Abstract:

Teaching musical topics effectively can only be achieved with properly written notations adhering to the rules. Therefore, music teachers possessing the skill of handwriting musical notes are of significant importance. This research aimed to examine the handwriting skills of music teacher candidates in this regard. Accordingly, the study employed a descriptive survey model, one of the quantitative research methods. The sample of the research consisted of 28 fourth-year music teacher candidates who were studying in the spring semester of the 2022-2023 academic year. To assess the students' ability to transcribe handwritten musical notes, the nursery rhyme titled "Kırlara doğru" was written in a computer-assisted environment and distributed to the teacher candidates, giving them one week to memorize it. After one week, the students were asked to transcribe the memorized melody carefully onto paper, with no time constraints for the notation process. The data obtained were scored by three field experts using an assessment rubric developed by the researchers. The inter-rater reliability was examined among the raters using Kendall's Concordance Coefficient Test, and the 'Kendall's W' value was calculated as .80. The overall success of teacher candidates in handwriting musical notes was calculated by their mean scores obtained from the field experts. The data results concluded that the handwriting skills of teacher candidates in transcribing musical notes were at a moderate level. This situation may have been influenced by students' experience of four semesters of distance education due to the pandemic and earthquakes during their undergraduate education, as well as the absence of any courses aimed at improving handwriting skills in the music teacher education program. The researchers recommend that educators should provide critical feedback by checking student notebooks more frequently during classes, a course related to these skills should be added to the undergraduate program, students should be encouraged in computer-assisted musical notation, and an effective curriculum should be developed to enhance handwriting skills.

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