Examining the validity of self-report: middle-level singers’ ability to predict and assess their sight-singing skills

The purpose of the present study was to determine choral students’ ability to predict and evaluate their sight-singing skills. Participants were asked to assign a rating based on how well they predicted they would sight-sing five musical examples. Following the singing of each example, participants were asked to evaluate their sight-singing performances using the same rating scale. Two middle-level choral directors were asked to evaluate the participants’ performances using an evaluation form designed to parallel the subject’s prediction and evaluation questionnaires. Findings indicate that students were reasonably accurate at predicting their sight-singing performance; however, they were more accurate at evaluating their performance. Older students were generally more able to predict and assess their sight-singing performances, as were students who had participated in a musical ensemble. The data suggest that the dependability and usefulness of student self-report is promising and should be further examined by music educators.