Instrumental Music Education Research Articles

Analyzing instrumental music education models: a four-dimension tool

While Instrumental Music Education (IME) is offered to students in most developed countries, its rationale and implementation differ significantly due to the sociocultural values and expectations of each society, which tend to remain implicit within educational policies. In this article, we argue that each society should be fully aware of the characteristics of their IME models, which requires self-reflection and careful examination of alternative models. To facilitate this process, we propose a framework to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of IME models. The field of comparative education provides strategies to analyze similarities and differences in policies around the world. With the goal of identifying the various dimensions involved in IME models, we provide a detailed analysis of three contrasting cases: Spain, the United States of America, and Singapore. The variables considered are educational philosophy, presence of IME within schools, curriculum and assessment, and teacher education. Based on a documentary analysis, these cases lead to the identification of four analytic dimensions: Accessibility, Value attributed to IME, Professionalization and Specialization, and Teacher’s Qualification and Requirements. We encourage policymakers around the world to utilize this four-dimension framework to gain awareness of the role IME plays in their respective countries.

Motivation in Instrumental Music Instruction Before and During the Remote Learning Phase Due to COVID-19 Crisis

This study, which is based on self-determination theory, compares the motivation and satisfaction of basic psychological needs of music students in instrumental lessons before and after the COVID-19-induced transition to online teaching and learning. We investigated whether, in addition to the satisfaction of students’ basic needs, teachers’ enthusiasm, experience with online teaching, and age can explain motivation in online lessons. Two independent groups of music students were surveyed: one group before (n = 856; Mage = 16.4, SD = 14.1) and the other group after the shift to enforced distance learning (n = 640; Mage = 16.7, SD = 13.8). The main findings are that intrinsic motivation in online learning was significantly lower, and controlled forms of motivation higher than before enforced distance learning. Furthermore, satisfaction of basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, which are essential for autonomous motivation, were lower in online learning. Regression analyses showed that 39% of the variance of intrinsic motivation for online learning could be explained by social relatedness, perceived teacher’s enthusiasm for teaching, and age.

Teaching Creative Musical Skills: Different Ways of Development in Instrumental Music Education

Empirical research provides an opportunity to examine the methods that flute teachers use in music lessons. A questionnaire survey is used to investigate these methods. Research questions are the following: how widespread the use of music creation exercises and games is and how much flute teachers use these exercises in their teaching practice. The research was conducted using the online questionnaire builder Survio and the multivariate scaling method by SPSS to evaluate the results. We expected a low score for creative music creation because of the lack of time and of methodological knowledge. According to the results, there is a need for a different approach to music education based on creative improvisation methods. Finally, some important suggestions that can be incorporated into the daily work of music teachers will be discussed.

THE METHOD OF RELATIVE SOLMIZATION IN UKRAINIAN AND FOREIGN MUSIC PEDAGOGY: THEORETICAL ASPECT

The article provides a historical overview of the use of the method of relative solmization, which is most effective at the initial stage of the development of children’s musical abilities, in Ukrainian and foreign music pedagogy. An attempt was made to systematically analyse the relative system of solmization, which was one of the factors in raising the level of school music education in Ukraine in the second half of the 20th century. The ways of revival and use of this method in the modern musical and aesthetic practice of secondary schools of Ukraine are revealed. It has been proven that the method of relative solmization in various variants and in combination with the absolute method is widely used in the practice of mass and special music education. Analysing the history of the music education development in Ukraine, we can assert that the method of the relative solmization, in various variations and combined with the absolute method, is widely applied in the practice of both mass and specialized music education. Some principles and methods of well-known contemporary music-educational concepts were known and developed in Ukraine long before their use abroad. The popularity of relative solmization depends on objective socio-historical changes and trends in the development of the musical community’s interest in vocal or instrumental music education. Analysing various adaptations of the relative solmization method within the context of national musical cultures allows us to conclude that the majority of the world musicians and educators cannot imagine the process of the general music education without using this method, especially in the early stages of developing children’s musical abilities based on national children’s folklore.

Teaching and learning musical instruments through ICT: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown

The COVID-19 lockdown in education institutions required music teachers to use ICT to continue teaching. This research study, with the use of a Likert type online questionnaire, analyses the ICT activities carried out during this period and the learning conceptions they reflect. The questionnaire consisted of the description of activities which varied, depending on the learning promoted (reproductive or constructive), the learning outcomes (verbal, procedural, or attitudinal), the type of assessment to which the activities were directed, and the presence of cooperative activities. The teachers had to indicate the frequency with which they carried out these activities. The questionnaire was completed by 254 instrumental music teachers from different types of institutions and different levels. The main study outcome was that teachers used reproductive activities more frequently than constructive ones. We also found that most activities were those favouring verbal learning and assessment. The cooperative activities were the least frequent. Finally, through a cluster analysis, we identified three teaching profiles depending on the frequency and type of ICT used: Passive, Active, and Interpretative. The variable that produced the most consistent differences was previous ICT use.

