Brass

Instrument/Subject Focus

Date added to database:

17 Sept 2023

Music Student’s Approach to the Forced Use of Remote Performance Assessments

Ritchie, L., & Sharpe, B. T.

2021

Assessment, Instrument/Subject Focus, Activity Type, Technology Focus

Summative, Piano, Woodwind, Strings, Brass, Voice, Percussion, Individual, Software

Music students at the University of Chichester Conservatoire completed questionnaires about their experience of the forced use of remote teaching and learning due to Lockdown, as imposed in the United Kingdom from March to June 2020, and how this impacted their self-beliefs, decision making processes, and methods of preparation for their performance assessments. Students had the choice to either have musical performance assessed in line with originally published deadlines (still in Lockdown) via self-recorded video or defer the assessment until the following academic year. Student’s choice to defer or submit the assessment during Lockdown was influenced by a range of forced factors, such as adaptions required by online teaching, limitations of rehearsal in their home environment, and the challenges in facilitating and recording their own assessments. Students completed online questionnaires about their self-efficacy, resilience, wellbeing, and provided free text responses explaining the reasoning for their decision to record their performance or to defer the assessment were coded to reveal patterns impacting their decision and preparation processes. Those choosing to submit their assessments demonstrated more strategies in their preparation and reported higher perceived self-efficacy scores. The specific conditions for this assessment, as a result of Lockdown, revealed correlations between resilience and both self-efficacy and wellbeing. The impact on teaching and the student experience is discussed and suggestions to support students in future settings of blended delivery are presented. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Link to full journal article

Publication abstract:

Citation:

Ritchie, L., & Sharpe, B. T. (2021). Music Student's Approach to the Forced Use of Remote Performance Assessments. Frontiers in psychology, 12, 641667. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.641667

Date added to database:

5 Sept 2023

Creative collaboration in the cloud: Using Splice Studio and Audiomovers to enhance online music education outcomes

Hill, B.

2021

Technology Focus, Instrument/Subject Focus, Activity Type, Assessment

Software, Piano, Brass, Woodwind, Voice, Percussion, Strings, Composition, Ensemble, Conducting, Group

This article details online education design at an Australian university undergraduate music program. The author reviews the rapid development of online learning activities relating to music performance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic enforced lockdown. The lockdown imposed serious challenges for music educators, the overarching one being how to engage students via a screen rather than in a rehearsal room. As the unit designer/assessor, the author utilized specific cloud-based audio software networking tools that are accessible to students (Audiomovers, Splice Studio) to devise learning activities that encouraged creative interactive learning. The author details the advantages and disadvantages of each learning activity. As a substitute for face-to-face interaction, online learning has substantial limitations in relation to music education. Student engagement with accessible online audio tools can enhance skills and knowledge development and interactive learning, thus maximizing student satisfaction and collaborative learning outcomes.

Link to full journal article

Publication abstract:

Citation:

Hill, B. (2021). Creative collaboration in the cloud: Using Splice Studio and Audiomovers to enhance online music education outcomes. Perfect Beat (Equinox Publishing Group), 21(2, Part 2), 173–181. https://doi.org/10.1558/prbt.19304

Date added to database:

5 Sept 2023

Improvising to a Covid Tune: Redesigning a Beginning Jazz Improvisation Course for Instrumentalists Trained in Other Styles for Fully Online Delivery

Phipps, B., & Dilworth, E.

2021

Instrument/Subject Focus, Activity Type, Technology Focus, Assessment

Piano, Brass, Woodwind, Voice, Percussion, Strings, Group, Individual, Software, Formative, Summative, Self-Assessment, Peer-Assessment

The teaching of improvisation at tertiary institutions has primarily been through face-to-face methods in jazz education contexts and music education more widely. Jazz is a music that is performed with others in shared spaces and is similarly learned in social contexts. It is because of these social learning dynamics that pedagogy often relies on social constructivism. The social constructivism and inter-corporeal nature of jazz education has led to specific challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it has also allowed for experimentation with teaching practice and rethinking of how improvisation can be taught, particularly to novices. As Australian universities transitioned to fully online learning rapidly in March, questions quickly arose about how curriculum, learning activities, and assessment could be delivered in compliance with social distancing requirements. In this article, we discuss the transitioning of a beginner improvisation class of 21 students at a tertiary institution, primarily in their first or second year of university, to fully online delivery using a flexible research design that embraces a self-reflexive and peer dialogue approach to researching and redesigning the course. In reviewing previous research literature, we have identified the reliance on pedagogical approaches previously deemed questionable by many jazz educators and the affordances and limitations of utilizing technology to teach music online. We outline the adaptations to teaching improvisation for beginners, which use a more structured and evidence-based informed pedagogical approach in contrast to most tertiary jazz education. Subsequently, we conclude the article by offering a prospective model to advance the teaching of improvisation online to novices based on evidence-based learning and teaching strategies.

