Pedagogical Practices Related to the Ability to Discern and Correct
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Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2014 Pedagogical Practices Related to the Ability to Discern and Correct Intonation Errors: An Evaluation of Current Practices, Expectations, and a Model for Instruction Ryan Vincent Scherber Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MUSIC PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICES RELATED TO THE ABILITY TO DISCERN AND CORRECT INTONATION ERRORS: AN EVALUATION OF CURRENT PRACTICES, EXPECTATIONS, AND A MODEL FOR INSTRUCTION By RYAN VINCENT SCHERBER A Dissertation submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2014 Ryan V. Scherber defended this dissertation on June 18, 2014. The members of the supervisory committee were: William Fredrickson Professor Directing Dissertation Alexander Jimenez University Representative John Geringer Committee Member Patrick Dunnigan Committee Member Clifford Madsen Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii For Mary Scherber, a selfless individual to whom I owe much. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of this journey would not have been possible without the care and support of my family, mentors, colleagues, and friends. Your support and encouragement have proven invaluable throughout this process and I feel privileged to have earned your kindness and assistance. To Dr. William Fredrickson, I extend my deepest and most sincere gratitude. You have been a remarkable inspiration during my time at FSU and I will be eternally thankful for the opportunity to have worked closely with you. Throughout this process, you have provided the guidance and insight of both a master teacher and accomplished researcher as you assisted me in achieving my goals. My gratitude runs deep and I look forward to our future relationship. Thank you to Drs. John Geringer, Patrick Dunnigan, and Alexander Jimenez for your willingness to serve on my committee. Your guidance, support, and insight through this process and during my time in this degree are both highly valued and sincerely appreciated. To Dr. Madsen, your kind support and opportunities over these past years for both personal and professional growth have helped me become who I am today. Special thanks are owed to Dr. Steven Kelly. Your guidance and support over the past years have been special to me and I feel privileged to have had numerous opportunities to learn from you. I would not be where I am today without you. This study would not have been possible without the support of students from the Leon County School District, their teachers, and building principals. I am particularly indebted to Mrs. Kendra Wendeln and Mr. Daniel Farr for their support and welcoming me into their classroom. This process was not a solitary venture and I owe a great deal of thanks to many others: Dr. Julia Heath and Mr. Michael Champion – my best friends, colleagues, and support network; Dr. Keith Matthews – my good friend, office mate, and sounding board; Dr. Ann Porter – who started me on this journey; Drs. Jason Silveira, Mark Belfast, and Lesley Mann – for their assistance and editing prowess; and Dr. David Plack, Mr. Chandler Bridges, Ms. Christi Burkett, Mr. Matthew Tavera, Mr. Asher Kelly, Mr. Brian Jennings, Mr. Michael Causey, and Mr. Michael Shapiro for their assistance with my audio recordings. Finally, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to Pat for your unwavering support, patience, and moments of levity to maintain my spirits. I could not have accomplished this without you and I will never forget that. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ vii List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. viii Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ix 1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................1 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ......................................................................................................6 Factors Affecting Pitch Discrimination ...................................................................................6 Personal Factors ....................................................................................................................6 Acoustic Factors ...................................................................................................................8 Musical Factors ..................................................................................................................15 Measurement of Aural Skills .................................................................................................22 Developing Pitch Discrimination ..........................................................................................25 Structured Learning Activities to Develop Pitch Discrimination .......................................31 Instructional Sequences to Develop Pitch Discrimination .................................................32 Statement of the Problem ......................................................................................................34 3. METHOD ..................................................................................................................................36 Phase One ..............................................................................................................................36 Participants .........................................................................................................................36 Questionnaire ......................................................................................................................37 Survey Administration ........................................................................................................37 Phase Two .............................................................................................................................37 Participants .........................................................................................................................37 Consent ...............................................................................................................................38 Stimulus Creation ...............................................................................................................38 Pre- and Post-Test ...............................................................................................................40 Intonation Training Program ..............................................................................................43 4. RESULTS ..................................................................................................................................46 Phase One ..............................................................................................................................46 Phase Two .............................................................................................................................52 Paired-Comparison Task ....................................................................................................53 Tuning Task ........................................................................................................................59 Melodic Task ......................................................................................................................61 5. DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................66 Research Questions ...............................................................................................................66 Results in the Context of Existing Research .........................................................................70 Implications ...........................................................................................................................71 Limitations .............................................................................................................................72 Directions for Future Research ..............................................................................................73 APPENDICES ...............................................................................................................................75 A. IRB APPROVAL FORMS ....................................................................................................75 B. SURVEY INVITATION EMAIL .........................................................................................77 C. QUESTIONNAIRES .............................................................................................................78 D. REMINDER EMAIL .............................................................................................................86 E. CONSENT FORMS ..............................................................................................................87