Computer-Assisted Aural Skills Training1

Molly A. Weaver

West Virginia University

Music is a phenomenon that is experienced through the ear. Therefore, the basis of all instructional programs in music must be the cultivation of an acute musical ear. Traditional definitions of aural musicianship almost always include music dictation and sightsinging, both important aspects of musical training. Other aspects of aural musicianship include error detection, conversion of music symbols to imagined sound, and, with increasing frequency, instrumental replication of sounds presented without symbols.

Recent research in The University of Michigan School of Music has indicated that the ability to listen to a musical model and then instrumentally replicate it is an important form of aural musicianship. This ability to replicate a musical sound instrumentally is referred to as "ear-to-hand coordination," the essential means employed to transfer what is heard, recalled, or imagined to musical performance. Ear-to-hand coordination provides an additional way to investigate students' aural skills. It has the added advantage of employing the student's principal/major instrument or the piano.

Research findings indicate that performance-based modes of aural musicianship have a critical bearing on the success of the student as learner, performer, and teacher. Considerable differences in performance-based aural musicianship exist within incoming classes of music majors by instrumental classification. Owing in part to different structural properties of brass, keyboard, percussion, string, and woodwind instruments, some students appear to start music degree programs at a disadvantage.

The structural logic of the piano keyboard, in contrast with most other instruments, makes it an ideal instrument for the development of performance-based aural musicianship. The piano provides visual and kinesthetic reinforcement not found on other instruments. Class Piano, a core curriculum course requirement for music students, is the ideal arena in which to emphasize development of performance-based aural musicianship. The curriculum comprises technical exercises, harmonization, transposition, improvisation, and aural skills training.

The debilitating effects of aural deficiencies upon the academic achievement and socialization of music majors suggests an urgent need for this research. This researcher investigated the effects of computer-assisted and non-computer-assisted formats of aural skills practice and training on student achievement in Class Piano. Class Piano students participated in a two-group opportunity during the winter semester of the 1992-1993 academic year. Participants (n = 16) were randomly assigned to either a computer-assisted or non-computer-assisted group to experience self-administered/self-monitored aural skills training that reinforced the class piano curriculum. Computer-assisted and non-computer-assisted formats of practice and training were switched for each group at mid-semester. To measure achievement, each participant took a pretest and posttest of performance-based aural musicianship.

Members of each computer-assisted group used Instant Replay, a computer application that presents an aural model and monitors students’ keyboard replications. If the response is "Incorrect," students are allowed to select from among: "Hear Your Response," "Hear the Item," "Try Again," or "Go On." These participants practiced on keyboards with MIDI capabilities in three laboratories dedicated exclusively to this study. Members of each non-computer-assisted group were assigned aural skills exercises from the Class Piano curriculum; they practiced on pianos in practice rooms without immediate, individualized aural feedback.

In an effort to capture the poignancy developing musicianship to the greatest extent possible–of addressing musical weaknesses and of "coming to grips" with what it takes to be successful in an ambitious musical environment–the researcher probed the stress and trauma associated with student inability to make acute aural discriminations in academic and performance situations. Four of the sixteen first-year music majors who participated in this opportunity (two from each format group determined to be most "at-risk" on the basis of pretest scores) were selected for case studies to document the impact of performance-based aural deficiencies on academic performance, and the relationships between subsequent individualized training and socio-musical development.

Analyses of the results of this study provide new insights into effective remediation of aural deficiencies. All sixteen participants experienced achievement gains in performance-based aural musicianship. These gains were statistically significant for each participant group. In addition, the "mentorship" support experienced by the four case study participants positively affected their academic performance and socio-musical development as documented by core course grade reports and interviews with their respective studio teachers.

This study was unique in two respects: (1) It not only offered students an opportunity to improve performance-based aural musicianship, but also enabled them to initiate, direct, and immediately monitor their own practice and training through use of state-of-the-art technology. (2) It explored real-life circumstances surrounding student acquisition of habits, beliefs, and knowledge necessary to succeed as learners, performers, and teachers. That is, it featured a close look at students who arrive as music majors with profound deficiencies in aural musicianship and are unprepared for the extremely complex, competitive musical environment they are about to face.

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1. This presentation is taken from the following dissertation study:

Weaver, Molly A. "An Investigation of the Relationships Between Performance-Based Aural Musicianship, Music Achievement, and Socialization of First-Year Music Majors at The University of Michigan." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, in progress.