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The purpose of this study was to examine music education faculty members’ perceptions of admissions and selection criteria for entering master’s students in music education degree programs. Using multistage sampling, we distributed a questionnaire to music education faculty at National Association of Schools of Music (NASM)-accredited institutions in the United States that offered master’s degrees in music education. Results indicated that music education faculty were involved in most admission decisions, and that transcripts, interviews, and letters of recommendation were the most common materials submitted for review. In response to open-ended questions, participants reported that their admission decisions are usually determined by four criteria: academic skills, demonstration of potential as a graduate student, demonstration of teaching ability, and less measurable indicators. This exploration of the admissions and selection criteria that music education faculty use when making admission decisions provides music teacher educators a greater understanding of this important transition point.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of transitional elements on listeners’ aesthetic responses. Participants ( N = 81) viewed an excerpt of a choral performance while manipulating a Continuous Response Digital Interface to record their aesthetic responses. Participants in one group viewed the original choral performance, which included two purposeful transitions and no applause between pieces. In the other group, participants viewed the same choral performance but with applause over a black screen added between pieces. Participants then answered two open-ended questions to indicate the features of the performance most salient to their aesthetic responses. Mean aesthetic responses during each transition were higher for the continuous transition group compared to the applause group; however, differences between groups were statistically significant only during the attacca transition between the second and third piece. In response to “What factors contributed the most to your aesthetic response?” participants most commonly cited ensemble musicianship, followed by compositional elements such as harmonic, melodic, or rhythmic material; performer engagement; and song choices. When describing what kept them most engaged, participants mentioned programming most frequently, with the majority of comments referencing variety. We discuss implications for music teaching and learning.

The purpose of this study was to examine music education faculty members’ perceptions of the master’s degree in music education (MME). A total of 76 music teacher educators completed a researcher-designed survey instrument. Participants believed their MME students’ top four motivations for pursuing MME degrees were to become a better teacher, to gain a higher salary, to create a possible pathway to doctoral study in the future, and to gain academic stimulation through graduate level coursework. Faculty also indicated the MME degree was focused on both teaching/pedagogy and research. Participants explained that their students primarily learn about research through reading and discussing research articles in class, and that their students learn about pedagogy primarily from reading pedagogical articles and reflecting on personal teaching videos. In addition, participants presented various opinions regarding the purpose of MME degrees. Implications for music teacher educators are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of focus of attention instructions (i.e. focus on the solo, accompaniment, or collaboration) on listeners’ performance evaluations. Participants ( N = 159) were inservice band directors who listened to and evaluated the accuracy and expressivity of four 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. Results indicated a significant main effect for focus-of-attention instructions group, indicating that listeners’ ratings were affected by the focus-of-attention instructions they received. However, we also found a significant three-way interaction among solo, accompaniment, and group, which signified that the effects of focus-of-attention instructions varied according to both solo and accompaniment conditions. Asking adjudicators to focus their evaluations on the collaborative performance of a soloist and pianist may result in different performance ratings than when asked to rate the soloist or pianist only. Implications for music educators and solo and ensemble event organizers are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to investigate possible predictive relationships between interval identification and melodic dictation performance on tasks where students identify short pitch spans after a brief tonicization. College musicians ( N = 35) completed an interval identification test and a series of melodic dictation tasks. Results indicated that interval identification and melodic dictation tests reflected a battery of items ranging from very easy to very difficult with acceptable Cronbach’s α levels. We conducted a two-stage hierarchical regression analysis to examine the extent to which interval identification served as a predictor of melodic dictation accuracy while controlling for selected music and demographic variables. Results indicated that interval identification served as a significant predictor of melodic dictation scores, contributing 28.9% of the variance in melodic dictation scores while controlling for musical experience variables. The analysis indicated a dictation task by interval ability interaction based on grouping by lower, mid-, and upper performing groups on the interval identification test. Issues in measurement of melodic dictation accuracy and strategies that affect the development of melodic dictation skills are discussed.

