University Music Students Research Articles

Factors Affecting University Music Students' Perceptions of Lesson Quality and Teaching Effectiveness

The purpose of this study was to determine what effect, if any, music teacher classroom delivery skills or lesson content had on university music students' perceptions of lesson or teacher appeal by student academic standing. Subjects were 511 university students studying music at three moderate-size universities located in the American Midwest and East. Subjects viewed one of two videotapes that contained four randomly placed teaching episodes of approximately 4 minutes in duration. Each of the two tapes contained four lessons, as follows: one lesson with good classroom delivery skills and good lesson content, one with good skills and poor content, another with poor skills and good content, and one with poor skills and poor content. Subjects were directed to evaluate each teaching episode immediately after it was viewed using a researcher-developed questionnaire. Significant differences found among subject responses indicated that student interest and preference ratings varied not only by student academic standing but also by music teacher classroom delivery technique and lesson content quality.

An Occupational Study of Physical Playing-related Injuries in College Music Students

Several studies have been conducted on the playing-related physical injuries of college music students. In this study, a client-centered, occupation-based survey was administered to music majors at a large midwestern university. The primary objectives of the study were to examine which health professionals were consulted by this population, and to determine student satisfaction with any treatment they might have received. Secondary objectives included evaluating students’ perceptions of the need for professionals with specialized knowledge of music and musicians, and examining the lifetime prevalence of playing-related injuries in this population. The survey response rate was 92.3% (108/117). Ninety-three respondents (87.7%) of 106 indicated that they had experienced playing-related injuries at some time in their lives. Forty-four percent of students who reported playing-related injuries had consulted health professionals (41/93), while only 24.7% had sought treatment from health professionals. Of the 93 students who reported a playing-related injury, 41.9% (39) had consulted either an occupational therapist, a physical therapist, or an athletic trainer, compared with 58.1% who had consulted other health care professionals listed in the questionnaire. 86.9% of the students were satisfied with the treatment they received, and those who felt better immediately after treatment were also more likely to feel better at the time of the study. The majority of the respondents (79%) felt that musical knowledge was important in health professionals who might treat their injuries. Occupational therapy, an allied health profession that has a holistic and client-centered treatment philosophy, is discussed in relation to the treatment of injuries in this population.

An Occupational Study of Physical Playing-related Injuries in College Music Students

An Occupational Study of Physical Playing-related Injuries in College Music Students

The Planning Behaviours of Musicians Engaging Traditional and Non-Traditional Scores

This study investigated the planning strategies of university music students learning a traditionally and non-traditionally notated score. After completing a modified form of the SPQ, participants read two musical scores on a PC, one line at a time. Reading times for each line were taken, as were reaction times to a secondary probe. At the completion of each score, participants verbalised how they would go about learning the score to a level of performance competence. Protocols were scored for the presence of higher-level, mid-level and lower-level strategies, and for the level of focus in planning. Path analyses, with planning focus as the outcome measure, were conducted for each score. In both sets of analyses, reference to higher-level processing strategies predicted a higher planning focus, while a deep approach predicted higher-level strategy use. For the traditional score, surface learning was a negative predictor of high-level strategies, while a longer reading time was a positive predictor of higher-level strategy use. For the non-traditional score, both highand mid-level strategies predicted a higher focus, while low-level strategies predicted a lower focus. Familiarity with graphic notation, through mid-level strategies, also predicted focus. The implications of the results for the teaching of music are discussed.

Physical and mental practices of music students as they relate to the occurrence of music-related injuries

