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Using verbal reports to investigate children's aesthetic experiences with music
1University of Oregon, USA.
Journal of Music Therapy
|March 5, 2009
Summary
Children responded emotionally to music, verbally expressing their feelings. This study explored aesthetic musical experiences in normally developing, gifted, and special needs children.
Area of Science:
- Music Psychology
- Child Development
- Aesthetics
Background:
- Aesthetic experiences in children are complex and require further investigation.
- Understanding children's subjective responses to music is crucial for music education and developmental psychology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore children's aesthetic experiences with music through verbal reports.
- To analyze the verbalized feelings and reactions of children to a specific musical piece.
Main Methods:
- Structured interviews were conducted with fourth-grade students (normally developing, gifted, and special needs).
- Participants listened to Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43, Variation 18.
- Verbal responses were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for emergent themes.
Main Results:
- Children responded to the music and could verbally communicate their feelings, some deeply emotional.
- Data indicated that children's developmental status (normally developing, gifted, special needs) had little impact on their musical reactions, apart from response length.
- The study successfully gathered verbal data on children's subjective musical experiences.
Conclusions:
- Children can articulate their emotional and aesthetic responses to music.
- Music listening can evoke significant emotional reactions in children across different developmental groups.
- Further research is needed to fully ascertain the nature of aesthetic experiences in children.
