Harry E. Price

Sequential Patterns of Instruction in Music

The purpose of this study was to examine extant research in effective teaching and to determine the extent to which results were being applied in music teaching. Rehearsals (N = 79) were analyzed to determine time spent in and correct sequencing of presentation of task, student responses, and reinforcement. Results demonstrated that (a) time spent in presenting musical information and appropriate reinforcement was about one-fourth of total rehearsal time, (b) an almost equal amount of time was spent giving directions as compared to musical information, (c) almost half the rehearsal time was devoted to performance, and (d) experienced teachers were highly disapproving of student responses, whereas preparatory teachers were highly approving.

The Effect of Conductor Expressivity on Ensemble Performance Evaluation

In this study, the authors examined whether a conductors use of high-expressivity or low-expressivity techniques affected evaluations of ensemble performances that were identical across conducting conditions. Two conductors each conducted two 1-minute parallel excerpts from Percy Graingers Walking Tune. Each directed one excerpt using high- and one using low-expressivity techniques. After watching a video of the four conducting segments set to a single audio performance of the selection by a university wind ensemble, participants (N = 118) evaluated ensemble expressivity using a 10-point Likert-type scale. Half of the participants also rated the expressivity of the conductor using a second identical scale. Ensemble expressivity was rated significantly higher for the high-expressivity conductors; effect size was strong (partial η 2 = .57). Among participants evaluating both conductor and ensemble, there was a significant moderate correlation between ratings (r = .56).

Conductor and Ensemble Performance Expressivity and State Festival Ratings

This study is the second in a series examining the relationship between conducting and ensemble performance. The purpose was to further examine the associations among conductor, ensemble performance expressivity, and festival ratings. Participants were asked to rate the expressivity of video-only conducting and parallel audio-only excerpts from a state-level concert festival. There were significant differences among scores for conducting across festival ratings; however, there were no significant differences for ensemble performances. There was a significant interaction between festival ratings and video and audio excerpts. The relationship between expressivity of conducting and expressivity of ensemble performances found in some previous research was not found in this study; indeed, there was not even a relationship found in expressivity of ensemble performance to festival ratings. The lack of an apparent relationship of expressive conducting to expressive performance found here replicates, in part, the results of Price and Chang (2001). September 10, 2004 February 2, 2005.

Effects of Male Timbre, Falsetto, and Sine-Wave Models on Interval Matching by Inaccurate Singers

This study compared the effects of male timbre, falsetto, and sine-wave models on pitch-matching skills of inaccurate boy versus girl singers in Grades K—8. Subjects were 216 inaccurate singers in Grades K-8 (n = 12 boys and 12 girls from each grade). They were presented descending minor thirds sung by a tenor and a bass in their regular octaves (G3—E3) and in falsetto (G4—E4), as well as two sine-wave stimuli in the same octaves. Subjects were recorded singing back the presented intervals. The recordings were digitized and analyzed for pitch and interval cent deviation. Responses to male stimuli were more accurate than were responses to sine waves. Girls responded more accurately to higher stimuli, and boys responded more accurately to lower stimuli. The octaves of the stimuli also affected the octaves of the responses, and the subjects had a tendency to sing intervals that were larger rather than smaller than the minor-third models.

Interval Matching by Undergraduate Nonmusic Majors

This article describes the sixth in a series of studies designed to gain a better understanding of factors that may affect pitch matching. Undergraduate nonmusic majors (N = 141) enrolled in a music fundamentals class were classified as uncertain, modulating, or certain singers. They listened to a stimulus tape of descending minor thirds, sung by men in their normal and falsetto registers (G3-E3 and G4-E4, respectively, with G3 (middle C being C4), and to two sine-wave stimuli in the same octaves and attempted to sing back the interval they heard. There were no significant differences in the accuracy of responses to male and sine-wave stimuli or between men and women participants. There were significant differences among singer types, with inaccurate singers being less in tune than either modulating or certain singers. There was a significant interaction of response accuracy between participant sex and stimulus octave. These results differ somewhat from previous research with children, in which stimulus timbre and participant sex were factors.

MENC 2000 National Biennial In-Service Conference: A Content Analysis

The 413 sessions of the 2000 MENC National Biennial In-Service Conference were classified according to category, which included educational sessions, concerts and sessions that included performances, and general sessions. They were also grouped according to subject areas, including general music, performance, administration, research, technology, industry and exceptionalities. By far the largest proportionate category of sessions was education (65%), followed distantly by sessions including performances (17%). Promotion of industry products dominated, accounting for 29% of all sessions and 40% of the content of educational sessions. Technology sessions represented 25% of all subjects and 71%) of industry sessions. Performance-focused sessions comprised just over 20%). A continuation of trends of high industry representation and increasing technology, along with decreasing performances and performance-oriented sessions, was found. A single session on inclusion resulted in the exceptionalities category forming 0.4% of total conference offerings.

