Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of music experience and excerpt familiarity on the internal consistency of performance evaluations. Participants included nonmusic majors who had not participated in high school music ensembles, nonmusic majors who had participated in high school music ensembles, music majors, and experts (graduate music majors and music faculty). Participants listened to 45 piano performances of two familiar stimuli and one unfamiliar stimulus and rated each for accuracy and musical expression. Fifteen excerpts were repeated within the presentation of stimuli so that internal consistency could be calculated. Results indicated that both expertise and familiarity significantly affected internal consistency and that these two factors interacted significantly. Internal consistency means reflected linear trends, with more experienced groups demonstrating greater internal consistency for both accuracy and expression evaluations. Greater internal consistency was also evidenced for familiar excerpts, although the effect size associated with this variable was modest. Findings suggest that expertise is a salient influence on the consistency of performance evaluations.
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