Benefits and Challenges of Large-Ensemble Instrumental Music Adjudicated Events: Insights From Experienced Music Teachers

Adjudicated events, including music festivals, contests, and competitions, are performance opportunities for American instrumental music programs. The purpose of this study was to examine the benefits and challenges of participating in large-group instrumental adjudicated events in three Kansas high school programs. Data analysis followed cross-case procedures for coding data, as well as strategies for trustworthiness. Select findings revealed that participants (a) valued the process of preparing for adjudicated events, (b) valued and sought out additional instructional staff as a means of enriching the process of preparation for adjudicated events, (c) identified multiple logistical challenges associated with preparing for and attending adjudicated events, and (d) identified music considerations associated with attending large-group adjudicated events. These are likely pivotal factors in attending adjudicated events and thus can help us further understand how and why adjudicated events hold an important place in the history of American music education.

Access to Music Education: Nebraska Band Directors’ Experiences and Attitudes Regarding Students With Physical Disabilities

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 integration of students with physical disabilities into their band programs. Results of a survey of 221 Nebraska high school music programs suggested that awareness of options for ways to include students with physical disabilities, availability of adapted instruments, and the cost of acquiring such instruments are among band directors’ primary concerns. Conclusions drawn from this survey serve as evidence that there is a need for adapted instruments and suggest that integration of students with disabilities and without disabilities in band would provide benefits for all.

Prevalence of Playing-related Musculoskeletal Symptoms and Disorders in Children Learning Instrumental Music

Musculoskeletal problems related to playing musical instruments have long been identified with adults, but little is known about their development during childhood. What evidence does exist has not adequately considered risk factors, in particular the effects of gender and age. A cross-sectional questionnaire study gathered data from 731 children enrolled in the instrumental music programs of government primary and secondary schools in Perth, Western Australia. This study, the first in a series investigating risk factors, established the prevalence of playing-related musculoskeletal problems, both symptoms (PRMS) and disorders (PRMD), and the association with gender and age. In this group, 67% of children reported ever experiencing PRMS, with 56% reporting symptoms at least monthly. Females were more likely (odds ratio [OR] 1.5, p = 0.03) to experience symptoms and older children were more likely to have ever experienced symptoms (p < 0.001). Thirty percent reported the experience of a PRMD, being unable to play their instrument as usual. Females (OR 1.5, p = 0.035) and older children (p = 0.001) again were more likely to report the experience of a disorder. For children having reported the experience of a PRMS within the last month, 5% took medication to relieve the problem and 4% visited a health professional to seek advice for the problem.

The Effect of Instrumental Music Participation and Socioeconomic Status on Ohio Fourth-, Sixth-, and Ninth-Grade Proficiency Test Performance

This study is a comparison of the Ohio Proficiency Test (OPT) results of instrumental music students and their noninstrumental classmates according to socioeconomic status (SES) over time. Subjects ( N= 15,431) were students in the Columbus Public Schools in Ohio, whose fourth-, sixth-, and ninth-grade OPT results were compared with others of like SES on the subjects of citizenship, math, science, and reading. Results show that instrumental students outperformed noninstrumental students in every subject and at every grade level. Instrumental students at both levels of SES held higher scores than their noninstrumental classmates from the fourth grade, suggesting that instrumental music programs attract higher scorers from the outset of instruction. Results also show a pattern of increased achievement by lower SES instrumental students, who surpassed their higher SES noninstrumental classmates by the ninth grade in all subjects. September 15, 2005 March 20, 2006