Student Retention in School Bands and Orchestras: A Literature Review

The purpose of this review was to synthesize the literature on attrition and retention in instrumental music and to identify strategies to encourage students’ continued participation in school bands and orchestras. Retaining members from 1 year to the next is a key factor in building ensembles and helping individual musicians reach their full potential. At least 35 years of research, however, has yielded little consistency in determining why students persist in or dropout of instrumental study. Most decisions likely involve (a) practical considerations, especially related to scheduling and other interests and commitments; (b) students’ attitudes on their musicianship and various aspects of the program; and (c) the influence of other people. The MUSICSM Model of Motivation can provide a framework through which stakeholders examine how their school bands and orchestras meet the needs of students, thus influencing their decisions to leave or remain in the program.

Evaluative and Behavioral Correlates to Intrarehearsal Achievement in High School Bands

The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships of teaching effectiveness, ensemble performance quality, and selected rehearsal procedures to various measures of intrarehearsal achievement (i.e., musical improvement exhibited by an ensemble during the course of a single rehearsal). Twenty-nine high school bands were observed in two rehearsals of a common music selection. Separate panels of experts evaluated ensemble performance quality from audio recordings and teacher effectiveness from video recordings. Rehearsal frames were identified in second-day rehearsals, and “before” and “after” rehearsal trials for each target ( N = 404) were extracted and evaluated for achievement. Selected rehearsal procedures within each frame also were measured. Results indicated no significant relationships between rehearsal effectiveness scores and any of five conceptualizations of intrarehearsal achievement. Significant, positive correlations were found between performance quality and three achievement computations, and between performance quality and rehearsal effectiveness. With one exception, none of the selected rehearsal procedures were associated with achievement differences within rehearsal frames. These findings suggest limitations of considering ensemble teacher evaluation in terms of student achievement. An ensemble’s extant skill level may contribute more to short-term rehearsal achievement than does the quality of its conductor’s rehearsing.

Effects of Stimulus Octave and Timbre on the Tuning Accuracy of Secondary School Instrumentalists

To test the effects of octave and timbre on tuning accuracy, four stimuli—B-flat 4 sounded by flute, oboe, and clarinet and B-flat 2 sounded by tuba—functioned as reference pitches for high school wind players ( N = 72). The two stimulus octaves combined with participants’ assigned tuning notes created soprano, tenor, and bass tuning groups. All participants tuned to each instrument. Results indicated no effect due to tuning group. There was a significant difference due to stimulus. Participants’ responses were more out of tune to the tuba stimulus than to the oboe, clarinet, and flute stimuli, which were not different from each other. There was no difference in the distribution of in-tune, sharp, and flat responses across tuning stimuli, a result that differs from the “preference for sharpness” effect in previous research. Verbal and performance responses to the tuba, oboe, and flute stimuli revealed misconceptions between participants’ perceptions of tuning difficulty and actual performance difficulty and favored the use of oboe and flute as tuning references. Most of the participants (82%) reported tuning to the tuba as the prevalent approach to mass tuning in their school bands.

Effects of Recorded Models on Novice Teachers’ Rehearsal Verbalizations, Evaluations, and Conducting

In this study, the authors investigated effects of aural model—supported rehearsal preparation on selected behavioral and evaluative elements of novice teachers’ rehearsals. Sixteen preservice music teachers conducted high school bands in four 15-minute rehearsals (two rehearsals on two different pieces).To prepare for their rehearsals on one piece, participants were given only the conductor score, while for the other piece, they were given both a score and a recorded model of the piece on an audio compact disc.Video recordings of all 64 rehearsals were systematically observed for teachers’ verbalizations across several musical and teaching variables. Participants also completed post-rehearsal evaluations of their teaching and of the ensemble’s playing. Differences between conditions were small, with teachers’ verbalizations reflecting a proportionally greater concern for accuracy in the model-supported condition. Evaluations of rehearsals were less self-directed and were more critical of the ensemble, a finding consistent with previous research.There was virtually no difference in responses between conditions for conductor expressiveness.

The Effect of Teacher Approval and Disapproval of Music Performed in a Rehearsal Setting on Music Preferences

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of teacher approvals and disapprovals of music performed in a rehearsal setting on the music preferences of middle school students. Students ( N = 440) from eight middle school bands participated in the study and were assigned one of four different rehearsal conditions. Teachers rehearsed either one or two assigned pieces of music, while implementing one of the following treatment conditions: (a) rehearsal of one piece with teacher approval and rehearsal of the other piece without comment; (b) rehearsal of one piece with teacher disapproval and rehearsal of the other without comment; (c) rehearsal of only one of the pieces, with teacher approval; and (d) rehearsal of only one of the pieces, with teacher disapproval. After five rehearsals of the music, students were given a listening survey on which to rate their preferences for the two compositions. Results indicated that the treatment conditions had a significant effect on preferences. Ratings from the approval treatment condition were significantly higher than those from the disapproval treatment condition.