(Non)Singing during the Covid-19 pandemic - Opinions and emotional experience of students from 5th to 8th grade of primary schools in the Republic of Croatia

Abstract

Singing is an important factor in the teaching of Music Culture and, in addition to the compulsory content, an activity that is carried out the most. The scientific literature confirms that singing sparks positive emotional reactions in students to a great extent. With the proclamation of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, almost all singing activities have been suspended for a long time. The aim of the study was to determine whether there is a difference in the perception of dissatisfaction with the suspension of singing depending on whether the students were actively and intensively engaged in singing compared to those who were not engaged in the activity or were only slightly involved in it prior to the pandemic. The first problem was to research whether there was a difference in personal dissatisfaction (happiness) and the perception of dissatisfaction with the suspension of singing depending on whether the students were actively singing before the pandemic or not and whether they continued singing online during the pandemic or if they have completely stopped active singing. Hypotheses have been confirmed that students who are members of choirs and/or ensembles feel more intense lack and personal dissatisfaction with the suspension of musical activities during the pandemic than those who actively sang only in Music Culture classes as well as that students who played music online are more satisfied and show more positive emotions compared to those who have stopped playing music. Another problem was to research whether there is a difference in the perception of singing in-person and singing in a virtual environment. It has been confirmed that students who have experienced both in-person singing and singing online believe that singing in-person has a greater effect than singing in a virtual environment. The results confirm that singing has a positive effect on the singer and that restricting singing intensifies personal dissatisfaction.