http://ijm.sagepub.com/Music EducationInternational Journal
ofhttp://ijm.sagepub.com/content/26/3/197The online version of this
article can be found at:DOI: 10.1177/0255761408092525 2008 26: 197
International Journal of Music EducationMei-Ying LiaopatternsThe
effects of gesture use on young children's pitch accuracy for
singing tonalPublished by:http://www.sagepublications.comOn behalf
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INTERNATIONALJOURNALOFMUSICEDUCATION
Copyright2008InternationalSocietyforMusicEducationVol26(3)197211[(200808)26:3]10.1177/0255761408092525http://ijm.sagepub.comTheeffectsofgestureuseonyoungchildrenspitchaccuracyforsingingtonalpatternsMEI-YINGLIAOMingHsinUniversityofScience&Technology,TaiwanAbstractThemainpurposeofthisstudywastoexaminetheeffectsofgestureuseonyoungchildrenssingingwithregardtoimprovingpitchaccuracy.Thesecondpurposewastoexaminethedifferencesingestureuseamongboysandgirlsanddifferentmelodicmotions.
Eighty Taiwanese young children, five to six years old,
participated in this
experi-ment.Thechildrenwereaskedtosingsixtonalpatternswithandwithoutgestures,which
subsequentlywereevaluatedbythreeprofessionalmusicteachers.Theresultsshowed
that gesture use had immediate positive effects for young children
in aiding
theirpitchaccuracy.Theeffectofgesturesforgirlswasgreaterthanforboys.However,thelevelofgestureeffectsinmelodicmotionswasdifferent.Gesturehadagreatereffectforrepetition,ascendingpatternsandlargeleaps.Sweepingandopeningclosingarmges-turesespeciallyappearedtoworkverysuccessfully.Thissuggeststhatgesturesprovidedakinestheticsenseofmotion,whichcanbeaneffectivetoolinaidingsinging.Keywordsintonation,melodicmotion,movement,musiceducationSingingplaysavitalroleinmusiceducation,especiallyinearlychildhood.Inparticular,developingpitchaccuracyseemstobeanimportantissueinsinging.ItappearsthatrepeatedsongsingingisthemainteachingapproachinTaiwansearlychildhoodeduca-tion.
The majority of Taiwanese teachers rely on commercial CDs to teach
singing for
earlychildhood.Theusualwaytoencouragechildrenssingingisrepetitionwithfewvaria-tions.Asaresult,childrenseemtosingloudlyandraucouslyinsteadofnaturallyandbeautifully.Apfelstadt(1984)expressedtheviewthatrotesinging(auditorymodelalone)wasinsufficient
to develop vocal accuracy because students soon forget what they
are
taught.Althoughstudentslearningmodalities(visual,kinesthetic,aural,oracombinationofanytwoorallthreemodes)varyineachclassroomandeachpersonhashis/herpreferredmodes
(Fauth, 1990; Flaherty, 1992; Reiff, 1992), multi-sensory learning
is
recommended.Inparticular,thekinestheticmodalityisespeciallyappropriateforyoungchildren(Campbell&Scott-Kassner,1995;Flohr,2005).Researchersinthefieldsofeducationandmusiceducationprovidecompellingevidencethatsupportsthestatement(Apfelstadt,1984,1985;Caldwell,1995;Campbell&Scott-Kassner,1995;Hibbard,1994;Langness,
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INTERNATIONALJOURNALOFMUSICEDUCATION26(3)1997;Liao,2002;Liao&Davidson,2007;Mueller,1993;Persellin,1992;Phillips,1992;Wis,1993).Theyallstatethatprovidingarichlearningmodalitywasshowntohaveapositiveeffectinaidingpitchperceptionandtheresultantdevelopmentofaccuratesinging.
For example, showing the pitch by hand levels and providing
pictures for
melodiccontouraresuggestedbymanymusiceducatorsasthebeststrategiestoreinforcepitchperception.Tosumup,gesturesorhandsignsprovidevisual,auralandkinestheticrein-forcementthatfacilitateschildrenslearning.AccordingtoJoyner(1969),inordertosingintune,onemusthavetheabilitytodothreethings.First,onemustbeabletohearanddiscriminatethestimuli;second,onemust
be able to remember a note; and, finally, reproduce it. In a
negative way,
Sundberg(1987)notedthreepossibleexplanationsforinaccuratesingingasfailureinperception,incorrectmentalpictureandspecificmuscularproblems.Thisimpliesthatincorrectmen-talimagesleadtoinaccuratesinging.Therefore,providingmoreaccuratementalimageswouldleadtomoreaccuratesinging.Kodlyssol-facombinedwithCurwenhandsignsprovides
visualization in space of the highlow relationship between the
notes being sung(Choksy, 1999). Through kinesthetic sensation,
tonal memory is both quickly
accomplishedandmoresecure(Shehan,1987;Taylor,1989).Theuseofkinestheticsensationstostrengthenthemotorpicturesinmemoryseemstohaveastrongimpactonthecogni-tionofmelody(Apfelstadt,1988;Mueller,1993;Shehan,1987;Taylor,1989).However,manymusiceducators(Hibbard,1994;Liao,2002;Liao&Davidson,2007;Mead,1994;Wis,
1993) have argued that using hand signs or showing the pitch by
hand levels
mightnotbesufficientforaccuratesinging.Thesekindsofhandgesturesaidchildrenscogni-tionofthemelodiccontourbutdonotresultinanyoutcomesforvocalproduction.Previousstudies(Goetze,1985;Sundberg,1987;Welch,1994)indicatethataclear
