Seeing Red: Effects of Practice Interventions on Woodwind Students’ Accuracy in Performing Articulation

Music reading is a central part of most band programs, yet research about music reading has rarely included articulation markings. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of four experimental practice conditions to a control condition on woodwind players’ performance of slur, accent, and staccato markings. A secondary purpose was to examine the role of working memory in performing articulation. The practice conditions used visual and kinesthetic approaches: colored notation, tracing over articulation marks, and speaking syllables. University woodwind players (N = 26) practiced short etudes on 1 day, and they returned approximately 24 hours later for retention testing. Participants’ working memory was strongly related to playing articulation on the first day of practice. Woodwind players prioritized playing slurs over accents and staccatos, and there was some support for tracing with color to support accurate performance of articulation.