Research Articles

1. Refining Learned Repertoire for Percussion Instruments in an Elementary Setting

Through the research of this article, it was discussed that student success has more to do with what the instructor says in their verbalizations, not just a number. Students will gain more from specific feedback, whether it’s positive or negative. I can use this in my future when giving feedback in my music classes. Instead of just saying something is “good” or “bad,” I should concentrate more on saying specifically what was good or bad.

2. Empirical Description of the Pace of Music Education

Here, effective instruction is described by short episodes of performing combined with short episodes of the teacher talking. I believe this is the best way for students to learn. Instructions I give should be kept brief and to the point, so that students know exactly what I want when I want it, then can immediately play it again.

3. Relationships between Perceptions of Conducting Effectiveness and Ensemble Performance

This research study encourages me to become a confident conductor when I’m on the podium. I should make good use of eye contact, facial expression, and posture in order to effectively convey the emotion of the music to the students. Students react better to conductors who give off an air of confidence.

4. The Effect of Observation Focus on Evaluations of Choral Rehearsal Excerpts

This article also mentions the importance of eye contact with the ensemble, and more importantly, with individual members of an ensemble. It states that young conductors are taught to concentrate on the score, which causes them to neglect members of the group. In order for me to become the best conductor I can, I need to focus on maintaining eye contact with the group until it becomes natural.

5. The Evaluation of Teaching in Choral Rehearsals

In this study, it mentions that in choral conducting, beginning conductors are encouraged to keep the pace of rehearsal quite fast, so that the performers have a maximum amount of time to sing, and that, while teaching instructions are important, they should be succinct and to the point. While this statement focused more on choir rehearsals, the same concept can apply to band rehearsals. I must understand that students enjoy playing, and learn best by playing, not necessarily by listening to me talk for the entire rehearsal.

6. Relationships among Conducting Quality, Ensemble Performance Quality, and State Festival Ratings

Here, the statistics seemed to go against many of the other research articles by stating that the quality of the conductor doesn’t affect the quality of the ensemble as far as expressiveness goes. While this could be true for a few of the better musicians, I believe that it is important for me as a conductor to display emotion while conducting in order for the rest of the ensemble to connect to the music on a deeper level.

7. Performance Achievement and analysis of Teaching during Choral Rehearsals

It is mentioned in this study that the choice of literature has a lot to do with success in performances. Higher-level pieces require more rehearsal time and more assistance from the teacher to the students both verbally and non-verbally. While it is important to give assistance, especially at the beginning stages of rehearsals, it is important for me to let students learn themselves by trying to perform it without assistance.

Reflection

I find it extremely challenging, and even a bit tiresome to read research articles, especially when they are all close to ten pages long. It is challenging because I often cannot understand exactly what the point is that the study is trying to make, and the numbers, at least to me, don’t really mean anything. From what I could pick out and understand, the information seemed useful, especially the bits about conducting expressively and using eye contact. The articles I found the most interesting were about the relationship between conducting and the success of the ensemble because it seemed that they differed slightly in their outcomes, but I will probably not voluntarily pursue reading more research articles on that topic in the near future.