andcorrectmotorimageofpitchcanbecrucialforaidingsingingquality,especiallyforbeginners.Hibbard(1994),Liao(2002),LiaoandDavidson(2007)andWis(1993,1999)investigatedtheeffectsoflinkinggesturesandtonalpatterns,whichhadapositiveeffectforsingingtechniques,especiallyforintonation.Inotherwords,childrensingingthroughtheassistanceoftheirowngestures,whichweredesignedforparticulartonalpatterns,couldleadtoabettervoiceoutcome.Themainfunctionsofthesegesturesareusedtoimprovevocaltechniqueandtocor-rectvocalfaults.Thefunctionsofgestureshavebeendefinedasbeingappliedtofocus,guidance,support,goodintonationandsensation(Custodero,2005;Liao,2002,2005;Liao&Davidson,2007).Gesturesdohelpsingerstoexperiencemotorsensations,whichassistinthedevelopmentofsoundsensationandimprovedvocaltechniqueasaresult(Apfelstadt,1984,1985;Kemp,1990;McKinney,1994).Althoughpracticalworkshowsthepositiveeffectofgestureinsinging,theresearchongestureuseforyoungchildrenseems
to be very limited. Therefore, the first aim of this study was to
examine the
effectsofgestureuseonyoungchildrenspitchaccuracy.Mueller(1993)indicatedthatusinggesturesinsinginglessonscouldaidinthedevel-opmentofelementaryschoolstudentsvocalaccuracy.Sheconcludedthatmovement-basedinstructionfacilitatedstudentsconceptualdevelopmentofthepropertiesofmelodicprogression(steps,leaps,repeatedtones).Theeffectsofusinggesturesinregis-ter(high,low)anddirection(upward,downward,same)werenotsignificant.However,thegesturetechniqueinherstudywasonethatusedgesturestodescribemelodicprop-erties.Itfocusedonthedevelopmentofmelodyconceptually.Similarly,Liao(2002)alsofoundthatthegesturetechniqueshadagreatereffectforlargeleapsandhighregistersforgrade5students.Itappearsthatgestureswereeffectiveinsomemelodicmotionsorother
conditions. Therefore, the second aim of the current study was to
explore the effectsofgestureuseindifferentmelodicmotions. at Riga
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Liao
Gestureuseandyoungchildrenspitchaccuracy199Ingeneral,girlssingmoreaccuratelythanboys(Goetze,1985;Goetze&Horii,1989;Liao,2002;Phillips,1992;Stauffer,1985).Intheresearchareaofusinggesturestoaidsinging,Liao(2002)alsofoundthisgenderdifferenceinelementaryschoolgrade5stu-dents.Generallyspeaking,girlssingingwithgesturesperformedbetterthanboys.However,somegestureshadgreatereffectsforboysthanothersifthegestureinvolvedlarge
muscles. This may be because of sex stereotyping. Liao suggested
that the
teachersattitudeandtonewhenexpressingthegestureshouldneitheremphasizetheteachersownvocalrangenorhis/hersexualityinanyexplicitmannerinamixedgenderclass-room.Inaddition,theappropriatenessofgesturesforgirlsandboysmightbedifferent,astheirapprovalforattitudetowardsthemisdifferent.Itisimportanttoconsiderthedifferencesbetweengirlsandboysandwhetheritmightbeusefulforteacherstopro-videdifferentgesturesforaparticularvocalpatternforboysandgirls.Sexdifferenceingesture
use could be an important issue that influences effectiveness.
Therefore, the
finalaimofthecurrentstudywastoexaminegenderdifferenceingestureuse.The
previous work mentioned above has provided insight into the
clarification of
somegesturesforparticularvocaltechniques,butfewerspecificsourcesexistthatexaminehowyoungchildrenmastervoiceandgestureandputthemtogetherinsinging.Itappears
that no specific study exists that traces how young children use
gestures to facili-tate their vocal accuracy. Therefore, the
current study focuses on young childrens
singinginordertospecifyhowparticulargesturescanbeusedtoenhancechildrensmotorimagesand,asaresult,tomakesingingeasier.Aquantitativestudywascarriedouttogainmoreinformationabouthowyoungchildrenwereperceivedtohaveusedgesturesinsinging.Thefollowingresearchquestionswereconsideredinthepresentstudy:1.
Willgestureuseaidyoungchildrensvocalaccuracy?2.
Willgestureuseforaparticularmelodicmotionhaveamorepositiveeffect?3.
Willtherebeanydifferenceforboysandgirlswhenusinggesturesinsinging?MethodParticipantsEighty
children, aged five to six years, were selected as subjects for
this study. There
were40boysand40girlsparticipating,andthechildrenselectedassubjectsforthisstudywerefromfourkindergartensinChungli,andHsinchulocatedinNorthTaiwan.Thekindergartenswereselectedonthebasisofgeographicalconvenienceandthewilling-nessofadministratorstocooperate.Thechildrenwererandomlyselectedfromeachkindergarten,withoutcultural,lingualandeducationalpreferences.ExperimentaldesignThe
main purpose of this study was to examine the effects of gesture in
aiding
childrenssingingaccuracy.Theexperimentaldesignisamixtureofbetween-participants(gender)andwithin-participantsdesign(gestureandmelodicmotion).Theframeworkofinde-pendentanddependentvariablesisshowninFigure1.MeasurementmaterialsForsingingassessment,singingasongoftenreflectschildrensfamiliaritywiththesong(Rutkowski
& Runfola, 1997). Therefore, tonal patterns were used for
evaluation. Because at Riga Teacher Training on March 27, 2014
