<p> The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore elementary music teacher perspectives of subdivision and its instructional value in the general music classroom. This study aims to answer the questions: (a) How does the perceived definition of subdivision influence instruction? (b) How do elementary music teachers relate subdivision to other concepts? (e) How does training and professional development influence teacher perception? Elementary general music teachers (<i>N</i>=26) from an inner-city Title 1 school district in Central Texas participated in a descriptive survey. Results indicated that while participants explained that important relationship between subdivision and other concepts and marked it as extremely significant (88%), they ranked it seventh out of eight and allotted less than five minutes for instruction during lessons. In addition, the greatest influence on teacher perception of subdivision was the amount of training in Dalcroze Eurhythmics, Kod&aacute;ly and Orff Schulwerk, While Kod&aacute;ly teachers primarily related subdivision to rhythm, and thought that it was too complicated for young students, Orff and Dalcroze teachers were more likely to teach it in every concept. This study along with previously conducted studies suggest that elementary music teachers believe that subdivision aids in student learning. However, elementary music teachers appear to be hesitant to utilize subdivision during instruction.</p>

<p> Studying the choral works of the great composers of the past is always a worthy endeavor. For those aspiring to create an excellent high school choral program, it is critical to a student's musical foundation and heritage. Choral educators who teach high school are often bombarded with the most recently published new choral works, when they have a trove of excellent pieces right at their fingertips through websites like the Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL), all available at no cost. This project will explore the pedagogical reasons why this canon of public domain choral music should be taught at the high school level. A thorough guide to CPDL and an anthology of 200 works available on CPDL will provide the conductor with resources for programming this music.</p><p> Though choral music in the public domain is free to all, publishers still publish this music and adhere copyright claims. This can create mistrust of legitimate editions on CPDL; why are they available at no cost when publishers are claiming copyright on similar editions? These issues will be thoroughly discussed in this project.</p><p> For any given work on CPDL, there may be multiple editions available on the site. Choosing the right edition requires knowledge about basic editorial principles, especially for works written during the Renaissance period. A detailed discussion of these principles will provide the conductor with the tools needed to choose the best edition for his or her ensemble.</p>

No description available.

<p> Knowledge of motivation factors can assist conductors and music educators at all levels in planning and implementation of musical goals. The purpose of this study was to identify motivational factors to join the choir and maintain membership in the choir as well as the role of stress/anxiety in maintaining choral membership. In addition, the role of musicianship was evaluated in terms of music aptitude and vocal ability. Participants (N=135) from four adult, auditioned community choirs participated in this study. Data was collected using <i>Advanced Measures of Music Audiation, Singing Coach, </i> measure of vocal ability and a questionnaire relating to topics of motivation, retention and stress and anxiety contained within the sub-constructs of Cusp Catastrophe Theory. The results of this study identified aesthetic motivation as the primary construct as to why members elect to join the choir. In direct relationship to this motivation, lack of aesthetic beauty and truth was identified as why members would not retain their membership in the choir. Members did not experience stress and anxiety while learning or performing choral music. However, they did agree that some level of stress is beneficial to singing. In this study, no participant suggested that stress and anxiety related to vocal ability would prevent them from achieving their performance goal. Implications from this research may include determining program literature to be presented that is perceived as having aesthetic qualities which will be beneficial for membership and retention of choir members.</p>

<p> The purpose of this research is to examine the approaches used when developing nontraditional ensembles in secondary public schools. Topics include class offerings, curricula, music enrollment, administrative and community support, preparation time, teaching strategies, and financial costs to purchase and maintain equipment and instruments.</p><p> The participating subjects are secondary music teachers from school districts in the Los Angeles area teaching nontraditional ensembles during the school day. Subjects were surveyed with Google Forms and received follow-up questions via email.</p><p> Subject responses show that most teachers initially operated outside of their &ldquo;comfort zone&rdquo; when developing nontraditional courses. The majority developed new programs with a teacher-driven classroom model, relied on teacher-created arrangements, and spent similar amounts of time with both their traditional and nontraditional ensembles. The startup and maintenance costs for instruments and equipment varied from program to program. </p>

<p> As students progress through adolescent development, researchers have observed a lack of male participation in choral music activities. This male to female imbalance is often attributed to a perception that singing is a feminine activity and results in a lack of balance in choral music ensembles. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore adolescent gender identity as it relates to singing interest and choral music participation. An explanatory sequential mixed methods design was used, in which quantitative data were collected and analyzed followed by in-depth qualitative interviews. A group of 9^th grade students (n=174) completed the Children&rsquo;s Sex Role Inventory and the Singing Interest Inventory to gauge their self-perceived levels of masculinity and femininity along with their level of singing interest. Information from the quantitative portion of this study indicated that girls had both a higher interest in singing and a higher rate of participation in choral music ensembles than their male peers. A significant contribution of this study was that although singing is often perceived as feminine, no significant differences were found between categorized gender groups and singing interest. </p><p> Qualitative interviews were conducted with two groups of male students who were not enrolled in choir: low singing interest scores (n=4) and high singing interest scores (n=4). Transcribed and coded interviews resulted in the following themes: low singing interest, <i>Guys are physical, Girls are feminine, Shared perceptions, Guys don&rsquo;t sing,</i> and <i> Calling them names;</i> high singing interest, <i>Men want muscles, Girls are expressive, Shared perceptions, Choir is for girls, Get made fun of,</i> and <i>No labels</i>. The shared theme Shared perceptions suggests that participant perceptions are the same as their parents and friends. The theme No labels was unique to the high singing interest group. Participants in that group demonstrated a higher level of acceptance for atypical gender behavior.</p>

The search for educational goals in music productions leads the teacher to a variety of sources for guidance: publications, workshops, and other teachers. None of these sources alone are adequate to the task. The need, then, is to bring together all of this information into one sourcebook. It is this sourcebook that the present study has endeavored to provide. The purpose of this study has been to develop a sourcebook of practical information for the production of elementary musical dramas and programs and to provide general principles of production as a guide for music teachers. Criteria for creative environments which could lead to productions have been investigated and educational objectives have been established from related literature, from interviews with practicing teachers, and from personal experiences. From these three sources, general principles and specific suggestions for productions have been derived.

