The effects of computer-assisted keyboard instruction on meter discrimination and rhythm discrimination of general music education students in the elementary school

Linda Arms Gilbert, Tennessee State University

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of computer-assisted keyboard instruction on the meter discrimination and rhythm discrimination of students in general music education classes at the elementary school level. The study was conducted using a quantitative quasi-experimental nonequivalent pretest-posttest group design. One hundred thirty-six students, fourth, fifth, and sixth graders at Black Fox Elementary School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, participated in the study. Two hypotheses guided the study: Hypothesis one stated that there will be no significant difference, at the 0.05 level, between the meter discrimination of elementary general music students who receive computer-assisted keyboard instruction and students who do not receive computer-assisted keyboard instruction. Hypothesis two stated that there will be no significant difference, at the 0.05 level, between the rhythm discrimination of elementary general music students who receive computer-assisted keyboard instruction and students who do not receive computer-assisted keyboard instruction. The data gathering instruments used in this study were, for a pretest, the Rhythm Imagery Meter Subtest and the Rhythm Imagery Tempo Subtest of the Musical Aptitude Profile by Edwin E. Gordon and, for a pretest and posttest, Richard Colwell's Music Achievement Test I Part Three, Meter Discrimination, and Music Achievement Test II, Part Three, Auditory-Visual Discrimination, Subtest B, Rhythm. Two correlation coefficients were calculated to determine the relationship of music aptitude to meter discrimination and to rhythm discrimination. Two 2 x 2 ANOVAs were used to test the significant difference in pretest-posttest score change of meter discrimination and rhythm discrimination. After analysis of the data, both null hypotheses were rejected. The following conclusions were drawn from this study: (1) Elementary age general music students achieve greater meter discrimination from the traditional approach to music instruction than from a computer-assisted approach. (2) Elementary age general music students achieve greater rhythm discrimination from the traditional approach to music instruction than from a computer-assisted approach. (3) Given the same amount of exposure to the concepts, elementary age general music students achieve a higher level of rhythm discrimination than meter discrimination.

Subject Area

Music education|Educational software|Elementary education

Recommended Citation

Linda Arms Gilbert, "The effects of computer-assisted keyboard instruction on meter discrimination and rhythm discrimination of general music education students in the elementary school" (1997). ETD Collection for Tennessee State University. Paper AAI9806336.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI9806336

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