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INTERNATIONALJOURNALOFMUSICEDUCATION26(3)themainpurposeofthisstudywastoexaminechildrenssingingaccuracyinrealizingmelodicmotions,sixtonalpatternsweredesignedforevaluationasshowninTable1.Becausenostandardtonalpatternsexistedthatwereappropriateforthetest,sixtestingpatternswereconstructedbytheresearcher.Thevalidityofthetesttonalpatternwasdeterminedbythreemusiceducationprofessorswhoagreedthatthecontentsofthesesixtonalpatternswereappropriateformeasuringchildrenslevelsofpitchaccuracy.ThereliabilityoftheindexCronbachs
was0.8391.RutkowskiandRunfola(1997)suggestusinganeutralsyllableratherthansongtextforassessingchildrenssinging,andthere-fore,theneutralsyllable(bum)wasusedforsingingtonalpatterns.GesturedesignGenerallyspeaking,thegestureswereoriginallydesignedfordevelopinggoodsinginghabits,suchasencouragingthechildrentodropthejaw,relaxthetongue,roundthelipsandopenthethroat.Inaddition,somegesturesweredesignedformoreadvancedsingingskills,suchasdevelopingawholebodysensationtoovercomesometechnicaldifficulties(Hibbard,1994;Liao,2002;Liao&Davidson,2007;Wis,1993).Inordertoestablishacorrectphysicalsensation,thedisciplineofthehigherthenote,themorespace,energy,anddepthisneededandthelowerthenote,thelessspace,energy,anddepthisneeded(McKinney,1994)issuggested.Thegesturedesignforthisexperimentwasbasedontheseprinciplesanddrawnfrompreviousstudies(Hibbard,1994;Liao,2002,2007;Liao&Davidson,2007;Wis,1993)thatwerefoundtobeeffective.Consideringyoungchildrensphysicalability,thegesturesweredesignedtobeaseasyaspossible.Thegesturedescriptionandthegesturesusedareshownbelow.MeasurementInordertodeterminethetestingprocedures,apilotstudywasconductedpriortotheformaltest.Sixchildren(threeboysandthreegirls)inthepilotstudywerefromselectedIndependent
variableDependent variable Sing with gesture/without gestureBoy /
GirlAscending/descending/repetitionsteps/small leap/large
leapGestureGenderMelodic motionPitch accuracy Pitch accuracy
Figure1 Researchframeworkofvariables. at Riga Teacher Training on
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Gestureuseandyoungchildrenspitchaccuracy201kindergartens that were
not involved in the main experiments in this study. Several
detailswerechecked:
whetherthetaskwastoodifficult(sixtonalpatterns);
howmuchpracticewasneededtogettherightpitchandcorrectgesture;and
themethod,paceandvolumeforpresentingstimuli.Onthetestingday,studentswhowereparticipantsinthemainexperimentwereassem-bledintheirkindergartensactivityplaza.Therewasappropriatespaceforallthechil-drenandtheareaallowedthechildrentousegesturesfreely.First,theresearcherusedMelodic
motion Gesture description and time-space 1. AscendingE: closing
palms at chest levelG#: opening hands to sides gradually B: opening
hands to sides gradually2. DescendingB: opening arms at sidesG#:
sweeping hands inward graduallyE: closing hands gradually to
center3. RepetitionSweeping the hands forward gradually4. StepsE:
closing palms at chest level F#: opening the hands outward for
ascendingand back for descending (E) 5. Small leapE: closing palms
at chest level G#: opening thehands outward for ascendingand back
for descending (E)6. Large leapE: closing palms at chest levelB:
opening the hands outward for ascendingand back for descending
(E)Table1 Sixtesttonalpatternsandgesturedescriptions at Riga
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202
INTERNATIONALJOURNALOFMUSICEDUCATION26(3)puppetplaytomotivateandencouragethemtosingaswellaspossible.Subsequently,animitativemovementgamewasconductedtousegestureandvoicetogether.Inordertomotivatethechildrentousethegestureinsingingimmediatelyandeasily,theresearcherusedverbalinstructiontoensurebetterunderstanding;forinstance,SantaClaussweepshisbeardforwardforrepetition,orsimplyusingopenandclosethewin-dowslowlyforthetestofmelodicmotions.Next,thechildrenwereinstructedtoprac-ticethetestbyfollowingthevideoCDdirectionstoensurethattheywerefamiliarwiththetestingprocess.Afterpractice,allthechildrenwereaskedtotestthesixmelodicmotionsindividually.Theywereencouragedtosingasaccuratelyaspossible.Inordertoeliminatetheordereffectcausedbypractice,eachindividualpickedoneofeightcards(40
gesture first, 40 without gesture first) to decide to sing with or
without gestures first.The testing rooms in every kindergarten were
quiet and comfortable. In order to
ensurethesameposture,twofootprinttemplateswerefixedtotheground.Childrensvoiceswererecordedbyadigitalrecorder.Apre-recordedstimulusvideotapewasconsideredappropriate
to ensure that the children received a consistent stimulus with
which to
work.Eachchildsangsixtonalpatternsindividually.Tosupplementthequantitativedata,anindividualchildwasaskedhisorherpreferencesongestureuseandreasonsafterthesingingtest.EvaluationTherearetwomainformsforsingingassessment:(a)humanassessment;and(b)machine-basedassessment.Welch(1994)stressedtheimportanceofchoosinganapp-ropriateassessmentmethodandthatitshouldbebasedonconsideringthepurposeoftheevaluation.Hesuggestedthatiftheassessmentemphasisismoreonthemusicalaspects
of the singing behavior, the human assessment mode becomes more
