The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the effect of ear playing instruction on adult amateur wind instrumentalists' musical self-efficacy. Ten volunteer members of a community band in a small town in Ohio completed the "Ear Playing Profile" both prior to and following an eight-week period of instruction in playing by ear…

This study, a replication and extension of work by Norris (2004), examined sight-reading requirements at middle and high school large-group band festivals across the United States. As in the earlier investigation, answers to the following questions were solicited from all 50 states: (1) Are there ratings-based large-group band festivals? (2) Is…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of peer-based instruction on rhythm reading achievement of instrumental and choral music students attending a large urbanfringe high school in a major metropolitan area. Participants (N = 131) included band (n = 71) and choir (n = 60) students whose backgrounds reflected extensive economic (78%…

This study examined the effects of playing by ear in selected keys on the abilities of musicians (N = 28) to play by ear and sight-read in those keys. Middle school band students in the experimental group learned melodies by ear in one familiar and two unfamiliar keys, and did no music reading in the new keys, while students in the contact-control…