An Exploration of Children's Musical Compositions

Abstract

In this study, we examined the musical compositions of children aged 7 and 9 years to discover the nature of childrens melodic and rhythmic representations of music. The compositions were performed using a computer program that did not require formal music training. Post hoc analysis revealed that the compositions could be divided into three melodic and rhythmic developmental stages that varied according to melodic contour, tonality, rhythmic grouping, and meter. Older children created more compositions at higher stages of complexity, and the more private musical training children had received, the more rhythmically complex their compositions were. The girls produced a greater percentage of compositions assigned to the highest stages than did the boys. Qualitative features of the subjects' approach to the task were noted during testing and were also found to vary with developmental stage. The number of parts inherent in the compositions was a nonpredictive variable in this analysis.