An 8-year-old’s engagement with preferred music: A case study

Abstract

This case study of an 8-year-old's engagement with preferred music was conducted by the researcher, who is also the child's father. The aim of the research was not only to identify the child's preferred music, but to find out why these were preferred pieces of music and, more specifically, to examine the way the child musicked with these preferred pieces of music. Observations of the child drawing to his preferred music, alongside conversation data and observations of the child musicking with these preferred pieces of music were conducted over a 4-week period. The child nominated five favourite pieces of music spanning a variety of styles and genres. These pieces were preferred because of familiarity with the music, and cultural and environmental influences. The child musicked with these preferred pieces in multiple ways, using a variety of media including digital technology, engaged in spontaneous musical play and exploration with the preferred music, and used this music in a variety of functional ways. Implications for music education are discussed, relating to a focus on exploring the functionality of music and the sonic qualities of music.Children develop preferences for particular types of music from a young age (Brittin, 2000;Denac, 2008). However, as Zillman and Gan (1997) found in a review of musical preference literature, there are frequently multiple reasons why people like different types of music, with a multitude of factors impacting on these individualized preferences, including family, peers, class and media. In a review of literature specifically focusing on music preference in relation to music education, Droe (2006) found that children's preferred music was similarly shaped by a variety of factors, including familiarity with music, teacher selection of music repertoire for performance, social influences including adults, approvals and disapprovals from teachers, and teacher modelling. Hargreaves, Miell and MacDonald (2005) have developed a model of music preference that factors in personal characteristics of the listener, the actual music, and the social context of the listener's engagement with music. The authors also indicate that, with the wide range of new technologies available to access music today, people's 'experiences of and uses of music are much more varied than in the past' (p. 10). In a study of young children's

Engagement and visual imagery in music listening: An exploratory study.

“…Numerous studies interpret music engagement as the active involvement of music-related activities in our everyday, cultural habits. Examples include the frequency of musical activities undertaken (Wöllner, Ginsborg, & Williamon, 2011), trends in musical preferences and listening habits (Bolden & Nahachewsky, 2015; Upadhyay, 2013), or behavioral reactions to music listening (de Vries, 2011). However, other empirical studies refer to music engagement more closely related to the specific instance of music listening.…”

Las actividades musicales preferidas de la voz de los propios niños y niñas de cuatro años. Un estudio exploratorio

“…En algunos casos se utiliza cuestionarios (Brittin, 2013;Ho, 2003;de Vries, 2010;Yim, Boo y Ebbeck, 2014) y en otros los autores abordan la temática desde una perspectiva más cualitativa partiendo de la observación y conversaciones, principalmente (e.g. Roulston, 2006;de Vries, 2011).…”

“…Este interés por comprender la música de los más pequeños ha abarcado diferentes terrenos de estudio como son la identificación de actividades musicales (Campbell, 1998), las preferencias musicales (Roulston, 2006;Yim, Boo y Ebbeck, 2014) el rol del adulto en el juego de los niños (Weldemariam, 2014) o la exposición a la tecnología (McKenney y Voogt, 2010;Plowman, Stevenson, Stephen y McPake, 2012). Estas investigaciones se han desarrollado tanto en contexto familiar (Tomlinson, 2015;de Vries, 2011;Young, 2012aYoung, , 2012bYoung y Gillen, 2007) como escolar (Campbell, 1998;Gluschankof, 2005;de Vries, 2010;Pérez, 2011); demás, otros contextos formales como la escuela de música también tienen su representación (Griffin, 2009(Griffin, , 2010de Vries, 2011;Young, 2012a). Finalmente, encontramos investigaciones centradas en la música en otros contextos como el transporte escolar (Campbell, 1998) u otros espacios públicos (Campbell, 1998;Custodero, Chen, Lin y Lee, 2006).…”

Understanding the development of musicality: Contributions from longitudinal studies.

“…An important and unique cross-cultural longitudinal study was carried out by Bjørkvold (1992), in Russia, Norway, and the United States. Spending at least 1 There are one or two studies that have very short longitudinal timeframes (e.g., 4 -6 weeks) and do not form part of this review, for example, de Vries, 2011;Koops, 2012).…”

“…1There are one or two studies that have very short longitudinal time-frames (e.g., 4–6 weeks) and do not form part of this review, for example, de Vries, 2011; Koops, 2012). …”