Christina Virgilio

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Background Introductory choir for females

Allows everyone to learn the same fundamentals

Separation by gender to help guys and advance girls

Freshmen have experience learning by rote“quick fix” Cannot just learn songs, must learn

transferrable skills2

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Music Literacy“Although students may not study music for a

career in music, they still should be given the tools they need to continue pursuing music as a part of their lives” (Kuehne, 2010, p. 13).

If students can read music notation, they are able to focus on the musical components of the literature, instead of just the notes and rhythmsMusic is what is not the notesChallenging for vocalists (pitch matching)Get better at sight-singing by doing it

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Current PracticeSight-singing

part of daily rehearsal routineafter vocal warm-upsuse a method book, modify as neededlarge-group instruction and

individual assessment

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AssessmentGroup’s success is not always an accurate

indicator of individual achievement Assessment: individual, frequent,

organizedStudents and teacher can recognize

progress or challenges throughout learning process

Teacher can offer feedback and strategies to help

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Differentiated instruction Assessments and teaching strategies should

provide appropriate challenges“fit the students rather than requiring that

students adapt to fit the curriculum”Theory of Multiple Intelligences- give options

so students can acquire and process information based on the way they understand

Students acknowledge preferred learning mode

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Purpose of StudyThe purpose of this study is to compare

freshmen female high school choir students’ sight-singing achievement when using and not using self-selected practice techniques.

More study is needed to determine the effects of student choice in learning sight-singing.

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Research QuestionsIs there a significant difference in sight-singing

achievement between singers who use self-selected practice techniques and singers who do not use self-selected practice techniques?

What is the measurable difference in sight-singing achievement from the pre-test and post-test scores when practice techniques are used and not used?

What are the students’ perceptions of their selected practice techniques?

Is there a relationship between specific practice techniques and students’ achievement level?

Is there a relationship between students’ previous musical experience and the technique that they selected? 9

Definitions & LimitationsMusical achievement - the measure of rhythm

and pitch accuracy scores as recorded by Smartmusic

Groups will consist of female freshmen singers from one high school.

Results may not accurately represent male singers, other grade levels, or other demographics.

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Plan and MaterialsFloyd and Bradley (2006): Surveyed 24 Kentucky HS

choir directors whose choirs received a “distinguished” rating in sight-singing at state festival

80% of the directors taught sight-singing for the entire school year and 83% taught it at the beginning of the rehearsal as part of their daily routine

Students need to sight-sing on a regular basis in order to improve (Demorest, 1998)

50% of the high school teachers used a combination of self-composed exercises along with a method book

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SystemMay’s (1993) study found that moveable-do

was used by 82% of the responding teachers Demorest and May (1995) sought to

determine if the sight-singing system influenced students’ scoresStudents using the moveable-do system scored

significantly higher students that used moveable-do received more

consistent training (K-12) than the students using fixed-do

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Group-InstructionHenry and Demorest (1994) sought to

determine whether group success indicated individual achievement

High-achieving choirs received an individual average of 66% in pitch and rhythm accuracy

Group achievement was not a highly accurate gauge of individual achievement in sight-singing

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Individual AssessmentDemorest (1998): analyzed the student

achievement of students with a regular program of individual testing and students with only group instruction

Treatment group was individually tested once a week along with regular group instruction

Significantly greater gain for the treatment group on the major melody, but not the minor melody

The minor melody may have shown weaker results because the teachers mainly focused on the major melodies.

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Hand SignsMcClung (2008) wanted to determine if HS

choir students achieved higher sight-singing scores with the use of hand signs

No significant differences in the scores when students used or did not use hand signs

Students’ preferences: general rise-and-fall gesture (57%), specific hand sign gesture (23%), or no hand signs (18%)

Further research could determine relationships between students' learning mode preferences and sight-singing skills.

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Preparation TimeHenry and Killian (2005): sought to

determine if there was a significant difference in sight-singing scores when participants had thirty seconds to practice prior to their performance

Most successful strategies used during preparation included tonicizing the key, using hand signs, keeping the beat, and isolating problem areas

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External InfluencesPrior experience and training are advantages

in developing literacy skills, but it is often true that "training attracts the talented" (Demorest 1998, pg. 9)

Killian and Henry (2005): high-achieving students typically had more music and sight-singing experience

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ParticipantsBatavia High School:

84.2% White, 9.2% Hispanic, 2.4% Black, 2.0% Asian

10% low-income at BHS (49% in district)10.6% IEP

Control Group: 45 freshmen female students in Women’s Chorale (Fall 2013)

Treatment Group: 40-50 freshmen female students in Women’s Chorale (Fall 2014)

Most participants were in middle school choir20

Research InstrumentSmartmusic- interactive learning program

Marks correct/incorrect pitches and rhythmsLaptop and microphoneSing at First Sight

4 weeks of introduction before pre-test

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Pre-Test and Post-Test8 measures, 66 bpmkey of F major with 4/4 time signaturestep-wise and starts/ends on do60 seconds to review the exercise and then the

computer will tonicize the key (do-mi-sol-mi-do-sol,-do), give the starting pitch, and click off four beats before the downbeat

Evaluation of pitch and rhythm accuracy (out of 100%)

Score will be submitted with an audio file and a screenshot

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Course Assessments13 weeks of regular assessments and in-class

instructionPost-test is the same as pre-test3 practice methods for treatment group:tapping the beatusing hand signsvocally tonicizing the key

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Survey for Treatment Groupyears of previous choir experience (in-school)years of previous choir experience (outside of

school)years of piano experienceyears of instrumental experience Select preferred practice method and write a

short-answer response why they chose that particular methodif they think it helped with their sight-singing

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Statistic TestsAnalyzing pre-test and post-test scores and

responses to the survey questions Descriptive statistics (M, SD) one-way ANOVA independent sample analysis

2 pre-test scores2 post-test scores

one-way ANOVA correlated sample analysis: relationship between the pre-test and the post-test scores within each group

ANCOVA test if pre-test scores are unequal to adjust the post-test means based on the pre-test means 25

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