Focus of Attention and Aesthetic Response

1997 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clifford K. Madsen
Keyword(s):  
Focus Of Attention ◽  
Aesthetic Response ◽  
Digital Interface ◽  
Specific Element ◽  
Continuous Response ◽  
La Boheme ◽  
Musical Elements

In the present study, focus of attention to musical elements was investigated in an attempt to ascertain which elements are perceived as most prominent in relation to aesthetic response as demonstrated in previous work. One hundred experienced musicians listened to the last 20 minutes of Act I of Puccini's La Bohème. Fifty musicians indicated via the Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI) which of five musical elements (Melody, Rhythm, Timbre, Dynamics, or Everything) commanded their attention as they listened throughout the excerpt. Additionally, another 50 subjects, divided into five groups of 10 subjects each, registered their degree of attention for each specific musical element; these subjects had only one element presented on the CRDI dial with instructions to register their degree of attention to this specific element throughout the selection. Results from those subjects who tracked all elements simultaneously indicated that the highest percentage of attention throughout the entire excerpt was registered for Dynamics, followed closely by the elements Everything, Melody, Rhythm, and Timbre. For those subjects who responded to only one element, the highest degree of attentiveness was registered for Melody, followed by the elements Dynamics and Everything. Timbre was next in degree-of-attentiveness rating, and rhythm was by far the lowest. The element Melody was most closely related to aesthetic responsiveness for this Puccini excerpt.

A Comparison of Music Majors' and Nonmajors' Perceptions of Tension for Two Selections of Jazz Music

2003 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
William E. Fredrickson ◽  
John C. Coggiola
Keyword(s):  
Order Effect ◽  
Music Majors ◽  
Aesthetic Response ◽  
Digital Interface ◽  
Continuous Response ◽  
Jazz Music ◽  
Nonmusic Majors ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Musical Context ◽  
Musical Selection

The present study allowed music majors (n = 40) and nonmajors (n = 30) to record their perceptions of tension in two selections of jazz music using the Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI). Both musical stimuli were recorded versions of “St. Louis Blues” by W. C. Handy, The first was a popular, stylized version sung by Nat King Cole, and the second, which included an extensive improvisatory section, was performed by Ella Fitzgerald. In comparing these results to earlier studies dealing with music majors' and nonmajors' perceived tension and aesthetic response, there are certain factors that remain constant Music majors' responses did not seem to differ markedly in overall contour from nonmusic majors' responses, which is consistent with previous research. Graphs of perceived tension responses are much more highly differentiated than are graphs of perceived aesthetic response. These graphs produce a pattern that is unique to that musical selection (or in this case, a highly stylized performance). Subjects had no trouble performing the task or using an existing internal definition of musical tension. This existing internal definition is probably applied to a variety of musical styles, including jazz. This study also seemed to indicate a definite order effect in the presentation of the stimuli, which may relate to the way listeners put what they hear into a musical context.

Different-Age and Mentally Handicapped Listeners' Response to Western Art Music Selections

1997 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 568-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Rita Byrnes
Keyword(s):  
Instrumental Music ◽  
Vocal Music ◽  
Art Music ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Second Grade ◽  
Mentally Handicapped ◽  
Digital Interface ◽  
Western Art ◽  
Continuous Response ◽  
La Boheme

The purpose of the study was to provide insight into the musical responsiveness of different groups of participants. A listening activity was developed to measure likeability of pre-selected excerpts in different performance media. One-hundred-and-sixty-three subjects, students from Grades 2, 5, 8, 11/12, and trainable mentally handicapped (TMH) students, participated in the study. Students listened to excerpts from Puccini's La Bohème, Haydn's Symphony No. 104, Mozart's Vesperae Solennes, and Hoist's First Suite in E-flat, while simultaneously manipulating a Continuous Response Digital Interface (CBDI) dial. Overlays used with the CRDI dial were developed specifically for the populations tested and included a pictographic scale continuum. Results indicated that (a) second-grade participants rated all excerpts higher than did the other groups, and (b) instrumental music examples were rated higher than vocal music examples. Results concur with findings reported in music preference research literature.

