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The purpose of this study was to investigate currently enrolled students’ perceptions of the master’s degree in music education (MME). A national sample of 136 MME students completed a web-based questionnaire. The most common motivations for enrolling in MME programs were to become a better teacher, to get a higher salary, to gain academic stimulation through graduate-level coursework, and to create a possible pathway to doctoral study in the future. However, motivational differences were evident based on respondents’ degree format (academic year, online, summer, or hybrid). Respondents indicated that they learned about research primarily through reading and discussing research articles, and learned about pedagogy primarily through reading articles on pedagogy/teaching strategies and watching and reflecting on personal teaching videos. I explore implications for music teacher education given these findings as well as respondents’ reports of MME program strengths and areas needing improvement.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of timbral instructions on pitch and timbre production. High school ( n = 28) and collegiate ( n = 28) trumpeters played sustained tones at two octave levels (written C4 and C5) following three types of timbral instructions (dark-timbre, bright-timbre, or neutral instructions). Presentation orders were randomly assigned. Dependent variables included one acoustical measure of pitch (absolute cent deviation) and one acoustical measure of timbre (spectral centroid). Participants also reported which type of instruction they perceived to result in their “best sound” and their “most in-tune performance.” Results indicated a significant interaction between timbral instruction condition and octave. Post hoc testing revealed that timbral instructions affected participants’ absolute cent deviation, but different effects were observed in each octave. The effect of timbral instructions on participants’ spectral centroid was nonsignificant. Participants demonstrated a preference for the neutral instruction over the dark- and bright-timbre instructions, and their tuning accuracy varied by octave and instruction condition. These data suggest that music educators may need to use timbral instructions judiciously so that the instruction to play with a different timbre does not result in unintentional changes in pitch.

Intonation is one of the most challenging performance elements for developing wind instrumentalists. There is a need to provide in-service band directors with evidence-based instructional strategies that can be used when teaching their students to perform with accurate intonation. The purposes of this research-to-resource article are to provide band directors with a concise summary of selected research focused on wind instrument intonation, and to provide instructional recommendations based on those research findings that can be used in ensemble rehearsals. Recommendations on full-ensemble tuning strategies, vocalization, tuner usage, and timbral instructions are provided.

Researchers often use music major status as a single-item proxy variable for various aspects of musicality. However, among the five subscales of the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index, only Musical Training was a strong predictor of music major status.

The purpose of this replication study was to examine the effects of accompaniment on evaluations of solo instrumental performances. Although previous findings have indicated that instrumental music education majors’ evaluations of soloists were not independent of accompaniment, it is unknown whether more experienced evaluators are similarly affected by accompaniment. In addition to using a new population (in-service band directors), we also extended the previous study by asking participants whether they believed their evaluations of a soloist were influenced by the accompaniment provided. Participants ( N = 58) listened to six excerpts of Haydn’s Concerto for Trumpet, which we created by pairing different recordings of solo trumpet performance (good or bad) with piano accompaniment (good, bad, or none). Participants evaluated the accuracy and expressivity of the soloist in each excerpt. Similar to the previous study, results indicated that participants discriminated between good and bad solo performances successfully, but a significant three-way interaction among solo, accompaniment, and order indicated that these differences were further influenced by the quality/presence of accompaniment and order. Most participants (72.4%) believed that their evaluations of the soloist were not influenced by the piano accompaniment, primarily because they were able to focus on the soloist or because they followed the instructions provided.

In this study, we examined the effects of multiple reference pitch sources on collegiate singers’ accuracy in pitch-matching and intonation tasks. We also investigated which reference pitch source participants preferred and for what reasons. Participants ( N = 99) sang a two-measure excerpt of Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine after listening to the starting pitch of A on a pitch pipe, the piano, a vocal hum, or a tuning fork in two conditions. For one tuning fork condition, participants’ starting pitch was an A, the same pitch as the tuning fork. For the other tuning fork condition, their starting pitch was a G, a different pitch than the tuning fork. We selected two pitches for analysis, each corresponding to the first syllable of the word Joseph. We then analyzed pitch deviation of the two target notes from the reference pitch in each condition. Participants were most accurate in response to the piano and least accurate in response to the tuning fork when their starting pitch was a G. Participants expressed preference for the piano (37.12%) as their pitch source, followed closely by the pitch pipe (33.33%).

Music teachers play an important role in exposing students to career options in the field of music. As a result, there is a need to explore music education students’ interest in and knowledge of music therapy. The purpose of this study was to investigate music education students’ exposure to, knowledge of, and willingness to promote music therapy as a career option for prospective collegiate students. A survey was given to 254 music education majors from four research institutions, two with and two without music therapy degree programs. Participants answered demographic, yes/no, Likert-type scale, and open-ended questions about their exposure to, knowledge of, and willingness to promote careers in music therapy. Results indicate that exposure to music therapy occurred in both pre-collegiate and college settings, and that music teachers appear to be influential in exposing students to music therapy. Students often sought out information on music therapy independently, which played an important role in how individuals learned about music therapy, though it has the potential of providing misinformation. Significant differences were found in participants’ knowledge and willingness to promote music therapy as a career option based on the presence of music therapy degree programs. Exposure seemed to be a key factor in music therapy knowledge and promotion; thus, music therapists need to ensure accurate dissemination of music therapy-related information in both pre-collegiate and college settings. Increasing the visibility of the field has the potential to expand interest and potentially attract young musicians well suited for a career in music therapy.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of two pre-tuning vocalization behaviors (humming and singing) on the tuning accuracy of woodwind and brass instrumentalists. Undergraduate collegiate musicians ( N = 72) performed a sustained stimulus pitch (concert B-flat) while engaging in one of the two conditions or the control condition (silence). We also explored the relationships between participants’ tuning accuracy and their tuning confidence, examined the reasons instrumentalists provided for their pre-tuning vocalization preferences, and compared their most accurate performance condition with the condition they perceived to result in their most accurate tuning. Although participants performed with better tuning accuracy in the singing condition than the humming and silence conditions, these differences were not significant. Correlation analyses examining relationships between participants’ tuning accuracy and their tuning confidence in each condition yielded mostly weak and nonsignificant results. Participants reported internalization of pitch, physical response, and focus of attention issues most frequently when asked why they preferred a particular tuning condition.

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.

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.

The purpose of this study was to examine the beliefs of applied music faculty on desirable traits of prospective music education majors. Respondents ( N = 326), who were sampled from 73 National Association of Schools of Music–accredited institutions in the United States, completed a survey instrument developed to determine the characteristics of the admissions process at their institutions, their perceptions of various professional dispositions for entering music education majors, and their perceptions of various selection criteria for entering music education majors. Results indicated that music education faculty hold little or no responsibility for admissions decisions and that admissions decisions are primarily made by applied music faculty at many institutions. They also reported that “demonstrates a passion for music” and “is responsible and dependable” are the most desirable professional dispositions for entering freshmen music education majors and that “desire to be a music educator” and “teachability” are the most important selection criteria used when admitting freshmen music education majors. Free-response data suggest that applied faculty members consider various facets during the admissions process, including a prospective music education major’s personal characteristics, musical characteristics, academic characteristics, and prior teaching/leadership experience. Implications for music educators are discussed, and suggestions for future research are proposed.

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.”

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.

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.

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.