The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of active versus passive listening on the quality of 35 American children's invented notations of two Korean pieces, as a way to investigate the effect of listening conditions on children's perception of music and their music preference. Participants ranged in age from 7 5 years to 12 8 years. Active listeners moved spontaneously while listening, first with props, and second in sand, before drawing the way the music goes with coloured pens. Passive listeners sat quietly during two listenings before "drawing the way the music goes" (adapted from Bamberger, 1982, p. 210). The results of the study showed that the active group's invented notations referenced significantly more of the music's rhythm or beat and its groupings of notes into patterns. Interestingly, 94-4% of the active listeners preferred the piece that featured rhythmic and percussive sounds, changing tempo and dynamic contrasts compared to 52-9% of the passive listeners. Our results lend credence to the idea that the natural locomotor rhythms of the body may be the source of children's perception of the movement, nuance and patterns in music.
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