Abstract
In this article children’s musical improvisation is investigated through the “reflexive interaction” paradigm. We used a particular system, the MIROR-Impro, implemented in the framework of the MIROR project (EC-FP7), which is able to reply to the child playing a keyboard by a “reflexive” output, mirroring (with repetitions and variations) her/his inputs. The study was conducted in a public primary school, with 47 children, aged 6–7. The experimental design used the convergence procedure, based on three sample groups allowing us to verify if the reflexive interaction using the MIROR-Impro is necessary and/or sufficient to improve the children’s abilities to improvise. The following conditions were used as independent variables: to play only the keyboard, the keyboard with the MIROR-Impro but with not-reflexive reply, the keyboard with the MIROR-Impro with reflexive reply. As dependent variables we estimated the children’s ability to improvise in solos, and in duets. Each child carried out a training program consisting of 5 weekly individual 12 min sessions. The control group played the complete package of independent variables; Experimental Group 1 played the keyboard and the keyboard with the MIROR-Impro with not-reflexive reply; Experimental Group 2 played only the keyboard with the reflexive system. One week after, the children were asked to improvise a musical piece on the keyboard alone (Solo task), and in pairs with a friend (Duet task). Three independent judges assessed the Solo and the Duet tasks by means of a grid based on the TAI-Test for Ability to Improvise rating scale. The EG2, which trained only with the reflexive system, reached the highest average results and the difference with EG1, which did not used the reflexive system, is statistically significant when the children improvise in a duet. The results indicate that in the sample of participants the reflexive interaction alone could be sufficient to increase the improvisational skills, and necessary when they improvise in duets. However, these results are in general not statistically significant. The correlation between Reflexive Interaction and the ability to improvise is statistically significant. The results are discussed on the light of the recent literature in neuroscience and music education.
Highlights
Total Score of the Solo Task The total score of the Solo task shows that the Control group (CG) (3.39), which trained with the complete package of variables, that is to play only with the keyboard, with the reflexive system, and with the not reflexive system, obtained a slightly lower score compared to the Experimental Group 1 (EG1) (3.46), which did not play with the reflexive system
Regarding the condition of “necessity,” the comparison between EG1, which never played with the reflexive system, and the CG, which played with the reflexive system, shows that the score of EG1 is slightly lower in Instrumental Fluency and Musical Quality and slightly higher in Musical Organization and Creativity
Regarding the condition of “necessity,” the comparison between EG1, which never played with the reflexive system, and the CG, which played with the reflexive system, shows that the score of EG1 is lower in all criteria, excluding Musical Organization and Musical Quality
Summary
In the field of music education, several scholars approached the problem from different perspectives and by means of different methodologies, giving rise to discussion about the definition of improvisation in children’s musical experience, the relationships between improvisation and creativity, learning/teaching theories and social/familial contexts. We investigated this issue through the “reflexive interaction paradigm.” This paradigm describes a particular kind of human–machine interaction where the users can interact with a virtual copies of themselves, through specific software called interactive reflexive musical systems (IRMS). Several studies have been realized to analyze human–machine interaction and the evaluation and design of interfaces for collaborative music making, focused on user experience, and affective and emotional behavior: these studies were mainly focused on adults and adolescents (cfr. Morgan et al, 2014)
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