Page 30 - How to Shine on Stage

articulation, phrasing, and breathing. As to the overall evaluation, it can
be perceived as a weighted assessment function of individual aspects of
the performance; it is an assessment of the overall impression of the per-
formance. The weighting of individual aspects may vary among assessors;
hence, the weight of each aspect is not evident from the global assessment.
Cirila Peklaj and Barbara Smolej Fritz (2006) found in Slovenian music
students that an analytical approach to assessing specific aspects of mu-
28 sical performance led to higher reliability and validity of the assessments
compared to an overall assessment. They also highlighted the observa-
tion that experts in a particular area tend to assess less rigorously than
the less competent assessors, as experts recognize the difficulty of achiev-
ing excellence at various performance levels.
How to Shine on Stage the Watkins-Farnum Performance Scale for wind and percussion play-
Diana Deutsch (2012) lists several performance assessment methods, e.g.

ers, and the Farnum String Scale, both of which require an a vista per-
formance of prescribed exercises that are tiered in terms of difficulty.
She also presents research by Boyle (1992), Boyle and Radocy (1987) and
Zdzinski (1991) which also addressed the issue of the use of psychomet-
ric techniques for performance assessment (Likert scales, ranking, pair
comparison, successive intervals method, semantic differential, signifi-
cance assessment). She then refers to research based on the construction
of an assessment scale by means of factor analysis;
Abeles (1973) used this method to develop an assessment scale for
clarinettists’ performance. He collected many statements on various
clarinet performances and transformed them into claims that were used
to evaluate 100 performance recordings. Fifty music educators assessed
the performances with respect to each of the 94 items. The factor analy-
sis of the results demonstrated the existence of six factors, interpreted as
intonation, rhythmic continuity, tempo, articulation, tone quality, and
interpretation. Thirty items with high factor saturation were then select-
ed for the construction of the assessment scale for clarinettists’ perfor-
mance. This scale was later also used to assess performance with other
instruments, but each time the factor analysis was repeated to analyse
the stability of the factor structure.
Elliott (1987) adopted a less formal approach. In his research, three
professional assessors assessed six solo performances and rated them
among themselves. The performers themselves also assessed their own
performance. The final assessment was determined by the individual
self-assessment and the rating by the three assessors. They proved to be
very consistent in their assessment.