Audiation-Based Improvisation Techniques and Elementary Instrumental Students' Music Achievement

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to develop and to examine an improvisation curriculum designed to improve the music achievement of elementary school instrumental music students. The specific problems of this study were (a) to investigate the effect of improvisation study on the music achievement of fifth-grade wind and percussion students, and (b) to investigate the effects of various levels of music aptitude on the music achievement offifthgrade wind and percussion students.Sixty-six fifth-grade students participated in this study. Students who received instruction that included emphasis on improvisation were found to perform at significantly higher achievement levels than students who received instruction without such emphasis. Highaptitude students performed at higher achievement levels than low-aptitude and moderateaptitude students. The data obtained in this research provide preliminary evidence that improvisation contributes to the improvement of instrumental music performance achievement in elementary students.Music and improvisation have been inextricably linked throughout history. Improvisation in music is analogous to the extemporaneous expression of ideas in language. The Grove Dictionary of Music (fifth edition; Blom, 1954) defines improvisation as "the art of thinking and performing music simultaneously." In many music classrooms, however, there are a variety of definitions regarding the readiness, outcomes, and skills associated with improvisation. Improvisation, therefore, receives disparate amounts of emphasis in American music classrooms in spite of its rich historical legacy.Improvisation is defined and incorporated into music education curricula in many ways. Flohr (1979) refers to the Manhattanville Music Curriculum Project (MMCP) definitions for improvisation (Thomas, 1970). Flohr's research incorpo-Downloaded from JRME 329 rated a hierarchy of "exploratory improvisation," "free exploration," and "guided exploration." Montano (1983) defines improvisation as the freedom to perform any pitches (melodic material) within a five-finger span while performing specific rhythms and textures. Wilson (1970) examined the effects of group improvisation on the musical growth of selected high school instrumentalists. The method of improvisation used in Wilson's study was one originated by Lukas Foss and Richard Duffalo and adapted for secondary school use by Marvin Silverman. Students became familiar with a hierarchy of intervals and their relationships to their guide tone, that is, the note selected as the tonal center (Wilson, 1970, p. 62). Particular attention has been given to the improvisational expressions of young children. From 1941 to 1951, Moorhead and Pond (Pillsbury Foundation, 1978) published one of the first series of studies of children's improvisations based on their work in the 1940s at the Pillsbury Foundation School in Santa Barbara, California. Orff and Dalcroze general music curricula emphasize the importance of improvisation. Orff activities incorporate the use of improvised rhythms, ...

Analysis of interaction and learning in instrumental teaching

“…From the results of this study, as well as earlier research (Pratt, 1990;Tait, 1992;Azzara, 1993;McPherson, 1993, Gordon, 1993Persson, 1993Persson, , 1994Hallam, 1997;Bamberger, 1996Bamberger, , 1999, we argue that playing by ear and improvisation would particularly give beginners better opportunities to develop musical knowledge. Downloaded by [Case Western Reserve University] at 13:00 13 October 2014…”

Os efeitos de uma proposta didática de Educação Auditiva na performance musical

“…Na base da construção deste Teste de Conhecimento Individual, estiveram critérios de ordem musical (Tonal, Rítmica, Teórica), cognitivos (Conhecimento, Compreensão, Aplicação, Análise) e técnicos (Apresentação, Avaliação e Duração). Para a correção do TCI foram criadas rating scales de critério numérico (GORDON, 2002;AZZARA, 1993), com cotações diferenciadas para cada uma das dimensões em estudo. Para o registo das classificações obtidas pelos participantes deste estudo empírico foram utilizadas grelhas individuais de correção.…”

“…No caso da Leitura e Execução Musical foram utilizadas rating scales de critérios contínuos e aditivos (GORDON, 2002; AZZARA, 1993), para avaliar as dimensões Tonal (T), Rítmica (R) e Leitura (L). Em relação à correção da componente Reconhecimento Auditivo, optou-se pela criação e utilização de rating scales de cinco critérios aditivos (GORDON, 2002;AZZARA, 1993), para a avaliação das seguintes dimensões: Estrutura Métrica e Rítmica (EMR), Organização Melódica Harmónica (OMH), Elementos Expressivos (EE) e Diversidade Estilística e Instrumental (DEI). No que concerne ao registo das classificações referente às duas componentes (Leitura e Execução Musical e Reconhecimento Auditivo) que constituem estes TDM, foram elaboradas fichas de avaliação para cada um dos sujeitos participantes neste estudo empírico.…”

“…Partindo do objetivo principal deste estudo, centrado na construção e implementação de um conjunto de estratégias/atividades pedagógico-musicais congregadas no Modelo Multidimensional de Educação Auditiva (MoMEA), foi colocada a hipótese de que a eficácia destas estratégias/atividades poderiam ser alvo de verificação na capacidade de Leitura e Execução Musical, mas também no Reconhecimento Auditivo das várias características constituintes do discurso musical. Para cada uma destas componentes e seus indicadores (performativo e cognitivo) foram definidas duas hipóteses: (1)…”

Training Amateur Bandsmen to Perform at Functions: COLTEK Band in Perspective

“…Indeed, considering the distance between the seat of the university, Winneba, and that of its campus in Kumasi, and the inevitability of music at such ceremonies, as observed by Manoff (1982), a critical question arises as to how the three anthems could be rendered at such ceremonies. Among the options the university could consider were (1) to send the band from Winneba to the Kumasi Campus to perform and (2) to have the anthems recorded and played for graduands or matriculants in Kumasi to sing along. The implication for each of the options mentioned could not be cogitated about as convenient because each presented its own challenges.…”