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The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of preconducting and conducting behaviors on perceptions of conductor competence. We modified and extended a previous research study (Frederickson et al., 1998) and asked undergraduate college musicians (N = 214) to evaluate recorded videos of conductors that displayed combinations of poor and excellent preconducting and conducting behaviors. These behaviors included stepping onto a podium, preparing conducting materials, and conducting one measure in 4/4 time. Participants were also asked to describe the factors that impacted their ratings via open-ended questions. Results of a conducting behavior × order interaction signified that although participants’ ratings were influenced by preconducting behavior conditions, the effect was mitigated by order. Results also indicated that observers’ evaluations of conductors’ competence began immediately. Analysis of free-response questions indicated that conducting technique, eye contact, facial expressions, and conductors’ perceived confidence level impacted participants’ ratings of conductors. Given the importance of preconducting behaviors on participants’ ratings of conductors’ competence in our study, several suggestions are presented for university faculty who teach undergraduate conducting courses. Recommendations for future research are also discussed.

The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the honor band experiences of first-time honor band clinicians. I used intensity sampling to select two participants who had both served as an honor band clinician for the first time in 2019. Using Glaser's (1996) three-stage theory of expertise as a theoretical framework, I conducted individual semistructured interviews to investigate participants’ honor band experiences. In the first stage of external support, both participants used various means of obtaining information and advice, such as calling mentors and doing research online. The second stage of transitional mentorship was mentioned least by the participants, perhaps because this is not very common for honor band clinicians. Both participants seemed to spend the majority of their first honor band experience in Glaser's third self-regulatory stage, with less-than-adequate preparation from the previous stages. They both mentioned making quick adjustments to solve problems throughout their time as an honor band clinician. I suggest creating more training experiences and resources for first-time honor band clinicians in order to make honor band events more beneficial for students and clinicians.

Although there are benefits to a racially and culturally diverse teaching workforce, the music teaching profession remains predominantly White. Using an “opportunity gap” framework, this study aimed to discover what, if any, barriers to access to applying to university schools of music—a first step in becoming music teachers—exist according to high school students of color and their music teachers. Employing a collective case study methodology, the researchers observed classes, interviewed music teachers, and conducted focus groups in two high schools in a city in the northeast United States. Findings suggest that the teachers and students valued high standards, and they found local culture and community engagement to be an important aspect of their music education. However, ultimately students did not want to audition or found the process difficult for the following reasons: the audition process did not align with students’ values of community music making; there is an assumption that auditioning students have participated in prerequisite activities, including private instruction and honors ensembles; students did not possess knowledge of the unspoken rules of audition procedures; and participants found the university requirements, including nonmusic standards and transitioning to college, to be difficult. Based on these findings, changes to the audition and recruitment processes, including community engagement, are proposed.

Cultural competence has received great attention in the education literature. In music education, cultural competence typically manifests as the practice of including multiple musics in the classroom and engaging in culturally responsive teaching. I argue that conceptually, these practices are cartographic. Including multiple musics and engaging in culturally responsive teaching involve mapping racialized space. This article first examines how cultural competence has been taken up in different fields in ways that are cartographic. I subsequently explore literature predominantly from the field of geography on cartography in order to consider how practices of cultural competence can be cartographic. I then return to music education to explore how culturally responsive music educators may engage in cartographic practices, as well as account for the ways that such cartographic practices have been resisted by scholars challenging the concept of cultural competence. Ultimately, I consider ways that music educators may resist cartography in their efforts to be culturally responsive, drawing on literature predominantly outside of music education to imagine possibilities.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of notation-based software on music composition by comparing student compositions, preferences, and perceived advantages and disadvantages of composing music with and without the aid of notation-based software. The study included 37 upper-grade elementary students who composed eight measures of melody with notation-based software (MuseScore2) and handwritten notation assisted by classroom instruments (glockenspiel) during 12-week music composition lessons. Student preferences and their comments for each compositional mode were also collected. Afterward, the compositions were judged by five music teachers using Amabile’s consensual assessment technique with criteria of creativity, aesthetic appeal, and craftsmanship. Results indicated that notation-based software for music composition scored higher in creativity, while compositions on the hand-written notation assisted by glockenspiels scored higher in craftsmanship. Of the participants, 76% preferred composing music with the aid of notation-based software because of the playback function and perceived ease. Compositions using notation-based software demonstrated higher scores in creativity than handwritten compositions. However, handwritten compositions scored higher in craftsmanship. Comments by students after composition suggested that handwritten approaches allowed them to use composition strategies learned during prior teaching sessions, although they showed a lower preference for it.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between the 4 sources of self-efficacy and achievement in music performance. I used a correlational design to examine (a) the extent to which each source of self-efficacy predicted achievement; (b) differences in the relationship between self-efficacy and achievement by instrument type, age, and sex; and (c) the relationship between self-efficacy and years of ensemble enrollment. Participants (N = 73) were secondary school band and string orchestra students auditioning for elite ensembles. Responses from the Music Performance Self-Efficacy Scale reflected self-efficacy and audition scores represented achievement. Consistent with other studies, enactive mastery experience exhibited the strongest relationship with the composite construct of self-efficacy. I found verbal/social persuasion, however, to be the strongest predictor of achievement in music performance. This finding highlights the influence of verbal and social messages on achievement prior to critical performances. No differences were found when comparing the relationship between self-efficacy and achievement among groups differentiated by instrument, age, and sex. In addition, no correlation was found between self-efficacy and years of ensemble enrollment. Recommendations include extending existing psychological models to incorporate the sources of self-efficacy and using experimental designs to examine the influence of self-efficacy building activities on musicians.

