Relationships Among Selected Factors and the Sight-Reading Ability of High School Mixed Choirs

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among sight-reading ability in the high school mixed chorus and selected variables in four categories: the school, the music curriculum, the chorus teacher, and the chorus students. Twenty high school select mixed choirs and chorus teachers participated in the study. Data were obtained through teacher and student questionnaires. A sight-reading test was administered and recorded at each of the 20 schools, and the performances were rated by five expert adjudicators. Based on the findings of this study, the factors that, in combination, best predict sight-reading ability are: the ethnic makeup of the school, a large percentage of choir students with a piano in their home, a rural school, an occasional use of rote procedures to teach music, a large percentage of choir students who participated in all-state chorus, a large proportion of choir students with experience playing a musical instrument, a large high school, and a chorus teacher who believes in the importance of sight-reading instruction in the high school chorus.