Brian A. Silvey

The Effect of Ensemble Performance Quality on the Evaluation of Conducting Expressivity.

This study was designed to examine whether the presence of excellent or poor ensemble performances would influence the ratings assigned by ensemble members to conductors who demonstrated highly expressive conducting. Two conductors were videotaped conducting one of two excerpts from an arrangement of Frank Ticheli’s Loch Lomond. These videos subsequently were duplicated and synchronized with either excellent or poor performances that previously had been recorded with a university wind ensemble. To determine whether identical conducting performances would be evaluated differently on the basis of excellent or poor ensemble performance, college band, choir, and orchestra members (N = 120) viewed each of the four 1-minute excerpts and rated conductor expressivity and ensemble performance quality on 10-point Likert-type scales and provided one brief written comment about each video. Results indicated that ensemble performance quality significantly affected ratings of conductor expressivity (p < .001). However, the effect size was modest (partial η2 = .29). Participants’ written comments were directed most frequently to the conductor in the excellent-performance condition and to the ensemble in the poor-performance condition.

Undergraduate Music Majors’ Perceptions of Instrumental Conducting Curricula

This study investigated undergraduate conductors’ perceptions of instrumental conducting curricula. Participants (N = 173) completed an Internet-based survey consisting of questions about their perceived level of conducting and rehearsal preparedness and the extent to which instructional time was devoted to specific topics by their conducting teachers. Responses to these questions were rated using 5-point Likert-type scales. Participants also wrote responses to three open-ended questions addressing their confidence while conducting and were asked to provide one suggestion for curricular improvement. Participants’ mean ratings for items relating to rehearsal preparedness were lower than items for conducting skill preparedness. Results of one-way analysis of variance tests indicated significant differences between ratings based on gender. Respondents felt most confident about their conducting patterns, least confident about error detection and correction, and most frequently indicated the need for additional podium time during undergraduate conducting courses.

The Role of Conductor Facial Expression in Students’ Evaluation of Ensemble Expressivity

The purpose of this study was to explore whether conductor facial expression affected the expressivity ratings assigned to music excerpts by high school band students. Three actors were videotaped while portraying approving, neutral, and disapproving facial expressions. Each video was duplicated twice and then synchronized with one of three professional wind ensemble recordings. Participants (N = 133) viewed nine 1-min videos of varying facial expressions, actors, and excerpts and rated each ensemble’s expressivity on a 10-point rating scale. Results of a one-way repeated measures ANOVA indicated that conductor facial expression significantly affected ratings of ensemble expressivity (p < .001, partial η2 = .15). Post hoc comparisons revealed that participants’ ensemble expressivity ratings were significantly higher for excerpts featuring approving facial expressions than for either neutral or disapproving expressions. Participants’ mean ratings were lowest for neutral facial expression excerpts, indicating that an absence of facial affect influenced evaluations of ensemble expressivity most negatively.

Effects of Internal and External Focus of Attention on Novices’ Rehearsal Evaluations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of internal and external focus of attention on novices’ rehearsal evaluations. Thirty-two undergraduate instrumental music education students led bands in a series of three 6-minute rehearsals on their assigned excerpt. Prior to these rehearsals, participants were led in score study and rehearsal preparation activities. Internal group (n = 16) participants’ preparation related to knowledge of the score, whereas external group (n = 16) participants focused their preparations on observable rehearsal behaviors with a minimal amount of time devoted to score study. No significant differences were found between conditions for any of several dependent measures, including participants’ self-evaluation of their teaching, participants’ evaluation of ensemble performance, ensemble members’ evaluations of conductor rehearsal effectiveness and of conductor score knowledge, and independent audio evaluation of the final ensemble performance run-through. Results of repeated-measures analyses did indicate significant improvements in participants’ and ensemble members’ evaluations, for both experimental groups, between the first rehearsal and the second and third rehearsals. Both methods may have helped novice conductors prepare to rehearse, but their direct experience in working with ensembles may have been comparatively more informative in preparing them for future rehearsals.

Undergraduate music education majors’ perceptions of their development as conductors: Insights from a basic conducting course

This multiple case study examined undergraduate music majors’ perceptions of their experiences while enrolled in a basic conducting course. During the semester, three sophomore music majors with an emphasis in band, choir, or orchestra each participated in three interviews, completed weekly reflection logs, and attended an end-of-the-semester videotaped conducting review. Analysis of the data revealed that participants focused on issues related to conducting gesture, often expressed uncertainty about their leadership and conducting abilities, believed that score study increased their confidence and conducting effectiveness, and that only after conducting an ensemble did they begin to gain awareness of the complexities of conducting. Furthermore, participants expressed the desire for more individualized feedback and conducting opportunities. These results suggest that undergraduates enrolled in conductor preparation programs might benefit from pedagogical activities that (a) connect their nonverbal conducting behavior to score study practices and (b) help students gain greater confidence when leading an ensemble.

