The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of three schedules of practice on high-level violinists' learning. The contextual interference (CI) effect occurs when two or more tasks are practiced in an interleaved manner, which has been shown to impair initial learning but improve retention. How a musician alternates between tasks…

Much like an effective speaker, a flexible musician is competent across multiple settings. The sociolinguistic theory of code-switching can be a useful tool to better understand how musicians acquire a set of skills and knowledge to support music-making in a range of activities in and outside of school and throughout society. In this article,…

Innovations in higher music education are a way of reasonable use of information and communication technologies that increase interactivity and facilitate classroom learning. The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of introducing the application aimed at improving the skill of sheet music reading. Using a mobile app to enhance the perception…

Music sight-reading is a valuable skill that eludes and frustrates many musicians. Techniques for teaching sight-reading are varied, with teachers mostly falling back on personal experience or simply hoping that, somehow, the penny will drop for the student. This study reports on a survey of the music learning and playing habits of expert and…

The purpose of this study was to examine and empirically test the pedagogical claim that playing the piano while listening to choral singers impedes error detection ability. In a within-subjects design, participants (N = 55 preservice teachers) either listened to four excerpts of choral hymns or played a single part (soprano/bass) on the piano…

By starting with a foundation of sound before sight, we can help our students learn notation organically in a way that honors the natural process. This article describes five organic approaches to learning notation in beginning band: (1) iconic notation, (2) point and play, (3) student lead-sheet, (4) modeling, and (5) kid dictation. While…

The MacPhail Center for Music Online School Partnerships program aims to increase access to high-quality music education for students who attend schools in Greater Minnesota in order to improve student interest and knowledge in music, and to improve or maintain positive school engagement and non-academic skills. The MacPhail Teaching Artists work…

The purpose of the current study was to describe the process of music learning and the perceptions of members in a school-based middle school handbell setting. The participants were 39 students and one music teacher in a middle school in Texas. The design of the current study was a case study using observation and interview data. The results…

This paper evaluates three teaching approaches to improving sight-reading skills against a control in a large-scale study of advanced pianists. One hundred pianists in four equal groups participated in newly developed training programmes (accompanying, rhythm, musical style and control), with pre- and post-sight-reading tests analysed using…

Teachers might ask students to hum the tuning pitch, chant rhythms and scat articulations, or sing melodies from the repertoire to better understand musical inflection and nuance. In addition, singing can develop skills in music reading and audiation. If students sing out loud before playing a line of music, they are able to prehear the pitches…

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…

Informal learning practices, based on Lucy Green's research into how popular musicians learn, offer students in the music classroom the opportunity to explore collaborative, aural-based learning that is guided, rather than directed, by the teacher. Over a period of five years, informal learning projects were included in the music curricula of two…

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%…

The purpose of this study was to examine predictors of music sight-reading ability. The authors hypothesized that speed and accuracy of music sight-reading would be predicted by a combination of aural pattern discrimination, spatial-temporal reasoning, and technical proficiency. Participants (N = 70) were wind players in concert bands at a…