Educational Psychology-Based Strategy for Instrumental Music Teaching in Normal College.

The study is intended to explore the teaching mode of instrumental music teaching in normal college, so as to have qualified instrumental music teaching talents. Based on relevant content of educational psychology, the current instrumental music teaching model of normal college should be reformed in terms of curriculum content, teaching mode, and teaching methods, and a more systematic and standardized education model should be established. As per Orff’s music teaching method, a music recommendation model is established based on the convolutional neural network model to provide students with a positive and happy learning environment for instrumental music, and music materials that meet their personal preferences and performance level through user data. The outcomes show that the designed music recommendation model has a music recommendation accuracy rate of 0.3 and a recall rate of 0.29 when the recommendation list is 30, which conforms to the general rules of the music recommendation system. The study is expected to provide reference for establishment of a standardized and systematic instrumental music teaching strategy in normal college.

Musical achievement during a lockdown: The parental support miracle

The quality of parental support is recognized as a crucial factor in the early stages of a student’s development, and particularly in instrumental music education. At the start of 2020, the outbreak of a global pandemic crisis posed new and unprecedented challenges to education, forcing families to stay at home to prevent contagion. This investigation was conducted during the period of a COVID pandemic lockdown in Portugal. We explored whether parental support, provided during the lockdown period, was associated with their child’s achievement as reported by their instrumental music teacher. For this study, 39 parent–teacher dyads of first-grade students of an instrument music course were recruited from two public music conservatories. Parents supplied information on the frequency in which they provided student-support-related attitudes and actions in the home context. Simultaneously, teachers provided information about the student’s achievement during the lockdown compared with the previous in-person performance period. Results indicate a strong relationship between parental support and musical achievement, with students who received higher levels of supportive parental involvement performing better than before the pandemic crisis. The findings are discussed in relation to the importance of parental involvement in a child’s instrumental music education.

Status of Band and Orchestra Programs in North Carolina

The purpose of this study was to examine K–12 instrumental music education in North Carolina. Specifically, we investigated course offerings, teacher demographics, teaching responsibilities, and music program funding. We administered a survey to the members of the North Carolina Music Educators Association listserv who indicated band or orchestra as their teaching area. Participants identified themselves as teachers of orchestra ( n = 44), band ( n = 173), or a hybrid of both ( n = 17). Of schools that offered instrumental music, 95% offered band and 36% offered orchestra. More than 20% of orchestra teachers were “very likely to retire within 5 years.” The majority of teachers relied on fundraising to provide adequate music education for students. Results of this study were analyzed and compared to national averages reported in the Give a Note Foundation’s 2017 report: The Status of Music Education in United States Public Schools. Implications for orchestra teachers, music programs, music teacher preparation curriculum, and future research are discussed.

Innovative Ideas for the Teaching of Guzheng in Colleges and Universities based on the New Curriculum Reform

As a traditional musical instrument, the guzheng holds a very important status in the Chinese traditional culture. In recent years, with the increase of opportunities for exchanges and cooperation between the West and China, guzheng is rapidly favored in the foreign music circle. As the main institute for cultivating high-level talents in the society, the academic discipline of music in various universities should actively promote the education reform of guzheng based on the new curriculum reform combined with innovations and modifications of the national instrumental music teaching model to efficiently teach guzheng.

Inservice Music Educators’ Perceived Comfort for Teaching and Performing on Secondary Band Instruments

I surveyed inservice instrumental music educators ( N = 96) to determine their comfort level for teaching and performing on secondary band instruments. Research questions included the following: (a) How comfortable do inservice music educators feel teaching and performing on secondary instruments? (b) Does grade level affect educators’ comfort levels? (c) Does the educators’ primary instrument family relate to their perceived comfort level for teaching and playing on secondary instruments? and (d) Does the format of instrument classes during preparation programs influence educators’ comfort for teaching and playing secondary instruments? Participants reported moderate comfort on most instruments, with brass being most comfortable. Participants indicating woodwind as a primary instrument reported an overall higher comfort level for teaching and performing on brass instruments, whereas low comfort levels on double reeds. High school educators felt least comfortable teaching and performing on secondary instruments. Participants who took Split-Families and Semester-Families preservice classes felt more comfortable performing on secondary instruments versus those who took Individual-Instrument courses.

Instrumental Music Educators in a COVID Landscape: A Reassertion of Relationality and Connection in Teaching Practice.

