Strategic approaches to learning sight-singing at college level: An investigation using Q Methodology

Abstract

This research investigates the main strategic approaches used by students for learning sight-singing in aural skills training. Using Q method, 41 college-level music students were invited to think about the importance of a wide range of strategies for their sight-singing acquisition. Factor analysis revealed three main strategic approaches: the pragmatic approach, the analytic approach, and the sound-first approach. Post hoc analyses indicated that these strategic approaches do not provide a valid typology of music students; rather, they reveal underlying conceptions about the purposes of sight-singing, which are likely to evolve according to an individual’s musical training. For sight-singing strategy instruction, these findings offer new insights for understanding better the influence of students’ prior musical knowledge on their use of sight-singing strategies. The discussion highlights the need for (re)establishing clear educational expectations that are capable of fulfilling teachers’ musical ideals.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 3 citations exist upstream.

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.