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Link to Thesis: http://erl.canberra.edu.au/public/adt-AUC20061110.170309/

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Abstract/Summary/Outline:

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the Yamaha Junior Music Programme in developing pitch discrimination and rhythm performance skills in five- and six-year old children over a six month period. Specifically, it aimed to measure improvements in the ability to distinguish between high and low-pitched tones, the ability to identify the pitch of tones, the ability to imitate rhythms, and the ability to beat in time to music in four groups of ten subjects. Two groups (Y1 and Y2) had been involved in the Yamaha music programme, which aimed to improve the skills mentioned above. The other two groups (K1 and K2) had attended Kindergarten but had not been involved in any formal music programmes. Two of these groups (Y1 and K1) participated in pre-tests and post-tests. The other two groups (Y2 and K2) had participated in the post-tests only. The two groups which were taught via the Yamaha method consisted of ten students (male and female). The two other groups consisted of ten students in each group. These groups comprised students randomly selected from two Kindergarten classes at Fraser Primary school in the A.C.T. All students were presented with three tests: one pitch test, and two rhythm performance tests. Each test contained ten items. The three tests were trialled in a pilot study, with only minimum changes to procedure being required. The Yamaha groups were also given a pitch identification test at the conclusion of the six-month period. Each student's performance in the ten trials of the three tests was recorded on audio tape. Three judges used these recorded responses to grade each student's performance. The trials were also recorded digitally on an Apple II Computer using a sequencing software package. Detailed statistical analysis was carried out on both subjective and digital scores. The experimental design used in this research was the "Solomon's Four" design, which was ideal in controlling for internal sources of invalidity. A series of comparisons were drawn between the various groups involved, and it was concluded that the six-month Yamaha aural training programme led to the following outcomes: * improvements in the ability of Yamaha students to determine pitch height. * a higher incidence of improvement for the experimental group in the pitch pairs test (to determine pitch height) than for the control group. * improvements in the ability of Yamaha students to identify the pitch of notes. * no statistically significant improvements for Yamaha students at the end of six months for rhythm test A (rhythm imitation). * no statistically significant improvements in the performance of Yamaha students at the end of six months for rhythm test B (beating in time to music). * no statistically significant improvements in the performance of the Kindergarten groups at the end of six months for rhythm test A. * no statistically significant improvements in the performance of the Kindergarten groups at the end of six months for rhythm test B. A number of explanations were offered for the absence of improvement in the two rhythm tests and recommendations were made for future research.

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