There is no abstract available for this dissertation. / School of Music

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a microcomputer-assisted instructional program on the ability of college choral ensemble members to sing melodic configurations at sight.A two-way analysis of variance was constructed to research four questions. After a microcomputer was obtained and set up, two criterion tests--the Singing AchievementTest (Bowles) and a microcomputer-generated sightsinging test (MGST)--were given to forty-one members of choral performing ensembles at Fort Wayne Bible College. The students were divided into two ability groups based upon the Singing Achievement Test pretest scores. Each ability group was then randomly divided into experimental and control groups by means of a table of random numbers. There was no attempt made to single out participants with special abilities or trainingAn eight-week experiment with the microcomputer program, MELODIOUS DICTATOR, was constructed consisting of three non-consecutive fifteen-minute periods per week for all experimental group participants. The control group attended choral rehearsals with the experimental group but had no exposure to the computer program. After the eight weeks, the same criterion tests were readministered to all participants. An Opinionnaire was also completed by the students in the experimental group.Data-were processed statistically by the use of a two-way analysis of variance. The ability level group and the experimental/control group were independent variables. Pretest scores for Singing Achievement Test, melodic errors-Singing Achievement Test, and microcomputer-generated sightsinging test, and posttest scores for the same three tests were the dependent variables. Results of these data and observations from the Opinionnaire led to the following conclusions:1. There was no significant effect on the ability of college choral ensemble members to sing melodic configurations at sight through the use of the MELODIOUS DICTATOR as measured by mean scores of two criterion posttests.2. Differences in criterion posttest mean scores between high and low ability groups were significant at the .05 level.3. The MELODIOUS DICTATOR assisted students in the development of their melodic dictation skills as measured by the difference between the first and last experiment total notes notated and total notes notated correctly. However, no relationship was found between success as measured by the MELODIOUS DICTATOR and the individual student's perception of success as measured by the Opinionnaire.4. Students did have a somewhat positive attitude toward the MELODIOUS DICTATOR as revealed by the Opinionnaire.While the MELODIOUS DICTATOR did not seem to improve sightsinging skills significantly, benefits of the CAI program were evident through direct contact between the program and the students. The need for supervision, tutoring, and maintenance was negligible. Students also expressed interest in other experiences with the microcomputer according to the results of the Opinionnaire.

Thesis (M.M.)--Cleveland State University, 2007. / Abstract. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on May 8, 2008). Includes bibliographical references (p. 75-82). Available online via the OhioLINK ETD Center. Also available in print.

Thesis (D.M.A.)--Rutgers University, 2010. / "Graduate Program in Music Education." Includes bibliographical references (p. 103-118).

Orientador: Ricardo Goldemberg / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Artes / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-16T11:07:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Silva_Ronaldoda_M.pdf: 808878 bytes, checksum: 6800d3965c9d9a3f8f855c245692dc32 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Resumo: Essa pesquisa é um estudo exploratório de natureza qualitativa, e tem como objetivo, analisar a relevância da leitura cantada e da audiação na vida do músico profissional. Inicialmente, apresentam-se dois olhares possíveis para o estudo da leitura cantada: o histórico e o psicológico. O primeiro dirige-se a uma revisão sintética e histórica da sistematização da escrita musical tradicional (a partir do século XI), tendo em vista a preocupação dos principais educadores musicais em facilitar o aprendizado musical, utilizando como uma das ferramentas, a leitura cantada. O segundo olhar, o psicológico, discute aspectos relativos à audiação, que engloba o pensamento musical consciente, expresso, como uma de suas formas, na possibilidade de leitura da partitura de maneira mental e autônoma. Diante da fundamentação teórica, foram colhidos depoimentos de seis músicos profissionais (dois instrumentistas, dois regentes e dois compositores), por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas, com o objetivo de conhecer suas experiências no campo da leitura cantada e da audiação, no período de formação musical e vida profissional. O resultado da análise de conteúdo dos dados coletados gerou um discurso do sujeito coletivo dos principais temas da pesquisa, no qual se verificou o papel colaborador da leitura cantada no processo da construção da audiação. Constatou-se também a necessidade de conscientização, por parte dos alunos, docentes e instituições de ensino, sobre a importância de se estimular a aquisição das competências aurais no aprendizado musical, por meio de disciplinas integradas, com conteúdos instigantes à audiação, a fim de proporcionar aos alunos o desenvolvimento cada vez maior de suas habilidades musicais / Abstract: This research is an exploratory study of qualitative nature, and aims to examine the relevance of sight-singing and audiation in the life of a professional musician. Initially, two possible views are presented for the study of sight-singing: historical and psychological. The former comprises a summarized historical review of the systematization of traditional musical notation (beginning in the 11th century) and concerns of the main musical educators to facilitate music learning using, among other tools, sight-singing. The psychological view discusses aspects regarding audiation, which comprises conscious musical thought, expressed, under one of its forms, in the possibility of reading a musical score in a mental and autonomous manner. Drawing upon this theoretical basis, statements of six professional musicians (two instrument players, two conductors, and two composers) were gathered through semi-structured interviews in order to know their experiences in the field of sight-singing and audiation, during their period of musical formation and professional life. The result of the analysis of the content of the gathered data provided a discourse of the collective subject of the main themes of the research, in which the auxiliary role of sight-singing in the process of construction of audiation was confirmed, as well as the need of awareness, on the part of students, professors and teaching institutions, of the importance of acquisition of aural competencies on the part of the students, by means of integrated subjects, with interesting contents, so as to constantly improve their musical abilities / Mestrado / Fundamentos Teoricos / Mestre em Música

