ERIC Number: EJ900191
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Oct
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-4294
EISSN: N/A
A Classroom-Based Study of Small-Group Planned Improvisation with Fifth-Grade Children
Beegle, Amy C.
Journal of Research in Music Education, v58 n3 p219-239 Oct 2010
The purpose of this study was to examine and describe children's music improvisations and the interactions that transpired within their four-person groups during regular weekly music classes as they planned and performed music improvisations in response to three different prompts: a poem, a painting, and a musical composition. Participants were two classes of fifth-grade children at the elementary school where the researcher was the general music teacher. Sixteen children in four focus groups were chosen for closer observation and a series of interviews. Data were gathered over a 12-week period, utilizing audio- and video-recorded observations, daily field notes, and interviews following students' viewing of their own performances on video. The findings of this study demonstrate that (a) all children utilized a similar planning process, and social roles and relationships were often correlated to musical roles and relationships; (b) children's music products differed based on the nature of the prompt, and children viewed prompts along a continuum of providing freedom of expression; and (c) children evidenced three specific strategies and expressed three valued considerations for planning and evaluating improvisation performances. (Contains 1 table and 7 figures.)
Descriptors: Music Education, Grade 5, Music Activities, Creative Activities, Elementary School Students, Student Reaction, Poetry, Painting (Visual Arts), Musical Composition, Music Teachers, Teacher Researchers, Focus Groups, Interpersonal Relationship, Self Expression
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 5
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A