An investigation of the critical judgments of undergraduate music students in response to recorded music performances
Schleff, Jeffrey Scott
This item is only available for download by members of the University of Illinois community. Students, faculty, and staff at the U of I may log in with your NetID and password to view the item. If you are trying to access an Illinois-restricted dissertation or thesis, you can request a copy through your library's Inter-Library Loan office or purchase a copy directly from ProQuest.
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/23277
Description
Title
An investigation of the critical judgments of undergraduate music students in response to recorded music performances
Author(s)
Schleff, Jeffrey Scott
Issue Date
1989
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Colwell, Richard J.
Department of Study
Music
Discipline
Music Education
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ed.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Fine Arts
Music
Education, Music
Language
eng
Abstract
The problem was to determine the extent to which critical judgments of undergraduate music students conform to the judgments of recognized music critics. Published reviews identified 177 critically recognized inferior and superior recorded performances of Classical and Romantic compositions of instrumental, keyboard, or choral/vocal music from which 100 excerpts were selected. Faculty validation of 52 of these excerpts provided 30 excerpts for a pilot study to explore testing formats and conditions within which critical judgments of students could be obtained. For the main phase of the research, subjects (N = 204) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and three other state universities using the Critical Judgments Performance Evaluation (CJPE) provided overall ratings of performance quality of 28 excerpts, their confidence in their ratings, and judgments on 13 performance characteristics.
Data analysis determined the relationship between the subject's musical/academic variables and his ability to make critical judgments. Statistical techniques included calculation of frequencies and percentages, chi-square tests, t tests, ANOVA, and multiple comparisons post-hoc Tukey-B and Scheffe tests. Subjects agreed more often than they disagreed with the judgment of critics. Agreement was greater on the superior choral/vocal and on the inferior keyboard. Keyboard majors agreed with critics more often than instrumental or choral/vocal majors. Keyboard students judged the overall performance quality of keyboard excerpts more accurately than nonkeyboard students. Keyboard students also agreed with the judgments of critics to a greater extent on inferior instrumental and inferior choral/vocal excerpts.
ACT scores, high school rank, academic division, the extent of music instruction, and grade point average were not factors in agreement-disagreement with the judgments of critics. The use of musical scores while judging performance quality also was not a factor. Neither did the style or kind of music affect student judgments. Most students were able to discriminate between superior and inferior excerpts as determined by critics in all but one case. Keyboard majors were more confident in their overall ratings than subjects who majored in instrumental or choral/vocal music. The formation of critical judgments is not directly related to the objectives of undergraduate music programs but this ability may be a function of musical and/or academic experience.
Use this login method if you
don't
have an
@illinois.edu
email address.
(Oops, I do have one)
IDEALS migrated to a new platform on June 23, 2022. If you created
your account prior to this date, you will have to reset your password
using the forgot-password link below.
