PaMcPaZi06 OMAS

Early acquisition of musical aural skills: 

Early acquisition of musical aural skills Richard Parncutt1 Gary McPherson2 Margit Painsi1 Fränk Zimmer1 1Department of Musicology, University of Graz 2 School of Music, University of Illinois ICMPC Bologna 21-26 August 2006

Aims: 

Aims How and why do children spontaneously recognize musical pitch structures? Improve “ear training”? Exploratory qualitative study

Acquisition of musical aural skills: Intuitive cognitive model : 

Acquisition of musical aural skills: Intuitive cognitive model Exposure phase aural (visual, tactile-motor, linguistic)  memory Experimentation phase match memory to performance by trial and error Recognition phase auditory pattern  memory  linguistic label

Background: Skill acquisition: 

Background: Skill acquisition Nature/nurture: interaction between genes & environment Expertise approach: more practice  more skill Critical periods: earlier practice  more skill (Intrinsic) motivation: motivation  practice  skill

Background: Subskill interdependence: 

Background: Subskill interdependence Musical skills general musicality or independent specific skills? Is audiation central? Origins of musicality = origins of audiation?

Relation to other approaches: 

Relation to other approaches

Methodological problem: Memory: 

Methodological problem: Memory Strong for meaningful events Unreliable if long ago BUT Longitudinal observation is also problematic implicit skill acquisition

Methodological problem: Questionnaires: 

Methodological problem: Questionnaires

Specific issues: 

Specific issues Instrument Specific early experiences Age at onset of recognition Situations Active or passive Motivation Belief in talent

Data collection: 

Data collection period Sep 2005 to June 2006 publicity email lists participants 196 missing data many

Sex of participants: 

Sex of participants 112 female 84 male

Nationality of participants: 

Nationality of participants 51% USA 19% UK 7% Canada 5% Australia Language of questionnaire Western bias of internet

Age of participants: 

Age of participants mean 36 years min 18 max 83

Aural skills of participants: 

Aural skills of participants Best grade for an ear training test A: 109 B: 23 C: 3 D: 1 E: 1

Years of musical practice: 

Years of musical practice mean 28 min 4 max 70 Does practice make perfect?

“CV” of average participant: 

“CV” of average participant Began to play regularly… aged 7 years (min 2, max 21) Played continuously… stops for only 1 year Filled our questionnaire aged 36 years

Instrument: 

Instrument Are some instruments better for ear training than others?

Main instrument: 

Main instrument 59% piano 8% guitar 7% flute 5% violin Keyboard represents aural structures visually? Parents of talented children choose piano?

First year of playing: Instruments played: 

First year of playing: Instruments played piano 63% violin 13% flute 6% guitar 5% recorder 4% others 9%

Instruments in the home: 

Instruments in the home 140 people named 311 instruments: piano (106) guitar (40) violin (28) recorder (22) … flute, keyboard, trumpet, harmonica, cello, organ, clarinet, accordion, banjo/mandolin… Important for ear training? 86% yes 10% no 4% can‘t remember

Why piano?: 

Why piano?

Early musical experiences : 

Early musical experiences “Early” = before learning first instrument What early musical experiences promote development of aural skills?

Early musical experiences: 

Early musical experiences Age at middle of period 4.5 years Frequency of musical experiences 5.3 (1 = very rare … 7 = very frequent)

Family member whose musical activities experienced most often: 

Family member whose musical activities experienced most often 49 % mother 31 % father 8 % sister 4 % brother

Early musical activities: Materials: 

Early musical activities: Materials Examples: Mother at piano, kids play drums & sleigh bells Dad made up songs about our family My brother and I made up Gregorian chants lullabies hymns traditional and folk songs Christmas songs Suzuki songs

Early musical activities: How enjoyable?: 

Early musical activities: How enjoyable? mean 6.3 (1 = not at all … 7 = very) enjoyment  motivation  practice

Early musical activities: Specific emotions: 

Early musical activities: Specific emotions Music as: private experience It was amazing to produce sounds. Music always gave me an immediate feeling of exhilaration. part of intensive personal interaction Happy, closeness with family members, fun and joy in learning the tune and rhythm of songs I could switch off from the unhappy family life and escape into music. I enjoyed this time because I gave our family the 'glue' that held us together.

Age: 

Age At what age do children acquire basic aural skills?

First memory of recognizing pitch structures: 

First memory of recognizing pitch structures Age: mean 8.6 years (min 2, max 18)

Age at which specific structures recognized: 

Age at which specific structures recognized Basic structures learned between 8 and 14 Basic structures consolidated before building on them

Role of situation: 

Role of situation In what situations do children acquire aural skills?

First year of playing: 

First year of playing Situations in which learned about music Conventional music lessons 64% (130) Working out pieces by ear alone 24% (103) Mental practice 16% (54) Composing alone at instrument 16% (72) Playing by ear with friends or family 16% (46) Composing with friends or family 19% (9) But our participants may not be representative Percentage: average of those who replied (In brackets: number who replied to question)

First memory of recognizing pitch structures: 

First memory of recognizing pitch structures Wide variety of situations. Examples:

Context in which skill originally acquired: 

Context in which skill originally acquired Aural skills are learned Learning is mainly active Wide variety of responses family and outside formal and informal group and solo instrumental and choral theory and practice

Musical styles in which structures recognized: 

Musical styles in which structures recognized  Participant bias towards “classical” music Rank order: classical children’s pop/rock religious

Learning styles: 

Learning styles Active or passive? Motivated or “just happened”?

Most important factor in developing this skill: 

Most important factor in developing this skill  Role of active learning

Why motivated to acquire this skill?: 

Why motivated to acquire this skill?  Role of relevant, useful goals

Inherited or learned?: 

Inherited or learned? Questions about origins of skills: All answers involved musical activities No-one objected that skills were inborn “How important were your early musical activities for the development of your aural abilities?” 5.8 (1 = not at all … 7 = very)  Participants believe skills are learned

Inherited or learned: 

Inherited or learned Source of info for “opinion then”: 46% compare memory with current knowledge 18% parents then 15% peer comparison then Real learning + belief in talent

Interesting but unreliable data: 

Interesting but unreliable data Metacognition is weak Even for the most talented Memory is unreliable Respondents may invent or exaggerate Our participants are biased toward upper middle class “classical” music

Consistent with expertise model: 

Consistent with expertise model motivation  practice  skill Critical periods?

Interdependence of musical subskills: 

Interdependence of musical subskills Musicality as independent specific skills Central role of audiation supports other subskills

Educational implications: Home: 

Educational implications: Home Parents should hear, make, enjoy music themselves own and play several instruments encourage child from an early age (6?) to hear, make, enjoy a lot of music experience keyboard and choral singing take music lessons develop own musical tastes and passions

Educational implications: Institutional: 

Educational implications: Institutional Offer parental training incl. music More music in school Musical interaction teachersparents Ear training at school, not university