The purpose of this study is to create a curriculum for beginning instrumentalists who have no background in music and are young students not yet capable of deciphering highly technical and academic sentences, phrases, and terms. This method is designed to give the student a foundation in theory without taking undue time from the instrumental phase of the curriculum and at the same time to increase the tempo of training in both phases.

The purpose of this survey was to analyze the course of study in instrumental music prescribed by the Texas State Department for the high schools of the state and to determine whether or not a coordinated and well-rounded program of education in instrumental music is being offered in the schools of Texas. It was hoped, furthermore, that, by comparing this program with others elsewhere, this analysis might show whether or not Texas is following any general trend in instrumental music education.

Pablo Minguet y Yrol's Academia Musical of 1752, M891 in the Bíblioteca Nacional of Madrid, is a loosely organized collection of tutors for thirteen musical instruments: guitar, tiple, mandola, cittern, bandurria, psaltery, clavichord [i.e., keyboard], organ, harp, violin, transverse flute, recorder, and flageolet. The tutors concerning the guitar and related instruments are by far the most comprehensive; topics covered include basic playing technique, figured-bass accompaniment, and notation, both mensural and tablature. Most musical examples are given in both types of notation. The thesis is a complete translation of the Academia Musical, including the texts of the illustrations, with an introductory commentary giving the historical background of music education in eighteenth-century Spain, a brief review of European musical-instrument tutors in general, and an analysis of Minguet's tutors in particular.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of iconic-based rhythmic instruction on middle school instrumentalists' ability to read rhythms at sight in the preparation of music for sight-reading. One hundred thirty-one middle school students from 12 randomly assigned bands in the Midwestern United States provided data for a pretest-posttest control-group design. Of the 12 participating middle schools, four schools served as the control group (n= 42), four schools delivered rhythmic instruction using iconic-based methods (n= 42), and four schools delivered isolated rhythmic training using symbolic-based methods (n= 47).Using adjusted pretest scores from a researcher-constructed rhythm test (Rhythm Sight-Reading Performance Ability), the Musical Aptitude Profile (1995), and the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (1999), results of an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) revealed that no group obtained a significant difference on the posttest mean scores from the rhythmic performance test (F= 1.940, df= 1, 107, p= .149). Because results from individual schools showed considerable variation, other variables were observed to see if they were significant. Findings from an ANCOVA revealed that the individual school was significant (F= 3.141, df= 9, 107, p= .002).To verify the relationship found between the individual school and the posttest measurement, an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was run with the pretest and posttest scores serving as repeated measures. The results indicate that a significant interaction between the individual school and the pretest to posttest measurement exists. In light of these findings, it is speculated that the key to improving a student's rhythm-reading ability may be dependent not only on the method, but also on the quality of instructional delivery. / School of Music

Within this document, the writer hopes to present a thorough study of the various methods and materials which are available for the beginning, intermediate, and advanced band classes of the Goose Creek Independent School District, Goose Creek, Texas, taking into consideration the organization of the school system as it exists at the present time.

The purpose of this study is to provide a guide for the instruction of a trumpet mariachi performance ensemble in a music curriculum. The fulfillment of this purpose is dependent upon the data supplied in answer to the sub problems: (1) What socio-cultural information provides authentic trumpet mariachi music; (2) What trumpet mariachi literature illustrates the repertoire and style; (3) What instructional source materials may be developed such that Mexican American and non-Mexican American instructors build a competency in repertoire and style; (4) How could this guide be evaluated in its functional design for a music curriculum? The data collected for use in this study has been presented in three major categories: (1) the history and milieu in which the trumpet, mariachi crystalized; (2) the repertoire--its history and function in Mexican society and the transcriptions of types demonstrating the musical structure; and (3) the technical information relative to the instruction of the particular mariachi instruments. An evaluative instrument has been supplied in an attempt to establish the validity of the information and examples provided in this practicum. The validity of the research seems to rest on its authenticity and its serviceability. The findings of this study are stated as assertions based on the literature in general and the repertorial types specifically included. These assertions are aligned with the organization of the data as it has been reported in the body of the dissertation. The conclusions are stated in a similar manner as assertions pertinent to cross referenced statements which may be implied as concepts drawn from the reported data and the literature observed in this study.