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In this mixed-methods study, we explored perspectives of ensemble directors (N = 306) regarding standards-based instruction and circumstances impacting standards-based instruction in the areas of creating, performing, responding, and connecting. Our research was modeled on Byo's (1999) examination of teacher perceptions of the implementation of the 1994 music standards. We conducted an initial survey and completed follow-up interviews. Every participant indicated familiarity with the National Core Arts Standards, with many reporting that they regularly addressed standards in their teaching. The anchor standards related to performing were most commonly incorporated, whereas those related to creating and connecting were the least commonly addressed. Teachers shared strategies that promoted standards-based instruction and described barriers that prevented them from fully incorporating standards-based instruction. There is a need for ongoing professional development for in-service teachers, dedicated planning time, and realistic expectations related to the creating, responding, and connecting standards in performing ensembles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we explored associations between perception of musical features (pitch, tonality, timing, timbre, and loudness), vocal abilities (singing accuracy, melodic achievement, and rhythmic performance), and cognitive levels (reading accuracy and comprehension, grammar, and math) among children ages 6 to 12. Musical perception abilities were measured using the Implicit Tonal Ability Test. Vocal abilities were measured using the Vocal Musical Ability Test. Cognitive levels were measured using standardized Dutch performance tests on academic skills. We investigated which factors (age, gender, cognitive levels, school type, music perception abilities, and participation in music education) predict vocal abilities and how these abilities differed by age. Results showed that singing accuracy was best predicted by gender, math level, and music perception abilities. Melodic achievement was best predicted by age, school type, math level, and music perception abilities. Rhythmic performance was best predicted by age, instrumental music education, and music perception abilities. Regardless of their age, differences in singing abilities between children were large. We advise teachers to provide activities in which repetition and prediction of patterns, scales, all intervals, and intonation are practiced, including transposing melodies and repeating rhythmic patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the Theory of Social Representations as a theoretical and methodological framework, the purpose of this study was to describe children's representations of music, musical identities, and musical engagement across middle childhood. Participants were primary students aged 8 to 11 (N = 132) from four schools in a large city in the Southeastern United States. Previous studies have documented that projective techniques (linguistic associations with textual stimuli) can access latent dimensions of thinking. Accordingly, linguistic associations with the textual stimuli "music," "music and me," music at school," and "music outside school" were used to gain insight into children's representations of music, musical identities, and musical engagement. Participants were also asked to provide socio-demographic data that might influence their responses. The Correspondences Analysis technique was used to reconstruct representational fields associated with the stimuli. For each stimulus, a three-factor extraction identified hidden dimensions in children's linguistic responses and summarized the links between contextual variables and children's representations. Major findings suggest that children at increasingly younger ages express preferences and construct their own representations of music and musical identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to analyze a large sample of volunteers from the general population who were tested with an identical online measure of singing accuracy. A sample of 632 participants completed the Seattle Singing Accuracy Protocol (SSAP), a standardized measure of singing accuracy, available online, that includes a test of pitch discrimination and basic demographic questions. Analyses addressed basic questions relating to the distribution of singing accuracy as well as associations of singing accuracy with years of musical training, age, pitch discrimination ability, and musical self-perception. We addressed these issues with respect to the accuracy of pitch imitation, based on automated scoring of vocal fundamental frequency (f 0) in the SSAP, as well as the accuracy of singing a familiar song, based on expert ratings. Results suggest that the distribution of singing accuracy varies widely, but the modal tendency is toward accurate singing. All predictors formed unique and significant associations with singing accuracy, suggesting that multiple factors contribute to this critical musical ability. In particular, age and musical training (including instrumental training) correlate independently with singing accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a "gay-sounding" voice on heterosexual music teachers' perceptions of music teaching effectiveness. Music teachers across the United States (N = 575) listened to two men between the ages of 18 and 25 years old with stereotypically gay and straight voices, respectively, reading a short paragraph. After hearing each speaker in counterbalanced order, participants rated the likelihood of each speaker's ability to demonstrate top skills and behaviors associated with effective teaching using a 4-point Likert-type scale. Listeners rated the gay voice higher on measures of maintaining high musical standards and organization; they rated the straight voice higher on measures of leadership, classroom management, and maturity. Strategies to combat these stereotypes are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied