Effects of Conducting-Gesture Instruction on Eighth-Grade String Orchestra Students’ Performance and Response to Conducting Emblems

This study is an investigation of the effects of short-term conducting-gesture instruction on eighth-grade string orchestra students. Comparison was done between conducting-based instruction and modeling-based instruction. Participants were 31 eighth-grade string orchestra students. During five consecutive days, experimental-group subjects (n =14) received instruction designed to improve recognition and response to conducting gestures. The control group (n = 17) participated in modeling-based instruction of the same musical techniques targeting the conducting gestures (without any conducting explanation). The study used two measures of conducting-gesture recognition: (1) a written examination and (2) an individual performance examination. No significant differences were found between the experimental and control groups for the written post-test. Both groups did significantly improve from written pre to post-test. Comparison of three focus students took place following the performance examinations. Results of this study are inconclusive as to which type of instruction is more effective for middle school orchestra students, but implications were still generated based on the results. A future investigation comparing middle school string students’ performance within their ensemble to other ensembles could show a different result than the current study. The implications of this study primarily affect middle grades instrumental educators. When specifically looking at string educators, I think it is important to note the effectiveness of the conducting-gesture based instruction. Scores on the written examinations for the experimental group went up 20 points. While this is comparable to the control group, on its own, it shows the effectiveness of this different kind of instruction. As such, the focus students in the experimental group all had an increase in score minus one of the students that remained at a static, high score of a 90%. The results from the present study do not directly indicate whether conducting or modeling is most effective, but rather they are both effective. In my experience, great music educators use a combination of teaching styles and techniques to be an effective teacher.