The purpose of this study was two-fold: To obtain descriptive information regarding general physical and mental habits of music students and to ascertain if there are any associations between specific daily activities or habits and the appearances of these injuries. Questionnaires were distributed to three hundred music students at Boston University. Of the 45 respondents, 19 students were willing to participate in an interview. Descriptive statistics were analyzed and comparisons were made to a similar study which was conducted at New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts (Hagglund, K., Unpublished study, 1994). The results suggest that Boston University music students follow expected trends reported in previous research (Fishbein and Middlestadt, 1988; Manchester and Fielder, 1991; Hagglund, 1994). Eighty two percent (n=37) of the respondents were performance majors and the majority of them began playing their instrument at age 10. Out of the 45 respondents, 28 were female of whom 68% (n=19) reported having a music-related injury. Of the remaining 17 males, 53% (n=9) reported also having a music-related injury. Sophomores and juniors accounted for 15 (54%) of the total 28 musicians with injuries in this study. The typical practice habits that were described by the respondents included 2 h sessions, with 10-15 min breaks each hour. Most musicians disclosed to occasionally playing their instruments even when experiencing pain. RESULTS from this study suggest that as the hours spent playing increased, so did the incidence of injury. Medical attention from neurologists, general practitioners, performing arts specialists and laryngologists was pursued by 18 (64%) of the 28 injured musicians. Sixty-one percent of the respondents with injuries saw more than one rehabilitation specialists, including physical therapists (50%); Alexander/Feldenkrais teachers (44%) and massage therapists (28%). More than one treatment method was given to 74% of the injured. These treatment methods included methods such as: Altering posture, habits or playing technique, exercise and stretching, rest, ice and massage. Satisfaction in career and the ability to live up to self expectations was high, while performance anxiety was not bothersome for 82% of the respondents. Fifty-two percent reported reacting well to stress and 44% described having an average level of self-consciousness. Most respondents (89%) participated in some type of physical fitness, most exercising either one (30%) or three (23%) days a week, and 75% reported that they stretch prior to playing. This study provides information on the general habits of music studtents which can be beneficial to rehabilitation specialists, as well as other medical professionals treating musicians. By understanding the lifestyles and dynamics of being a musician, rehabilitation specialists can devise better individualized intervention and preventative strategies. Unfortunately, musicians remain uninformed on the current treatments, rehabilitation approaches, and most importantly the predisposing and preventative factors of music-related injuries. Occupational therapists, physical therapists and other rehabilitation specialists can and should be the professionals to provide guidance to the population of musicians on the above mentioned factors.

Effects of Performing Conditions on Music Performance Anxiety and Performance Quality

The purpose of this study wee twofold: (a) To determine if there is a difference in physiological and psychological responses that measure performance anxiety between nonjury and jury conditions, and (b) to examine how open and double-blind jury conditions affect physiological, psychological, and behavioral components of performance anxiety and performance quality of music students. Sixty-four college music students in each of five instrumental areas and one vocal area participated in this study. The experiment was a pretest-posttest control group design with matching. Dependent variables were heart rate, scores of the State Anxiety scale of the State-Trait Anxiety inventory (STAI), performance quality ratings by judges, and behavior analysis of videotaped students' performances. Results showed significant increases in heart rate (F = 130.01, df = 1, p = .0001) and STAI scores (F = 23.92, df = 1, p = .0001) between non-jury and jury conditions, but no significant differences (F (4, 59) = .95, p = .444) occurred in heart rate, STAI scores, behavior, and performance quality due to open and blind jury conditions. Further analysis showed no association among variables suggesting that there may be different types of performance anxiety.

Creativity profile of university and conservatory music students

Abstract: Music students in conservatories appear to be driven, single minded, highly gifted individuals. Little research has been done concerning the differences, if any, between music students who choose to study in conservatory settings and those who choose a university. The creative potential, preference for high energy activities, and personality characteristics of music majors at the New England Conservatory of Music and at the University of Wisconsin were compared. Instruments used were: Barron‐Welsh Revised Art Scale, Adjective Check List (ACL) Creativity Scales, Drawing Task, and Action Preference Test. Results indicated that the conservatory students scored significantly higher on the Action Preference test than the university music students; otherwise the two populations appeared very similar. The 63 music students were significantly more creative than normative groups but not as creative as art students. They were distinctly different from norm groups on 19 scales of the ACL. Their preference ...

Effects of Different Practice Conditions on Advanced Instrumentalists' Performance Accuracy

The purpose of this study was to examine the relative effects of five practice conditions on instrumentalists' performance of a musical composition. The authors assigned 60 college music students to one of five practice conditions and asked them to perform the composition after a brief practice session. Practice conditions were modeling, singing, silent analysis, free practice, and control. The authors evaluated each subject's performance in terms of correct notes, rhythms, phrasing or dynamics, articulation, and tempo. The authors found significant differences among the practice techniques in subjects' performance of correct rhythms, phrasing or dynamics, and tempo and nonsignificant differences among subjects' performances of correct notes and articulation. Further analysis demonstrated that modeling and practice were most effective in facilitating mastery of the selection. Singing and silent analysis were, in general, no more effective than sight-reading, with the exception of subjects in the silent analysis group, who were more accurate in their performance of the rhythms of the selection.

