Choral Music Education: A Survey of Research 1982-1995.

The purpose of this review was to provide an overview of research in choral music education that might reveal trends in the field, significant clusters of interest in specific topics, the waning of interest in a heretofore popular research area, or the emergence of new areas of interest. The survey was conducted through reviews of professional journals and computer searches of Dissertation Abstracts International (DAI), Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), and (Repertoire International de Litterature Musicale). The studies reviewed were organized into the following categories: (a) singing and vocal pedagogy, (b) curriculum and materials, (c) teacher/conductor behavior, (d) teaching methods and rehearsal techniques, (e) teacher education, and (f) miscellaneous studies. Notable observations include: (a) a shift toward the study of singing and vocal pedagogy with children and adolescents; (b) a large number of studies on the curricular issues of choral literature and sight-singing, but few taking a comprehensive view of curriculum in the choral class; (c) a lack of studies on assessment or evaluation; (d) a strong cluster of research on teacher education, particularly sequential patterns of instruction; and (e) a movement toward the use of ethnographic and qualitative research methods.

[1]  Sharon G. Rush.  Leadership and Administrative Tasks of Secondary Choral Music Educators , 1992 .

[2]  Hilary Apfelstadt.  Effects of Melodic Perception Instruction on Pitch Discrimination and Vocal Accuracy of Kindergarten Children , 1984 .

[3]  Peta White Sjölander,et al.  The developing voice : Education and vocal efficiency – a physical perspective , 1993 .

[4]  Cornelia Yarbrough.  Inaccurate Singers: An Exploratory Study of Variables Affecting Pitch-Matching. , 1991 .

[5]  M. Goetze.  Recent Research on Singing in the General Music Classroom. , 1990 .

[6]  Donald K. Taebel.  Public School Music Teachers' Perceptions of the Effect of Certain Competencies on Pupil Learning , 1980 .

[7]  H. Dahlman.  The Effect of Choral Program Size, Teacher Experience, and Teacher Education Level on the Selection of High School Choral Music Literature , 1992 .

[8]  S. Demorest,et al.  Individual Sight-Singing Achievement in Successful Choral Ensembles , 1994 .

[9]  Charlotte P. Mizener.  Attitudes of Children toward Singing and Choir Participation and Assessed Singing Skill , 1993 .

[10]  L. A. Corbin.  Vocal pedagogy in the choral rehearsal : the influence of selected concepts on choral tone quality, student understanding of the singing process, and student attitudes toward choir participation , 1982 .

[11]  D. McGinty.  Gifted Minds and Pure Hearts: Mary L. Europe and Estelle Pinckney Webster. , 1982 .

[12]  Richard J. Colwell,et al.  Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning , 1992 .

[13]  Vance D. Wolverton.  Comprehensive Musicianship Revisited: Research-Based Applications for the Choral Music Classroom , 1992 .

[14]  Stephens Simons.  An Investigation of the Relationship of Self Concept to Selected Communication Skills of Choral Conductors , 1984 .

[15]  Robert Allen Petty.  Evaluation of procedures to develop selected choral rehearsal skills with undergraduate choral methods students , 1987 .

[16]  L. Wing,et al.  Choral Music Teacher Rehearsal Behaviors: An Essay on Knowing What We Do , 1990 .

[17]  Morris Franklin Lee,et al.  Choral teaching practices in Utah Wasatch Front High Schools compared with philosophies of music education , 1983 .

[18]  H. Price.  The Effect of Conductor Academic Task Presentation, Conductor Reinforcement, and Ensemble Practice on Performers' Musical Achievement, Attentiveness, and Attitude , 1983 .

[19]  R. D. Daniels.  Relationships Among Selected Factors and the Sight-Reading Ability of High School Mixed Choirs , 1986 .

[20]  Greta Johnson.  A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF THE PITCH-READING METHODS AND THE AMOUNT OF TIME UTILIZED TO TEACH SIGHT-SINGING BY HIGH SCHOOL CHORAL TEACHERS IN THE NORTH CENTRAL REGION OF THE AMERICAN CHORAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION , 1987 .

