Effects of Manual/Pedal Movement, Tempo, and Gender on Accuracy of Steady Beat in Kindergarten Students

Abstract

Abstract The purposes of this research were to (a) discover the effects of manual and pedal movement on the performance of steady beat, and (b) investigate the effects of tempo and gender on manual and pedal steady beat. Participants (N = 40) of this study included male (n = 20) and female (n = 20) kindergarten students from a rural elementary school. To examine the accuracy of steady beat with hands or feet, participants were equally divided into two groups (manual or pedal movement). Each participant performed the steady beat by either patting or stepping to musical examples representing slow, medium, and fast tempi. Each beat was graded individually, with a score of "1" assigned if the participant patted or stepped on the beat and "0" if the student did not match the beat. Results revealed that, overall, participants had lower means for steady beat accuracy at the medium tempo, participants were most accurate when performing with the fast tempo, and the lowest mean for both males and females was found with pedal movement at a medium tempo. On average, females in the pedal group were more successful at all three tempi than the males in the pedal group. A mixed ANOVA with repeated measures was calculated to examine the effects of tempo on steady beat accuracy, with between-subjects variables of gender and manual/pedal grouping. No significant differences were found between gender or the manual and pedal groups. There was also no main effect for tempo on steady beat accuracy. No significant interactions were discovered.