Nye (1975) states that the music teacher in a developmental early childhood program needs to have a "fundamental understanding of music in order to plan and organize music experiences based on reliable theories of how children think and learn" (p.41). The Kodaly approach is based on theories of child development and learning. Its specific sequential organization and developmental presentation of material separates it from other early 110 childhood music programs. The teacher trained in the Kodaly approach has a sound understanding of the musical elements presented in the song material. Both musical analysis and teaching techniques enable the teacher to present concepts and skills in ways that leave no detail to chance. Nye (1975) believes that children learn best in an atmosphere of inquiry where there is a balance between the “teacher structured" and the “child-structured" activities and situations (p.41). The focus of this thesis was to explore a balanced preschool music program that would provide young children with optimal learning experiences. The teacher is at the core of any good educational program. Kodaly (1974), in 1929, recognized the value of a musically well trained teacher when he wrote: The high level, intricate works of a Kindergarten teacher needs several years of study in many fields and a cultured taste. Wherever there is a person like this, she can work wonders with the little ones, even in music. A child will learn anything if there is somebody who knows how to teach him (p.149).

<p> Music education has long included creative music activities and provided opportunities to compose in foundational learning environments. As the use of varying technologies increases in foundational learning, it is unclear how composing with acoustic rhythm instruments compares with technology-mediated applications when considering pedagogy and children's creative processes in third and fifth grades. It is also unclear what differences of application technology-in-composition lesson plans require when considering composing at different grade levels or if there are gender differences when composing at these levels. </p><p> This experimental study, with a between-subjects factorial design, was completed in three phases. In the first phase, participants were tested on the Intermediate Measure of Music Audiation (IMMA) (Gordon, 1986). In the second phase, children were invited, in groups of four by grade levels three and five, to compose with acoustic rhythm instruments or a graphic notation computer program, Hyperscore. Participants' compositional processes were observed using a researcher-constructed protocol, the Crawford Index of Quality for Composing Groups (CIQCG) (Crawford, 2016). The third phase tested all participants using the Measure of Creative Thinking in Music (MCTM) (Webster, 1994). Additionally, variables of grade level and gender were tested. </p><p> Results showed that third grade participants scored higher than fifth grade on the IMMA. Third grade scored higher composing with Hyperscore while fifth grade participants scored lower. No statistically significant correlations were found between gender and IMMA scores, however, male participants composing with acoustic instruments scored higher on the MCTM while female participants scored higher on the MCTM after composing with Hyperscore. Additionally, there were no statistically significant correlations between the test scores for the IMMA, CIQCG and MCTM, indicating that musical aptitude, musical composition process, and creative thinking are three separate areas in which music educators may focus. </p><p> Implications of this study for music education indicated that while technology may be a well-received tool for compositional work in classrooms, acoustic instruments were also well received by the third and fifth grade students in this study. These findings further indicate a strong need for development of close observation of composing opportunities in music classroom groups. Creative processes may be observed with greater understanding through use of the Crawford Index of Quality for Composing Groups. </p>

The purpose of this study was to investigate the repertoire selection practices of pedagogically- and non-pedagogically-trained private piano instructors concerning their intermediate-level students. The primary goal was to explore if there were any differences between pedagogically- and non-pedagogically-trained private piano instructors in their repertoire selections sources and criteria. I also examined the relationship between teacher experience and training and repertoire selection practices of the teachers. Using Shulman’s pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) framework, the study provided an understanding of pedagogically- and non-pedagogically-trained private piano instructors’ (a) curriculum knowledge of teaching materials and resources and (b) content knowledge of teaching materials and literature. I further explored how this knowledge interplayed with teaching experiences and pedagogical training. I designed a 49-item questionnaire to collect private piano teachers’ demographic information and musical backgrounds, as well as their repertoire selection sources and criteria. The population for the study included 157 private piano teachers from the Midwest. Results indicated that there was no significant difference between pedagogically-trained and non-pedagogically-trained piano teachers in regards to repertoire selection sources (curriculum knowledge) at the intermediate level. However, there were significant differences in two content-based influencing criteria, musical quality and appeal of the work, between pedagogically-trained and non-pedagogically-trained piano teachers at the intermediate level. Regarding the intermediate-level repertoire selection practices of piano teachers as a function of experience and pedagogical training, the data indicated that these qualities and attributes significantly affected how piano teachers selected repertoire in two areas: the repertoire selection source lists and the repertoire selection influence outside elements. The findings suggest that non-pedagogically-trained piano teachers with fewer years of experience lacked pedagogical content knowledge when compared to pedagogically-trained teachers. Practical implications of these results include curriculum change in piano pedagogy courses at the collegiate level as well as encouraging professional music organizations to provide resources to assist non-pedagogically-trained piano teachers in skill development