An investigation of the factors affecting the musical creativity of high school students

The purpose of the study was to investigate factors that affect the creativity of high school students’ musical compositions. It sought to identify common characteristics of students whose musical compositions were judged more or less creative. The subjects in this study were high school students (N = 48) in grades 9-12 of a large suburban high school in central New Jersey. Three research questions were addressed: 1) Is there any difference in Musical Creativity scores based on Instrumental Music Experience as defined by a) Years of Instrumental Lessons; b) Number of Instruments Played; c) Piano Skill; and d) Guitar Skill? 2) Is there any difference in Musical Creativity scores based on School Music Experience as defined by a) Participation in a School Ensemble; b) Music Theory Class experience; and c) Number of Music Classes taken? 3) Is there any difference in Musical Creativity scores based on Non-School Music Experience as defined by a) Participation in a Rock Band; and b) Years of Participation in a Rock Band? Subjects completed three composition tasks ranging from closed (strict guidelines) to open-ended (free composition). Four judges rated the compositions using Amabile’s (1983) Consensual Assessment Technique as adapted to musical composition by Bangs (1992) with reliability ranging from .64 to .83. The Instrumental Music Experience variables of Years of Lessons on Primary Instrument, Total Years of Lessons, and Number of Instruments Played had significant positive correlations with Musical Creativity. There was also a significant positive correlation between level of Piano Skill and Musical Creativity scores, and those students with piano experience scored significantly higher for Musical Creativity than those without. The School Music Experience variables of Participate in a School Ensemble, Music Theory class, and Number of Music Classes showed significant positive relationships with Musical Creativity scores. Those student identified by the Non-School Music Experience variable Participate in a Rock Band scored higher on the Free-Compose project and for overall Musical Creativity. A greater number of Years in a Rock Band also showed a significant positive correlation with musical creativity scores.D.M.A.Includes bibliographical referencesby Christine S. Mic