Effect of Teaching Setting and Self-Evaluation on Teacher Intensity Behaviors

1995 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia M. Colwell
Keyword(s):  
Elementary Education ◽  
Methods Course ◽  
Education Majors ◽  
Digital Interface ◽  
Elementary Education Majors ◽  
Treatment Groups ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Continuous Response ◽  
Music Methods ◽  
Teaching Setting

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of teaching setting [peer versus practicum] and self-evaluation tools [Continuous Response Digital Interface (general) versus behavioral checklist (specific)] on the development of teacher intensity behaviors among preservice elementary education majors enrolled in a music methods course. Subjects were divided into four treatment groups and completed a pretest and posttest and four treatment lessons. Analyses indicated that teaching setting and self-evaluation did not have a differential effect on teacher intensity. All subjects made significant gains from pretest to posttest, with differences among lessons. Comparative analyses indicated subjects rated themselves higher than did experts. An attitude survey indicated that subjects who taught children rated the course higher than subjects who taught their peers, whereas subjects who completed general self-evaluations rated the course higher than did subjects who completed specific self-evaluations.

Analysis of Listening Preferences of High School and College Musicians

1994 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 331-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dianne Gregory
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Sixth Grade ◽  
The United States ◽  
Music Majors ◽  
Digital Interface ◽  
Continuous Response ◽  
College Music ◽  
High School Musicians

Undergraduate college music majors, high school musicians in performance groups, and sixth-grade students in eight sites across the United States listened to brief excerpts of music from early contemporary compositions, popular classics, selections in the Silver Burdett/Ginn elementary music education series, and current crossover jazz recordings. Each of the classical categories had a representative keyboard, band, choral, and orchestral excerpt. Self reports of knowledge and preference were recorded by the Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI) while subjects listened to excerpts. Instrumental biases were found among high school and college musicians' preferences for relatively unfamiliar classical music. College music majors' preferences, in general, were less “own-instrument-based” than were those of high school musicians. In addition, the results suggest training broadens receptivity within and across music genres. There seems, however, to be no predictable connection between the degree to which one “knows ” an excerpt and preference for the excerpt.

Effect of Musical Performance on Perception of Tension in Gustav Hoist's First Suite in E-flat

1999 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
William E. Fredrickson
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Performance Analysis ◽  
Wind Ensemble ◽  
Musical Performance ◽  
Research Protocol ◽  
Digital Interface ◽  
High School Band ◽  
Choral Ensemble ◽  
Continuous Response ◽  
Musical Selection

The purpose of the study was to examine whether musicians who rehearse and perform a musical selection perceive tension in the music differently than do listeners who have not had the performance experience. Students ( n = 32) in a university wind ensemble rehearsed and performed Gustav Hoist's First Suite in E-flat. Within 2 weeks of the performance, participants listened to a recording of the first movement (“Chaconne”) of that performance while registering their perceptions of tension in the music using a Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI) dial. Another group of students ( n = 32) from a university choral ensemble performed the same research protocol. Students in a high school band ( n = 60) also rehearsed and performed the selection. Participants listened to the recording of the musical selection, and registered their perceptions of tension, before rehearsals began and following their performance. Analysis indicated that the experience of performing the music did not seem to greatly affect perception of tension as measured in this study.

