An Investigation of the Effects of Melodic and Harmonic Context on the Development of Singing Ability in Primary Grade Children (Aural, Discrimination).

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of melodic and harmonic contexts provided during melodic echo training on the development of singing skills and aural discrimination abilities of children in the first three grades. Melodic context was defined as replication of a tonal stimulus pattern during student response time, and harmonic context as harmonic accompaniment during both stimulus and response times. Three hundred ten children participated in a twelve-week training program which included melodic echo training tapes. Four types of context provided with the tapes were: (1) no context, (2) melodic context, (3) harmonic context, (4) melodic and harmonic contexts. Context treatments were assigned r and omly to intact classes within each grade level. Three data collection instruments were used as pretest-posttest measures: the Primary Measures of Music Audiation, a "Melodic Echo Test," and a "Test of Singing Ability." A reading test and an attitude/interest survey were used to collect additional data. No significant differences were found between posttest mean scores of the four main treatment groups. Posttest mean scores were significantly higher than pretest mean scores for all treatment groups on each measure. No significant main effects or interactions were found for the melodic and harmonic treatments on the PMMA and TSA. A significant interaction was found for harmony and grade, and for harmony, melody, and grade on the MET. Conclusions reached were: (1) aural discrimination of tonal patterns, vocal imitation of melodic patterns, and ability to sing rote songs are strongly related, (2) aural discrimination and singing skills improve with training regardless of musical context, (3) harmonic context used in music training tasks may be more beneficial to older children than younger children, (4) musical skills are affected by maturation with more rapid growth occurring in earlier grades, (5) girls tend to score higher on singing tasks than boys, (6) there is some relationship between reading achievement and musical skills, but little relationship between musical skills and musical attitudes and interests.PhDMusic educationUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/160731/1/8520992.pd