This article explores the work of conductors to develop an understanding of verbal feedback in the context of professional-level big band orchestras. A big band conductor must have strong musical and social skills to guide a big band to the performance level. This qualitative study is based on Vygotsky's theory of learning as a social process. The…

Wind band has a deep and long-lasting connection to folk-song sources. Societal expectations around music choices and sources are changing, including calls to diversify repertoire and eliminate traditional songs that include offensive language and stereotypes. Concerns about music usage in relation to cultural appropriation are also being…

This descriptive study examined professional conductors' use of rehearsal time in sequential pattern components, discussing task presentation targets, and using verbal imagery and modeling techniques. Commercially available videos of 15 professional conductors rehearsing prominent orchestras were scripted, coded, and timed for selected teaching…

Jazz band directors tend to face a lot of time constraints in readying their ensembles for performance. Sometimes the race to the stage can result in suboptimal playing, a rhythm section that does not quite gel, or soloists who "blow and hope"--that is, fail to put in the appropriate amount of thought before and during their…

This article poses six functions of conducting as a new foundation for music educators. Two traditional functions focus on music: the mechanical precision function indicates beat, tempo, meter, rhythm, cues, entrances and cutoff releases, and the expressive function indicates dynamics and other expressive characteristics interpreted in a score.…

Research on pre-service music teacher occupational identity often highlights two competing identities: performer and teacher (L'Roy, 1983; Roberts, 1991; Pellegrino, 2009). Of the many factors that contribute to the occupational identity of the pre-service music teacher (Woodford, 2002), conducting has the potential to integrate performer and…

Woodwind methods classes are where most teachers learn the basics of woodwind embouchure and tone production. Woodwind methods texts and beginning band methods disagree on clarinet embouchure. One cannot readily reduce any embouchure to one or two attributes; however, clarinet teachers and band directors often disagree about whether the corners of…

This study examined the effects of the conductor's goal orientation (mastery vs. performance) and use of shared performance cues (basic vs. interpretive vs. expressive) on instrumentalists' self-efficacy, collective efficacy, attributions, and performance. Eighty-one college instrumentalists from two musical ensembles participated in the study. It…

The purpose of the present study was to identify whether conductors distinguish functions of conducting similarly to functions implied in previous research. A sample of 84 conductors with a full range of experience levels (M = 9.8) and of a full range of large ensemble types and ensemble age levels rated how much they pay attention to 82…

During the past 60 years, jazz music has slowly become recognized as a genre worthy of study in high school music programs throughout the United States. Only a few researchers have analyzed large samples of jazz-related instruction in instrumental music programs, and of these studies no data were collected to investigate the inclusion of jazz in…

This article addresses individuals' decisions to continue or cease playing a musical instrument from a basic psychological needs perspective. Participants began learning music 10 years prior to the study and were the subject of previous longitudinal research. They completed a survey investigating the three psychological needs of competence,…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of orchestration on musicians' and nonmusicians' (N = 40) perception of musical tension. Participants were asked to register their perceptions of tension using the Continuous Response Digital Interface dial while listening to three orchestrations (full orchestra, brass quintet, and solo piano)…

Guitar songleading is a critical component in music education and music therapy training curricula. However, at present, there is no standardized instrument to evaluate guitar songleading performance that is both valid and reliable. The purpose of this article is to describe the construction, development, and testing of a guitar songleading…

The Hiland Mountain Correctional Center, a 400-bed facility for multi-level adult female offenders in Eagle River, Alaska, offers a unique educational programme to its prisoners: an orchestra. Founded in 2003, by volunteer Pati Crofut, orchestra membership grew from eight to 22 female offenders between 2003 and 2009. Crofut has devoted her time…

Students with physical disabilities frequently are excluded from participation in instrumental music programs, yet the obstacles band directors face that preclude integration of these students have not been documented systematically. The primary purpose of this study was to measure Nebraska High School band directors' concerns regarding the…