For many countries instrumental music tuition in secondary schools is a ubiquitous event that provides situated and personalized instruction in the learning of an instrument. Opportunities and methods through which teachers operate during the COVID-19 outbreak challenged music educators as to how they taught, engaged, and interacted with students across online platforms, with alarm over aerosol dispersement a major factor in maintaining online instrumental music tuition even as students returned to “normal” face to face classes. This qualitative study investigated the practices employed by instrumental music educators in secondary schools in Melbourne, Australia, analyzing teacher perspectives to music tuition amidst the restriction of interaction with students remotely via online means. Thematic analysis of the interview transcripts revealed music educational approaches that fostered connection, empathy and receptiveness to relationship-building, guiding students in slower and deeper learner-centered approaches, asserting pedagogical practices that reinforced and promoted interpersonal connectedness in and through musical experience and discovery. These findings provide a framework for how music educators can facilitate connection, motivation and student autonomy generating personal meaning and commitment to music making and the learning relationship, which can translate to significant student learning and value in the learning music. Exploring teachers’ pedagogical practices and behaviors within this dyadic teacher-student relationship is a significant addition to the literature, enabling the consideration of the type of connective behaviors required to stimulate and develop long-term interest in music.

Theoretical Framework for Facilitating Young Musicians' Learning of Expressive Performance.

Since communication and expression are central aspects of music performance it is important to develop a systematic pedagogy of teaching children and teenagers expressiveness. Although research has been growing in this area a comprehensive literature review that unifies the different approaches to teaching young musicians expressiveness has been lacking. Therefore, the aim of this article is to provide an overview of literature related to teaching and learning of expressiveness from music psychology and music education research in order to build a new theoretical framework for teaching and learning expressive music performance in instrumental music lessons with children and teenagers. The article will start with a brief discussion of interpretation and expression in music performance, before providing an overview of studies that investigated teaching and learning of performance expression in instrumental music education with adults and children. On the foundation of this research a theoretical framework for dialogic teaching and learning of expressive music performance will be proposed and the rationale explained. Dialogic teaching can be useful for scaffolding young musicians’ learning of expressivity as open questions can stimulate thinking about the interpretation and may serve to connect musical ideas to the embodied experience of the learner. A “toolkit” for teaching and learning of expressiveness will be presented for practical application in music lessons. In addition, a theoretical model will be proposed to further our understanding of teaching and learning of expressive music performance as a multifaceted and interactive process that is embedded in the context of tutors’ and learners’ experiences and environment. Finally, implications of this framework and suggestions for future research will be discussed.

Narratives of versatility: Approaching multi-instrumentalist music teacher identities

Multi-instrumental musicianship appears in various musical traditions, also frequently figuring in systems of music teacher education. Multi-instrumentalism covers forms of musical creativity and versatile professionalism that differ from ideologies of specialization often emphasized in instrumental music education. Thus, it is relevant to ask whether and how multi-instrumentalism might also shape music teacher identities. This question was explored through a case study of three experienced multi-instrumental teachers in the Swedish system of Schools of Music and Performing Arts – exemplifying a context in which teachers have large freedom to shape their work. Teacher narratives were analyzed with reference to the binary oppositions between versatility versus specialization and musician versus teacher. The results show that multi-instrumentalist teachers may not only occupy subject positions as versatile all-round musicians, but that they may also carve their identities as specialized performers, or adopt teacher-focused identities such as gamemaster, coach, or counselor. Furthermore, for some teachers, the shifts between instruments may themselves involve shifts between such subject positions. Based on our findings, multi-instrumentalism appears as a potent teacher resource within educational systems which are extensively driven by students’ needs and interests.

Preservice Music Teacher Identity Construction Through Metaphor

I investigated how preservice instrumental music teachers understand and describe their teacher identity through the use of metaphor in a one-semester instrumental methods course emphasizing authentic context learning. Twenty-five third-year instrumental methods course music education students created a personal metaphor to explore their professional identity construction. Preservice teacher metaphors were revisited throughout the semester, while students participated in an authentic context learning experience in an urban instrumental music classroom. Data sources included student artifacts, informal interviews, and observation/field notes. The impact of teaching within an authentic learning context appears to enrich the ways in which preservice teachers are able to articulate details of their metaphor descriptions. Through their reflections across the semester, preservice teachers demonstrated how personal metaphors were used to restructure their understandings of teacher identity and capture some of the complexities of becoming teachers.