The Effect of a Music Appreciation Course on Students' Verbally Expressed Preferences for Composers

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a course in music appreciation on I attitudes of college nonmusic majors (N = 187) regarding favorite composers, as verbally expressed in the absence of music stimuli. Students participating in a 10-week music appreciation course were tested for knowledge of course content and surveyed for ranked listings of their 10 favorite composers before and after the course. These data were analyzed for precourse to postcourse changes and their interrelationships, as well as their relationships to music training, textbook content, and recording purchases. The primary focus of the music appreciation course was the music and composers of the formal tradition as reflected by the textbook content. After completing the course, students had a significantly greater tendency (p < .01) to include composers of this tradition on ranked listings of their 10 favorite composers. There was a significant (p < .05) but moderate relationship between textbook content and both frequency of mention and rank sums of composers of the formal tradition. The inclusion of more composers of the formal tradition on the ranked listings had no significant relationship (p > .05) to cognitive gains, musical training, or recording purchases. The increased inclusion of composers of the formal tradition may have been a result of familiarity with and not necessarily greater liking of their music. Weaknesses of the investigation are discussed, along with recommendations for future research.

Mpping Music Education Research in the USA: A Response to the UK

The research enterprise in the United States is a vast one, with at least 15 music education and two music therapy research journals. This is in addition to the multitude of papers presented at a myriad of state, regional and national conferences, including the hundreds of papers presented at the biannual meetings of the Music Educators National Conference (MENC): National Association for Music Education. Much of the USA music education research occurs in situ, such as general music classrooms and secondary ensemble rehearsals, and examines the impact of different aspects of teaching strategies on students’ attentiveness, attitudes and achievement, as well as studying informal learning. While common in the USA, it is unusual to see work in the UK that focuses on ensemble conducting or music classroom or ensemble management. Also, work in the USA can be classified under the titles used by the Special Research Interest Groups of MENC: Affective Response, Adult and Community Music Education, Creativity, Early Childhood, Gender Research in Music Education, History, Instructional Strategies, Learning and Development, Measurement and Evaluation, Perception and Cognition, Philosophy, and Social Sciences. Of late, there has been an increased interest in multicultural issues in research as well. There is a deficit of published philosophical inquiry, however.

Content Analysis of Four National Music Organizations' Conferences

We examined the content of the 2002 and 2004 National Biennial In-Service Conferences of MENC: The National Association for Music Education; the 2002 and 2004 Midwest Clinic: An International Band and Orchestra Conferences; the 2002 and 2004 Orff-Schulwerk Conferences; and the 2003 and 2005 American Choral Directors Association Conventions. Each of the 2,302 sessions was examined and classified according to category, subject area, and focus. The largest proportion of categories of sessions at the MENC (74.2%), Midwest (4 7.5%) and Orff-Schulwerk (80.3%) conferences was education, while performance (56.9%) was the largest proportion at ACDA. The predominant subject areas within education were performance for ACDA (53.3%) and Midwest (42.8%), general music (47.1 %) for Orff-Schulwerk, and industry (42.3%) for MENC. The proportion of industry to non-industry sessions at MENC was more than double any of the other conferences examined.

Conductor gestures influence evaluations of ensemble performance

Previous research has found that listener evaluations of ensemble performances vary depending on the expressivity of the conductor’s gestures, even when performances are otherwise identical. It was the purpose of the present study to test whether this effect of visual information was evident in the evaluation of specific aspects of ensemble performance: articulation and dynamics. We constructed a set of 32 music performances that combined auditory and visual information and were designed to feature a high degree of contrast along one of two target characteristics: articulation and dynamics. We paired each of four music excerpts recorded by a chamber ensemble in both a high- and low-contrast condition with video of four conductors demonstrating high- and low-contrast gesture specifically appropriate to either articulation or dynamics. Using one of two equivalent test forms, college music majors and non-majors (N = 285) viewed sixteen 30 s performances and evaluated the quality of the ensemble’s articulation, dynamics, technique, and tempo along with overall expressivity. Results showed significantly higher evaluations for performances featuring high rather than low conducting expressivity regardless of the ensemble’s performance quality. Evaluations for both articulation and dynamics were strongly and positively correlated with evaluations of overall ensemble expressivity.