No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to analyze and understand experienced choral directors' perceptions and beliefs on a variety of topics surrounding the teaching and learning of secondary choral music sight singing or sight reading. A focus group of eight highly successful college, high school and middle school choral music educators addressed seven questions. The investigation gathered qualitative data that covered the purposes of teaching sight singing, the positive or negative attributes of movable Do, fixed Do and numbers, and a review of sight-singing curricula. Further, the investigation gathered data on the effect, if any, of an instrumental student's sight-singing ability and the use and effectiveness of Curwen or Kodály hand signs and sight-singing assessment for students. Additional data was gathered concerning how secondary music educators were evaluated. Results suggested that the focus group's purpose in teaching sight singing was to produce independent, self-reliant musicians. Individual sight-singing assessment was deemed important and should focus on how singers progressed. Music composed specifically for sight-singing contests or festivals should contain challenging notes and rhythms, dynamic changes, phrase markings and at least one tempo or meter change. Further, music teacher evaluations were discussed, coded and analyzed. Twenty-nine recommendations are offered that are designed to make sight singing more efficient and more effective in today's choral music classrooms. While there are some very good sight-singing materials in print, music publishers who contemplate printing new instructional material should offer a holistic approach to musicianship. Adjudicators for choral sight-singing festivals and contests should be trained. Choirs entering a sight-singing performance should be adjudicated on musical elements such as meter changes, correct tempi, phrasing, tone, articulation and dynamics, not merely on performing the correct notes and rhythms. Many more recommendations were offered to secondary and college choir teachers, supervisors, contest chairmen, adjudicators, composers, music publishers and students. The investigation was not intended to determine a recommended method for sight-singing instruction nor assessment. The purpose of this study was to understand and analyze experienced choral directors' perceptions and beliefs concerning sight singing on secondary campuses.

Developing the music cognition competencies of both singers and instrumentalists is one of the goals of school music programs. Vocal and instrumental sight reading are used to indicate the level of development of cognitive skills in music. In this study, vocal and instrumental sight reading served as a basis for determining public school orchestra students' cognitive development in music. Vocal sight-reading and instrumental sight-reading performances of 143 orchestra students in 7th, 9th, and 11th grades were examined. Students' vocal sight-singing accuracy was tested using the Vocal Sight Reading Inventory (Henry, 1999). Students' instrumental sight-reading was assessed using the String Performance Rating Scale (Zdzinski & Barnes, 2002). The ANOVA procedure and the Welch test were applied to determine whether there was an improvement in students' vocal and instrumental sight reading with additional years of school orchestra experience. Results from ANOVA analyses indicated that the differences in students' instrumental sight-reading scores across the three grade levels were statistically significant [F (2,140) = 34.50], p < .01. A post hoc Bonferroni adjustment revealed that the differences between each of the groups were statistically significant (p < .05) in favor of older and more experienced students. For vocal sight reading, the Tamhane procedure revealed significant differences only between students at the 7th and 11th grade levels, also in favor of the older students (p < .05). Correlational analysis indicated that there was a strengthening of the relationship between students' vocal sight reading and instrumental sight reading as students progressed in grade level, indicating that they were continuing to develop their musicianship skills. The correlation between vocal sight-reading and instrumental sight-reading scores according to grade level were r = .36, p < .05 for 7th grade, r = .52, p < .01 for 9th grade, and r = .64, p < .01 for 11th grade. In this study I stressed the importance of both vocal sight-reading and instrumental sight-reading experiences for orchestra students and ultimately for all instrumental students. I also proposed theoretical models as to how the two skills are related and how they might be developed.

The focus of this study is on the relationships among three basic auditory representations as well as their interaction with a measure of overall musicianship (sight-singing) among a group of classical and non-classical university music students (N = 112) selected from three different universities. Students were enrolled in level one of an aural skills course at the time. Basic auditory representations included were tonic centrality, measured by Colwell’s (1968) Feeling for Tonal Center, tonal grouping, measured by Colwell’s (1968) Auditory-Visual Discrimination, and harmonic function grouping, measured by a revised version of Holahan, Saunders and Goldberg’s (2000) assessment. I evaluated relationships by correlating scores on each measure and also compared these relationships among classical and non-classical music students. The participants in this study were the most skilled at forming auditory representations of tonic centrality and non-classical musicians significantly (p = .002) outperformed classical musicians in this area. Tonic centrality was also most strongly correlated with overall musicianship (τ = .45, p < .001) within the sample, and this relationship appeared to be stronger among non-classical musicians (τ = .52, p < .001) than among classical musicians (τ = .39, p < .001). This difference may be accounted for by the increased reliance on grounding in a tonal center required by the musical activities of a typical non-classical music student. Given the changing balance of musical endeavors present in tertiary music schools today (Lehmann, Sloboda, & Woody, 2007), educators are encouraged to better understand the particular strengths non-classical musicians may bring to the classroom in terms of ear-based musical abilities. Likewise, music educators on each level are encouraged to incorporate ear-based activities such as improvisation and playing by ear to the benefit of musicians of all genres.