Comparing Time Use and Teacher Behaviors in Beginning and Advanced Middle School Band Settings: An Exploratory Study

The purpose of this study was to compare teachers’ time use and teaching behaviors including teacher talk, modeling, physical location/proximity to students, conducting, and instructional choices in middle school (Grades 6–8) beginning and advanced band settings, with the goal of identifying practices that are specific or unique to each setting. Participants ( N = 5) were expert middle school teachers who were recorded while teaching a heterogeneous beginning band and an advanced band class. I compared episodes of teacher and student behaviors including instruction, modeling, group/individual performance, and student talk, documenting frequency and time use in both settings. Results indicated differences in frequency and time for all observed episodes, with differences supporting greater emphasis placed on individuals in the beginning setting. I also found that teachers in the advanced setting addressed rehearsal frame targets representing traditional rehearsal goals more frequently (e.g., phrasing, articulation), whereas teachers in the beginning setting addressed targets representing typical beginning band goals more frequently (e.g., vocabulary/terms, rhythm literacy.)

Focus of Attention Verbalizations in Beginning Band: A Multiple Case Study

Although the effects of focus of attention (FOA) on the performance of gross motor skills are now well understood, less is known about the role of FOA in naturalistic classroom settings where learners are engaged in the ongoing acquisition and refinement of complex motor skills. The purpose of this study, the first of its kind, was to explore how music teachers focus learners’ attention on physical actions (internal focus) and on the effects of those actions (external focus). We recorded three experienced band directors teaching beginner classes (sixth graders) and completed a content analysis of video recordings to describe (a) teachers’ use of internally focused (IF) and externally focused (EF) verbalizations and (b) patterns among IF and EF verbalizations. These teachers most often directed student attention to internal aspects of performance, and they also paired IF and EF statements to clearly convey how those actions affect external outcomes. Although our descriptive multiple case study design precludes generalization, these data suggest possibilities for future studies that could explore relationships between teachers’ FOA verbalizations and skill development in music classrooms.

Beginning Band

This chapter discusses a robust research base on beginning band instruction; however, it highlights a lack of literature on preparing preservice teachers to teach band. Topics addressed include organizational responsibilities, recruitment, instrument selection, method books, repertoire, performances, assessment, teaching audiation, and singing in beginning band. Implementation strategies for beginning band teachers and higher education instruction follow. The chapter also suggests nontraditional techniques for beginning band instructions and how to prepare teachers to implement them. These strategies include improvisation, adopting an aural-first approach, and a balanced approach between aural and executive skills. The chapter concludes with a lesson plan template that provides a research-based organizational tool for preservice music educators to incorporate traditional and expanded techniques within their classes.

Beginning Band without a Stand: Fostering Creative Musicianship in Early Instrumental Programs

Approaches to teaching music notation and instrumental technique have been standardized and codified in the United States with great success in beginning instrumental programs. While these skills are important, we do a disservice to students if we do not equally develop comprehensive musicianship and creative thinking at a young age. Creating music is one of the four “Artistic Processes” that guide our instruction in the new National Core Arts Standards framework. It is also a process that many instrumental music teachers struggle to implement, especially in early stages of instruction when note-reading and technique seem to be the highest priority. Drawing on examples from an elementary school band program that shifted away from music notation in the rehearsal room and group lesson space, I examine how instrumental music teachers can move students beyond the music stand into a deeper and more creative understanding of the elements of music.

Examining Pedagogical Content Knowledge of an Expert Band Director Teaching Lips Slurs

The purpose of this case study was to describe how one band director used pedagogical content knowledge while working with beginning-band students to help them develop the skill of playing brass lip slurs. Data were generated from (1) video recordings of each class over two different weeks during the school year, (2) “think aloud” interviews in which the teacher described what educational actions and decisions the teacher was making, and (3) detailed observation notes. I used cognitive task analysis to develop a concept map illustrating components of pedagogical content knowledge the teacher used during instruction. The teacher combined content knowledge, knowledge of students, and curriculum knowledge providing examples of how pedagogical content knowledge manifests itself in teaching beginning band. Examining the teacher’s pedagogical content knowledge revealed core teaching practices that may be useful for music teacher educators to understand and develop.

Teaching Strategies for Performers with Special Needs

Because of previously discussed changes in philosophy and policy, the demographics of our performing ensembles are constantly changing. Many school districts have moved toward a policy of full inclusion of students with special needs. This has led to an increased number of students with special needs in performing ensembles and has challenged many conductors to find ways to include many students with disabilities who were not previously a part of performing ensembles. In addition, this has forced many conductors to reexamine their underlying philosophy of what it means to be a successful ensemble conductor. The purpose of this chapter is to offer techniques for choral and instrumental conductors who teach performers with special needs and to suggest ideas for consideration for those who are preparing to conduct performing ensembles. These strategies come from extensive work researching, consulting with ensemble conductors, and working with parents of performers with special needs. This chapter is designed to alleviate any anxieties conductors and conducting students may have and to provide confidence when teaching students with disabilities. Typically the percentage of students with disabilities in performing ensembles is far less than the overall percentage of students with disabilities in a school. This is anecdotal data, however; the open challenge exists to those who teach performing ensembles to truly examine this phenomenon throughout their school system (Pre-K through 12). Band, choir, and orchestra directors can inadvertently discourage participation of students with special needs in their ensembles in many ways. For example, many band and orchestra programs have an entry point in or around fifth grade. However, after that point, students are not allowed to join. Unfortunately, many students with special needs are not developmentally ready to join an instrumental or choral ensemble in fifth grade. Many of these same students would be extremely successful if given another point of entry later in their school career. Small curricular nuances such as a floating entry point to beginning band, choir or orchestra can make a meaningful difference in developing an inclusive performing ensemble program in a public school.

When Repetition Isn’t the Best Practice Strategy: Effects of Blocked and Random Practice Schedules

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of blocked and random practice schedules on the performance accuracy, speed, temporal evenness, and attitude of beginning band students in a group instructional setting. The research assumptions were based on the contextual interference hypothesis, which predicts that a blocked practice order (low contextual interference) leads to superior performance immediately following practice but that a random practice order (high contextual interference) supports superior performance at delayed retention testing. Beginning clarinet students ( N = 41) completed three practice sessions and one retention testing session, performing three seven-pitch exercises. At the end of practice, no significant differences were found between blocked and random practice groups for accuracy, speed, or temporal evenness. At retention, the random group performed significantly faster than the blocked group, F(1, 38) = 24.953, p < .001, η2 = .92, and the blocked group performed significantly slower than it did at the end of practice ( p < .001). No significant differences were found between groups for transfer tasks or for attitude toward practice.

Effect of Sex and Race Identification on Instrument Assignment by Music Educators

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of sex and race identification on the assignment of instruments to beginning band students. Participants (N = 201) were music educators solicited by university professors across the United States. Participants completed an online survey about instrument assignments. Half the participants were sent to a site that had full-head pictures of 14 students and assigned them to one of six beginning band instruments. The other half of the participants were sent to a site that had pictures of the same students, but only the lips and dental aspects of the students' faces were visible. Results indicated that the ability to identify the sex and race of students had an effect only on the assignment of an instrument for 2 of the 14 students. No clear reason for the few differences could be linked to any sex or race factors; therefore, the assessment decisions are thought to be artifacts of individual pictures/students. The authors conclude that, generally, differences in instrument assignment could not be linked to the participants' ability to identify the sex or race of the student.