Aural training by distance for tertiary music students: evaluation of a prototype

Aural training by distance for tertiary music students: evaluation of a prototype

A six-semester distance mode prototype aural training programme was developed at the University of Southern Queensland and delivered to tertiary music students throughout Australia and overseas including Singapore, New Zealand, south-east Asia and the United Kingdom. A pre-test/post-test model assessing three groups was applied to the first semester of the programme. The study sought to compare results within and between the three groups in the areas of rhythmic perception, melodic perception scale/mode recognition and interval recognition, and to find corelations between demographic data and test performance. External students achieved higher levels of improvement for all acuities than internal and control group students. The findings indicate that students learning multiple instruments and students learning piano perform aural tasks better than students learning only a melody line instrument (including voice). Tertiary music schools experiencing funding contraints may be able to re-organise aural tuition practice either to replace or augment face-to-face classes with external training materials without sacrificing the quality of teaching.

Copyright 2010 Lambert Academic Publishing.