The effect of an historical/cultural unit of study on the performance capabilities and knowledge of high school band students

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of an historical/cultural unit of study on the performance capabilities and knowledge of high school band students. Ninety subjects from three Nebraska Class AA high school band programs of similar demographics were randomly selected to participate in the study. Students were taught the Holst Second Suite in F utilizing three different instructional approaches. One group utilized a traditional performance-oriented approach; a second group incorporated an historical/cultural unit of study based upon the Second Suite in F study unit found in the Guides to Band Masterworks combined with performance; and the third group, the control group, studied the historical/cultural unit with no emphasis on performance aspects. The study took place over a one-week period utilizing 20 minutes of daily instruction. Judges were used to evaluate the pretest and posttest results of both individual student performances and ensemble performances using the Woodwind/Brass Solo Evaluation Form (Saunders & Holahan, 1997, p. 259–272), and the Band Performance Rating Scale (Sagen, 1983, p. 1–11). Results of a split-plot ANOVA (p \u3c .05) indicated that there was a significant increase in high school band students\u27 individual performance scores from pretest to posttest for students in both the comprehensive and performance-oriented groups. No statistically significant difference was found to exist between the two experimental groups\u27 posttest performance scores. However, a separate one-way ANOVA using a twenty-point quiz as the dependent measure to test students\u27 knowledge about the Second Suite showed that the comprehensive group\u27s mean score was significantly higher than the performance-oriented group\u27s score. Further, the comprehensive students\u27 posttest ensemble performance was rated higher than that of the performance-oriented group. These findings suggest that while both a comprehensive and performance-oriented approach to instruction in band settings may improve individual performance skills, a comprehensive approach may also significantly improve students\u27 knowledge about the music performed, as well as overall ensemble performance