Band Directors’ Perceptions of Instrumental Conducting Curricula

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine inservice band directors’ perceptions of their undergraduate instrumental conducting curricula. Members ( N = 141) of the Facebook Band Directors Group who had completed undergraduate conducting and rehearsal techniques coursework responded to an online survey. Respondents felt more confident demonstrating technical conducting behaviors versus expressive ones, perceived their instruction in conducting skills superior to their rehearsal skill instruction, and desired additional conducting and rehearsal experiences that were more representative of what they encountered once they began teaching. Respondents’ most desired curricular change was for additional instruction in rehearsal planning, error detection and correction, and instrument-specific pedagogy. The three most frequently used score study behaviors were “initial, casual read-through of the score,” “define all unfamiliar terms,” and “marking important cues.” Based on our findings, we discuss ways in which music teacher educators can improve their instrumental conducting courses.

High School Band Directors’ Perceptions and Applications of Democratic Rehearsal Procedures in Concert Band Rehearsals

“…Based on pilot testers’ feedback, minor wording changes to two prompts were made to increase clarity. This validation process was consistent with previous investigations examining participant perceptions and experiences (Silvey, 2011; Silvey et al, 2020). I did not examine statistical indicators of reliability because I analyzed data using only item-level descriptive statistics, rather than inferential analyses.…”

“…Although a focus on response rate alone is common, according to Lance and Vandenberg (2009), when examining statistical power, it is perhaps equally important to consider sample size. Investigations similarly examining band directors’ perceptions have been conducted with comparably sized participant pools (Rickels & Brewer, 2017; Silvey, et al, 2020) and the authors of these studies did not report a response rate. Additionally, no inferential statistics were conducted in this study, only item-level descriptive analysis.…”

Inservice Music Educators’ Perceived Comfort for Teaching and Performing on Secondary Band Instruments

“…I sent a recruitment post to the Facebook Band Directors Group to invite participants. This closed-membership group represented an ideal sampling based on years of teaching experience, geographic region, and the variety of ensemble size and skill levels taught (Rickels & Brewer, 2017; Silvey et al, 2020). In my recruitment post, I indicated that participants needed to be inservice instrumental music educators and included a question in which participants identified their current status (e.g., inservice educator, retired educator, preservice student, other).…”

“…Participants’ teaching experience ranged from 0 to 5 years ( n = 31, 32.29%), 5 to 10 years ( n = 23, 23.96%), 10 to 15 years ( n = 13, 13.54%), and 15 or more years ( n = 29, 30.21%). As cited in previous literature, Facebook’s privacy restrictions make it impossible to determine a response rate (Rickels & Brewer, 2017; Silvey et al, 2020). Of the 96 participants, 53 taught high school in some capacity.…”

“…Although the participants in this study represented preparation programs from 33 states throughout the United States, a bigger sample size would add generalizability to the study. Distributing the questionnaire through state and local music educator associations may yield more responses and allow the researcher to determine response rates (Rickels & Brewer, 2017; Silvey et al, 2020). Additionally, by using a survey featuring convenience sampling, only educators with strong feelings toward secondary instrument use may have participated in the study.…”