Comparison of the Unit Study and Traditional Approaches for Teaching Music Through School Band Performance

Abstract

This study compared two approaches for teaching music concepts and skills through school band performance: (1) the Unit Study Composition and (2) the traditional rehearsal procedure. The comparison used two secondary school bands in a parallel-group design. Both bands rehearsed one work from a projected performance repertory. Students in each band were given an author-generated pre-, post, and post-posttest. After a five-week experimental period, the assessment data were collected from each group and subjected to standard statistical procedures. The support of each research hypothesis at a significant level indicated that students taught with the Unit Study Composition approach acquired conceptual knowledge, aural skills, and performance proficiency to a significantly greater degree than students taught with the traditional approach.