Undergraduate Instrumental Music Education Majors' Approaches to Score Study in Various Musical Contexts

Abstract

Participants in the study (N = 21) engaged in two one-on-one interview sessions with the investigator. During each session, participants "thought out loud" as they studied one solo score and one full score of music by various composers. Interviews were conducted in an effort to assess preexisting knowledge of the music being studied and to assess participants' perceptions about score study. Results indicated three primary themes: (1) a lack of transfer of preexisting knowledge into certain score-study procedures, (2) an increase in specificity of verbal responses that seemed to correspond with education and experience, and (3) a lack of audible sound used during score preparation within full-score settings. Other findings suggest a contextual basis for score-study procedures and reflect changes in score-study patterns that seem influenced by experience and education.