significant.Thecurrentstudyexaminedchildrenssingingaccuracy,butdidnotevaluateasinglepitch.Therefore,anappropriateassessmentofmusicalandaestheticattributeswascriticalinthisstudyincomparisontoamachine-basedassessmentthatprovidesinformationaboutthevoicefrommomenttomoment.Threeprofessionalmusiceducatorswhowereexperiencedinteachingandassessingyoungchildrenssingingwereinvitedtoratethechildrensperformanceswiththefive-pointLikertscale.ThecriteriafortheratingscaleweredrawnfromJundaandYoung(inRutkowski&Runfola,
1997, p. 4). The scale from 1 (low) to 5 (high) was based on the
following criteria:1
Thischilddoesnotfollowthedirectionofthemelody.2
Thischildsingsthedirectionofthetonesbutwithincorrectintervals.3
Thischildsingscorrectintervalsbutstartsonthewrongpitch.4
Thischildsingsshortpatternscorrectly.5
Thischildsingsvariedmelodiesofstepsandskipswithaccuracy.Slavin(1992)statedthatoneofthefactorsthatleadstoaninconsistencyamongratersislack
of judge training. In order to achieve a more reliable and precise
evaluation, the
assess-mentprocedureswerepainstakinglycontrolled.Aftertheresearcherbrieflyintroducedtheratingcriteriaanddetailsrelevanttothemeasurement,thethreeteacherswereaskedtorateforpractice.Oncetheircriteriawereconsistent,theywereaskedtoratethechildrenssingingperformancesindividually.AccordingtoLiao(2002),ifthetaskgiventothejudgesisshortinlengthorinvolvesalotofassessmenttasks(thecaseofthetonalpatterninthisstudy),
that will cause a lower reliability. She suggests that
consideration of the judges
leveloftirednessandboredomisessentialforimprovingtheassessmentreliabilityandvalidity.Inordertoimprovereliability,inthisstudythepaceforratingeachpieceofperformance
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Downloaded from Liao Gestureuseandyoungchildrenspitchaccuracy203was
slow and provided enough time to rest. If all the singing records
were randomly
rated,thetirednessofthejudgesmayaffecttheresults.Therefore,thedatawerepairedasrep-resentedtotheraters.However,theratersdidnotknowifthechildsangwithgesturesornot.Inaddition,allindividualdatawererandomlyratedbytheraters.ResultsInter-raterreliabilityThreemusiceducatorswereaskedtoratechildrenssingingperformances.AseriesofPearsoncorrelationswasundertakentoinitiallyassessthedegreeofcorrelationbetweentheratersscores.Table2showstheinter-raterreliability.Theresultsofthepatternsrevealed
that the scores were significantly correlated at the 0.01 level
(**p.01)
(2-tailed).Therefore,theratingresultsamongthethreeraterswereconsistent.ItemdifficultyThescoresforsingingwithoutgestureswereusedforanalysisofitemdifficulty.Figure
2showstheaveragepitchaccuracyscorefordifferentmelodicmotions.Theitemdifficul-tiesfromeasiesttomostdifficultare:steps,descending,smallleap,repetition,largeleapandascending.Analysisofyoungchildrenspitchaccuracy(descriptivestatistics)Table3presentsthemeansandstandarddeviationsfortheyoungchildrenspitchaccur-acyscores.Generallyspeaking,childrenperformedbetterwhentheyusedgesturesinsingingregardlessofgender.Girlsperformedbetterthanboysineverymelodicmotionregardless
of whether they sang without or with gestures. The effect of
gesture was
posit-ivebuttheeffectineachmelodicmotionshowedverylittlevariation.TheeffectsofgestureandgenderonpitchaccuracyPitchaccuracywasanalyzedusingagenerallinearmodelwithtwowithin-participantsfactorsofgesture(gesturesvs.nogestures)andmelodicmotion(ascendingvs.descend-ingvs.repetitionsvs.stepsvs.smallleapvs.largeleap)andonebetween-participantsfactorofgender(boysvs.girls).TheresultsareshowninTable4.Table
4 reveals that the main effects of gender (F 6.67, p0.05), gesture
(F 42.17,p0.001),melodicmotion(F 3.05,
p0.05)andtheinteractionofgestureandTable2
Analysisofinter-raterreliabilityRater R1vs.R2 R2vs.R3
R1vs.R3Melodic motionAscending 0.868** 0.908** 0.896**Descending
0.851** 0.887** 0.847**Repetition 0.837** 0.879** 0.842**Steps
0.856** 0.900** 0.861**Smallleap 0.870** 0.875** 0.826**Largeleap
0.846** 0.911** 0.864**Notes R rater; **p.01 at Riga Teacher
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INTERNATIONALJOURNALOFMUSICEDUCATION26(3)2.042.422.212.512.382.100.511.522.53Ascending
Descending Repetition Steps Small leap Large leapMelodic
motionsPitch accuracy scoreFigure2
Averagepitchaccuracyscoreindifferentmelodicmotions.Table3
Meansandstandarddeviationsfortheyoungchildrenspitchaccuracy
scoresBoys(N40) Girls(N40) Overall(N80)Without WithWithout
WithWithout Withgesture gesture gesture gesture gesture gestureMean
SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SDAscending 1.95 1.12 2.37
1.51 2.13 1.08 2.83 1.40 2.04 1.10 2.60 1.46Descending 2.17 1.27
2.47 1.43 2.66 1.30 3.14 1.35 2.42 1.30 2.80 1.42Repetition 2.15
1.22 2.61 1.50 2.28 1.13 3.29 1.16 2.21 1.17 2.95 1.38Steps 2.28
1.31 2.57 1.56 2.74 1.46 3.06 1.50 2.51 1.40 2.81 1.54Smallleap
2.00 1.24 2.23 1.46 2.77 1.24 3.02 1.41 2.38 1.29 2.62
1.48Largeleap 1.68 1.01 2.15 1.35 2.53 1.16 3.03 1.36 2.10 1.16
2.59 1.42Table4 ANOVAofthepitchaccuracydataSource Sumofsquares d.f.
