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.

The purpose of this study was to compare personal investment levels among nonmusic major piano students in the contexts of portfolio and teacher-directed assessment. Three problems were addressed: 1) identifying students' perceptions of direction, persistence, continuing motivation, intensity, and performance in the context of teacher-directed goal setting, choice of instructional activities, and evaluation of performance; 2) identifying students' perceptions of the five personal investment behaviors in the context of portfolio assessment; and 3) comparing student perceptions as identified in problems one and two.