The purpose of the study was to investigate the leadership role of the Texas Bandmasters Association (1920-1997) in the development of the band program in Texas. It sought to determine TBA's effect on the band movement in Texas, and ascertain how the TBA has contributed to the emphasis on performance focus that is associated with the Texas band tradition. In doing so, the study also provided information regarding the association's goals, purposes, activities, and contributions during the time period under investigation. The historical data for the study was compiled from documentary sources and personal interview. Documentary sources included minutes of meetings from 1920-1997, information contained in various periodicals including the Southwestern Musician combined with the Texas Music Educator, and a nearly complete set of clinic-convention programs. Historical data from past researchers, including several masters theses and doctoral dissertations, and tapes and transcripts of interviews conducted by past researchers, as well as interviews conducted by this researcher, were also utilized. Much of the historical data for the study was located at the Texas Music Educators Association archives, housed at the association headquarters in Austin, Texas. The researcher identified five periods of the association's history. In addition to developing a historical chronology, …

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of guided musical analysis and guided attention to textual understanding on the speed of solo memorization by selected university vocal students. The guided musical analysis consisted of instruction to a subject regarding the melodic elements, rhythmic elements, phraseology, form, and key relationships of the experimental songs. The guided attention to textual understanding consisted of instruction to a subject regarding the meaning and phraseology of the experimental song texts. Subjects were required to rhythmically scan the texts in a declamatory manner. It was concluded that the three conditions of memorization were equally effective. Memorization rates were not significantly altered by historical period of song. Differences in memorization rates appeared to parallel the subjects' academic performances and their performances on the Drake Musical Aptitude Tests. Findings of this study indicated that future memorization experiments should be conducted with larger samples of subjects of a single sex who are music majors.

The study investigated the relative effectiveness of different proportions of time spent on physical and mental practice, in the context of a music performance of a tonal pattern over harmonic progressions of two difficulty levels. Using a sampling without replacement procedure, sixty undergraduate students were assigned to four practice groups partially blocked for musical instrument. The groups included a physical practice group, a mental practice group and two combined mental and physical practice groups in the proportions of (a) 66% physical and 33% mental, and (b) 33% physical and 66% mental. Each subject performed a pretest, a 3 minute practice session, and a posttest on both harmonic progressions. Presentation of the harmonic progressions were counterbalanced to control for practice effects All pre- and posttests were recorded and scored according to number of note errors. An ANCOVA procedure using pretest scores as covariates revealed that: (a) there were no differences between the different practice groups on the measure of note errors, (b) there was a significant difference between the two harmonic progressions on the measure of note errors, such that performance on the easy progression was significantly better than performance on the hard progression, and (c) there was a significant interaction …

The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics and means of Katinka Dániel's interpersonal influences through the perceptions of 20 selected students, protégés, and colleagues, and to study the behavioral and attitudinal changes they attributed to her influence. A case study design and structured interview questionnaire were used to study four variables coming from the social sciences' literature on influence: legitimate authority, attractiveness, expert authority, and trustworthiness. Responses were qualitatively analyzed to determine the role those variables played in Dániel's interpersonal influence. All interviewees were music teachers who used the Kodály method in their teaching and have studied or worked with Dániel. Two images of Dániel emerged from the interviews. The first, a business-like image, emanated from Dániel's work in the classroom, and the second, a maternal image, came from personal relationships with her students and associates. Attractiveness (defined as a willingness to respond positively to the requests of an influential person because one respects that individual and wants to obtain that person's approval) proved to be the principal characteristic of influence, followed by legitimate authority, then expertise. Trustworthiness played a lesser role. The greatest effect of Dániel's influence was on the interviewees' teaching. Among the factors interviewees …

The purpose of this study was to investigate the interpersonal influences which Bohumil Makovsky, Director of Bands and Chairman of the Music Department at Oklahoma A&M College from 1915 to 1943, had on his students and peers, as confirmed through the perceptions of selected individuals, and to determine what personal characteristics and means he drew upon to induce changes in his students and peers.

The purpose of this study was to investigate problem areas of organists' performance as indicated by common experiences of pain. The research problems were to determine the specific areas of the body that were affected by pain, to determine the perceived level of that pain on a scale indicative of its severity, and to explore the relationship between demographic and performance-related factors within the population and specific area of reported pain. An examination of the demographic, performance-related, and pain data, as well as subject comments, indicated possible relationships of the pain experience to other factors. Organists attributed their pain to instrument characteristics, such as keyboard action, music rack height, bench design, and pedalboard shape. Pain was also associated with the time spent playing the organ, playing literature which required large reaches and rapid passage work, such as french toccatas, or playing with incorrect posture. To explore these relationships to spinal and upper extremity pain, further research is indicated.