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Gaze Behavior, Attention Allocation, and Automaticity of Expert Chamber Music Coaches
No full textAttention allocation develops through reinforcement learning as a result of accumulated experience (Anderson, 2016). Eye movement patterns of skillful teachers are a manifestation of their thinking, including goal setting, task conceptualization, and prioritization of environmental stimuli (Landy, 2018). An ongoing challenge in studying attention allocation is developing protocols that illuminate teachers’ thinking when much of their thought processes are automatized and unconsciously controlled (Hinds & Pfeffer, 2002). Gaze behavior analysis can reveal otherwise obscure features of how teachers allocate attention, set proximal goals, and make momentary decisions that drive instruction (Haataja et al., 2019; van den Bogert et al., 2014). To assess the degree to which teachers’ attention allocation operates below conscious awareness, I analyzed expert teachers’ gaze during teaching episodes and compared their gaze behavior to post hoc descriptions of their thinking. Two artist-level chamber music coaches wore eye-tracking glasses while teaching a chamber rehearsal, then participated in two interviews to discuss their teaching. The first interview took place immediately after the rehearsal; the second occurred approximately two weeks later, during which time the teachers recalled what they remembered about their attention as they watched their lesson videos and eye-tracking recordings. Teachers’ gaze behavior revealed rich networks of rapid information tracking and goal-directed attention, but both teachers struggled to articulate the details of their thinking or their attention allocation, suggesting that they conceive of their teaching behaviors in broad construals, and the complex attentional behaviors detected in their gaze behavior occurred unconsciously. There is a tremendous amount of information to be learned from deeply analyzing small episodes of teacher-learner musical interactions, but no previous research has explored this territory with enough detail or technological facility to fully understand the attentional mechanisms that underlie expert music teaching in context. It may be the first study to analyze teachers’ momentary gaze behavior and attention allocation among several students as it relates to specific proximal performance goals, thus illustrating how these teachers solved complex problems, decided what to pursue, and kept track of multiple students in ways that are not accessible via overt behavior observation. That this component of teaching practice does not involve volitional control suggests that teachers’ descriptions of their thinking may not reveal important elements of pedagogical expertise
Role-Change in Teaching and Learning Indigenous Music: Interaction Between In-Service Teachers and Community Members
No full textConcerns about musical arts education in Mozambique entail the need for teaching methods that are culturally sensitive. Much scholarly research suggests the inclusion of indigenous musical arts practices in the curriculum but lacks clear suggestions on teaching methods, repertoire selection criteria, and ways of transferring indigenous knowledge for use in formal education. This seems to jeopardize the project of enhancing music education through the use of indigenous content. Furthermore, as a result of the colonial historical past and the current trends towards globalization, in Mozambique, for example, most musical arts practices are at risk of disappearing. Therefore, my research looks at how these endangered indigenous practices can inform the design of a teaching model and its theory. I argue that community members can shift the roles of schoolteachers— especially musical arts teachers—while researchers can learn from and observe the practices and ways of transmitting knowledge. The research is ethnographic and empirical. For data collection, the culture bearers teach the schoolchildren and, in separate sessions, teach the schoolteachers in an environment that provides a community setting, permitting role change between the community members and the schoolteachers.
The study points out the great potential of bringing pedagogical benefits beyond music and culture. including involvement, complicity, and understanding among school members about the value of the parents’ contribution to whole-school life—as school members get to know the parents and community life better. Notably, the schoolteachers turn into learners of the community members—often considered illiterate—and, in turn, these community members see the schoolteachers as the most informed and instructed, while viewing their own knowledge as less valuable and undeserving of being passed on in schools. Regarding the musical arts and local culture in general, this becomes a world of new discoveries for the participants, as they learn more about each other and acquire knowledge that they did not expect to gain, such as performing indigenous music. As a result, schoolteachers tend to act as community members\u27 partners/assistants in teaching the children the same content they learn from the community in separate forums. The study shows that this research approach is context-sensitive and decolonial and is likely to fill the gap in teaching methods for musical arts in formal education settings, as it allows insightful and transferable views and teaching strategies from informal and/or non-formal education settings.
