Parental Involvement, Selected Student Attributes, and Learning Outcomes in Instrumental Music

This study examined relationships among selected aspects of parental involvement as they relate to the cognitive, affective, and performance outcomes of instrumental music students. Independent variables were music aptitude, parental involvement, grade level, and gender. Dependent variables were cognitive musical outcomes, performance outcomes, and affective outcomes. Subjects were instrumental music students ( N = 406) from five intact band programs located in rural New York and Pennsylvania. Wind and percussion volunteers from Grades 4 through 12 participated. Data were examined using descriptive analysis, correlational analysis, and analysis of variance. Major findings included: (1) Parental involvement was related to overall performance, affective, and cognitive musical outcomes. (2) For cognitive musical outcomes, parental involvement was only related at the elementary level. (3) For musical performance outcomes, parental involvement was only related at the elementary level. (4) For affective outcomes, the strength of the parental involvement relationship increased with student age. (5) Items concerning concert attendance, providing materials, participating in parent groups, and tape-recording student performances were related to all outcome areas

Relationships Among Parental Involvement, Music Aptitude, and Musical Achievement of Instrumental Music Students

This study examined relationships among selected aspects of parental involvement, music aptitude, musical achievement, and performance achievement. Subjects were 113 wind instrumentalists from four north-central Pennsylvania middle schools. Variables were defined through a researcher-constructed measure of parental involvement (PIM), the tonal and rhythmic imagery subtests of the Music Aptitude Profile (Gordon, 1965), selected sub-tests of the Music Achievement Tests (Colwell, 1969), and the Watkins-Farnum Performance Scale (Walkins & Farnum, 1954). Data were analyzed through correlation and MANOVA procedures. Results indicated (1) no significant relationship between parental involvement (as measured by student responses) and performance achievement; (2) a relationship of little practical significance between parental involvement and both musical achievement and musical aptitude; (3) a strong relationship between music aptitude and both musical achievement and performance achievement; and (4) a significant three-way interaction for performance achievement among parental involvement, music aptitude, and gender

Cited Quantitative Research Articles in Music Education Research Journals, 1975–1990: A Content Analysis of Selected Studies

In this article, we identified those studies that were cited most often in research articles published in the Journal of Research in Music Education, the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Psychology of Music, the Journal of Music Therapy, Contributions to Music Education, and the Missouri Journal of Research in Music Education between 1975 and 1990. Sampling was limited to citations within descriptive or experimental studies (N = 922) that were data-based. A content analysis of the 26 most cited studies was conducted, and the articles were classified according to populations studied and central variables used. Results indicated that primary dependent variable categories included music preference, student on-task/off-task behavior, perception and/or performance of tempo, vocal performance, pitch accuracy/intonation, melodic or rhythmic perception, teacher approval-disapproval behavior, student attitudes, and evaluation of teaching/instruction. The most frequent independent variables used across the 26 studies included musical stimulus characteristics (e.g., tempo, style), teacher behaviors (e.g., approval-disapproval, eye contact), instructional methods, and subject characteristics (e.g., grade level, training/experience)

Development and Validation of a String Performance Rating Scale

The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable assessment measure for stringed instrument performance. In the initial phase of the investigation, a total of 90 suitable statements were generated for the initial item pool gathered from essays, statements, and previously constructed rating scales. These statements were put into the a priori categories determined by previous research. These items were paired with Likert-type scales and used by 50 judges to assess 100 recorded string performances at the middle school through high school level. The results of the initial item pool were factor-analyzed using a varimax rotation. Five factors were identified (interpretation/musical effect, articulation/tone, intonation, rhythm/tempo, and vibrato), and 28 items were selected for the subscales of the String Performance Rating Scale (SPRS) based on factor loadings. Reliability varied from .873 to .936 for each judging panel using Hoyt's analysis of variance procedure. Two studies were conducted to establish criterion related validity, with zero-order correlations ranging from .605 to .766 between the SPRS and two other rating scales