Effects of Conducting Instruction on the Musical Performance of Beginning Band Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of conducting instruction on 151 beginning band students' individual rhythmic performance, group rhythmic performance, group performance of legato and staccato, and group performance of phrasing and dynamics. Eight beginning band ensembles, representing diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, were randomly selected for the study. Beginning band students and their ensembles were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. After all subjects were pretested, the experimental bands received 10 minutes of basic conducting instruction per class during a 10-week period. Posttest results demonstrated that individuals in the experimental bands improved significantly more than did individuals in the control bands (p < .001) in their rhythmic performance. Bands in the experimental group improved their rhythm-reading and phrasing abilities (p < .01) more than bands in the control group. No differences were found with regard to legato and staccato, dynamic performance, or overall performance. It was concluded that conducting was a useful tool in teaching rhythm and phrasing in an ensemble setting.Large-ensemble music instruction has been common in American public schools since the beginning of the 20th century. This type of instruction is a popular and important facet in most public school music curricula. Despite this popularity and importance, teaching strategies for instrumental music are highly varied and often produce less-than-optimal results. As a result, researchers (Humphreys, May, & Nelson, 1992; Tait, 1992) have called for more detailed investigations focusing on specific teaching strategies in the music class and rehearsal room.Many music teaching strategies involve modeling techniques that use nonverbal communication in three forms: (1) music modeling, (2) aural modeling, and (3) physical modeling. Physical modeling includes facial and physical gestures often included in formal conducting gesSteven N. Kelly is an assistant professor of music education in

An investigation of conductors' temporal gestures and conductor— musician synchronization, and a first experiment

“…However, neither of these studies examined the physical characteristics of the gestures used by either the conductor-educator (Kelly, 1997), or the conductors who conducted the ensembles (Fredrickson, 1994;Kelly, 1997). One study that did examine the physical characteristics of conductors' gestures was that reported by Clayton (1986).…”

Examining Pedagogical Content Knowledge of an Expert Band Director Teaching Lips Slurs

“…Shulman (1987) recommended investigating how teachers use pedagogical frameworks to illuminate the specific ways teachers communicate fundamental concepts within a discipline. The specific pedagogies used by experts in teaching beginning band have received limited attention (Kelly, 1997; Millican, 2013; Sehmann, 2000; Worthy & Thompson, 2009). Kelly (1997) found that lessons in conducting significantly improved the rhythmic performance of beginning-band students.…”

“…The specific pedagogies used by experts in teaching beginning band have received limited attention (Kelly, 1997; Millican, 2013; Sehmann, 2000; Worthy & Thompson, 2009). Kelly (1997) found that lessons in conducting significantly improved the rhythmic performance of beginning-band students. Sehmann (2000) described the effect of breath instruction on the performance of elementary brass students and found that instruction emphasizing posture and breathing exercises significantly impacted measures of volume and capacity of air displacement when compared with a control group.…”

Examining the mismatch between the training and assessment of band and orchestra conductors in Michigan.

“…Keely (1997) noted the effect of nonverbal physical conducting gestures on beginning band students related to basic performance variables such rhythm, articulation, phrasing, and dynamics. The author suggested that bands exposed to conductors with greater training improved at a faster rate than those ensembles where the conductor had less formal training.…”

“…This instruction should provide student recognition and understanding of these gestures. Keely (1997) investigated the effect of nonverbal physical conducting gestures on beginning band students (N = 151) randomly chosen from eight beginning bands.…”