Ubiquitous Labour and Differential Dispossession: The Two Faces of Instrumentarian Dystopia
No full textDystopian fiction routinely employs the trope of surveillance, the various mechanisms for which, while often exemplifying the level of technological advancement the given society has achieved, also demonstrate how scientific innovations invariably become instruments of oppression for the regime in power. This paper, however, deals with surveillance not as a mere apparatus for the incumbent regime but as a mode of production that has coevolved with capitalism called surveillance capitalism. The theoretical lens of the paper is majorly derived from Shoshana Zuboff’s (2019) theorisation of surveillance capitalism. The paper closely reads the dystopian novel Chosen Spirits (2020) by the Indian writer Samit Basu to uncover the ways in which the primary imperative of surveillance in controlling populations conjoins with capital’s drive for exploitation for the production of surplus. The intention of the paper is to demonstrate the dystopian ordering of an instrumentarian society that could give rise to the condition of ubiquitous labour. Contrary to the common assumptions about the universality of dystopian conditions and Zuboff’s (2019) own assumptions regarding the homogenizing experience of surveillance capital, the paper establishes that both surveillance capital and a dystopia built on its structures are experienced differentially depending on one’s social position
Preface
No full textWelcome to the collection of work from the 30th ISME Research Commission Seminar. The ISME Research Commission brings together diverse branches of music education research—including music education, psychology, performance, theory, composition, sociology, and musicology—to share and discuss research methodologies and findings. The Research Commission is committed to supporting evidence-based approaches and understanding of teaching and learning in music education. We have a dual focus on both the ‘how’ and the ‘what’ of the research endeavor.
The 2024 Research Commission Seminar was a rich and exciting weeklong event. We welcomed researchers of all career stages from seventeen countries. We were thrilled to return to an in-person component—the first since 2018. After reflecting on the virtual commissions of 2020 and 2022, we recognized that the virtual format nevertheless enabled participation for researchers who would not otherwise have been able to travel to Finland. Consequently, the 2024 Research Commission was our first hybrid seminar, allowing us also to welcome many virtual participants and presenters to our knowledge exchange. The opportunity to participate virtually undoubtably increased the reach and access of the Research Commission.
This hybrid seminar would not have been possible without the unwavering support of our hosts at the University of Jyväskylä, led by Suvi Saarikallio and Markku Pöyhönen. This team provided outstanding hospitality to both our in-person and online participants, and we are grateful for their care and consideration throughout this process. The Seminar would also not have been possible without the support of five Commissioners—Ruth Brittin (USA), Graham Welch (UK/Africa), Hiromichi Mito (Asia), Ramiro Limongi (Latin & South America), and Suvi Saarikallio (Europe) who worked hard reviewing papers and helping with the preparations for the Seminar.
These Proceedings include 16 papers and 15 abstracts from lightning talks/poster presentations. This body of work represents a variety of philosophical, quantitative, and qualitative methodologies across school, community, and higher education contexts, addressing issues related to the following: identity, development, and experiences; curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment; rehearsal and performance; and methodology and theory building.
Identity, Development, and Experiences
Several researchers examined the impact of music education on children’s social-emotional development and identity formation. Boal-Palheiros and Ilari conducted a longitudinal study with 154 low-income primary school children in Portugal, while Lucendo-Noriega et al. outlined a two-year study in Finland on music and physical education for 4–5-year-olds. Other research addressed challenges faced by students, including Obata and Mito’s study on gender differences in “onchi” consciousness during COVID-19 among Japanese junior high students and Ripani’s analysis of the paradoxical relationship between acculturation and stress in U.S. immigrant children in music classes. Finally, Saltari described an action research pilot study on the Greek island of Chios with refugee and local children (ages 6–10), using playground musical games as a means of self-expression, interaction, and communication. The project is expected to have positive effects on the participant children and foster skills for personal exploration.