Meansquare F pGender 78.014 1 78.014 6.67 .012*Gesture 49.051 1
49.051 42.17 .000***GenderGesture 2.172 1 2.172 1.87
.176Melodicmotion 16.176 5 3.235 3.05 .010*Gender Melodicmotion
9.120 5 1.824 1.72 .130Gesture Melodicmotion 6.730 5 1.346 2.39
0.037*Gender Gesture 2.198 5 0.440 0.78
0.564MelodicmotionNotes*p0.05; ***p0.001 at Riga Teacher Training
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melodicmotionweresignificant(F 2.39,
p0.05).Theresultssuggestedthatgirlsandboysperformeddifferentlyinpitchaccuracy.Girls(M2.79)sangmoreaccuratelythanboys(M2.22).Inaddition,childrenperformeddifferentlyinpitchaccuracywithregardtogestureuse.Inotherwords,childrensangmoreaccuratelywithgestures(M2.73)thanwithoutgestures(M2.28).Finally,childrenperformeddifferentlyinthesesixmelodicmotions.Childrenfounditeasiertosingsteps(M2.66)whereasascendingsinging(M2.32)providedthemostdifficulty.AsshowninFigure3,girlsandboysallsangmoreaccuratelywithgesturesthanwithoutgesturesineverymelodicmotion.Liao
Gestureuseandyoungchildrenspitchaccuracy20500.511.522.533.5Ascending
Descending Repetition Steps Small leap Large leapMelodic
motionPitch accuracy scoreboys without gestureboys with
gesturegirls without gesturegirls with gestureFigure3
Boysandgirlssangwithandwithoutgestureindifferentmelodicmotion.Table5
AnalysisofsimplemaineffectsforthesignificantgesturemelodicmotioninteractionSource
SS d.f. MS F p-valueGesture(B)Ascending 12.6563 1 12.6563 22.4979
0.000***Descending 6.0063 1 6.0063 10.6768 0.001**Repetition
21.7562 1 21.7562 38.6740 0.000***Steps 3.6000 1 3.6000 6.3994
0.011*Smallleap 2.2562 1 2.2562 4.0106 0.045*Largeleap 9.5063 1
9.5063 16.8985 0.000***B CS(A) 219.3361 390
0.56255Melodicmotion(C)Withoutgesture 14.2139 5 2.8428 5.0534
0.000***Withgesture 8.6925 5 1.7385 3.0904 0.009**B CS(A) 219.3361
390 0.56255Notes*p0.05; **p0.01; ***p0.001; F0.05,1,3903.8654,
F0.05,5,3902.2371Sincetheinteractionbetweengestureandmelodicmotionwastestedtobesignifi-cant,furtheranalysisforsimplemaineffectswasdoneandtheresultsarelistedinTable
5.Theresultsshowthatchildrensangmoreaccuratelywithgesturesregardlessofanymelodicmotions.Additionally,childrenperformeddifferentlyinthesesixmelodicmotionswhethertheyusedgesturesinsingingornot.AsshowninFigure4,theeffectsof
gesture in six melodic motions from weakest to greatest are small
leap, steps, descend-ing,largeleap,ascendinganddescending. at Riga
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INTERNATIONALJOURNALOFMUSICEDUCATION26(3)PreferencesofgestureuseforchildrenAs
shown in Figure 5, most children reported that they liked to sing
with gestures
regard-lessofgender.Theirreasonsforthepreferencesofgesturesinsingingwerevaried.Themajorityofthemsaiditsfun.Otherreasonswere:Itslikedancing.Ifeelsobeautiful.Mywholebodyishappy.Icansingbetter.Icansingmoreconcentratedly.However,
some children did not have a positive attitude in gesture use.
Their reasons
were:Iamnotusedtodoingthis.Itsverystrange.Myhandsaretootired.Fewchildrenreportedthattheydontknow.00.511.522.533.5Ascending
Descending Repetition Steps Small leap Large leapMelodic
motionPitch accuracy scorewithout gesture with gestureFigure4
Childrensangwithandwithoutgestureindifferentmelodicmotion.72.50%70.00%71.25%15.00%25.00%20.00%12.50%5.00%8.75%0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%Boys
Girls OverallResponse of percentageYESNODon't knowFigure5
Childrenspreferencesofgestureuseinsinging. at Riga Teacher Training
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DiscussionThepurposeofthisstudywastodeterminetheeffectivenessofgestureuseinfacilitat-ingchildrenspitchaccuracyandtounderstandthedifferencesbetweenboysandgirlswhile
using gestures in singing. Results indicated that children tended
to sing more
accu-ratelywithgestures.Itcanbeconcludedthatgestureshaveapositiveimmediateeffectforchildreninsingingtonalpatterns.Theresultswereconsistentwithpreviousstudies(Chagnon,2001;Hibbard,1994;Liao,2002;Liao&Davidson,2007;Wis,1993)thatshowedthatprovidingthelinkbetweengestureandtonalpatternscouldaidchildrensintonation.Thesuccessfuluseofgesturesinsingingcouldbeduetoattitudetowardmotorlearningandofthepopularityofgestures.Accordingtosupplementarydata,most
oftheyoungchildrenhadapositiveattituderegardinggestureuseinsinging.They
reportedthattheyhadgreatfunwhentheysangwithgestures.Asaresult,thechildrensenjoymentenhancestheirlearningmotivation.Inadditiontoenjoyment,chil-drenalsofoundthatgestureshelpedthemtosingbetterandinamorefocusedman-ner,whichwasalsofoundinCustoderos(2005)andLiao&Davidsons(2007)studies.Anotherpossiblereasonforaccuratesingingwithgesturescouldbethegesturedesign.Twogestures(sweepingforwardandopeningclosinggestures)inthisstudyseemedtohaveapositiveeffectinfacilitatingchildrenspitchaccuracy.ThesetwokindsofgestureswerealsofoundtobeeffectiveinHibbards(1994),Liaos(2002)andLiao&Davidsons(2007)studies.Itmaybeinferredthatapplyingsimplegesturessuchassweepingandopeningclosing
