Children's Musical Development Research Articles

Effects of Different Teaching Styles on the Development of Musical Creativity: Insights from Interviews with Music Specialists

This paper explores the effects of different teaching styles on the development of musical creativity among primary school children through insights of interviews with music specialists. An experimental study that was carried out first at a primary school in England revealed that children who had experienced creativity (improvisation) as part of their music lessons scored higher than those who did not in a test of creative thinking in music (Webster's MCTM-II). This finding suggested that creative thinking can be an acquired behaviour, and therefore it can be nurtured in the music classroom. The results of the experiment were followed up by interviews with music specialists. This paper reports on the findings of the interview study; it discusses the different objectives and outcomes of different teaching styles, as well as the links between theory and practice concerning the development of musical creativity. The analysis of the interviews leads to the identification of two different teaching styles: the didactic/teacher-led one and the creative/child-centred one. This study suggests that each teaching style can have different effects on the musical development of children. A creative teaching style could support and promote the creative development of children, as well as their psychological and social development.

Lullaby light shows: everyday musical experience among under-two-year-olds

This article reports on information gathered from a set of interviews carried out with 88 mothers of under-two-year-olds. The interviews enquired about the everyday musical experiences of their babies and very young children in the home. From the process of analysis, the responses to the interviews were grouped into three main areas: musical resources; recorded music from audio and mixed-media sources; and singing and song repertoire. The interviews sought not only to gather information about equipment, media use and musical activity, but also to uncover something of the social contexts within which music is being used and incorporated into domestic settings and family life. The accumulated information suggests that technological advances that enable the digitization of music are resulting in changes in the nature of music and musical practices in the home for very young children. A case is made for understandings of everyday musical activity among young children to be incorporated into revised versions of children's musical development.

‘Sounds of intent’: Mapping, assessing and promoting the musical development of children with profound and multiple learning difficulties

A framework of musical development in children with profound and multiple learning difficulties (‘PMLD’) is presented, based on the observation and analysis of individual pupils undertaken over a period of 24 months by teachers working in special schools. The framework is informed by current thinking as to what constitutes ‘typical’ early musical development and by a recent theory of how music is understood by listeners which was developed in the field of cognitive science. The proposed framework is designed to be used through a graphical user interface driven through a touchscreen on a ‘tablet’ PC with an attached video camera, enabling teachers and others to assess children's musical development and record it, and in the future offering practitioners suggestions and materials for future activities at appropriate levels to promote further development.

The Computer as Scaffold, Tool and Data Collector: Children Composing with Computers

This paper looks at children's approaches to music composition using advanced music software. The data indicate that the software allowed children different ways of looking at their compositions: visually, musically and aurally. The paper explores the notion of the computer as a scaffold with reference to the Swanwick and Tillman (1986) stages of musical development, seeking to investigate different ways of demonstrating children's musical development. The paper also discusses the way the software can be used as an analysis and data collection tool.

Mapping Music Education Research in Scandinavia

Research in music education and related topics has a long tradition in Scandinavia. This article gives an overview of research in music education, with emphasis on the years 1990–2002. Research is related to four major issues: The characteristics and musical development of children, youth, and adults; how social variables, especially gender, are present in some educational settings; how music is taught and studied in educational institutions, from pre-school to tertiary education in academies; and how research has addressed basic issues in music education, i.e. ‘What is music education?’ and ‘What is music education research?’, as well as ‘What is the relationship between research and practice?’

Priešmokyklinio amžiaus vaikų dermės pajautimo lavinimas lietuvių liaudies dainų intonacijomis

Straipsnyje analizuojama priešmokyklinio amžiaus vaikų dermės pajautimo (vieno iš pagrindinių muzikinių gebėjimų) lavinimo problema. Pateikti ir aptarti eksperimentinio tyrimo rezultatai, kurie parodė lietuvių liaudies dainų intonacijų panaudojimo veiksmingumą priešmokyklinio amžiaus vaikų dermės pajautimui ugdyti, taikant muzikinių gebėjimų kompleksinio ugdymo modelį.

