D. Gregory Springer

Preservice Music Teachers' Attitudes toward Popular Music in the Music Classroom.

The purpose of this study was to examine preservice music educators’ attitudes toward popular music in the music classroom. On a survey instrument designed by the investigators, participants (N = 82) rated (a) the effectiveness of popular music in addressing the National Standards for Music Education, (b) the appropriateness of popular music in various age-groups and music classroom settings, (c) their overall attitudes toward the use of popular music in the classroom, and (d) their perceived preparation to teach popular music based on their preservice coursework. Results suggest that the participants find popular music to be more appropriate for older students than for younger students and appropriate only in certain classroom settings. Attitudes toward popular music varied within the sample, and participants responded that their preservice training to teach popular music was minimal.

Effects of applause magnitude and musical style on listeners’ evaluations of wind band performances

Prior research indicates that listeners’ perceptions of music are influenced by the expressed approval of others. The focus of this investigation was the extent to which applause, an overt expression of approval from an audience of other listeners, influenced musicians’ perceptions of ensemble performances, specifically the effects of applause magnitude (high magnitude applause, low magnitude applause, or no applause) and musical style (ballad or march). Undergraduate instrumentalists (N = 98) from five institutions listened to recorded excerpts of wind band music—three identical recordings of a ballad and three identical recordings of a march. A distinct applause magnitude condition was electronically attached to each recording, resulting in six unique stimuli. For each excerpt, participants rated eight performance dimensions, which were summed to create a composite rating. Results indicated that listeners’ composite ratings were influenced by an interaction between applause magnitude and musical style. Furthermore, a significant three-way interaction among applause, style, and performance dimension was observed, but the effect size was small. Another significant main effect was found, which could be evidence of an order effect. Results of this study suggest that listeners perceive different audience responses to be approving of musical performances, based on the musical style of works being performed.

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.”

Teaching Popular Music: Investigating Music Educators' Perceptions and Preparation.

The purpose of this study was to investigate in-service music teachers’ perceptions of popular music in the classroom and to examine their own preparation to teach popular music. A sample of music teachers, drawn from two regional chapters of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association, completed a researcher-designed survey instrument. Results suggest that these teachers perceived popular music to be an effective instructional tool in the music classroom, although their responses suggest that they perceived it to be appropriate for older students and in certain classroom settings only. In addition, the sample reported a lack of training in popular music pedagogy and responded that they generally felt unprepared to teach popular music. Among three types of preparation, they provided significantly higher preparation ratings for informal experiences, followed by performance-oriented experiences and formal educational experiences. Implications for music educators and music teacher educators are discussed.

Beliefs of Applied Studio Faculty on Desirable Traits of Prospective Music Education Majors: A Pilot Study

The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the beliefs of applied music faculty on desirable traits of prospective music education majors. Researcher-designed surveys were sent electronically to applied music faculty at 12 National Association of Schools of Music–accredited institutions randomly selected from each of the four major divisions of the United States. Data from returned surveys were analyzed to describe the admissions process for music majors at each institution, in addition to respondents’ perceptions of the desirability of various professional dispositions and selection criteria for entering music education majors. Results suggest that music education faculty hold limited responsibility in the admissions process at the majority of respondents’ institutions and that admissions decisions are primarily determined by applied music faculty. In addition, respondents reported that certain professional dispositions and selection criteria were more important than others in admitting prospective music education majors. Implications for music teacher educators are discussed.

Using psycholinguistic inquiry to measure emotional response to music: A feasibility study

Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software, which can analyze elements of language, has been used to measure emotional responses to film clips, yet the viability of LIWC to study emotional responses to music has not been investigated. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of using LIWC software to measure emotional responses to music. Undergraduate education majors (N = 56) listened to two 90-second musical excerpts, one happy and one sad. After each excerpt, participants wrote about induced and perceived emotional responses. A repeated-measures ANOVA used to analyze effects of excerpt, writing prompt, emotion and order revealed a significant main effect for emotion (p = .01). Significant interactions were found between emotion and excerpt (p < .001) and between excerpt, prompt and emotion (p = .005). Participants used significantly more positive emotion words than negative emotion words to describe the happy excerpt, and the reverse was true for the sad excerpt. Both writing prompts elicited the expected differences in emotional response; however, the perceived emotion prompt resulted in greater contrasts between positive and negative emotion words than the induced emotion prompt. Results indicate that it is feasible to use LIWC to measure emotional responses to music.