of the arms may provide correct mental images and help children to
suc-cessfully build up their tuning sense in melodic motions. The
kinesthetic experience
clearlyhasapowerfuleffectonchildrenspitchaccuracy.Therefore,theseresultssuggestthatprovidinggesturesinteachingchildrenssingingintheearlystagescouldaiddevelop-mentofgoodpitchaccuracy.Thefindingsindicatedthatgirlssangmoreaccuratelythanboys,whichwasconsist-entwithpreviousstudies(Goetze,1985;Goetze&Horii,1989;Phillips,1992;Stauffer,1985).Althoughgesturehadpositiveeffectsforboysandgirls,girlsperformedbetterthan
boys regardless of singing with or without gestures. This is
confirmed by Liao (2002),indicating that gesture use had a greater
effect on 1011-year-old girls. One of her
resultsshowedthatsomegestureshadnegativeeffectsforboysifthegesturesweremorefem-inine,
such as ear side circling or rolling. She argued that sex-role
stereotyping may
affecttheeffectivenessofgestureuse.However,thiswasnotfoundinthecurrentstudy.Manypossiblereasonscouldcontributetothesedifferentoutcomes.Again,thismightbebecauseofthegesturedesignfactor.Ifthegesturedesignswereinlinewithboyspre-ferences,theboyswerenotonlymorepositiveaboutthem,butalsoobtainedahigherachievementusingthem.Itappearedthatthegesturesinthiscurrentstudyworkedverywell.Liao(2002)discussedthattheChineseKung-Fuposeandgestures(similartotheopeningclosingarmsgestureinthisstudy)hadgreatereffectforboys.Boyswerenotonlymorepositiveaboutthem,butalsoobtainedahigherachievementusingthem.Itappearsthatgesturedesignsinvolvinggrossmusclesmayhaveabettereffectonboys.Itmightalsoimplythatyoungboyshadamorepositiveattitudetowardsacceptingnewthingsascomparedtoolderboys.Asaresult,allthegesturesinthisstudyhadpositiveeffectsforboys.Therefore,itmightbehelpfultousethegesturetechniqueforteachingsinging
in early childhood. This suggests that providing gesture use in
earlier stages
wouldbemoresuccessfulforboys.Theresultsshowedthatchildrenperformeddifferentlyindifferentmelodicmotions.Generallyspeaking,stepsanddescendingwereeasiertosing,whereasascendingandLiao
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INTERNATIONALJOURNALOFMUSICEDUCATION26(3)large leaps were more
difficult to sing. This is consistent with previous studies (Liao,
2002;Liao&Davidson,2007)andliteraturereviews(Chivington,1998;Choksy,1999;Phillips,1992;Rutkowski&Trollinger,2005).Theseresultsmightprovidesomeideasforearlychildhoodteacherswhentheyteachyoungchildrensinginginthebeginningstages.Althoughgesturehadpositiveeffectsineverytonalpattern,theeffectlevelswerevar-ied.Thisissupportedbypreviousstudies(Chagnon,2001;Hibbard,1994;Liao,2002;Liao&Davidson,2007;Mueller,1993;Wis,1993)thatnotedthatgesturesserveseveralfunctionsandtheireffectivenessinaidingsingingisvaried.Theresultsshowedthatges-turehadagreatereffectinsingingascendingandrepetitionpatterns.Thesefindingsareconsistentwiththoseofpreviousresearch(Liao,2002;Liao&Davidson,2007)indicatingthat
the more difficult the tasks (large leap, high register, high
note), the greater the effectof the gesture use. A simple open arm
gesture did help children to open their throats
andgetenoughairandspaceforpreparingtosinghightones(Chagnon,2001;Hibbard,1994;
Liao, 2002, 2005; Liao & Davidson, 2007; Wis, 1993, 1999). It
might be
concludedthatgesturehadapowerfuleffectforaidingchildreninsingingdifficulttonalpatterns.AccordingtoHibbard(1994)andLiaoandDavidson(2007),theprerequisiteforges-tureuseasapositivetechniqueisthatthegesturesmustbeeffective.Thereasonsthatcertaingesturesforeachmelodicmotioncontributedtosuccessfulsingingarediscussedbelow:1.
Ascending(gesture:openingarmstosides):Thesweepingmotiontothesideswiththehands(openingarmsgesture)whensingingascendingnotesgivesthephysicalsensationofmovementfromlowtohighandthisincreasesenergyandintensity.Asaresult,asignificanteffectwasfound.2.
Descending(gesture:closingarmsfromsidestothecenter):Thegatheringmotion(closingarmsgesture)offersaverygoodsensationformasteringthesingingofahighnote(givesaphysicalsensationofmovementfromhightolowtoreleasethetensiongradually)andhelpstomakeasuccessfultransitionfromthebottomtothetopnote.Inparticular,anopenmotionencouragesliftingofthesoftpalatethroughayawningexpressionthatcausessuccessfulsinging.3.
Repetition(gesture:sweepinggestureforward):Theresultsshowedthatthesweepinggesturehadgreatereffectonsingingrepetitionpatterns.Sweepingthehandsforwardforrepetitionseemedtohavegoodeffectonflow.ThisissimilartotheCurwen/Kodlyhandsigninwhichthishandmotionprovidesasecuresen-sationforsendingnotesforwardandalsoestablishesasensationofsustainingandfocusingthenotes(Choksy,1999).4.
Stepsandleaps(openingclosinghands):SimilartotheCurwen/Kodlyhandsign(Choksy,1999),theopeningandclosingofthehandsforstepsandleapsprovideschildrenstrongvisualaidsforsearchingtheintervals,andencouragesproperspace,depthandenergy.Inparticular,itcreatesthesensationofstretchingandslidingforthelargeleap,whichmightcontributetoasuccessfulperformance.