Researchers also examined identity, development, and experience in post-secondary music education. Simmons et al. surveyed U.S. music majors to explore links between performance accomplishment, personality traits, community feedback, musicianship, and wellbeing. Luna and Lorenzo Sánchez-Gatt used reflexive methods to analyze challenges faced by BIPOC students at predominantly White institutions, highlighting strategies to navigate microaggressions and cultural norms. Similarly, Regus’s qualitative study of three bilingual AfroLatina/o/x musicians revealed that navigating U.S. music education often requires linguistic, musical, and behavioral codeswitching to avoid academic and professional consequences. Finally, Omolo-Ongati et al. examined the experiences of teacher-performers during COVID-19 through interviews with professionals in Kenya and the USA. As performers, participants reported improved technical skills for teaching; however, they also faced financial and motivational losses. As teachers, the U.S. respondents emphasized student mental health concerns and shifting personal priorities, whereas Kenyan participants noted student progress linked to individualized online instruction and extra practice time.
Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Assessment
A number of researchers explored philosophical perspectives on music education. Poblete-Lagos argued for an integrated philosophy of music education in Latin America. Using Zanotti and Freire as examples, Frega challenged the development of music education philosophies that could address big issues facing educators. Meanwhile, the evolution of curriculum away from colonial practices in Brazil was examined by Queiroz. This study found that despite the dominance of Western classical musical canons and the maintenance of course-based, disciplinary curriculum designs, decolonial alternatives are building creative and innovative strategies to teach music in higher education.
Teacher knowledge based around motor learning in music pedagogy was explored by Theodoridis, who noted that many teachers may be relying on popular culture and self-help literature—sources which continue to spread misleading ideas about movement learning that influence musicians’ self-perceptions and teaching approaches.
The role(s) of teachers were illuminated by several researchers. Ogawa and Tokuda described teachers as more creators than leaders when teaching Japanese high school students how to compose an interlude for a school song. Similarly, Gove positioned teachers as partners and learners when Indigenous practices were incorporated into Mozambique music classes. De Grâce highlighted the importance of teachers as supporters in the co-regulation process for students in post-secondary ear-training classes in Canada, and Due developed a conceptual framework to better understand teacher-student boundaries and boundary processes in music studio education.
Assessment methods were examined by Zhang and Dong, who surveyed assessment practices currently used by Chinese primary and middle school music teachers working in one of China’s largest municipalities. Their study found that oral feedback and written reports are the most prevalent methods irrespective of students’ grades and teachers’ career stages. Svec, meanwhile, piloted an online testing procedure for administrating Gordon’s Primary Measures of Music Audiation (PMMA) (1979b) test with kindergarteners, finding that this was not a feasible process.
Rehearsal and Performance
One group of researchers focused on the efficacy of rehearsal strategies and processes. Bock and Duke compared rhythmic consistency with and without the use of a metronome. Rush reported on a small-scale experimental pilot study examining instrumentalists’ techniques for aural learning of new melodies from various cultural traditions. Meanwhile, Whitaker presented a preliminary descriptive study exploring wait time, or silence that occurs during verbal instruction interactions, in music rehearsal settings among high school, middle school, and preservice band directors.
Studies examining gaze behaviours of musicians and instructors included a study by Heinsen, who looked at eye-tracking of chamber music coaches, and one by Chaney and Rush, who explored the relationship between expertise and gaze patterns among undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty musicians.
The influence of extramusical qualities on learning and performance was examined by Dasovich-Wilson et al., who found that music video content can have a salient effect on individuals’ visual imagery mechanism, which in turn moderates the strength of other perceptual changes, including emotional reactions to music in everyday listening experiences. Johnson et al. explored variations in tempo and rubato depending on performance setting. Meanwhile, Rossin analyzed the potential influence of school size, time of day, and Title-1 status on marching band performance scores at all Bands of America festivals in a single year.
