conducting and methods instruction during teacher-preparation programs.

In this study, we examined effectiveness of recorded models in the context of ensemble rehearsals. Over a 5-week treatment period, directors of three middle/junior high and two high school bands systematically included professional recordings as part of their preparation of selected pieces. Students completed weekly self-evaluation reports assessing their individual progress and their ensembles' progress on model and no-model pieces. Using numerical and free-response formats, students evaluated self-achievement and ensemble achievement on notes/rhythms, articulation/dynamics, tuning, and balance. Expert evaluations revealed no difference in achievement between model and no-model pieces on pretreatment and posttreatment performance recordings. Student evaluations showed more modest achievement gains for model pieces. High school students demonstrated more positive self-evaluations for their own versus their ensembles' performance and greater overall differentiation in their evaluations across time. Middle school/junior high students were significantly more positive toward the model pieces. All students provided a greater number of free-response comments for model pieces.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of sex identification on the assignment of instruments to beginning band students. Participants were band directors solicited at music conferences and music education students solicited from major universities across the United States. Participants completed an online survey about instrument assignments. Half the participants were sent to a Web site that had full-head pictures of eight students and assigned them to one of six beginning band instruments. The other half of the participants were given a site address that had pictures of the same students, but only the lips and dental aspects of the students' faces were visible. Results indicated that the ability to identify the sex of subjects only had an effect on the assignment of an instrument for one of the eight students. Furthermore, when data were analyzed factoring in the sex of the respondent, one other difference became apparent. Since this difference was for the sole African-American stimulus, it is possible that this difference may have been related to the student s race. These findings show that, generally, differences in instrument assignment were not linked to the subjects' ability to identify the sex of the student.

We investigated how the attractiveness bias that influences the judgment of a variety of characteristics and behaviors in infants, children, and adults affects the evaluation of young pianists' performances. The assumption was that both the visual and the audio components of a videotaped musical performance influence the viewers perception of performance quality. We asked children, musicians, and nonmusicians (n = 75) to rate the quality of 10 piano performances from audiotapes (sound only) and from videotapes (sound and image). Additionally, the participants rated the attractiveness of the performers from brief videos of the performers getting ready to play. Results show that evaluations of audiovisual recordings of musical performances are judged more reliably than are audio recordings but also suggest that they may be affected by an attractiveness bias. The bias was found to favor the more attractive pianists among the female performers and among the best players, and the less attractive pianists among the male performers. The decision to use more reliable means of evaluation (videotapes or DVDs) at the expense of favoring a particular group of performers would have to be taken carefully depending on the outcomes of the situation.

This study is an examination of relationships among family background, family and school learning environments, goal orientations, and students' interest in music. Data were collected from 18-year-old black South African students, 340 women and 285 men, whose main language was Isi Xhosa. Findings indicated that when family background was defined conjointly by family social status and parents' aspirations, (a) family background, gender, family and school learning environments, and goal orientations combined to have medium associations with students' interest in music, (b) relationships among learning environments, goal orientations, and students' interest in music varied for students with different family backgrounds, and (c) the learning environment and goal-orientation variables partially accounted for the relationships between family background, gender, and students' interest in music.

We investigated vibrato performance of university student and high school string players. Forty violinists and cellists performed an eight-measure passage both with and without vibrato. Analyses indicated that the mean rate of vibrato was approximately 5.5 Hz, with no significant differences between instruments or performer experience level. The mean width of violin vibratos was larger than cello vibratos. Violinists' mean pitch levels were sharper than cellists' in both vibrato and nonvibrato performances. Analysis of intonation patterns within the duration of tones showed that performers were more stable when using vibrato. University players tended to become sharper during both vibrated and nonvibrated tones compared to the younger players. Pitch oscillations during vibrato were alternations both above and below conceived pitch, rather than oscillations only above or only below the conceived pitch.