Music Education Majors’ Confidence in Teaching Improvisation

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe undergraduate music education majors’ confidence in teaching improvisation, according to the NAfME (National Association for Music Education) K–12 Achievement Standards. Subjects were 196 undergraduate music education majors at a public university school of music. Combined subjects reported “moderate confidence” for teaching Grade K–4 standards of improvisation, “slight” to “moderate confidence” for Grades 5 to 8 standards, and “slight confidence” for teaching improvisation standards at the Grades 9 to 12 levels, and significant differences were found among the means for all three grade levels. Confidence increased by year in school (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) and by primary instrument area (woodwind, brass, voice, piano, string, percussion). Subjects reported “slight” to “moderate confidence” in their own ability to improvise but “moderate” to “great interest” in learning more about how to teach improvisation. Implications for music teacher education are discussed.