Undergraduate Conductors’ and Conducting Teachers’ Perceptions of Basic Conducting Efficacy:

The purpose of this study was to examine undergraduate conductors’ and conducting teachers’ perceptions about basic conducting efficacy. At the beginning and end of the semester, undergraduate students (N = 19) enrolled in a basic conducting course (a) were surveyed about the importance of certain skills necessary for being an effective conductor and (b) viewed and rated their first videotaped conducting episode. Results indicated very few significant differences in participants’ ratings of important conducting skills or their own self-evaluation of nonverbal conducting skills. In addition, university conducting teachers (N = 9) evaluated videos of 10 conductors (five who had participated in the basic conducting course and five nonconductors who had not) who led a university concert band in an identical 1-minute excerpt of band music. No significant differences were found between the basic conductors’ and the nonconductors’ nonverbal conducting behaviors. Implications for conducting teachers, undergraduate conducting students, and preservice teachers are discussed.

An Examination of University Conducting Faculty Members’ Score Study Attitudes and Practices

The purpose of this study was to examine university conducting teachers’ attitudes about score study, the source materials they used to teach score study, their personal score study practices, and the score study approaches they taught their undergraduate conducting students. Respondents (N = 236) were members of the College Band Directors National Association who taught undergraduate conducting courses. Our findings indicated that “developing an interpretation of how the music should be performed” was considered the most important reason to study the score, that respondents spent an average of 6 hours in score study per week, and that The Art of Conducting by Donald Hunsberger and Roy Ernst was the most frequently used undergraduate conducting textbook. The two most frequently used personal score study practices, which were also reported as the two most frequently taught practices to undergraduate conductors, were “define all unfamiliar music terms” and “initial, casual read-through of the score.”

Effects of Conducting Plane on Band and Choral Musicians’ Perceptions of Conductor and Ensemble Expressivity

The purpose of this study was to examine whether one aspect of conducting technique, the conducting plane, would affect band and/or choral musicians’ perceptions of conductor and ensemble expressivity. A band and a choral conductor were each videotaped conducting 1-min excerpts from Morten Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium while using a high, medium, and low conducting plane. These six videos then were synchronized with an appropriately corresponding identical high-quality band or choral audio excerpt. College ensemble members (N = 120; band, n = 60; choral, n = 60) viewed all six videos and rated the expressivity of both the conductor and the ensemble. Through the use of a forced-choice task, they also provided one brief comment about either the conductor or the ensemble. Results indicated that conducting plane significantly affected ratings of both conductor and ensemble expressivity. A significant interaction was found between conducting plane (high, medium, and low) and ensemble type (band or choir audio excerpt heard) with regard to conductor expressivity ratings. Participants found the choir conductor conducting at the medium plane to be slightly more expressive than the band conductor conducting at the same plane. Conversely, participants rated the expressivity of the band conductor slightly higher than the choir conductor at both the high and low conducting planes. Participants’ written comments were directed predominantly at the conductor rather than the ensemble, and the high-conducting-plane videos elicited the most negative comments.

An Observational Study of Score Study Practices Among Undergraduate Instrumental Music Education Majors

The purpose of this study was to investigate undergraduate instrumental music education majors’ score study practices as they related to the effectiveness of their simulated conducting. Participants (N = 30) were video recorded in two sessions in which they completed a 20-min score study session and a simulated conducting performance. In the first score study session, all 30 conductors studied Mini-Suite for Band, Movement 1. In Session 2, participants studied Portrait of a Clown but this time either with a model recording (n = 15) or without one (n = 15). We computed the overall duration of participants’ score study behaviors for both pieces. Additional data included graduate students’ evaluations of participants’ post–score study conducting performances and an inventory of participants’ score study markings. We found a significant difference in the proportion of time spent in score studying activities between the model and no-model condition conductors, with more time spent in gesturing when studying along with a model. Evaluations of participants’ conducting revealed no differences between those conductors who used a model and those who did not while studying Portrait of a Clown. Our analysis of conductors’ score markings revealed a small number of notable differences between stronger/weaker conductors and between model/no-model conditions. Implications for undergraduate conductor preparation programs are discussed.

Effects of baton usage on college musicians’ perceptions of ensemble performance

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of baton usage on college musicians’ perceptions of ensemble performance. Two conductors were videotaped while conducting a 1-minute excerpt from either a technical (Pathfinder of Panama, John Philip Sousa) or lyrical (Seal Lullaby, Eric Whitacre) piece of concert band music. Each excerpt was conducted twice, once with and without a baton. After viewing each of the four videos, college musicians (N = 119) rated the ensemble expressivity and ensemble precision of each performance. Technical excerpt performances were rated significantly higher when the conductor used the baton than we he did not. No baton effect was found for ratings assigned to the lyrical excerpt. A separate panel of evaluators (N = 44, college musicians), who served as the control group, assigned ratings to the same excerpts, but was presented these excerpts in an audio-only format. Findings indicated that the use of the baton significantly affected these participants’ ratings of ensemble expressivity and ensemble precision for the technical excerpt, with higher ratings being assigned to those excerpts in which the conductor used a baton. Similar to our results in the audio-visual condition, no significant differences were found between participants’ ensemble expressivity or ensemble precision ratings when listening to the lyrical excerpt.