An Investigation into Children's Responses through Drawing, to Short Musical Fragments and Complete Compositions

Abstract

This paper is taken from a doctoral research project, which investigated children's graphic notations as a representation of their musical perception. One of the main goals of this study was to test empirically the widespread hypothesis that there is a connection between fragmental and contextual perception of music. Graphic notations of 112 Israeli children (aged 7-8.5) in response to musical stimuli that included short musical phrases and complex classical repertoire were examined. Thirteen tasks were conducted during 48 meetings: seven 'fragment tasks' and six 'composition tasks'. A connection based on operational compatibility existed between the fragments and the selected musical compositions; 1271 graphic notations were collected and analysed. To analyse the children's notations, a method based on principles common in the field of graphology was developed and implemented. Data analysis was based on a comparison between the notations invented by each child for a musical fragment and for a compatible composition. No statistical correlation was found between children's response to fragments and their reaction to compositions. It may be concluded that we cannot infer from the conceptual perception of the fragment to the conceptual perception of the musical composition or vice versa.