The social context of musical success: a developmental account.

This paper brings together extensive data from 257 children to explore the relative importance of social-environmental factors during critical periods of children's musical development. The paper also presents preliminary findings from a follow-up of 20 of the most musically successful children 8 years later to determine which childhood factors predict differences in success as adult performers. Those children who continued to play an instrument started at an early age, had higher parental support in lessons, and had first teachers who were friendly but not too technically able. However, these factors alone were not sufficient to predict relative success in childhood. Successful childhood musicians also appear to need teachers who are 'not too relaxed' and also 'not too pushy' and they also need to do substantial amounts of practice. The follow-up study suggested, though, that successful adult performers were not those who did the most practice; rather, the successful adults were those who took part in more concert activities in childhood, did more improvisation, and who had mothers at home in their early years. The results are discussed in relation to theories of musical development and the changing influences of parents, teachers and peers.

Meme Engineers: children as producers of musical culture

This paper examines the ways in which young children construct and negotiate musical meaning as song-makers in a post-modern consumerist musical world. A critical analysis of the presentation of music in two popular Australian children's television programmes (Play School and Hi-5) and the ways in which such media impact upon children's constructions of music and musical understanding is presented. This analysis provides a context for the examination of tensions that exist between a modernist account of what constitutes musical understanding in the young child, and an account that is cognisant of post-modern aesthetics. The implications of this concerning views of children's musical development and curriculum decision making are discussed and a view of the child as an active agent in the construction of her musical worlds is illustrated through an examination of the musical narratives of a 4-year-old child.

Plato and Aristotle on Music and Music Education: Lessons From Ancient Greece

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the Athenian views of music and music education as these are presented in the works of the ancient Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle and to suggest ways in which the issues raised by them are still relevant for music education today. Their philosophical and practical views on music education, apart from being an excellent and very up-to-date source for advocacy, can also initiate thoughts and promote solutions on problems that still remain unsolved. During the study, of their works, the reader surprisingly realizes that these philosophers had stated 2,500 years ago what the music education community has, just recently, come to realize concerning the value of music education, children's musical development, and instructional strategies in music.

Children's Pitch Matching, Vocal Range, and Developmentally Appropriate Practice

In this article, literature and research were reviewed to obtain general descriptions of children's musical development, especially their pitch-matching accuracy and vocal range, and what is considered to be developmentally appropriate practice (DAP). The factors affecting children's pitch-matching accuracy and vocal range were investigated and categorized into internal and external influences. The findings were discussed in terms of children's development and teachers' practice in the early childhood education setting. Children's musical development should be considered in a dynamic way. What we call “developmental knowledge “can be biased by how we define development and what we measure, and it may limit teachers' practice and children's authentic development accordingly.

Developmental Trends and Relationships in Children's Aural Perception and Symbol Use

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among children's aural perception of tonal patterns and children's symbol use in drawing and selection tasks based on tonal information. Children's performances on perception, drawing, and selection tasks were investigated for developmental trends within and across tasks. Sixty-four children, ranging in age from 4 years, 7 months, to 12 years, 8 months, were tested for their performance on aural perception of tonal patterns (PMMA/IMMA), selection, and drawing tasks. A principal components analysis showed perception, selection, and drawing to load on one factor. When factor scores were examined for differences by age with a one-way ANOVA, age was shown to be a significant effect, F(3, 60) = 7.58, p < .001. Post-hoc comparisons showed that children at the youngest level differed significantly (p < .01) from those at the two older levels on the literacy factor, with scores on all tasks and factor score means revealing a linear trend in children's musical development of symbol use.

Divergent research in children's musical development.

Divergent research in children's musical development.

