The Effects of Teaching and Learning Experiences, Tempo, and Mode on Undergraduates' and Children's Symphonic Music Preferences

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine (a) the effect of high positive music appreciation I instruction or teaching presentations on 62 elementary education majors' preference ratings and listening times for four symphonic movements, (b) the abilities of the undergraduates to increase children's preferences through their teaching presentations, (c) undergraduates' and children's preferences for fast versus slow tempi and major versus minor characteristics in music, and (d) the vocabulary used in their written descriptions of given works. It was found that both children and undergraduates tended to give higher ratings to fast than to slow tempi on the pretest. Children were quite redundant in their descriptions of music excerpts, whereas undergraduates used larger vocabularies involving more words that were unique to a particular excerpt. Undergraduates in both the music appreciation and teaching experience groups significantly and commensurately increased their pretest-to-posttest ratings for overall (total) and taught music. Undergraduates did not spend more time listening to taught selections than to selections that were not taught, nor did they listen to significantly more fast music than slow music.