music majors’ perception of intonation in accompanied solo performances of trumpet, violin, and voice. We were interested in whether listeners would judge pitch deviations of equal magnitude in the three solo performances as equivalent in intonation. Participants were 150 graduate and undergraduate music majors drawn from two large music schools and included 50 students representing each of the following areas of applied music study: voice, wind instruments, and string instruments. Listeners heard solo trumpet, violin, and soprano performances of Ave Maria (Bach/Gounod) accompanied by piano. Pitch performances of the soloists were altered in four sections of the excerpt and deviated in either the sharp or flat direction within a section by 0, 10, 20, and 30 cents relative to the accompaniment. Listeners judged pitch deviations in the flat direction as more out of tune for the trumpet than equivalent alterations of violin and voice, especially for magnitudes of 20 and 30 cents. In sharp direction changes, violin and trumpet were heard similarly and as more out of tune than the vocal soloist. Additionally, differences in pitch judgments were found between listener groups representing different areas of applied study. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The primary focus of the present study was to investigate the effect participants’ (N = 100) knowledge of a text translation may have on their perceived musical tension while listening to a piece of choral music sung in another language. When examining the graphs that show the group mean responses of the participants, control (without text translation) versus experimental (with text translation), it is clear that there are many similarities between the groups. Any differences that may be attributable to an understanding of the text while tracking tension in this musical selection are minimal and most likely individualized by participant. A secondary goal of the study was to observe the impact of having half the participants begin recording their responses with the dial pointer of the Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI) positioned either at the left of the tension curve-continuum or positioned at middial. Group data for participants’ who started with their dials on the left, versus those who started with dials in the middle, also showed similarities sufficient to call into the question the idea that starting at a different place on this scale would affect recording of perceptions significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The skill of pitch-matching is a prerequisite for even the most casual musical participation. While singing accuracy has been carefully researched at the elementary level, there has been comparatively less research done with adolescents. The purpose of the study described here was to examine the influence of perceptual ability, task demands, and singing range on the pitch-matching performance of adolescent boys in various stages of the voice change. We found significant differences between certain, inconsistent, and uncertain singers in their perceptual skills and found that a contextual pitch-matching condition was significantly easier than a single-pitch condition. There was no difference by singing range. Future research should explore the progression of these skills longitudinally and continue to examine performance related to different task demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to determine the significance of music and music education to middle and high school adolescents, including those enrolled and not enrolled in school music programs. Of particular interest were their expressed meanings of music both in and out of school, with attention to adolescent views on the role of music in identity formation, the musical and nonmusical benefits for adolescents of their engagement with music, the curricular content of secondary school music programs, and the qualities of music teachers in facilitating music-learning experiences in middle and high school classes. An examination of essays, statements, and reflections in response to a national essay content was undertaken using an inductive approach to analyze content through the triangulation of interpretations by the investigators. Five principal themes were identified within the expressed meanings of music by adolescents: (a) identity formation in and through music, (b) emotional benefits, (c) music's life benefits, including character-building and life skills, (d) social benefits, and (e) positive and negative impressions of school music programs and their teachers. Overwhelming support was expressed for music as a necessary component of adolescent life, with support for and comments to probe concerning the work of music educators in secondary school programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One hundred eighteen middle school students from three different settings listened individually to a music excerpt and n prose excerpt that were each 3.5 minutes long. As they listened, they clicked a computer touchpad whenever they were distracted either by thoughts or external events, then refocused on the holistic listening task. After listening to each selection, they rated it on enjoyment and familiarity. Students self-reported significantly more distractions during the music (1.60 per minute) than the prose excerpt (1.11 per minute)t but they rated the music significantly higher on enjoyment. Fewer distractions were reported at the beginning and ending of the excerpts, and there was a significant relationship between number of distractions across the two different types of listening. It was thought that the computerized tracking of distractions functioned to maintain attentiveness in this sustained listening task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explores the musical backgrounds and beliefs of nonmusicians. Relationship of musical background with music appreciation factors; Factors that influence music appreciation; Association of the choice of music with mood or emotional expression.