James L. Byo

Recognition of Intensity Contrasts in the Gestures of Beginning Conductors

The purpose of this study was to determine whether high and low contrasts of gestural intensity could be demonstrated by undergraduate beginning conductors and, furthermore, whether independent observers could recognize these contrasts. An investigator-developed stimulus videotape, illustrating beginning conductors in 1-minute demonstrations of intensity contrasts, was viewed by graduate and undergraduate music majors, undergraduate nonmusic majors, and high school music students. These subjects (N = 320) labeled each 15-second interval according to perceived contrast of intensity and indicated an overall intensity rating for each conductor. Results indicated a 77% correct response rate. Analysis yielded a significant difference in mean correct response between the graduate group and all other subjects, no significant difference in mean intensity ratings among subjects, and a high degree of reliability among the four experimental groups on overall intensity ratings.

The Role of the String Project in Teacher Training and Community Music Education.

The National String Project Consortium was designed to encourage string education majors to become string teachers and to stimulate growth of new school orchestra programs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which these goals were accomplished across 13 university sites in 2003-2004. Survey data were obtained from project directors, master teachers, student teachers, children, and parents (N = 1,458). Results indicated the majority of student teachers were music education majors who received professional and financial benefit from participation, and were engaged in authentic string teaching in productive and rewarding settings. Children studied string instruments under satisfying and affordable conditions. The String Project seems to have filled a void where school strings programs do not exist, or functioned to supplement strings instruction available in the schools.

Effects of Stimulus Octave and Timbre on the Tuning Accuracy of Secondary School Instrumentalists

To test the effects of octave and timbre on tuning accuracy, four stimuli—B-flat 4 sounded by flute, oboe, and clarinet and B-flat 2 sounded by tuba—functioned as reference pitches for high school wind players (N = 72). The two stimulus octaves combined with participants’ assigned tuning notes created soprano, tenor, and bass tuning groups. All participants tuned to each instrument. Results indicated no effect due to tuning group. There was a significant difference due to stimulus. Participants’ responses were more out of tune to the tuba stimulus than to the oboe, clarinet, and flute stimuli, which were not different from each other. There was no difference in the distribution of in-tune, sharp, and flat responses across tuning stimuli, a result that differs from the “preference for sharpness” effect in previous research. Verbal and performance responses to the tuba, oboe, and flute stimuli revealed misconceptions between participants’ perceptions of tuning difficulty and actual performance difficulty and favored the use of oboe and flute as tuning references. Most of the participants (82%) reported tuning to the tuba as the prevalent approach to mass tuning in their school bands.

Beginning Band Instruction: A Comparative Analysis of Selected Class Method Books

In beginning band classes, whether by designor out of necessity, instrumentalists are taughtin heterogeneous groupingswith the class method book functioning as the basiccourseof musicstudy. In essence,the methodbook may constitutethe beginning band curriculum. Given this position of prominence, itseemsparamountthatinstrumentalmusicteachersbe awareof musical and pedagogical issues that may provide basesonwhichto makedecisionsregarding methodbook selection. Making informed choices is critical in any endeavor, especially one that represents a fundamental approachto musiclearning.

Research and the Band Director: Marriage not Divorce

The pair of articles in the Instrumental Division of this issue of Update seem to be perfect companion pieces. James Byo speaks of intellectually aggressive band directors who get past the artificial barriers between researchers and teachers and apply research results to their own situations. His article illustrates the process of transferring knowledge so that research can be more meaningful to practitioners. He discusses the responsibility of the practitioner as well as of the researcher to establish a mutually inclusive relationship. James Arnold, the author of the second article, has shown himself to fit Byos characterization of an intellectually aggressive teacher. He is an experienced band director who has taught in isolated rural settings and who now teaches at Columbus High School in Columbus, Georgia. The article relates some of his experiences in applying research findings to his teaching. He read research from many disparate sources and apparently unrelated settings and made the transfers to his own unique situation. He tried to implement a certain type of rehearsal strategy in his teaching that he had encountered in reading the research literature. As a result of his reading, he also knew that there might be a difference between what he perceived he was doing and what he actually did, so he used videotape self analysis, which he had also read about, to assess his efforts. Between these two articles—Byos recommendations and examples and Arnolds actions—we have an illustration of the relevance of research and its implementation. The purpose of research in music education is to enhance music teaching and understanding. Without interaction between the teacher/experimenter and the researcher/teacher leading to the application of research, both lose, and ultimately the students will suffer from music settings that might have been made more rewarding.

Effects of Stimulus Octave and Timbre on the Tuning Accuracy of Advanced College Instrumentalists

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of octave and timbre on advanced college musicians’ (N = 63) ability to tune their instruments. We asked: “Are there differences in tuning accuracy due to octave (B-flat 2, B-flat 4) and stimulus timbre (oboe, clarinet, electronic tuner, tuba)?” and “To what extent do participants’ posttuning perceptions of pitch accuracy align with actual pitch accuracy?” Participants were organized according to octave played in the tuning process, thus forming bass, tenor, and soprano groups. Results showed no significant effect due to group and no significant differences due to stimulus. There was no difference in the distribution of in-tune, sharp, and flat responses. Comparisons of participants’ performance accuracy and posttuning perceptions of task difficulty were favorable to the electronic tuner’s viability as a tuning stimulus and less so to the tuba stimulus. Participants’ responses to “describe how you know you are out of tune” and “describe the strategies you use to get in tune” brought to the foreground two observations of conceptual importance: tuning as four different and sometimes overlapping “experiences” and a self-imposed comparative strategy. Considered alongside previous research, results address developmental aspects of musicians’ tuning performance.

Modern Band as School Music: A Case Study.

This purpose of this study was to uncover the nature and value associated with involvement in “Modern Band” (rock band), the primary, not supplemental, means to music education in one US school. The values that emerged—music, community, identity, teacher, and classroom management—overlap considerably with the benefits and values identified by adolescents in traditional concert band, orchestra, and choir. These results provide data worthy of consideration as readers ponder the viability of rock band as a medium of school-based music education and a way to connect meaningfully with more secondary-school students. Evidence suggests that if there are reasons to reject the rock band, the source for the skepticism should not be the values accrued and identified by its participants. This case is an example of meaningful, authentic, and valuable music education that is positioned between the extremes of formal and informal learning, process and product orientation, and teacher- and student-centered pedagogy.