Drawing from Irizarry and Raible’s (2011) barrio-based epistemologies and ontologies as a theoretical framework, I examined a middle school band program with a high enrollment of Latinx students to explore the compatibility of the traditional concert band model with this population of youth. Additionally, I assessed how asset-based principles functioned in this environment. Data collection in this case study included semistructured interviews, field observations, and material culture. A total of 19 participants engaged in interviews comprising band directors, band students, band parents, teachers, and administrators. Findings indicated that some aspects of this traditional band program corresponded with asset-based practices, specifically the band directors’ cultivation of community among students and stakeholders, and their cognizance of the sociopolitical context of which the students were a part. Importantly, band directors and other school personnel were keenly aware of stressors students and families experienced, which included cultural barriers and issues pertaining to undocumented citizenship status. Band, however, did not resonate entirely with all participants, as some students expressed a desire for creative music-making opportunities that more closely aligned with their personal interests. Implications from this study provide insights for improving music education practices in Latinx communities, such as the importance of reducing language barriers, supporting students’ cultural identities, and developing an awareness of sociopolitical issues that significantly impact the daily lives and well-being of students and their families.

Online study in music teacher education at the master’s degree level has existed for more than a decade, with hundreds of music teachers pursuing professional development or completing their graduate degrees in this format. The purpose of this study was to examine music teachers who have and who have not participated in online graduate music education regarding their perceptions of these programs. The conceptual theory known as connectivism (Siemens, 2005), highlighting properties of Autonomy, Diversity, Interactivity, and Openness, guided data collection and analysis. We used a quantitative survey method through a researcher-developed instrument. Distributed nationally, 807 (2.1%) respondents offered their perspectives, with analysis via rank order, correlation, and confirmatory factor analysis linked to the theoretical framework. Results suggest that teachers find value in elements of online education that include content, pedagogy, convenience and flexibility, professional development, and career advancement. With regard to the facets of connectivism, Autonomy contributed the largest amount of variance followed by Diversity, Interaction, and Openness. The results of this study warrant consideration as distance music education in graduate settings will likely continue to grow in the coming years.

While most music educators likely value some form of “freedom,” historical events demonstrate that without attention to what constitutes freedom, the rhetoric of freedom can subsume practices that are anything but freeing. The purpose of this philosophical inquiry is to investigate the nature of freedom and to use freedom as a lens for analyzing contemporary music education discourse and practice. Drawing on the work of Greene (1988) and Zerilli (2005), I distinguish between freedom from and freedom to and explain freedom as the responsible, situation-specific action of becoming. Troubling discourse that treats relevant musical practices as ends in themselves, I offer that freedom involves teachers and students engaging with relevant obstacles. Additionally, I problematize solo and small group musical endeavors that encourage individualism and disconnect students from divergent perspectives. Musical freedom necessitates enacting responsible expressions attentive to the pluralistic community at hand; it also demands that participants exhibit the responsibility of taking one another’s musical speech seriously. Rather than conceiving of freedom as something that we let ring, music educators and students might emphasize ringing freedom together.

Class piano instruction is a mainstay of music higher education. At many institutions, curricula are guided by accreditation organization standards, which bifurcate aspiring music teachers’ piano requirements by specialization. The purpose of this survey study was to document preservice and in-service music educators’ perceptions related to acquisition and use of specific functional piano skills across specializations. To create a survey instrument, we reviewed piano class outcomes from eight schools of music accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. This review yielded 32 skills that we organized into five categories: technique, repertoire, accompanying and functional piano skills, sight-reading, and generative creativity. Using a Likert-type scale for each skill, we asked preservice participants (n = 316) to rate their level of agreement with “learned” and “anticipate using” for each skill; in-service participants (n = 295) rated “learned” and “using” for each skill. In-service teachers reported using all skills less than preservice teachers’ responses indicated using them. Both sets of participants learned basic piano technique, but anticipated need for more advanced and functional skills for teaching. Participants’ responses related to sight-reading skills did not have a clear pattern; we suspect this may relate to participants’ licensure track(s) and current teaching responsibilities. Statistically significant differences existed between choral and nonchoral in-service teachers’ use of skills within all five categories. Based on these findings, we conclude a need for several interrelated conversations among stakeholder groups and recommend further research to clarify our profession’s currently murky definition of functional piano skills.