The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of instructing beginning violin students in the initial lessons with long bow-strokes as compared to short bow-strokes in terms of production of a different level of tone quality, bowing problems encountered, and length of bow-strokes typically used.There were sixteen fifth- and sixth-grade subjects in the study sample: nine in the experimental group and seven in the control group. The subjects were of average intelligence and were from lower or lower-middle socio-economic levels of a midwestern town. Subjects in both groups were taught in like manner by the same instructor except for instructions on how to draw the bow in the initial lessons. The nine students in the experimental group were taught to use long bow-stroke: in the initial lessons; the seven students in the control group were taught to use short bow-strokes in the middle area of the bow in the initial lessons.Because none of the subjects had previously received violin lessons, there was no pretest. The Gaston Test of Musicality and the Lorge-Thorndike Intelligence Tests were utilized as covariates in the study. After sixteen weeks of instruction, the subjects were administered a posttest of tone quality consisting of three melodies of different levels of difficulty performed two times for a total of six replications. The tone quality samples were arranged in random order on an edited tape and evaluated by four judges. During the posttest, the researcher evaluated the typical length of bow stroke used by subjects. Bowing problems encountered during the study were also reported by the researcher.Statistical processing of the data consisted of a five-way partial hierarchical analysis of covariance using intelligence test scores and musicality test scores as covariates. A 2 x 2 x 3 x 4 design was employed with the independent variables being the method of instruction, the performance of each melody, the level of difficulty of melodies performed, the judges, and the subjects nested within methods Factors and interactions were tested by the F ratio at the .05 level of confidence.The study was designed to answer one null hypothesis and two research questions. The null hypothesis was as follows:1. After sixteen weeks of instruction, there will be no significant difference in the tone quality of beginning violin students employing the long bow-stroke approach in the initial lessons as compared to students employing the short bow-stroke approach.The research questions were as follows:After sixteen weeks of instruction, does the beginning violin student who is taught by the long bow-stroke approach actually use longer bow-strokes than does the student taught by the short bow-stroke approach?Does the beginning violin student who is taught by the long bow-stroke approach experience more bowing problems than does the student taught by the short bow-stroke approach:The null hypothesis was accepted and the two research questions were answered affirmatively. Review of the data led to the following conclusions:There was no significant difference in the tone quality of the two groups after sixteen weeks of instruction. It could be inferred that the experimental group produced a more consistent level of tone quality at this stage of development.Forty-four percent of the experimental group developed the use of long bow-strokes by the conclusion of the study as compared to fourteen percent of the control group. The mean length bow-stroke of the experimental group was also substantially greater than the mean length bow-stroke of the control group.Three students in the experimental group encountered four bowing problems while one student in the control group encountered one bowing problem. The circular bowing problem, which is difficult to correct, was encountered by two subjects in the experimental group. Students trained by the long bow-stroke approach encountered substantially more bowing problems than students trained by the short bow-stroke approach. However, there did not appear to be a relationship between length of bow-stroke used by individuals after sixteen weeks of study and encountering bowing problems.Neither method of instruction was clearly superior. The level of tone quality resulting from the two methods of instruction was not significantly different. The long bow-stroke approach resulted in the development of longer bow strokes and a more consistent level of tone quality but resulted in more bowing problems. The short bow-stroke approach resulted in the development of shorter bow strokes but resulted in fewer bowing problems.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/177830 |
| Date | January 1973 |
| Creators | Lowe, Harold L. |
| Contributors | Albright, Philip H. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | vii, 117 leaves : ill., music ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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