Peer connectedness in the middle school band program

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-135
Author(s):  
Jared R. Rawlings ◽  
Sarah A. Stoddard

Previous research suggests that students participating in school-based musical ensembles are more engaged in school and more likely to connect to their peers in school; however, researchers have not specifically investigated peer connectedness among adolescents in school-based music ensembles. The purpose of this study was to explore middle school band students’ perceptions of peer connectedness. Participants ( N = 317) indicated moderately high levels of peer connectedness both within the concert band and school. Levels of peer connectedness differed between schools; however, no statistical difference was found by grade/band level or SES. Suggestions for future research and implications for youth development and music education professions are discussed.

Author(s):  
Matthew A. Boswell

A common rationale for the continued existence and support of music education in schools has been the development of skills and attitudes leading to a lifetime of music-making for all students. Therefore, the purpose of this review of literature was to examine previous research on adult participation in large ensemble (i.e., band, choir, or orchestra) community music settings. The research literature included in this study was summarized and presented according to three broad categories: (a) status studies of both demographic information and the music backgrounds of large ensemble community music participants; (b) the motivations encouraging or discouraging such participation; and (c) potential issues, both concrete and philosophical, in what Jellison (2000) termed the transition between school-based music and that of the adult world. Implications for music educators and potential ideas for future research are discussed.


Author(s):  
Alec D. Scherer

The purpose of this study was to examine inservice high school band directors’ perceptions and applications of democratic rehearsal procedures in concert band rehearsals. Respondents ( N = 216) were members of the National Association for Music Education who were currently teaching concert band at the high school level. Respondents indicated that “identify and describe opportunities for individual and ensemble performance improvement” and “student-led sectionals” were considered the most important democratic rehearsal procedures for their students to experience. These same procedures were also the most frequently used democratic rehearsal procedures. Analysis of open-ended responses revealed that respondents believed student ownership, student engagement, and student growth as musicians and leaders were advantages to implementing democratic rehearsal procedures. Potential disadvantages included issues related to student ability, rehearsal time limitations, unfamiliar classroom dynamics, and availability of classroom resources. Implications for music teachers are discussed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
James L. Byo

This purpose of this study was to uncover the nature and value associated with involvement in “Modern Band” (rock band), the primary, not supplemental, means to music education in one US school. The values that emerged—music, community, identity, teacher, and classroom management—overlap considerably with the benefits and values identified by adolescents in traditional concert band, orchestra, and choir. These results provide data worthy of consideration as readers ponder the viability of rock band as a medium of school-based music education and a way to connect meaningfully with more secondary-school students. Evidence suggests that if there are reasons to reject the rock band, the source for the skepticism should not be the values accrued and identified by its participants. This case is an example of meaningful, authentic, and valuable music education that is positioned between the extremes of formal and informal learning, process and product orientation, and teacher- and student-centered pedagogy.


2015 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 298-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. Hewitt

In the present study, relationships between two components of self-regulation (self-efficacy and self-evaluation) and gender, school level, instrument family, and music performance were examined. Participants were 340 middle and high school band students who participated in one of two summer music camps or who were members of a private middle school band program. Students indicated their level of self-efficacy for playing a musical excerpt before performing it and then self-evaluated their performance immediately afterward. Findings suggest that there is a strong and positive relationship between self-efficacy and both music performance and self-evaluation. There was also a strong negative relationship between self-evaluation calibration bias and music performance, indicating that as music performance ability increased, students were more underconfident in their self-evaluations. Gender differences were found for self-evaluation calibration accuracy, as female students were more accurate than males at evaluating their performances. Middle school males were more inclined than females to overrate their self-efficacy and self-evaluation as compared to their actual music performance scores. These gender differences were reversed for high school students. There were no other statistically significant findings.


1975 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence Anderson

The primary purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of stage band versus concert band music literature on the development of musicality and aesthetic sensitivity. Accordingly, pre-instruction and post-instruction tests were administered to approximately 600 band students in six Contra Costa County, California, high schools during the 1971–1972 academic year. There was no significant difference in musicality between the band organizations as evidenced by test scores on the Gaston Test of Musicality. There was, however, a pervasive superiority in favor of the concert bands on the California Test of Aesthetic Judgments in Music. An important observation drawn from the data is that individuals exposed exclusively or partially to concert band literature attained the primary goal of music education—the development of aesthetic sensitivity to music. In this area, they did better than the stage band students.