[21]  Rosemary C. Watkins.  Nonperformance Time Use in Middle and Junior High School Choral Rehearsals , 1993 .

[22]  Cornelia Yarbrough.  The Effect of Sequential Patterns and Modes of Presentation on the Evaluation of Music Teaching. , 1994 .

[23]  P. Fiocca.  A descriptive analysis of the rehearsal behaviors of selected exemplary junior high and middle school choir directors , 1986 .

[24]  Nicholas Decarbo.  The Effects of Conducting Experience and Programmed Materials on Error-Detection Scores of College Conducting Students , 1982 .

[25]  R. S. Patterson.  Conducting gestures used by high school choral directors , 1984 .

[26]  R. E. Fisher.  The Design, Development, and Evaluation of a Systematic Method for English Diction in Choral Performance , 1991 .

[27]  H. Price.  Sequential Patterns of Music Instruction and Learning to Use Them , 1992 .

[28]  W. May,et al.  The Girl's Changing Voice , 1989 .

[29]  Jeffrey Aaron.  The effects of vocal coordination instruction on the pitch accuracy, range, pitch discrimination, and tonal memory of inaccurate singers , 1990 .

[30]  Cornelia Yarbrough,et al.  The Effect of Vibrato on the Pitch-Matching Accuracy of Certain and Uncertain Singers , 1992 .

[31]  Paul Jonathan. Nesheim.  Vocalises for choir: A collection of vocal exercises with a study of their value and of principles for their effective use. , 1991 .

[32]  Thomas Wine,et al.  A pedagogy for choral conducting based on score miniaturization , 1997 .

[33]  Richard J. Colwell.  The New Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning: A Project of the Music Educators National Conference , 1992 .

[34]  Y. Horii,et al.  A Comparison of the Pitch Accuracy of Group and Individual Singing in Young Children. , 1989 .

[35]  Gerald Roger Bolt.  Choral repertoire selection competency development in undergraduate music education curricula , 1983 .

[36]  Michael William Tamte-Horan.  The development of instructional materials for training beginning choral conducting students to evaluate tone quality in high school choral music performance , 1989 .

[37]  J. T. Gates.  A Historical Comparison of Public Singing by American Men and Women , 1989 .

[38]  Ruth H. S. Whitlock.  The Design and Evaluation of Study Materials for Integrating Musical Information into the Choral Rehearsal , 1981 .

[39]  Larry D. Wyatt.  A Study of Five Recommended Lists of Repertoire For the High School Choral Ensemble , 1988 .

[40]  C. W. McCoy.  Grading Students in Performing Groups: A Comparison of Principals' Recommendations with Directors' Practices , 1991 .

[41]  Walter Harold Lamble.  The development and evaluation of a model minimum competency testing program in high school choral music , 1982 .

[42]  Earlene Rentz.  Music Opinions and Preferences of High School Students in Select and Nonselect Choruses. , 1994 .

[43]  Contextual Condition and Sightsinging Achievement of Middle School Choral Students , 1994 .

[44]  Cornelia Yarbrough,et al.  The Effect of Sequential Patterns on Rehearsal Evaluations of High School and Elementary Students , 1993 .

[45]  John J. Deal.  Computer-Assisted Instruction in Pitch and Rhythm Error Detection , 1985 .

[46]  Janice N. Killian,et al.  The Relationship Between Sightsinging Accuracy and Error Detection in Junior High Singers , 1991 .

[47]  J. D. Boyle,et al.  The Effect of Context on Sightsinging. , 1990 .

[48]  Randall S. Moore.  Effects of Age, Sex, and Melodic/Harmonic Patterns on Vocal Pitch-Matching Skills of Talented 8-11-Year-Olds , 1994 .

[49]  Stephen G. Ten Eyck.  The Effect of Programmed Materials on the Vocal Development of Selected Children's Choruses , 1985 .

[50]  Cornelia Yarbrough,et al.  Effects of Male Timbre, Falsetto, and Sine-Wave Models on Interval Matching by Inaccurate Singers , 1994 .