Aural-Diagnostic and Prescriptive Skills of Preservice and Expert Instrumental Music Teachers

Abstract

This study is an investigation of the aural-diagnostic and prescriptive skills of preservice and expert instrumental music teachers. Specifically, the researcher sought to determine how the two groups compared with respect to evaluations for band performances of different music-difficulty and performance-quality levels. Subjects listened to an audiotape recording that comprised four types of performances: Difficult Music and Excellent Performance, Difficult Music and Average Performance, Moderate Music and Excellent Performance, and Moderate Music and Average Performance. For each performance type, subjects responded to four evaluative areas in the investigator-designed Aural-Diagnostic and Prescriptive Skills Test: performance-quality ratings of nine select music elements, rankings of the nine elements, diagnoses of performance problems associated with the weakest-ranked elements, and prescriptions of rehearsal solutions for the diagnosed performance problems. Results indicate that (a) regardless of performance types, preservice teachers rated Intonation lower than did expert teachers; (b) interactions exist among the four performance types for subjects' ratings of Tone Quality, Intonation, Articulation, and Dynamics; and (c) compared to preservice teachers, a higher proportion of expert teachers ranked Blend/Balance and Musical Interpretation as the weakest- performed music elements.