Developing Singing in Third-Grade Music Classrooms

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of concurrent visual feedback on pitch-matching skill development in third-grade students. Participants played a computer game, SingingCoach, which scored the accuracy of their singing of the song “America.” They followed the contour of the melody on the screen as the computer displayed a line representing their real-time vocal response. Participants could adjust their singing based on the feedback and improve their score. Music teachers ( n = 30) tested their students ( N = 2,021) in the fall and spring semesters and reported their scores. A correlated samples t-test showed a significant difference between students’ pretest and posttest scores, with a mean increase of more than 10 percentage points. Computer programs that offer immediate, concurrent singing feedback may help young students experience musical growth over a relatively short period of time even, perhaps, when formal musical instruction time is limited.