Understanding musical concepts of tempo and instrument in the third grade of elementary school

Abstract

The paper deals with examining the quality of knowledge, i.e. the levels of internalization of the concepts tempo and instrument taught within the subject Musical Culture in the third grade of elementary school. The quality of knowledge we defined by different levels of understanding the selected concepts. Apart from theoretical considerations of general questions regarding the process of musical education in elementary school, in the available methodology literature the authors do not discuss the problem of concepts development in Musical Culture teaching. Hence, it can be safely said that this paper opens a new research field in the area of methodology of Musical Culture teaching. Additionally, one of the important aims of our work is to stress concrete teaching procedures which can stimulate a more efficient development of musical concepts. The obtained results show that the knowledge of the majority of the third-grade students of the concept tempo (and instrument) is on the initial pre-conceptual level, and the level of knowing verbal definitions. According to this, the teaching of Musical Culture in the third grade of elementary school insufficiently recognizes the unique nature of musical acquisition and its developmental dimension, in comparison to other school subjects. The development of scientific concepts in Musical Culture teaching starts with spontaneous musical experiences, but for understanding the concepts, and their efficient application, necessary is the student's thoughtful engagement and processing of sound and pre-conceptual knowledge as well as theoretical knowledge.