The Influence of Genre and Musical Training on Ratings of Listener Enjoyment

Abstract

Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore continuous and summative ratings of listener enjoyment across a variety of genres and to examine the roles of musical training and familiarity. Participants (N = 150) provided preference ratings for four popular, classical, and world music excerpts using the Continuous Response Digital Interface in either a continuous or summative response condition. After each excerpt, participants also provided a rating of their familiarity with the excerpt on a pencil and paper Likert-type scale. Significant main effects for genre and major were found in preference ratings, as well as a significant interaction between genre and major. Music majors tended to rate excerpts significantly higher than nonmajors, except in the popular music genre, and majors responded faster than nonmajors in the continuous response condition. Correlations between preference and familiarity were moderate and uniformly significant, whereas there appeared to be no association between familiarity and response times. Implications for teachers selecting music for use in their classrooms include considering the impact of the genre used, the musical material presented at the outset, and students’ familiarity with the music.