A Preliminary Exploration of Pitch Discrimination, Temporal Sequencing, and Prosodic Awareness Skills of Children Who Participate in Different School-Based Music Curricula.

Ashley G Flagge,Victoria S Henbest,Mary Ellen Neeley,Tara M Davis

doi:10.3390/brainsci11080982

Abstract

Musical training has been shown to have a positive influence on a variety of skills, including auditory-based tasks and nonmusical cognitive and executive functioning tasks; however, because previous investigations have yielded mixed results regarding the relationship between musical training and these skills, the purpose of this study was to examine and compare the auditory processing skills of children who receive focused, daily musical training with those with more limited, generalized musical training. Sixteen typically developing children (second–fourth grade) from two different schools receiving different music curricula were assessed on measures of pitch discrimination, temporal sequencing, and prosodic awareness. The results indicated significantly better scores in pitch discrimination abilities for the children receiving daily, focused musical training (School 1) compared to students attending music class only once per week, utilizing a more generalized elementary school music curriculum (School 2). The findings suggest that more in-depth and frequent musical training may be associated with better pitch discrimination abilities in children. This finding is important given that the ability to discriminate pitch has been linked to improved phonological processing skills, an important skill for developing spoken language and literacy. Future investigations are needed to determine whether the null findings for temporal sequencing and prosodic awareness can be replicated or may be different for various grades and tasks for measuring these abilities.

Highlights

Musical training has been shown to have a positive influence on a variety of skills and abilities, including auditory-based tasks and nonmusical cognitive and executive functioning abilities, such as inhibition, working memory, and general cognition [1]
While there is some disagreement in the literature regarding the influential extent of musical training on phonological processing and reading, the general consensus is that musical training in childhood does lead to at least some degree of improvement in phonological awareness and other auditory processing skills
Better pitch discrimination skills have been associated with better phonological processing and reading skills [10], and regression analysis has shown that pitch discrimination thresholds in adults predict phonological awareness beyond what is predicted by phonological short-term memory and rhythm discrimination [11]

Summary

Introduction

Musical training has been shown to have a positive influence on a variety of skills and abilities, including auditory-based tasks and nonmusical cognitive and executive functioning abilities, such as inhibition, working memory, and general cognition [1]. While there is some disagreement in the literature regarding the influential extent of musical training on phonological processing and reading, the general consensus is that musical training in childhood does lead to at least some degree of improvement in phonological awareness and other auditory processing skills (see [8] for a review). Better pitch discrimination skills have been associated with better phonological processing and reading skills [10], and regression analysis has shown that pitch discrimination thresholds in adults predict phonological awareness beyond what is predicted by phonological short-term memory and rhythm discrimination [11]

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Conclusion