Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailableHow accurate are self-evaluations of singing ability?(WILEY, 2023-12)Research has shown that people inaccurately assess their own abilities on self-report measures, including academic, athletic, and music ability. Evidence suggests this is also true for singing, with individuals either overestimating or underestimating their level of singing competency. In this paper, we present the Melbourne Singing Tool Questionnaire (MST-Q), a brief 16-item measure exploring people's self-perceptions of singing ability and engagement with singing. Using a large sample of Australian twins (n = 996), we identified three latent factors underlying MST-Q items and examined whether these factors were related to an objective phenotypic measure of singing ability. The three factors were identified as Personal Engagement, Social Engagement, and Self-Evaluation. All factors were positively associated with objective singing performance, with the Self-Evaluation factor yielding the strongest correlation (r = 0.66). Both the Self-Evaluation factor and a single self-report item of singing ability shared the same predictive strength. Contrary to expectations, our findings suggest that self-evaluation strongly predicts singing ability, and this self-evaluation is of higher predictive value than self-reported engagement with music and singing.
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ItemArts programs in schools : Seven models and a decision-making matrix for school leaders(Australian Council for Educational Leaders, 2019-09-01)The provision of arts programs in Australian schools is diverse. Studies of music have shown that the quality of music education in private schools is high and well resourced, but in government-funded schools there is greater variation with schools in some states offering little to no embedded programs. Because the arts are not considered core, school leaders have the freedom and responsibility to determine how much, how often, and what kinds of programs should be offered. Without mandated guidelines, our research shows that this is often influenced by leaders' personal experiences of music in their history or family context. School leaders have also described needing to overcome significant barriers in order to justify the provision of programs. Further complicating the picture are the varying views held by school leaders and staff about exactly which benefits arts programs afford. While most agree on the intrinsic value related to artistic skills and creativity more generally, some are less sure about additional benefits such as psychosocial wellbeing benefits or community building, with a diversity of perspectives also reflected in policy documents.
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ItemContextualizing the Study of Music Performance(Oxford University Press (OUP), 2022-02-17)The eighty scholars from thirteen countries who prepared the fifty-four chapters in this handbook are leaders in the fields of music psychology, performance science, musicology, psychology, education, music medicine, science, and music education. They include academics who hold prominent positions in music institutions worldwide, emerging early-career researchers who have begun to make their mark through publications of international stature, and leaders outside the field of music whose work deserves to be adapted and applied within the field of music performance. Chapters provide a broad coverage of the area, with considerable expansion of the topics that most would normally expect to be covered in a resource of this type. In this way, the range and scope of the content is much wider than other publications by virtue of the inclusion of chapters from related disciplines such as performance science (e.g., optimizing performance, mental techniques, talent development in non-music areas) and education (e.g., human development, motivation, learning and teaching styles), as well as the attention given to emerging critical issues in the field (e.g., wellbeing, technology, gender, diversity, inclusion, identity, resilience and buoyancy, diseases, and physical and mental disabilities). The two-volume handbook is designed around eight distinct parts: Development and Learning, Proficiencies, Performance Practices, Psychology, Enhancements, Health and Wellbeing, Science, and Innovations.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableHigh-Impact Teaching Mindframes(Oxford University Press (OUP), 2022-02-17)This chapter provides our explanation of why certain teachers are able to leave such a positive impact on their students’ love for performing music. It draws on the work of John Hattie, whose explanation of how to make learning visible details ten mindframes that have been shown through extensive research to explain successful learning and inspirational teachers. Because this chapter is placed within a book on music performance, our adaptation of these ten mindframes relates to how they might be relevant within the context of studio instrumental and vocal teaching that are typical in many music institutions internationally. The chapter argues that teachers of music performance will be in a much better position to cater to the needs of the diverse range of student abilities we observe in music institutions internationally if they apply the mindframes outlined in this chapter. When we recalibrate our teaching to focus on questions of why as well as what and how, we position ourselves to take on a much broader and more impactful role as a performer-teacher who really cares about students, who wants to spark their interest, who encourages them to live their musical dream, and who helps developing musicians exceed what they think is their full potential.