Evaluating the use of LoLa in European conservatoires: The SWING project

The research presented in this article reports on the SWING project, a qualitative case study initiated by The Association Européenne des Conservatoires, Académies de Musique et Musikhochschulen (AEC) into the use of LoLa (low-latency audio-visual streaming) for instrumental music teaching between conservatoires. LoLa is a software package that allows musicians to perform and interact together synchronously in real-time with high-quality audio, something not currently possible with standard videoconferencing platforms. LoLa is a relatively new technology and there is limited research available on how effective it is when used for instrumental music teaching. Trials of LoLa technology were conducted in three conservatoires in Austria, Italy and Slovenia in early 2019. Follow-up interviews were conducted with music teachers, students and technicians to understand their experiences of using the technology, what changes took place in the teaching, and to determine the potential and limitations of LoLa for teaching in conservatoires. Participants in the trials reported overall satisfaction with the system, with many being surprised at the high quality. The findings showed that LoLa can expand the possibilities for artistic development by facilitating synchronous interaction between teachers and students in different conservatoires. These possibilities include one-to-one lessons, group masterclasses, examinations, and opportunities to rehearse and perform synchronously with musicians from other institutions. This aligns with current research which calls for a reappraisal of the traditional one-to-one conservatoire studio lesson.

Constructive Controversy in an Instrumental Methods Classroom: An Exploratory Case Study

Abstract Mirroring the current polarized political climate in America and beyond, ideological debates in instrumental methods often occur absent attention to potential common ground. Using Hess and McAvoy’s (2014) pedagogical principles for engaging students in democratic educational practices as a conceptual framework, the purpose of this exploratory case study was to investigate preservice instrumental music teachers’ (N = 24) experiences during a semester-long constructive controversy project. Researchers analyzed the following data from 13 students: initial and ending journal reflections for all nine controversial topics, final course papers, and two semistructured interviews. The findings indicate that students’ high school experiences played a key role in how students engaged with the controversial topics. Students valued conflict; they not only appreciated hearing about but actively sought out contrasting perspectives. Yet, students did not necessarily value compromise, and these endeavors rarely resulted in individuals substantially changing their beliefs. Participants disagreed about whether the consensus-making process was easy or difficult, and they saw the resultant consensus statements as ranging from syntheses to midpoints. While most students saw listening as key to the constructive controversy process, not all of them felt heard by their classmates.

The perceived influence of the one-on-one instrumental learning environment on tertiary string students’ perceptions of their own playing-related discomfort/pain

AbstractThis article draws on qualitative data collected over a five-year period as part of a longitudinal mixed methods research project at a tertiary music institution in Australia. Forty tertiary string students consistently identified factors specific to the one-on-one instrumental teaching environment as influencing their perceptions as to the nature and causes of their playing-related discomfort pain. Student perceptions of individual teacher’s attitudes to pain and injury, experiences with regards to asking and receiving advice and the perceived influence of the first instrumental teacher are discussed using six examples. The paper concludes with several recommendations for instrumental music teachers and music institutions.

Verbal Behaviors of Instrumental Music Teachers in Secondary Classrooms: A Review of Literature

The purpose of this article was to review and synthesize research literature on the verbal behaviors of secondary school band and orchestra teachers in their classrooms. A comprehensive search of four journal indices was conducted, which resulted in 35 studies that met the inclusion criteria and were therefore included in this review. A wide range of results were found with regard to teacher talk. A comparison of rates of teacher talk suggests that teachers used more verbal instruction when working with younger and more inexperienced ensembles. Additionally, novice teachers used more teacher talk than experienced teachers. Effective teachers gave more specific feedback and had a greater percentage of completed rehearsal frames. However, teachers varied in the amount of positive and negative feedback they gave. Vocal modeling and questioning seem to be areas of verbal instruction that were underused by teachers of all experience levels in previous research.

Research on Aesthetic Education in Instrumental Music Teaching

Research on Aesthetic Education in Instrumental Music Teaching

Instructional Expertise and Micropolitics: The Social Networks of Instrumental Music Teachers

The purpose of this study was to understand the social networks of three instrumental music teachers in a midwestern school district. Research questions were (1) How do instrumental music teachers describe their formal/instructional networks? and (2) How do instrumental music teachers’ social networks differ by career stage? I used a qualitative ego network design to map social networks of information sharing with a focus on the flow of social capital. Data sources included a name-generating questionnaire to construct networks and two semistructured interviews focusing on the nature and significance of teachers’ ties. Findings suggest that social networks showed particularities in terms of number of ties and tie strength. On matters of instruction, participants sought out music teachers whom they respected or who possessed specialized knowledge. Participants spoke of the importance of forging micropolitical ties to secure needs related to resources and scheduling, using ties strategically. Finally, participants felt that networks differed by career stage with advice seeking decreasing over time and networks becoming more close-knit. Implications are offered for music teachers and music teacher educators.