Methodology and Theory Building
Novel data analysis methods were introduced by Varela et al., who piloted the use of a machine-learning tool to analyse singing and movement activities, while Polyák presented a data analysis process combining techniques from text mining with historical and quantitative approaches to discourse analysis.
Zdzinski conducted a content analysis of theoretical modeling research completed by students and faculty at a major music school in the United States, finding causal chains in both quantitative and qualitative methods which highlighted how both processes contribute to theory building. Moreover, Orman conducted a titleology of published manuscript titles in the International Journal of Music Education (IJME)—from the journal’s inception in 1983 through volume 41(2) in 2023— revealing trends and changes in music education research during this time.
Julia Brook
Chair, Research Commission, ISME, 2022–2024
February 2026
Learning Strategies, Multimusicality, and Phenomenologies in Ear-Learning Tasks: An Experimental Pilot Study
No full textThis paper reports on a small-scale experimental pilot study examining instrumentalists’ techniques for aural learning of new melodies from various cultural traditions. Drawing inspiration from literature on music learning in popular music education and ethnomusicology, it asks, first, what strategies musicians employ to learn new melodies, and second, whether these strategies vary when the musicians are asked to learn melodies from unfamiliar music cultures. The study participants (n = 12) were recruited from an arts department at Dundalk Institute of Technology, a third-level institution in Ireland. They played a variety of instruments and had experience in various genres, mostly Western popular music, Western classical music, or Irish traditional music. Several of the participants were multimusical, with a high level of training and/or experience in two or more music cultures. The paper identifies three broad learning strategies, which at times overlap or are used simultaneously. These are named “segment-by-segment“ (working through a recording in small pieces), “joining-in“ (looping the recording in full and playing along with it), and “chordsbefore- melody“ (working out the harmonic progression first and then using that information to identify the melody). Of the three, segment-by-segment was by far the most common, with ten of the twelve participants employing it for some or all of the exercises. While chosen strategies are based on experience and existing knowledge, genre and music-culture background proved to be poor indicators of chosen learning strategies.
The three identified learning strategies do not match neatly with the strategies identified in previous research by Green (2010). Furthermore, while it was hypothesized that musicians would employ the same learning strategies they use with familiar musics to unfamiliar ones (as argued in van den Dool, 2016), the study findings suggest the reality is more nuanced. This paper argues that musicians apply the same learning toolkit to both familiar and unfamiliar musics, but the individual strategies chosen may differ based on a number of parameters. The results raise interesting questions about multimusicality and phenomenology, and they suggest that further research is needed to more fully explore these questions
Creating Worlds: Model Building
No full textThe purpose of this study was to conduct content analysis of theoretical modeling research completed by students and faculty at a major music school in the southeastern United States. Fourteen studies were included (8 structural equation modeling, 3 path analyses, and 3 grounded theory), with 2 completed by faculty and 12 by students. Participants included K-12 music students, music teachers, adult musicians, and parents. Primary outcome areas included jazz, culture and social justice, and musical and nonmusical outcomes. Predictor areas included social environment, culture, participant characteristics, musical skills, and music instruction. Causal chains were found in the statistically based modeling studies, and conceptual connections within the grounded theory studies. The set of studies reflects the expertise of the three faculty members who focused their research on motivation, social environment, and sociocultural issues. While topics vary, the overall emphasis is consistent throughout the body of studies conducted by faculty and students at this institution
Impacts of COVID-19 on Musicians’ Performing and Teaching: A Cross-Cultural Exploratory Study
No full textStudies regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on the lives of musicians worldwide are just now appearing in our research literature. The importance of these studies and data collection cannot be overestimated, as many experiences will be forgotten or remembered less vividly as time passes. Thus far, most published qualitative studies include convenience sampling, generally within a single geographic location of individuals who are either music teachers or professional performers. We sought to extend our current knowledge with a purposeful sampling of musicians who are both performers and private teachers matched by primary instrument across two different geographic locations—Kenya, Africa, and North Carolina, USA.