Link to full journal article

Publication abstract:

Citation:

Phipps, B., & Dilworth, E. (2021). Improvising to a covid tune: Redesigning a beginning Jazz improvisation course for instrumentalists trained in other styles for fully online delivery. International Journal on Innovations in Online Education, 5(1), 19–37. https://doi.org/10.1615/IntJInnovOnlineEdu.2021038381

Date added to database:

5 Sept 2023

Toward a meaningful technology for instrumental music education: Teachers’ voice

Michałko, A., Campo, A., Nijs, L., Leman, M., & Van Dyck, E.

2022

Technology Focus, Instrument/Subject Focus, Activity Type

Software, Hardware, Piano, Brass, Woodwind, Voice, Percussion, Strings, Conducting, Group, Individual

In musical instrument training, researchers have gradually started exploring the potential of interactive technologies supporting learning processes and teaching methods. Although numerous technological tools have been proposed to enhance instrument learning and teaching, these methods rarely find their way into daily practice and teaching routines. In this study, we report data from an online survey study administered to violin and drum kit teachers. Results reveal distinct learning profiles of novice violin and drum kit students and exhibit a variety of teaching approaches toward adults and children. Furthermore, they provide more insight into teachers’ opinions on the use of virtual reality (VR) and smart wearable technologies in early instrumental training, as well as their attitudes regarding technology design. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of involving teachers in the initial stages of technology design to facilitate technology acceptance and adoption, prevent potential mismatches between requirements regarding technological functionality and actual user needs, and promote musical growth and skill acquisition.

Link to full journal article

Publication abstract:

Citation:

Michałko, A., Campo, A., Nijs, L., Leman, M., & Van Dyck, E. (2022). Toward a meaningful technology for instrumental music education: Teachers’ voice. Frontiers in Education, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.1027042

Date added to database:

5 Sept 2023

Teaching Music Online: Using Microsoft PowerPoint to Create Prerecorded Lessons

Norman, T. D.

2021

Instrument/Subject Focus, Activity Type, Technology Focus

Piano, Brass, Woodwind, Voice, Percussion, Strings, Conducting, Composition, Ensemble, Music Theory, Music History, Musicology, Education Programs, Software, Group, Lecture

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many schools temporarily moving to online learning. For some general music teachers, this involves prerecording lessons. This column discusses how general music teachers can create prerecorded lessons using Microsoft PowerPoint.

Link to full journal article

Publication abstract:

Citation:

Norman, T. D. (2021). Teaching Music Online: Using Microsoft PowerPoint to Create Prerecorded Lessons. General Music Today, 34(3), 45–51. https://doi.org/10.1177/1048371321996292

Date added to database:

5 Sept 2023

A hybrid learning pedagogy for surmounting the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic in the performing arts education

Li, Q., Li, Z., & Han, J.

2021

Activity Type, Assessment, Technology Focus, Instrument/Subject Focus

Formative, Voice, Piano, Brass, Woodwind, Percussion, Strings, Conducting, Composition, Ensemble, Group, Lecture, Software, Hardware

For performing arts education, Sage on the stage and Learn from the Masters were halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and so did everything else. All lectures, tutorials and other face-to-face skill-based training sections were cancelled and were replaced by the online model. Such a model was only seen as one of the supplementary components for performing arts education in the past. From January 2020, this online pedagogy was inevitably placed to surmount the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The social distancing measures demanded the blended pedagogy into a new online approach, in which the traditional face-to-face teaching to be replaced by synchronous online learning (facilitated by technologies such as Zoom, Cisco Webex, Google Class, Panopto etc.). Meanwhile, to offer opportunities for cognitive participation which allows students to process the learning and be reflective, webinar and innovative performance projects were launched from the concept of ‘flipped classroom and outcome-based education.’ This mixed approach (blended learning, flipped classroom, and outcome-based education) is described as ‘hybrid learning’ in this study.

Link to full journal article

Publication abstract:

Citation:

Li, Q., Li, Z., & Han, J. (2021). A hybrid learning pedagogy for surmounting the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic in the performing arts education. Education and Information Technologies, 26(6), 7635-7655. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10612-1

Date added to database:

5 Sept 2023

The application of sound technology for teaching applied music lessons online: A case study

Keast, D. A., & Sanchez, P.

2022

Activity Type, Technology Focus, Instrument/Subject Focus

Individual, Hardware, Piano, Brass, Woodwind, Voice, Percussion, Strings, Conducting

The COVID-19 public health crisis forced all educators to explore technology in the largest test of online teaching during the spring of 2020. Included in the population of educators were the studio music faculty steeped in a tradition of side by- side teaching. This research study explored the application of lighting and sound technology adapted to enhance the experiences in a 10-week, fully online course of one-to-one private lessons with a music studio faculty member and his students during summer 2020. The students received condenser microphones, headphones, and webcams with instructions for hardwiring into their home internet connection. The faculty member used the same materials plus a speaking microphone overhead on a boom along with three-point lighting: key, fill, and backlights. The lighting was used to ensure a bright studio, much like a television anchor employs. Students noticed the microphone use by instructor and commented his adaptation to the virtual lessons were more flexible while one participant exclaimed he grew more as a musician and covered more material in virtual lessons than in previous face-to-face lessons with the same instructor. The faculty member noticed better sounds from students when using the condenser microphones and less feedback because of the closed back headphones.