Itseemedthatthisgesturegaveasafesensationforsingingadifficultmelody,andasaresult,averypositiveeffectwasfound.Although
gesture use had immediate significant effect for young children,
Liao (2002)
hasproposedthattrainingalsomadethegesturemoreeffective.AccordingtoLiao(2002),vocalabilitymightbeoneofthepossiblefactorsthataffecttheeffectivenessofgesture.Theuseofgestureinvolvestwodifferentaspects,singingandmotor.Ifthechildssingingvoicehasnotbeenwelldeveloped,itwillbemoredifficulttofocusontheblendingofvoiceandgesture.Itappearedthattheeffectofgesturevariedamongdifferentmotionsinthisstudy.Becausethepresentstudyfocusedontheimmediateeffectsofgestureuse,at
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Gestureuseandyoungchildrenspitchaccuracy209thefactorsofpracticeandtrainingwerenotstudied.Furtherstudiesmayexaminetheeffectsofpracticeandmovementtraining.Furthermore,subsequent
researchalsocouldexaminetheeffectofgestureuseforlowandhighsingingcompetence.Indeed,itmaybedifficulttoexplainthecomplicatedvocalprocessandvocalmech-anisms
to young children, thus non-vocal techniques can potentially
provide direct
meansforworkingwithvoiceproduction.Theresultsofthiscurrentinvestigationprovidethemostcomprehensiveevidencetodatefortheuseofgesturesinimprovingpitchaccu-racy.Resultsfromthisstudyhaveimportantimplicationsforearlychildhoodandmusicteachers.Thevarietyofdifferentgesturesshouldbeexploredtolearnhowgesturecanbeusedtoaddressvariousfacetsofchildrenssingingandfostertheirgoodsinginghabits.Earlychildhoodteachersmightencourageyoungchildrentoexploretheirowngesturestoaccompanytheirvoiceindailylifeormusicalactivities.Professionalmusicteachersarealsoencouragedtousegesturetechniquetodevelopyoungchildrenshealthysinging.Futureresearchinthisareacouldbebeneficialforthedevelopmentofappropriateand
effective gestures. Identifying and evaluating specific gestures
could enhance
singingability.Itwouldbeofinteresttoexaminethegestureeffectsacrossmoreextensivemelodicselectionsandagelevels.Furthermore,gestureuseindifferentculturesmightbeanotherinterestingtopictoexamine.Therelationshipofotheraspectsofexpressivesinging(e.g.,articulation,phrasingorintonation)couldalsobestudied.Alternativeresearchmethodssuchasobservationofhowyoungchildrenmastergesturesandvoiceinsingingwouldprovideimportantinformationongesturetechniques.ReferencesApfelstadt,H.(1984).Effectofmelodicperceptioninstructiononpitchdiscriminationandvocal
accuracyofkindergartenchildren.JournalofResearchinMusicEducation,
32(1),1524.Apfelstadt,H.(1985).Choralmusicinmotion:Theuseofmovementinthechoralrehearsal.TheChoralJournal,
25(9),3739.Apfelstadt,H.(1988).Whatmakeschildrensingwell?Update:TheApplicationsofResearchinMusicEducation,
7(1),2731.Caldwell,J.T.(1995).Expressivesinging:DalcrozeEurhythmicsforvoice.EnglewoodCliffs,NJ:Prentice
Hall.Campbell,P.S.,&Scott-Kassner,S.(1995).Musicinchildhood:Frompreschoolthroughtheelementarygrades.NewYork:SchirmerBooks.Chagnon,R.(2001).Acomparisonoffivechoraldirectorsuseofmovementtofacilitatelearninginrehearsals.Unpublisheddoctoraldissertation,ArizonaStateUniversity,USA.Chivington,A.D.(1998).Tuningupforagreatelementarychorus.MusicEducatorsJournal,
84(4),2528.Choksy,L.(1999).TheKodlymethodI:Comprehensivemusiceducation.EnglewoodCliffs,NJ:PrenticeHall.Custodero,L.A.(2005).Observableindicatorsofflowexperience:Adevelopmentalperspectiveonmusicalengagementinyoungchildrenfrominfancytoschoolage.MusicEducationResearch,
7(2),185209.Fauth,B.(1990).Linkingthevisualartswithdrama,movementanddancefortheyoungchild.InW.
J.Stinson(Ed.),Movingandlearningfortheyoungchild
(pp.159187).Reston,VA:AmericanAllianceforHealth,PhysicalEducation,Recreation,andDance.Flaherty,G.(1992).Thelearningcurve:Whytextbookteachingdoesntworkforallkids.TeachingToday,
67(6),3233,56.Flohr,J.W.(2005).Themusicallivesofyoungchildren.EnglewoodCliffs,NJ:PrenticeHall.Goetze,M.(1985).Factorsaffectingaccuracyinchildrenssinging.Unpublisheddoctoraldissertation,UniversityofColorado,USA.Goetze,M.,&Horii,Y.(1989).Acomparisonofthepitchaccuracyofgroupandindividualsinginginyoungchildren.BulletinoftheCouncilforResearchinMusicEducation,
99,5773.Hibbard,T.T.(1994).Theuseofmovementasaninstructionaltechniqueinchoralrehearsal.Unpublisheddoctoraldissertation,OregonUniversity,USA.at
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INTERNATIONALJOURNALOFMUSICEDUCATION26(3)Joyner,D.R.(1969).Themonotoneproblem.JournalofResearchinMusicEducation,
17(1),115124.Kemp,A.(1990).Kinaesthesiainmusicanditsimplicationsfordevelopmentsinmicrotechnology.BritishJournalofMusicEducation,
7(3),223229.Langness,A.P.(1997).Helpingchildrensvoicesdevelopingeneralmusiceducation.InL.ThurmanandG.Welch(Eds.),Bodymindandvoice:Foundationsofvoiceeducation
(pp.571581).Minneapolis:TheVoiceCareNetwork.Liao,M.Y.(2002).Theeffectsofgestureandmovementtrainingontheintonationandtonequalityofchildrenschoralsinging.Unpublisheddoctoraldissertation,UniversityofSheffield,UK.Liao,M.Y.(2005).Astudyontheoperasingers(soprano)bodilyexpressionandgestureapplication.Ming-HsinJournal,
31,207222.Liao,M.Y.,&Davidson,J.(2007).Theuseofgesturetechniquesinchildrenssinging.InternationalJournalofMusicEducation,