One professional performer and teacher of saxophone, trumpet, and percussion from Kenya and the USA completed a 45–60-minute semi-structured interview with a researcher in their country. Participants from Kenya were 3 males, aged 22 to 55 years, who had performed and taught for 3 to 20 years. Those from the USA were also 3 males, aged 30 to 60 years, who had performed professionally for 11 to 46 years and taught for 11 to 44 years. Our interview questions included:
1. Challenges/rewards experienced in teaching during COVID-19? How have these persisted since the pandemic?
2. Challenges/rewards experienced performing during COVID-19? How have these persisted since the pandemic?
3. Challenges/rewards your students shared with you?
4. Anything else you wish to share?
In responses related to teaching, all discussed technological challenges with software and microphones, and diminished learning due to a lack of group performing opportunities. However, all participants felt their ability to implement and use new technological tools improved, and they continue to integrate these tools into their current teaching environments. Regarding their performance, all participants spoke about the debilitating financial loss and negative motivational impact of losing a live audience, and multiple challenges of shifting to online performing. We found no differences based on the instrument for teaching or performing.
While these findings support those of previous publications, the most notable and unique finding of our study is that teachers in the United States discussed debilitating mental health concerns and a lack of resilience among students, as well as their own priorities shifting towards an increased time commitment to personal and family obligations and away from work, practicing, performing, and teaching. Those in Kenya discussed student improvement, which they attributed to individual online instruction and students having more time to work on strengthening their own weaknesses.
Open-Source AI and Zoom: Exploring New Frontiers in the Analysis of Music Theatre Engagement
No full textIn response to the gathering restrictions brought about by the pandemic, many performing arts activities have transitioned into the digital realm, resulting in an unprecedented proliferation of recorded digital data. Processes are needed to systematically analyze this video data, and some researchers have recently turned to machine learning models as a way of capturing the engagement and aesthetic quality of performing art activities (e.g., Elashmawi et al., 2023; Jeong & Kook, 2023; Kim et al., 2023). One such tool is MediaPipe, an open-source machine learning tool that is capable of recognizing and measuring gestures (Lugaresi et al., 2019a; 2019b). Although MediaPipe can be incorporated into observational analyses of movements during singing and dancing activities, research involving motion capture technology is generally conducted within controlled laboratory settings, with footage typically set up to align with predetermined measurement tools and protocols. Live footage of singing and dancing over Zoom, therefore, raises important questions about the use of machine learning techniques to analyze real-world performing arts activities.
This paper investigates the feasibility of using video motion capture analysis to examine participation in a Zoom-based music theatre program for older adults. We explore the types of artistic engagement that can be elicited by MediaPipe using pre-recorded Zoom footage of singing and dancing. In addition, we discuss the challenges and opportunities for future analysis of artistic participation in leisure environments over Zoom by way of motion capture analysis tools. We selected video footage from two participants with different movement profiles who regularly participated in an online singing and dancing program. MediaPipe’s Face Landmarker model was used to investigate mouth area movement and eye tracking as indicators of engagement, while its Pose Landmarker model was employed to measure participants’ joint velocities. Initial analyses suggest that MediaPipe’s inference models and realtime media processing capabilities can be successfully applied when investigating participant engagement based on joint velocities, mouth area movement, and eye tracking. However, the use of MediaPipe with Zoom footage presents challenges that demand further consideration. These revolve around the video quality of the Zoom gallery view, participants’ out-of-screen or awayfrom- screen movements, and differences in distances between participants and their cameras. Also, while eye tracking produces more accurate and stable results, mouth area detection and joint velocity yield more direct information regarding participants’ enthusiasm for singing and dancing. Notwithstanding the challenges related to video quality and participant positioning, Video Motion Analysis using MediaPipe offers valuable insights into participant engagement when singing and dancing online.