Investigating adjudicator bias in concert band evaluations: An application of the Many-Facets Rasch Model

Prior research indicates mixed findings regarding the consistency of adjudicators’ ratings at large ensemble festivals, yet the results of these festivals have strong impacts on the perceived success of instrumental music programs and the perceived effectiveness of their directors. In this study, Rasch modeling was used to investigate the potential influence of adjudicators on performance ratings at a live large ensemble festival. Evaluation forms from a junior high school concert band festival adjudicated by a panel of three expert judges were analyzed using the Many-Facets Rasch Model. Analyses revealed several trends. First, the use of assigning “half points” between adjacent response options on the 5-point rating scale resulted in redundancy and measurement noise. Second, adjudicators provided relatively similar ratings for conceptually distinct criteria, which could be evidence of a halo effect. Third, although all judges demonstrated relatively lenient ratings overall, one judge provided more severe ratings as compared to peers. Finally, an exploratory interaction analysis among the facets of judges and bands indicated the presence of rater-mediated bias. Implications for music researchers and ensemble adjudicators are discussed in the context of ensemble performance evaluations, and a measurement framework that can be applied to other aspects of music performance evaluations is introduced.

The Role of Accompaniment Quality in the Evaluation of Solo Instrumental Performance.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of accompaniment quality on the evaluation of solo instrumental performance. Undergraduate instrumental music education majors (N = 71) listened to and evaluated the accuracy and expressivity of six excerpts of Haydn’s Concerto for Trumpet in E-Flat Major, which we created by synchronizing recordings of good and bad performances of a trumpet soloist with good and bad performances of a piano accompaniment (as well as a no-accompaniment condition). Participants also chose one “best aspect of the performance” and one “aspect needing most improvement” for each excerpt. Significant main effects for accompaniment condition (good, bad, or none) and solo condition (good or bad) were found, in addition to interaction effects. Results of a Solo × Accompaniment interaction signified that participants’ ratings were not independent of accompaniment condition, and this effect was moderated by the performance quality of the trumpet soloist. Additionally, participants noted different “best aspects” and “aspects needing most improvement” based on both solo performance quality and accompaniment condition.

Effects of accurate and inaccurate visual feedback on the tuning accuracy of high school and college trombonists

We examined how visual feedback from electronic tuners affected trombonists’ pitch performance and tuning confidence. High school (n = 29) and college trombonists (n = 30) were tasked to play in tune with a stimulus tone (G3) recorded by a professional trombonist presented through headphones. Following each of three attempts, participants rated their confidence level that their performance was in tune. A different tuner was provided during each tuning attempt and set to one of three conditions: in-tune (A = 440Hz); flat (A = 437Hz); and sharp (A = 443Hz). These tuner conditions displayed either accurate (A = 440Hz) or inaccurate (A = 437Hz; A = 443Hz) visual feedback. Results indicated significant main effects due to tuner condition and experience level. Participants’ tuning accuracy with the sharp tuner was significantly less precise in comparison to flat and in-tune tuners. Collegiate participants performed with greater precision than high school participants in all tuner conditions. Weak relationships were observed between participants’ tuning performance and confidence ratings.

Effects of applause magnitude and musical style on listeners’ evaluations of choral performances:

Applause, an overt expression of approval from audience to performer, is one of the most common forms of audience response to live musical performances. In this study, we examined the effects of applause magnitude (high, low, or no applause) and musical style (motet or spiritual) on listeners’ ratings of choral performances. A secondary area of interest was the degree to which these effects might differ between music majors and non-music majors. University singers (N = 117) listened to six excerpts recorded by a university choral ensemble and rated the performance quality of each excerpt. Across these recordings, they heard three identical recordings of a motet and three identical recordings of a spiritual with unique applause conditions attached. Listeners’ ratings were influenced by the magnitude of audience applause to a limited degree, but this effect interacted with musical style and presentation order. We observed no differences between the ratings of music and non-music majors, however. Results are interpreted in light of previous research on majority effects, and implications of these results regarding performance evaluation and concert programming are discussed.