This study explores the utility of movement analysis technology as a means of contributing to a performance pedagogy informed in part by science. Two research questions were investigated: Can biomechanical skills needed for performance on the violin be accurately and objectively characterized and generalized? Can these data be used to inform…

Professional early childhood educators are often asked for advice about whether or when a young child should learn to play a music instrument. Many educators who do not have a background in music education may not be confident in providing such advice. A range of overseas research has supported learning a music instrument in the early childhood…

The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological responses of long-term hospitalized children when exposed to live music. Twenty-one paediatric patients at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, London, between 3 months and 14 years of age, took part in the study. They were all long-term patients with cardiac and/or respiratory…

Although many adults take up or return to instrumental and vocal tuition every year, we know very little about how they experience it. As part of ongoing case study research, eight older learners with modest keyboard skills explored what their musical skills meant to them during conversation-based repertory grid interviews. The data were…

This study examines characteristics of teachers participating in the national Guitars in the Classroom program in the 2007-2008 school year. 96 teacher participants from programs across the United States completed an online survey at the start of their professional development programs, usually 6-10 hours. 75 percent of teachers electing to…

This study aims to explore and investigate the factors that contribute to effective instrumental teaching and to understand the interdependence and interactions between these factors. The study obtained data using qualitative research tools from a series of individual and group instrumental teaching observations and a semi-structured interview…

This study explored the skills students develop through participation in instrumental music and the effect it has on their academic achievement through student and parent/guardian surveys. Fifty-eight percent of cognitive skills were identified as being obtained by a majority of students, 70% of affective skills, and 71% of meta-cognitive skills…

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of experienced music teachers regarding their preparation for and experience of mentoring in a 2-year mentor project focusing on the support of teachers in Title I schools in Orlando, Florida. Data included the following: initial expectations of mentoring from Year 1 (note cards), biggest…

This article reports on a retrospective study of Finnish pre-service elementary teachers' assessments of their musical experiences in nursery school and elementary and secondary school and real-time study of their experiences in teacher training. The participants (N = 590) had received musical instruction in five age groups (4-6 years, 7-12 years,…

A musical note produced through the vibration of a single string is psychoacoustically simpler/purer than that produced via multiple-strings vibration. Does the psychoacoustics of instrument sound have any effect on learning outcomes in music instruction? This study investigated the effect of two psychoacoustically distinct instrument sounds on…

We investigated effects of legato, staccato and pizzicato articulation styles on the perception of modulated tempos. Seventy-two music majors served as participants. Two solo violin excerpts were chosen with contrasting rhythmic rates and were recorded in all three articulation styles. Examples were presented to listeners in three conditions of…

Background: Previous research suggested that persons with Down syndrome (DS) used a different strategy to drum than typical adults. Methods: The present study examined continuous bimanual drumming strategies in response to different instructions in 10 persons with DS, 10 mental age-matched and 10 chronological age-matched groups. The drumming task…

This observational study analysed the lesson content of 24 instrumental lessons (piano, strings and winds) using a gender-balanced sample (equal numbers of male/female teachers and students) from five Australian higher education institutions to ascertain the priorities of topics in advanced applied music lessons in the Western Classical tradition.…

Within a theoretical framework drawn from sociologists of education Bourdieu and Bernstein, this paper will examine some of the findings of an ethnographic case study conducted with a secondary school music teacher and one class of her pupils in Wales. This teacher attracted 25% of Year 10 (14-year-old) pupils to study music as an optional subject…

Despite a large body of research into learning styles from cognitive, personality and activity perspectives, the definition of learning style is still unclear. The assessment instruments commonly in use have methodological problems. The learning styles of conservatorium instrumentalists are scarcely known and are best studied using an…