2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-354
Author(s):  
Martin Norgaard ◽  
Laura A. Stambaugh ◽  
Heston McCranie

Research investigating links between academic achievement and active music instruction has not previously differentiated between different types of instruction. In the current study, 155 seventh- and eighth-grade middle school band students were divided into two groups. Both groups received 2 months of instruction in jazz phrasing, scales, and vocabulary, but only the experimental group was taught to improvise. All instruction was part of the warm-up routine in regular band classes. All students were tested before and after instruction on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (cognitive flexibility) and the classic Stroop task (inhibitory control). At posttest, eighth-grade students in the experimental group scored significantly better on cognitive flexibility with a smaller percentage of perseverative errors, whereas the treatment had no effect on seventh-grade students on this outcome. Seventh graders, but not eighth graders, in the experimental group increased their posttest scores for inhibitory control, though this result was only marginally significant. In relation to previous research, the current results strongly suggest that far-transfer effects of active music participation depend on the nature of the instruction. Results of prior and future studies should therefore be interpreted in light of the type of music-making engaged by participants.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 38-47
Author(s):  
Jason P. Cumberledge

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived influence of social media on high school band students’ future decision to participate in a college marching band. Participants ( N = 158) were high school band students. Results indicated that social media could be influential in high school band students’ decision to participate in a college marching band, as high social media usage rates were reported. Results also indicated that personal communication, such as face-to-face conversations with family and friends and direct email contact from band directors, strongly influenced their decision to join a college marching band. These results suggest that recruitment strategies containing direct modes of communication resonate with prospective college students. Suggestions for future research are provided, as social media technology is quickly evolving and investigations are needed to guide and inform the recruitment practices of college marching band programs.


2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew D. Schatt

The purposes of this study were to examine factors that motivate middle school band students to practice their instrument and to validate a researcher-modified survey instrument for use with middle school music students, using self-determination theory as a theoretical lens. Fifth (10–11 years old, n = 444) and eighth grade (13–14 years old, n = 352) band students from the state of Ohio, United States’ public school districts completed a researcher-modified questionnaire that was used to collect data to determine (a) students’ levels of self-determination for practicing their instrument, (b) the relationship between students’ self-determination for practicing their instrument and the number of years they have played their instrument, (c) the relationship between students’ self-determination for practicing their instrument and the amount of time they reported practicing their instrument per week, and (d) the effect of grade level, gender, instrument choice, and private lesson study on the students’ self-determination for practicing their instrument. Positive significant relationships ( p < .05) were found between middle school band student participants’ motivation to practice and (a) their years of experience playing their instrument, and (b) the amount of time spent practicing. Significant differences were also found for the variables (a) grade level for six of the seven self-determination subscales, (b) gender for two intrinsic and one extrinsic motivation subscales, (c) instrument for one intrinsic, two extrinsic, and the amotivation subscales, and (d) private lesson study for one intrinsic motivation and the amotivation subscales.


2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 419-435
Author(s):  
Stephanie Prichard

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of music practice instruction on middle school band students’ ability to articulate and incorporate practice strategies. Participants were middle school band students at a large suburban middle school ( N = 105). Using a pretest–posttest quasi-experimental design, participants were divided into control ( n = 53) and experimental ( n = 52) groups. Participants in the experimental group received 3 weeks of practice strategy instruction during ensemble warm-up time, and the control group continued with their typical warm-up routine. Pretest and posttest data included self-reported practice strategy lists ( N = 105) and video of individual practice sessions ( n = 20). Both self-reported and video data were coded and analyzed using descriptive statistics as well as pretest–posttest within-groups comparisons. Thirteen hours of video data were further analyzed using an observational measure of self-regulation. Analyses revealed that experimental group participants identified and utilized significantly more practice strategies following the instructional intervention. Posttest experimental group practice sessions also revealed a more mature approach to practicing, including more strategic behaviors, greater variety in musical objectives, and longer periods spent focused on short excerpts of music. Implications for future research and middle school instrumental classroom practice are discussed.


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