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ItemNo Preview AvailablePlaying by Ear(Oxford University Press (OUP), 2022-02-17)There are significant and long-lasting benefits when beginning instrumentalists are exposed to a sound-before-sign approach. Likewise, refinement of play-by-ear skills by experienced, proficient musicians can enrich their musicality and lead to benefits for other performance skills including playing by ear, playing from memory, sight-reading, and improvising. Improving play-by-ear skills improves all forms of performing, as musicians use inner hearing to build an aural database through the use of mental and aural imagery while playing by ear. A mental warehouse of aural templates and mental tools allows for more efficient processing of music visually, aurally, and kinesthetically. We support an integrated model of instrumental performance that is significantly enhanced by developing one’s abilities to play by ear. This approach fosters connections between eyes, ears, and fingers and allows musicians to advance their skills more efficiently and effectively to become more responsive performers. A versatile twenty-first-century musician is able to meet the demands of performing varied musics in varied contexts. We make specific recommendations for implementing playing by ear as a technique for contemporary practice.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableMusical Potential, Giftedness, and Talent Development(Oxford University Press (OUP), 2022-02-17)This chapter surveys research dealing with musical potential, musical giftedness, and musical talent to dispel some of the myths and misconceptions about the nature and scope of musical development. It addresses the issue of whether we are all born musical, before exploring ways of how to define and explain musical potential, giftedness, and talent. Attention is given to debates about the extent to which there are individual differences in musical potential, and the complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors that can help explain this concept. Environmental, intrapersonal, and developmental processes acting on the realization of musical talent are each discussed separately, with a final section rounding this explanation off to provide a framework for understanding talent development in music. The chapter shows that music is a universal feature of our human design and that virtually everyone can successfully engage with music, if they so choose. For musicians who wish to take their talent development to a much higher level, the topics covered provide greater awareness of what exactly is taking place on the road to developing expertise, from the earliest stages of learning right through to the types of transformational achievement that distinguishes the world’s leading musicians.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableReadiness for Learning to Perform Music(Oxford University Press (OUP), 2022-02-17)This chapter begins by discussing prominent learning theories that contextualize development and then drills down to individual components that are relevant to learning to perform music. Developmental factors, such as distinguishing giftedness from talent, predispositions to learn, sensitive and critical periods, and perceptual abilities are discussed. A section on physical maturation provides information on how to match students with instruments, including factors influencing these choices such as motor development, teeth alignment, sex differences, and gender biases. We strongly advise against using so-called standardized measures of musical aptitude to predict future success and detail some of the ways these types of measures are flawed. In the final section dealing with practical applications, we return to the broader definition of readiness as a “healthy state of mind” to provide a set of principles that can be used to guide the types of environments, approaches, and beliefs that we believe best cater for the individual needs of each child. One of the main points we stress is that there are no definitive rules for when a child is ready to learn an instrument or voice. Determining readiness is highly contextual and will vary from child to child.
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ItemSelf-Regulated Learning Music Microanalysis(Oxford University Press (OUP), 2022-02-17)The toolkit of strategies that help individuals adapt their behaviors to break through, feel energized, and perform successfully collectively embody the concept of being a self-regulated learner. This toolkit of strategies is what this chapter is about, and its purpose is to help musicians more skillfully infuse ideas and principles from the self-regulated learning literature within their musical development. These strategies encompass the ability to monitor one’s own thoughts and actions, navigate and control your own emotions especially when you feel frustrated or anxious, and focus your efforts to select the most efficient solutions that will enable you to perform at your personal best. Put another way, becoming self-regulated in the mastery of music involves being able to recognize a challenge, understand the scope and nature of this challenge, focusing your motivation to deal with the challenges, enacting strategies and plans to overcome the challenge, and evaluating your progress toward overcoming the challenge. Self-regulated learning is not a mental ability or skill, but instead a way of mastering musical learning by drawing on and applying a number of self-directive processes that allow musicians to transform their mental abilities into skills. Examples are provided of the self-regulated learning microanalysis technique that are designed for performing musicians who are trying to take more control of their own development and proactively work toward achieving their personal best.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableSight-Reading(Oxford University Press (OUP), 2022-02-17)This chapter synthesizes available information on music reading and highlights recent approaches to studying the acquisition of sight-reading expertise. We focus on factors contributing to fluent music reading: eye movement, perceptual skills, auditory skills, and memory. The eye movements of accomplished sight-readers are different from those of slow readers, with expertise measured by fewer and shorter fixations and longer saccades. Skilled sight-readers perceive larger rhythm and pitch patterns than slow sight-readers do, and base their prediction skills on their knowledge of musical styles. Strong auditory skills also play an important role in sight-reading. Fluent sight-reading involves fast retrieval of well-established motor responses from the long-term memory and suppression of irrelevant information in the working memory. We discuss a range of approaches to the acquisition of fluent sight-reading: rhythm training leads to greater rhythmic accuracy, familiarity with musical styles improves pattern recognition, and collaborative playing activities assist in maintaining pacing of a performance. A holistic training approach combining all three of these elements is described in the last section of the chapter. General and specific recommendations for ways musicians can improve their music reading skills are provided together with training strategies aimed at helping musicians become fluent music readers.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableA PRISMA review of research on feedback in music education and music psychology(SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC, 2023-05)The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of research literature about feedback in music. We employed the Preferred Reporting Systems for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method to systematically review literature about feedback in music education and music psychology from the first identified article in 1973 to November 2021. We identified a total of 4,499 records using our inclusion criteria, of which a total of 153 were identified as relevant for further analysis. We documented percentages and frequencies for publications over time, type of publications, sampling location, methodology, and topic. We also employed recent conceptions of feedback to categorize the type of feedback studied. Results suggest the extant literature in music may be outdated and lack methodological rigor. Most studies did not provide a working definition of feedback and were largely confined to teacher feedback. Music researchers have primarily studied feedback in relation to learner’s behavior rather than their cognition or affect. Consequently, feed-back (as opposed to feed-up or feed-forward) represents the overwhelming focus of this literature. This review highlights the need for more in-depth, nuanced, and empirically robust studies on feedback in music education and music psychology.