Faculty Mentor
James McRoy
Major/Area of Research
Music Performance - Conducting
Description
This study is a look inside a Long Island High School’s band, chorus, and
orchestra in order to glean perspective on what teaching practices, rehearsal
techniques, methods of planning, philosophies of music education, priorities
within the elements of musicianship, etc. are most utilized and incorporated
into their daily routines. Since there is an established and recognized level
of success throughout this Department of Music, it is clear that these teachers
are effectively educating their students and achieving a high quality of
musicianship. This study will seek to discover the methods of how these
teachers continuously succeed. Time has been spent observing each ensemble,
speaking with each teacher, and delving into what they each consider
to be their keys to success, greatest practices, most effective ways in which
they inspire, motivate, and engage their students, and more. This study will
focus on how these teachers create a cognitive awareness of music and its
qualities to their students, and how the teachers build and shape their students’
knowledge, skills and attitudes in the rehearsal setting. The teachers’
methods to achieve specific components of exemplary ensemble sounds will
be compared and contrasted in order to explore the many qualities of music
making, both definitive through intonation and rhythm, and non-definitive
through concepts like tone quality and expression. Through assessing and
surveying these highly effective teachers, this research will seek to provide
insight to methods of success in a real-life high school music setting.
Included in
A Comparative Study of Best Teaching Practices across Three High School Music Ensembles: Band, Chorus, and Orchestra
This study is a look inside a Long Island High School’s band, chorus, and
orchestra in order to glean perspective on what teaching practices, rehearsal
techniques, methods of planning, philosophies of music education, priorities
within the elements of musicianship, etc. are most utilized and incorporated
into their daily routines. Since there is an established and recognized level
of success throughout this Department of Music, it is clear that these teachers
are effectively educating their students and achieving a high quality of
musicianship. This study will seek to discover the methods of how these
teachers continuously succeed. Time has been spent observing each ensemble,
speaking with each teacher, and delving into what they each consider
to be their keys to success, greatest practices, most effective ways in which
they inspire, motivate, and engage their students, and more. This study will
focus on how these teachers create a cognitive awareness of music and its
qualities to their students, and how the teachers build and shape their students’
knowledge, skills and attitudes in the rehearsal setting. The teachers’
methods to achieve specific components of exemplary ensemble sounds will
be compared and contrasted in order to explore the many qualities of music
making, both definitive through intonation and rhythm, and non-definitive
through concepts like tone quality and expression. Through assessing and
surveying these highly effective teachers, this research will seek to provide
insight to methods of success in a real-life high school music setting.