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A Comparison of Three Teaching Procedures Used in The Development of Improving Intonation in Clarinet Performance

This study assessed the relative efficiency of three teaching procedures used in the development of improving intonation in clarinet performance. The three treatment procedures used included the Beat Method, the C. G. Conn Stroboscope and Johnson Intonation Trainer. During the six weeks study, all ~s participated in two forty-five minute lessons per week. Intonation procedures were studied for fifteen minutes each lesson while other playing problems were discussed for the remaining time. Instruction time totaled nine hours per group. All Ss continued class work with their school music teacher. The experimental design also included a No Contact Control Group which received no special instruction during the six weeks. Standardized tests using specific items and methods needed for this study were not available. This necessitated the construction of tests by the writer (Appendix A, Band C). A Test Reliability GroupE (N = 15), took the test twice with ten days between testing periods. Other schools were randomly assigned to one of the treatment groups, (a) No Cor;tact Control Group A (N = 12), (b) Beat Method Group B (N = 15), (c) C. G. Conn Stroboscope Group C (N = 12 ) , and (d) Johnson Intonation Trainer Group D (N = 15). All groups participated in a pretest and posttest. The Johnson Intonation Trainer was used to produce a constant pitch while the C. G. Conn Stroboscope measured the degree of out-of-tuneness during testing procedures. Instructions for the test were read to minimize variation. The test orientation consisted of three parts (a) Identification of Beats (A p p e n d i X A) ' ( b ) p i t c h Memo r y u~ p p e n d i X B ) ' ( c) Tu n i n g t 0 s e 1 e c t e d Pitches while playing the clarinet (Appendix G). The analysis of variance was used to compute the data. Ss were unable to tune to specified pitches without practicing systematic procedures on how to accomplish this task. Subjects were unable to change pitches more than .05 of a semitone in the pretest. Tuning to Specified Pitches. After treatment, the ability to change pitches up to .25 of a semi tone was accomplished. Clarinet players, considered technically less proficient by their teachers, also accomplished matching pitches on the pretest as accurately as advanced players. This study strongly confirms the thesis that students can learn to play 1n tune through using 11systematic procedures11 with the cooperative. efforts of teachers . It is also concluded that the procedures used in the 11Beat Method11 are significantly better than other procedures tested.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UTAHS/oai:digitalcommons.usu.edu:etd-3152
Date01 May 1973
CreatorsEricksen, K. Earl
PublisherDigitalCommons@USU
Source SetsUtah State University
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceAll Graduate Theses and Dissertations
RightsCopyright for this work is held by the author. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information contact Andrew Wesolek (andrew.wesolek@usu.edu).

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