Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Music--Instruction and study--Juvenile; Music appreciation; Music appreciation; Music--Instruction and study; Juvenile works;
Abstract
One of the basic principles of music education is to expose students to music so that they can have the opportunity to enjoy it and accept it as part of their lives. This study investigated how repetition of a musical selection affects musical enjoyment for children in grades 1 through 6. The study also considered the process of directed listening as a variable which may cause additional effects when repeating musical selections. The 194 students in grades 1 through 6 at Sacred Heart School in Waterloo, Iowa participated in the study. These students were representative of white, middle-class families and were heterogeneously grouped with respect to age, educational background, musical experience, and sex. The grade levels were paired for instruction with three sections each of first and second graders, third and fourth graders, and fifth and sixth graders. The basic research design consisted of three treatments which were randomly assigned to the three sections within each grade level. Treatment 1 presented the selected composition with directed instruction once weekly over a 4-week period. Treatment 2 presented the composition without directed instruction once weekly over a 4-week period. Treatment 3 presented the composition with directed instruction during week 4 only. Handel's "Menuet II" from the Royal Fireworks Music was selected according to specific guidelines as the musical composition for the research. Each subject responded to two questions after each listening presentation. The questions asked were: (1) "Do you like this music?" and (2) "Would you like to hear this music again?" The subjects were asked to circle either a "yes," "no," or"?" on their response form. The reported data included frequency counts of the total percentage of "yes" responses within each grade level as a function of treatment, and the results of an analysis of variance which measured whether any significant changes at the .05 level of confidence occurred among the treatments. The experimental procedure failed to produce statistically significant shifts in an enjoyment response. Several implications, however, can be posed within the limits of the research. Preliminary findings suggested that children in grades 1 and 2 may benefit from exposure to many musical selections rather than repetition of a few selected compositions. The data also implied that repetition of a musical selection may become an important factor in providing musical enjoyment for students in grades 3 and 4. Directed listening may become an important variable to consider when presenting listening lessons to students in grades 5 and 6, but may not be an effective pedagogical tool for eliciting an enjoyment response in grades 1 through 4.
Year of Submission
1986
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
School of Music
First Advisor
Margaret Merrion
Second Advisor
Mary Bozik
Third Advisor
Ronald Ross
Date Original
1986
Object Description
1 PDF file (65 leaves)
Copyright
©1986 Debra Ann Barschow
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Barschow, Debra Ann, "Music Listening: Enjoyment as a Function of Repetition (Grades One through Six)" (1986). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 2025.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/2025
Comments
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