 
An Exploratory Examination of Preservice and Experienced Band Directors’ Use of Wait Time
No full textThe purpose of this descriptive study is to serve as a first step in exploring wait time and silence that occurs during verbal instruction interactions in music rehearsal settings. Extant research in education indicates that using wait time results in positive outcomes for both students and teachers (Rowe, 2003). Participants in this study were four high school, two middle school, and six preservice band directors. Each director voluntarily submitted a recording of a rehearsal with either their highest performing ensemble (middle and high school directors) or a university lab band (preservice directors).
Verbatim transcripts from the instructional portion of each rehearsal were coded and timestamped for teacher task presentations and student responses. Onset of silences lasting at least one second within teacher task presentations and immediately following the end of the teacher presentations until the onset of student responses were noted. Teacher presentations, whether they included single or multiple tasks, were treated as a single presentation block. Each block was categorized as having (1) no wait time (<1 second), (2) wait time within the task presentation block, either with or without time following the end of the presentation, or (3) wait time only present following the task presentation. I calculated the frequency of wait time, or lack thereof, and mean percentages of wait time by group for each within task(s) and following task(s) occurrence.
Results indicated wait time was present in all teacher groups. While wait time occurred during task blocks (n = 94), time following the task happened more often (n = 243) for preservice band directors. High school directors also allowed for wait time (n = 149) but theirs most frequently either did not occur or lasted less than one second (n = 236). Wait time occurred more within task presentation blocks (n = 95) than following task presentation(s) (n = 31) for the two middle school directors. Middle school directors spent the most rehearsal time overall providing wait time (10.92%), followed by preservice (9.78%) and high school directors (4.76%).
Based on these results, further examination of directors’ use of wait time in rehearsal settings is warranted. It is possible that students who experience wait time will achieve an even deeper musical understanding and ability level than if no wait time is provided. Wait time in music rehearsals may be an excellent additional means of allowing students to engage with instructional material in a meaningful way
Manuscript Titles From the International Journal of Music Education
No full textTitles are usually the first, sometimes the only, and arguably the most widely read part of any scholarly publication. Thus, the study of titles, or titleology, developed as a specific area of research. This titleology study considers the corpus of published manuscript titles in the International Journal of Music Education (IJME), from the inception of the journal in 1983 through volume 41(2) in 2023. Following the development, construction, and completion of a comprehensive dataset, 5,728 nouns and verbs considered to be the most substantive were extracted from the 11,033 words contained in the 934 titles. These words were examined based on frequency of occurrence. Titles were grouped chronologically into 9 subsets, of which 1–8 each contained 104 titles, while the 9th subset included 102 titles. Each subset of titles was then analyzed for emergent topics. Countries and territories specifically named in titles were examined as one way of determining worldwide scope. Findings showed the most prevalent nouns and verbs, including music, education, teacher, students, learning, and school, clearly address topics central to the mission and aims of the journal. Emergent topics revealed increasing refinement in geographic focus, followed by a move from broader to more specific topics, with music education topics of technology remaining prevalent for an extended period of time. Following this is a period of time focused on teaching strategies, evaluations and curriculum development followed by publications concerning topics such as identity, diversity, burnout, inclusion, and entrepreneurship. Most recently, titles have centered around areas of identity formation, professional development, and teacher training. Unique countries and territories (n = 206) are from six of the seven continents. Analysis of countries and territories expressed in the titles shows a larger and broader worldwide representation that was sustained or grew from the inception of the journal through part of 2013. Subsequently, there was a marked decline in the countries and territories named in manuscript titles. This was an unexpected but important finding likely to be of interest to all associated with the journal. Since 2013, there appears to have been less attention to specific geographic locations or individual cultures related to music education and more consideration of music teaching and learning topics that authors believe are relevant to all regardless of geographic location or cultural differences. A finding that is intriguing yet revealing, and a notable deviation from what occurred during the first three decades of IJME publications