25(1),8599.McKinney,J.M.(1994).Thediagnosiscorrectionsofvocalfaults.Nashville,TN:GenevoxMusicGroup,BoardmanPress.Mead,V.H.(1994).DalcrozeEurhythmicsintodaysmusicclassroom.NewYork:Schott.Mueller,A.K.(1993).Theeffectofmovement-basedinstructiononthemelodicperceptionofprimary-agegeneralmusicstudents.Unpublisheddoctoraldissertation,ArizonaStateUniversity,USA.Persellin,D.C.(1992).Responsestorhythmpatternswhenpresentedtochildrenthroughauditory,visual,andkinestheticmodalities.JournalofResearchinMusicEducation,
40(4),306315.Phillips,K.H.(1992).Teachingkidstosing.NewYork:ShirmerBooks.Reiff,J.C.(1992).Learningstyle:Whatresearchsaystotheteacherseries.Washington,DC:NationalEducationAssociation.Rutkowski,J.,&Runfola,M.(1997).Thechildvoice.Lanham,MD:Roman&LittlefieldEducation.Rutkowski,J.,&Trollinger,V.L.(2005).Experiences:singing.InJ.W.Flohr(Ed.),Themusicallivesofyoungchildren.EnglewoodCliffs,NJ:PrenticeHall.Shehan,P.K.(1987).Movement:Theheartofmusic.MusicEducatorsJournal,
74(3),2530.Slavin,R.E.(1992).Researchmethodsineducation:Apracticalguide.Boston,MA:Allyn&Bacon.Stauffer,S.L.(1985).Aninvestigationoftheeffectsofmelodicandharmoniccontextonthe
developmentofsingingabilityinprimarygradechildren.Unpublisheddoctoraldissertation,UniversityofMichigan,USA.Sundberg,J.(1987).Thescienceofthesingingvoice.Dekalb,IL:NorthernIllinoisUniversityPress.Taylor,D.(1989).Physicalmovementandmemoryformusic.BritishJournalofMusicEducation,
6(3),251260.Welch,G.F.(1994).Theassessmentofsinging.PsychologyofMusic,
22(1),319.Wis,R.M.(1993).Gestureandbodymovementasphysicalmetaphortofacilitatelearningandtoenhancemusicalexperienceinthechoralrehearsal.Unpublisheddoctoraldissertation,NorthwesternUniversity,USA.Wis,R.M.(1999).Physicalmetaphorinthechoralrehearsal:Agesture-basedapproachtodevelopingvocalskillandmusicalunderstanding.TheChoralJournal,
40(3),2533.Mei-YingLiao
isanAssistantProfessorinMing-HsinUniversityofScienceandTechnologyinTaiwan.Herresearchinterestsfocusongestureandmovementinteachingsinging,andearlychildhoodmusiceducation.Besidesbeingaresearcher,sheisalsoanactivemusiceducator.Address:Dept.ofEarlyChildhoodEducationandDevelopment,MingHsinUniversityof
Science and Technology, No. 1 Hsin Hsin Road, Hsin Feng, Hsin Chu,
Taiwan.
[email:[email protected]]AbstractsLeseffetsdugestepouramliorerlajustessechezlesjeunesenfants
dansleschantstonauxLebutprincipaldecettetudeestdemontrerleseffetsdugestepouramliorerlajustessechezlesjeunesenfantsdansleschantstonaux.Ledeuximebutestdtudierlesdiffrencesdanslutilisationdegestechezlesgaronsetlesfillesselonlesdiffrents
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mouvementsmlodiques.Quatre-vingtsjeunesenfantstaiwanais,gsdecinqsixans,ontparticipcetteexprience.Lesenfantsfurentinvitschantersixphrasestonalesavecetsanslesgestes,qui,plustard,furentvaluspartroisprofesseursdemusique.Lesrsultatsontmontrquelutilisationdugesteaeudeseffetspositifsimmdiatschezlesjeunesenfantsenfacilitantleurjustesse.Leffetdesgestespourdesfillestaitplusimportant
que pour des garons. Cependant, le niveau des effets de geste selon
les
mou-vementsmlodiquestaitdiffrent.Legesteaeuunplusgrandeffetpourlarptition,lesphrasesmusicalesascendantes,etlesgrandssauts.Lesgestesdebrasdebalayageetdouverturefermetureontparticulirementfonctionnavecbeaucoupdesuccs,semble-t-il.Cecisuggrequelesgestespeuventdonnerunsenskinesthsiqueaumouvement,quipeuttreunoutilefficaceenfaciliterlechant.DieWirkungvonGestenaufdieTonhhengenauigkeitbeim
SingentonalerPatternsbeijungenKindernHauptzielderStudiewares,dieWirksamkeitvonGestenaufdassaubereSingenvonKindernzuprfen.ZustzlichsolltenUnterschiedeimGebrauchvonGestenbeiJungenundMdchenundbeiunterschiedlichenmelodischenBewegungenuntersuchtwerden.80
taiwanesische Kinder im Alter von fnf bis sechs Jahren nahmen an
der
Untersuchungteil.DieKindersolltensechstonalePatternsmitundohneGestensingen.Dieswurdesofort
von drei professionellen Musiklehrern ausgewertet. Die Ergebnisse
zeigten, dass
derGebrauchvonGesteneineunmittelbarpositiveWirkungaufdieTonhhengenauigkeithatte.DieserEffektwarbeidenMdchengreralsbeidenJungen.DochderGradderWirkungvonGesteninBezugaufdieBewegungderMelodienwarunterschiedlich.GestenhatteneinengrerenEffektaufWiederholungen,steigendeVerlufeundgroeSprnge.WischendeundffnendeoderschlieendeArmbewegungenscheinenbeson-derserfolgreichzusein.Diesdeutetan,dassGesteneinemkinsthetischenSinnvonBewegungenentsprechen,diesomitalseinwirksamesMittelzumSingenlernengeltenknnen.Elefectodelgestoparamejorarlajustezadelaafinacinennios
pequeosalcantarpatronesmeldicosElpropsitoprincipaldeestetrabajofueexaminarelefectodelgestousadoparamejo-rarlaafinacinenlosniospequeos.Elsegundopropsitofuerevisarlasdiferenciasenlosgestosusadosentreniosyniasylosdiferentesmovimientosmeldicos.Participaronenesteestudioochentaniostaiwanesesdecincoyseisaosdeedad.Sepidialosniosquecantaranseispatronesmeldicosconysingestos,losqueposte-riormentefueronevaluadosportresmaestrosdemsicaprofesionales.Losresultadosmostraron
que el uso del gesto tuvo un efecto positivo inmediato para ayudar
a los
niosalograrprecisinenlaafinacin.Elefectodelosgestosfuemayorparalasniasqueparalosvarones.Sinembargo,elniveldelosefectosdelgestoenlosmovimientosmeldicosfuediferente.Elgestotuvounefectoimportanteparalarepeticin,parapatronesascendentesysaltoslargos.Alparecer,losgestosdebarridosdebrazosydeabrir
y cerrar los brazos funcionaron exitosamente. Ello podra sugerir
que los gestos
pro-porcionanunsentidocinestticodelmovimiento,locualpodraresultarenunaher-ramientatilparaayudaracantar.Liao
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