Project Experience

Children, who otherwise would not have had music teachers, experienced music though ‘Project Experience’, a co-operative music education laboratory designed by the University of New Mexico Department of Music and the Albuquerque, New Mexico, Public School District. ‘Project Experience’ provided university music students with the opportunity to teach music to children prior to student teaching practice; raised the consciousness of parents, teachers, and students about the importance of music in the schools; and assisted in easing the pinch upon a school district forced to tighten its financial belt.

Relationship between music therapy students' contact with and attitude toward disabled persons.

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which the amount and type of contact with disabled persons affects student attitudes toward these individuals. University music therapy students (N = 67) were divided into four groups: Group 1 acted as a no-contact control. Group 2 viewed videotapes of disabled persons and received information about clients viewed. Group 3 observed music therapy sessions and participated in post-session feedback, and Group 4 planned, conducted, and evaluated actual music therapy clinic sessions. After pretesting with Nelson's Musical Interaction Scale, students participated in assigned therapy training sessions 3 hours per week for 12 weeks, followed by posttesting with the same measurement scale. Multivariate analysis of covariance using pretest scores as covariates revealed no significant group differences on the Musical Interaction Scale subscales due to degree and type of client contact or to students' academic class. The article discusses the impact of these results on clinical training.

Effects of Rhythmic and Melodic Alterations and Selected Musical Experiences on Rhythmic Processing

This study investigated the psychological dimensions underlying auditory processing of monotonic and melodic-rhythmic patterns, and influences of musical experiences on the dimensionality of 38 university music students' rhythmic processing. Apparent alterations in tempo, duration and pitch characteristics, melodic and rhythmic phrase patterning, and monotony were shown to be organizers of rhythmic processing. Both major performing instrument and classification of major performing instrument significantly affected the dimensionality of subjects' rhythmic processing. Analyses of variance also showed slight effects of generic style music listening preference, music course experience, and hours music listening on rhythmic processing. The importance of each organizer for subjects depended in part on the objective ordering of the rhythmic and tonal information, and in part on past musical experiences.

Performance of musicians under noise.

Three groups of 10 college music students were exposed to different noise treatments while completing simple math problems. No significant differences were noted between groups.

A Naive Minority of One and Deliberate Majority Mismatches of Tonal Stimuli

Individual conformity to deliberately erroneous majority judgments of pitch and loudness was investigated. A group of 136 university music students, randomly assigned to experimental or control groups, evaluated 18 pitch or loudness items by publicly indicating, after hearing responses of four confederates, which of three tones matched a standard. Results included a .30 overall conformity rate in the experimental group for pitch and a .49 rate for loudness. Comparisons between groups and intrapersonal comparisons generally are highly significant. It was concluded that music students may defy their sensory inputs and yield to erroneous peer judgments. Results of other studies suggesting greater conformity with more ambiguous stimuli are partially confirmed.

A Naive Minority of One and Deliberate Majority Mismatches of Tonal Stimuli

Individual conformity to deliberately erroneous majority judgments of pitch and loudness was investigated. A group of 136 university music students, randomly assigned to experimental or control groups, evaluated 18 pitch or loudness items by publicly indicating, after hearing responses of four confederates, which of three tones matched a standard. Results included a .30 overall conformity rate in the experimental group for pitch and a .49 rate for loudness. Comparisons between groups and intrapersonal comparisons generally are highly significant. It was concluded that music students may defy their sensory inputs and yield to erroneous peer judgments. Results of other studies suggesting greater conformity with more ambiguous stimuli are partially confirmed.

An Investigation of the Use of the Musical Aptitude Profile with College and University Freshman Music Students

An Investigation of the Use of the Musical Aptitude Profile with College and University Freshman Music Students

Implications for the Use of the Musical Aptitude Profile with College and University Freshman Music Students

Implications for the Use of the <i>Musical Aptitude Profile</i> with College and University Freshman Music Students