The development of a guitar performance rating scale using a facet-factorial approach

The purpose of this study was to identify the underlying aural factors of guitar performance by developing a guitar performance rating scale using facet-factorial techniques. The initial phase of the study included gathering items concerning the characteristics of a good or poor guitar performance from guitar performance literature, previously constructed rating scales, and statements from professional guitar players, guitar teachers, and college guitar majors. The item pool of statements was examined for suitability and placed into a priori categories established in previous research. The 99 item statements were paired with a five-point Likert scale and used by 67 volunteer judges to adjudicate 100 recorded samples of a wide range of guitar performance excerpts. The results of the 134 item pool adjudications were factor analyzed using a varimax rotation to identify the underlying factor structure and the items that best supported each factor. The results of the factor analysis yielded a five-factor structure consisting of interpretation, tone, technique, rhythm/tempo, and intonation. These factors accounted for approximately 71% of the total variance. The selection of the 32 items chosen to represent the factors of the Guitar Performance Rating Scale (GPRS) was based on factor loadings. Alpha reliability for the GPRS was estimated at .962 for the 32 item scale.