We examined how movement impacted listeners’ perceptions of choral performances. Participants ( N = 115; n = 60 nonmusic majors, n = 55 music majors) viewed excerpts of Moses Hogan’s “Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel” under four conditions: good tone/expressive movement (GT/EM), good tone/static movement (GT/SM), poor tone/expressive movement (PT/EM), and poor tone/static movement (PT/SM). They rated tone quality and overall expressivity for each excerpt. We found a significant multivariate main effect for the examples. For both tone quality and expressivity, participants rated the examples in the following order from highest to lowest: GT/EM, GT/SM, PT/SM, and PT/EM. There was a significant interaction between the examples and participants’ major. Music majors rated the GT/EM example higher than the nonmusic majors but rated the other three examples lower than the nonmajors. Expressive movement seemed to enhance ratings of expressivity when performed with good tone but detracted when the tone was poor. In written responses, majors distinguished between expressive movement and tone consistently, while nonmajors could not consistently separate what they were seeing from what they were hearing.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of tonic drone accompaniments on the intonation of collegiate wind instrumentalists. Participants ( N = 68) played an excerpt of the melody “Long, Long Ago” in three conditions: a mono drone (tonic note only), dyad drone (tonic plus fifth), and a control condition (no drone). Results indicated no significant effects on intonation performance due to drone condition. However, participants’ ratings of their own intonation accuracy differed significantly based on drone condition. The majority of the performances of the melody aligned more closely with equal temperament ( n = 159), and fewer aligned more closely with just intonation ( n = 45). Most participants believed the dyad drone (59.74%) resulted in their best intonation accuracy, followed by the mono drone (28.57%) and the control condition (11.68%). In response to open-ended questions, participants cited reasons why they preferred particular drone conditions, with the most common themes being “easier to hear and match,” “multiple reference pitches,” and “focused/directed listening.” Given that participants expressed preferences regarding drone use in the absence of performance differences, music educators may consider the role of comfort and familiarity with these instructional tools.

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.

Psycholinguistic inquiry can provide insight into the way the words people use reflect psychological states, including emotional states. There is limited research on the use of Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software to investigate the psycholinguistic properties of emotional memories related to music. The purpose of this study was to test the extent to which LIWC can be used in the analysis of autobiographical memories related to music. Participants were undergraduates ( N = 99) at two large universities in the southeastern United States. Each participant was asked to write about times in their lives when music or experiences with music made them feel positive or negative emotions. The researchers conducted a content analysis of participants’ responses and used LIWC software to quantify emotion words (positive and negative), pronouns, causal thinking words, and insight words. Participants used significantly more positive than negative emotion words to describe positive memories of music, but there was no significant difference between the rates of negative and positive emotion words to describe negative memories of music. The content analysis revealed a similar trend: 51% of participants described mixed, conflicting, or changing emotions when describing negative experiences, whereas descriptions of positive experiences tended to be highly positive. Many participants wrote about social experiences and musical achievement. Results of this study offer insights on how humans describe music-related autobiographical memories. LIWC appears to be a useful tool for method triangulation when performing qualitative analysis of emotions in autobiographical memories of musical experiences.

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.

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.

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.

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 r...

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.

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 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.

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.

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 exploratory study was to investigate musicians’ self-efficacy to maintain practice schedules in the face of adverse situations and conditions. Respondents (N = 159) were graduate student musicians, sampled from a national music organization in the United States. They completed the Self-Efficacy to Maintain Practice Schedules Scale (SEMPSS), a survey instrument designed by the researchers. The scale demonstrated high internal consistency (α = .93) and was found to measure a single latent construct through factor analysis. Among different types of adversity, respondents reported that internal situations provided more challenge to maintaining a practice schedule than environmental or social situations. Music-performance majors reported significantly higher levels of self-efficacy to maintain practice schedules than nonperformance majors, but no significant differences were found between instrumentalists and vocalists in the sample. Hierarchical regression analysis demonstrated that age, number of days practiced per week, and hours of practice per week significantly predicted musicians’ self-efficacy to maintain a practice schedule in adverse situations.

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.