Talking music: empowering children as musical communicators

The article looks firstly at research into early human communication and secondly at the learning experiences of successful musicians in a range of fields. It underlines the idea that music learning and language learning have much in common. Musical improvisation is seen as having a central role, similar to that of talking in relation to verbal language. Recognition of this role forms the basis of an approach which builds on children's early musical development and can enable them all to fulfil their potential as musical communicators. Directions for further research are suggested.

Musical Criticism and Musical Development

Musical criticism lies at the heart of music education. It is argued that there are five fundamental dimensions of musical criticism: control of sonorities; expressive characterisation; structural relationships; personal evaluation; historical and technical context. The first four of these – those directly concerned with response to a musical object or event – are the essential modes of criticism and these can be seen unfolding in the musical development of children. Following the publication in 1986 by Swanwick and Tillman of a musical development model, further research in Cyprus gives supportive results; showing strong agreement between judges on the use of critical criteria for assessing children's compositions and articulating the same sequential order of development. A random selection of children's compositions drawn from over 600 items collected in Cyprus is assessed by independent judges. There are correlations between assigned critical criteria and the age of the children. Thus the pattern of musical development can be seen to parallel a critical hierarchy. From these data we can also assume that, although the sequential order of development may be confirmed, the compositions of the UK children in our sample appear generally to be more advanced than those of their Cyprus peers. The quality and consistency of music education provision seems therefore to have a positive role in the development of critical powers. There are implications for music curriculum development, for assessment procedures and for further work on musical development, and on the relationship of composing to performing and of both to audience listening.

Understanding Children's Musical Understanding

Central to building any picture of children's musical development is the notion of musical understanding. As teachers we need constantly to seek a better understanding of what children's musical understanding involves and how it is acquired and displayed. Indications of how we may need to look at children's work are taken from a 1984–7 Bristol-based research project, and strategies subsequently adopted for use in initial and in-service teacher training are outlined.

Listening: The key to early childhood music

Developmentally appropriate music education is often unintentionally neglected in many preschool, kindergarten, and primary grade programs. Some early childhood teachers may fail to take advantage of opportunities to support children's musical development because they are insecure with their own musical abilities. Other teachers devote relatively little time to music activities because they are unable to locate good quality, age appropriate music tapes, books, and records. This neglect is particularly acute in kindergarten and primary grades, where the current emphasis on basic skills instruction forced on classroom teachers relegates the music curriculum to about thirty minutes of instruction a week from a specialist music teacher. This short dose of music study, removed from the context of classroom and group activities, is not enough to give children an understanding and appreciation of music in their lives. Early childhood teachers themselves must take a more active role in teaching music if children are to develop knowledge, skills, and positive attitudes about music.

Effects of an Exploratory Program In Instrumental Music on the Aural Perception Of Instrumental Timbre

the public schools of the United States has become widely accepted. However, it has remained a specialized program involving only selected children. In many instances-it includes only students for whom parents are willing and able to provide musical instruments. In contrast, the vocal music program has traditionally been otWered to all students in the elementary and junior high school. Many music educators are convinced that experience with orchestral instruments wollld have a desirable effect on the musical development of children. This convicticyn is not to be construed as a proposition that all children should undertake the serious study of a musical instrument. Particular motivational, emotional, intellectual, and physical considerations make any such conclusion unrealistic. However, the concept of a short, exploratory program in instrumental music is gaining momentum. For the past few years, several of the Baltimore County, Maryland, schools have been engaged in such an exploratory program. Michael Prevas, instrumental music teacher at Dundalk Elementary School, and lS'iicholas Geriak, Supervisor of Elementary School Music in Baltimore County, have developed the exploratory program into a sequence designed to provide an opportunity for all elementary school children to explore the instruments of the orchestra. The third grade students study percussion instruments from October to January, and violin from February to June. The fourth grade students study the clarinet from October to January, and the trumpet from February to June. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the exploratory program in instrumental music in Baltimore County, Maryland, on the aural perception of instrumental timbre.1 A review of literature in the