Music Vocabulary of First-Grade Children: Words Listed for Instruction and Their Actual Use

Abstract

This study's four purposes were to: (1) determine which music vocabulary words were listed for study in first-grade basal music series textbooks; (2) compare the oral vocabulary of first graders with the vocabulary listed for music instruction; (3) look at the relationship between word frequency in the general oral vocabulary of first graders taken from a pre-existing source and the oral music vocabulary of 42 first graders interviewed in the present study; and (4) compare the frequency of selected music terms with the frequency of those same terms used in general oral vocabulary. These research objectives were developed to provide useful information about what first-grade children already know in relation to what they are expected to learn, and to target the specific words or concepts that might need particular attention in the primary music curriculum. Little consistency was found in the music vocabulary listed in three basal music series textbooks. Forty of a total 147 music words were listed in more than one of the textbooks, and 23 of the 40 terms were already within the general oral vocabulary of first-grade children. A correlation of .82 was found between oral music vocabulary and general vocabulary, suggesting that children possess a lexicon that is used to describe their various life experiences, and that music words are not reserved specifically for discussions about music. Finally, 110 words were selected and compared on their frequency of use in music and general vocabularies.