The Perception of Pacing in a Music Appreciation Class and Its Relationship to Teacher Effectiveness and Teacher Intensity

2014 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 302-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason M. Silveira
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Teacher Effectiveness ◽  
The Other ◽  
Music Appreciation ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Digital Interface ◽  
Continuous Response ◽  
Teaching Situation ◽  
Intensity Control ◽  
Linear Correlations

The purpose of this study was to determine relationships among pacing, teacher effectiveness, and teacher intensity in the context of a realistic teaching situation. A scripted stimulus video was created in which the teacher demonstrated predefined pacing lapses to measure their effects on observers’ ratings of teacher effectiveness, teacher intensity, teacher pacing, and general perceptions. Participants ( N = 164 college students) were randomly assigned to one of four groups ( n = 41) to evaluate ongoing teacher effectiveness, teacher intensity, teacher pacing, or general perceptions (control group). Participants evaluated the teacher on their assigned construct using both continuous (Continuous Response Digital Interface) and summative measures (Likert-type scale). Results showed that the constructs had strong positive linear correlations with each other. The pacing group evidenced a greater response magnitude than the other three groups (effectiveness, intensity, control), suggesting that participants in the pacing group may have been reacting differently to some aspect of the teaching demonstration compared to the other groups.

A Comparison of Listeners' Musical Cognition Using a Continuous Response Assessment

1998 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 320-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory F. DeNardo ◽  
Vincent J. Kantorski
Keyword(s):  
Response Assessment ◽  
Digital Interface ◽  
Continuous Response ◽  
Musical Cognition ◽  
Musical Event ◽  
Type Interaction

The purpose of this study was to assess the degree to which listeners can discern if melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic parameters and pairings of these parameters are abstracted from the ongoing flow of a musical event. Students in Grades 3, 6, 9, and 12(N = 114) listened three times to 12 prerecorded, four-phrase songs and moved the pointer of a Continuous Response Digital Interface dial to indicate whether they considered the second, third, and fourth phrase of each song to be the same as, similar to, or different from the songs initial phrase. In the significant grade-by-phrase-type interaction, students in Grades 3, 6, and 9 identified phrases predetermined as being the same as a song's initial phrase a greater percentage of time than they did similar or different phrases; students in Grade 12 identified different phrases more often than they identified phrases that were the same as or similar to the initial phrase.

Perception of Choral Blend Among Choral, Instrumental, and Nonmusic Majors Using the Continuous Response Digital Interface

2007 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 313-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janice N. Killian ◽  
Lynn Basinger
Keyword(s):  
Group Differences ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Digital Interface ◽  
Continuous Response ◽  
Voice Matching ◽  
Choral Blend ◽  
Nonmusic Majors ◽  
Pearson Correlations

The concept of choral blend is often adjudicated but seldom researched. Voice matching to achieve choral blend (placing specific voices next to one another to achieve a blended sound within a section) is frequently recommended. The authors asked participants ( N = 55) comprised of vocal, instrumental, and nonmusic majors to move a continuous response digital interface dial to indicate judgment of blend quality while listening to voice-matched choral groupings. Graphic analyses indicated general agreement in judgments of good blend and bad blend among all three groups especially within alto and bass excerpts. Less agreement appeared for soprano and tenor excerpts. Pearson correlations between repeated excerpts were highly positive for vocalists but less consistent for others. Vocalists listened longer before making a judgment. Few group differences in judgment magnitude appeared, but general tendencies toward good blend judgments were evident. Discussion included future research implications and applications for educators.

A Study of Music Students’ Tempo Changes of a Soloist’s Performance of Mozart’s 1st Horn Concerto

2012 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-231
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Johnson ◽  
Clifford K. Madsen ◽  
John M. Geringer
Keyword(s):  
Previous Investigation ◽  
Music Students ◽  
Digital Interface ◽  
Continuous Response ◽  
Horn Concerto ◽  
Solo Horn

The purpose of the present investigation was to investigate music students’ tempo changes of a soloist’s performance in an excerpt from Mozart’s Concerto No. 1 in D Major for Horn and Orchestra. We then compared the composite rubato pattern to tendencies found in a previous investigation using Mozart’s Concerto No. 2 in E ♭ Major for Horn and Orchestra. Data were collected directly from listeners’ Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI) dial movements, which controlled the instantaneous tempo of the solo horn performance. Some tendencies from previous rubato performances were replicated; however, overall performances more closely reflected the previous performances of the lowest rated horn performers than those judged as the highest caliber performers.

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