Rehearsing Popular Music

This book studies the experiences of undergraduate popular music students. Working within the context of band rehearsing and performing, it focuses on how peer assessment can help develop students’ personal attributes and their learning. An action research design was used in order to explore various peer assessment activities involving the student band rehearsals. Several interventions and refinements were made from cycle to cycle from which interview and peer assessment data were collected. The analysis of these data offers a fascinating insight into what the students thought important for their rehearsals, including: developing an awareness and knowledge about their personal attributes; confidence; feedback; honesty and trust. From this, a new model of peer assessment is proposed. It offers a sequence of graduated stages of personal attribute usage, which create experiences that support students’ learning about themselves and about others.