Physical Movement and Memory for Music

Abstract

This article is concerned with the role of kinaesthesis and bodily movement in promoting musical memory. Seventy-two first-year secondary school children were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. They were then asked to listen to short extracts of music ranging from jazz through western classical to the Indian tradition, with a view to conveying to a deaf child the import of the music. Results indicated that a kinaestheic strategy significantly affected achievement on an unexpected recognition test taken one week later.