Link to full journal article

Publication abstract:

Citation:

Keast, D. A., & Sanchez, P. (2022). The application of sound technology for teaching applied music lessons online: A case study. Australian Journal of Music Education, 54(1), 27–47. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.206466286948432

Date added to database:

5 Sept 2023

Conservatory and music schoolteachers’ experiences with videoconferencing software during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

Martínez-Hernández, A.

2022

Technology Focus, Instrument/Subject Focus, Activity Type, Assessment

Software, Voice, Piano, Brass, Woodwind, Percussion, Strings, Ensemble, Group, Individual, Formative, Summative

With the abrupt onset of the global lockdown in spring 2020, teachers had to adjust their teaching mode by using videoconferencing platforms for several months. In the academic year 2020–2021, instruction shifted to a mode of blended learning where face-to-face lessons were prioritized, and remote learning was employed in specific contexts. This study examined the experiences of conservatory and music schoolteachers with videoconferencing software, their preferences, difficulties faced, and conclusions drawn after having taught online. A survey was sent to all conservatories and some music schools in Spain for data collection, eliciting 485 responses. As per the study’s findings, most participants preferred face-to-face lessons before and after the lockdown. Zoom, Skype, Google Meet, and WhatsApp were the most frequently used platforms, of which Zoom and Skype were correlated with better student performance and satisfaction. Video calls were generally combined with other asynchronous methods to enhance learning.

Link to full journal article

Publication abstract:

Citation:

Martínez-Hernández, A. (2022). Conservatory and music schoolteachers’ experiences with videoconferencing software during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Distance Education,43(3), 388-407. https://doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2022.2088475

Date added to database:

5 Sept 2023

Creating Authentic Assessments for Online Music Courses: Mapping a Learning Task

Johnson, C., & Lamothe, V. C.

2021

Assessment, Instrument/Subject Focus, Activity Type

Formative, Self-Assessment, Peer-Assessment, Composition, Piano, Brass, Woodwind, Voice, Percussion, Strings, Group

The need for identifying authentic assessments, or learning tasks, in online music courses is becom ing integral as the rate of online music course offerings has been exponentially increasing. Supportive research also suggests that instructors teaching in higher education may require a paradigm shift in their pedagogical approach as they develop social-constructivist based authentic assessments for music subjects taught in an online environment. To assist with the understanding of both why and how to gene ate authentic assessment for a Bachelor’s-level online music course, the chapter explores the nature of authentic assessment for music and Koh’s Criteria for Authenticity in Authentic Assessment. Finally, to provide a practical exemplar of how online discussions can be used as an authentic learning tool in the online music class, an online discussion task for a songwriting class is identified and examined through the lens of Koh’s characteristics.

Link to full journal article

Publication abstract:

Citation:

Johnson, C., & Lamothe, V. C. (2021). Creating authentic assessments for online music courses: mapping a learning task. In Research Anthology on Developing Effective Online Learning Courses (pp. 531-553). IGI Global.

Date added to database:

5 Sept 2023

Examining the instructors’ perspectives on undergraduate distance learning music instrument education during the COVID-19 pandemic

Yıldız, Y., Karşal, E., & Bağcı, H.

2021

Instrument/Subject Focus, Activity Type, Technology Focus, Assessment

Piano, Woodwind, Strings, Percussion, Brass, Group, Lecture, Software, Hardware, Summative, Formative

COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an emergency transition to distance education in Turkey as well as other countries in the world; and as in all levels and fields of education, the distance education model has been widely used in undergraduate level music instrument education. This practice has brought certain issues that are required to be addressed to and problems to be solved in instrument education. The main purpose of this study was to determine the perspectives of the instructors regarding the undergraduate instrument lessons conducted with distance education during the pandemic. For this purpose, survey model was adopted with the participation of a total of 201 lecturers. The data was collected using a questionnaire composed of 26 items developed by the researchers. The results revealed that the majority of the instructors had no prior distance education experience, and that those who wanted to employ both synchronous and asynchronous methods together constituted up the majority of the instructors. It was also discovered that the most common issues were connected to internet infrastructure, instrument access, student motivation, and socialization. Furthermore, it is recognized that most of the time, remedies to these issues could not be provided. It was discovered that the majority of instructors thought distance instrument education was a disadvantage. However, when the shift in teachers' perspectives on distance education was evaluated before and after the pandemic, it was reported that positive attitudes toward distance education improved when compared to attitudes prior to the epidemic. Some suggestions were made to increase the quality of distance instrument education. Note. This is also in Activities category.

Link to full journal article

Publication abstract:

Citation:

Yıldız, Y., Karşal, E., & Bağcı, H. (2021). Examining the instructors’ perspectives on undergraduate distance learning music instrument education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Pedagogical Research, 5(2), 184-206. https://doi.org/10.33902/JPR.2021270107