The research reported in this article describes some of the ways in which young children use idiosyncratic symbols (invented notations) to encode their compositional experiences in music. These symbols may be viewed as vehicles for conveying meaning and are precursors to the development of the culturally agreed symbol systems of the adult literate world. The investigation was naturalistic in design and focused on children's individual responses to simple compositional tasks completed in an early childhood setting. A number of categories of symbolisation emerged from the data collected, suggesting that as children become more experienced in encoding their responses, their recordings become less context-bound and more concerned with ideas and concepts.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Adler, P.A., & Adler, P. (1994). Observational techniques. In N. K.Denzin, & Y. S. Lincoln, (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 377-392). Thousand Oaks California: Sage Publications.
2.
Bamberger, J. (1994). Coming to hear in a new way. In R. Aiello, (Ed.), Musical perceptions (pp. 131-151). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
3.
Bamberger, J. (1991). The mind behind the musical ear. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
4.
Bamberger, J. (1982). Revisiting children's descriptions of simple rhythms: A function for reflection-in-action. In S. Strauss, (Ed.), U-shaped behavioural growth (pp. 191-226). New York: Academic Press.
5.
Barrett, M. (1995). Children composing: What have we learnt? In H. Lee, & M. Barrett, (Eds.), Honing the craft: Improving the quality of music education (pp. 36-45). Hobart: Artemis Publishing Consultants.
6.
Barrett, M. (1991). Graphic notation in music education. In Dobbs, J.P.B. (Ed.), Music education: Facing the future (pp. 147-153). Christchurch: University of Canterbury.
7.
Borstad, J. (1989). But I've been pouring sounds all day. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Music Education, Quebec City, Quebec.
8.
Bruner, J. (1974). The growth of representational processes in childhood . In J. M. Anlin, (Ed.), Beyond the information given: Studies in the psychology of knowing (pp. 313-324). London: George Allen & Unwin.
9.
Bunting, R. (1988). Composing music: Case studies in the teaching and learning process. British Journal of Music Education, 5(3), 269 - 310.
10.
Bunting, R. (1987). Composing music: Case studies in the teaching and learning process. British Journal of Music Education, 4(1), 25 - 52.
11.
Burnard, P. (1995). Task design and experience in composition. Research Studies in Music Education, 5, 32-46.
12.
Casey, D.E. (1992). Descriptive research: Techniques and procedures . In R. Colwell, (Ed.), Handbook of research on music teaching and learning (pp. 115-123). New York: Schirmer Books.
13.
Christensen, C. (1992). Music composition, invented notation and reflection: Tools for music learning and assessment. Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Rutgers, State University of New Jersey, New Jersey .
14.
Cohen, S.R. (1985). The development of constraints on symbol-meaning structure in notation: Evidence from production, interpretation, and forced-choice judgements. Child Development, 56(1), 177 - 195.
15.
Davidson, L., & Colley, B. (1987). Children's rhythmic development from age 5 to 7: Performance, notation, and reading of rhythm patterns. In J.C. Peery, I.W. Peery, & T.W. Draper, (Eds.), Music and child developmentt (pp. 107-136). New York: Springer-Verlag.
16.
Davidson, L., & Scripp, L. (1992). Surveying the coordinates of cognitive skills in music. In R. Colwell, (Ed.), Handbook of research on music teaching and learning (pp. 392-421). New York: Schirmer Books.
17.
Davidson, L., & Scripp, L. (1989). Education and development in music from a cognitive perspective. In D. J. Hargreaves, (Ed.), Children and the arts (pp. 59-86). Milton Keynes : Open University Press.
18.
Davidson, L., & Scripp, L. (1988). Young children's musical representations: Windows on cognition. In J. A. Sloboda, (Ed.), Generative processes in music: The psychology of performance, improvisation, and composition (pp. 195-230). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
19.
Davidson, L., Scripp, L., & Welsh, P. (1988). "Happy birthday": Evidence for conflicts of perceptual knowledge and conceptual understanding. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 22(1), 65 - 74.
20.
Davies, C. (1994). The listening teacher: An approach to the collection and study of invented songs of children aged 5 - 7 In H. Lees, (Ed.), Musical connections: Tradition_and change (pp. 129-138). Auckland, New Zealand: Uniprint, The University of Auckland.
21.
Davies, C. (1992). Listen to my song: A study of songs invented by children aged 5-7 Years. British Journal of Music Education , 9(1), 19 - 48.
22.
Davies, C. (1986). Say it 'til a song comes: Reflections on songs invented by children. British Journal of Music Education, 3(3), 279 - 293.
23.
Delorenzo, L.C. (1989). A field study of sixth-grade students' creative music problem-solving processes. Journal of Research in Music Education, 37(3), 188 - 200.
24.
van Ernst, B. (1993). A study of the learning and teaching processes of non-naive music students engaged in composition. Research Studies in Music Education, 1, 22 - 39.
25.
Goodnow, J. (1977). Children's drawing. London : Fontana Open Books.
26.
Graves, D. (1983). Writing: Teachers and children at work. Portsmouth, N. H.: Heinemann.
27.
Green, L. (1990). Assessment of composition. British Journal of Music Education, 7(3), 191 - 196.
28.
Gromko, J. Eastland, (1994). Children's invented notations as measures of musical understanding. Psychology of Music, 22(2), 136 - 147.
29.
Hargreaves, D.J. (1986). The developmental psychology of music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
30.
Hildebrandt, C. (1987). Structural developmental research in music: Conservation and representation. In J.C. Peery, I.W. Peery, & T.W. Draper , (Eds.), Music and child development (pp. 80-95). New York: Springer-Verlag.
31.
Hogg, N. (1994). Strategies to facilitate student composing. Research Studies in Music Education, 2, 15 -24.
32.
Kratus, J. (1994). The ways children compose. In H. Lees, (Ed.), Musical connections: Tradition and change (pp. 128-141). Auckland, New Zealand: Uniprint, The University of Auckland.
33.
Kratus, J. (1994a). Relationships among children's music audiation and their compositional processes and products. Journal of Research in Music Education, 42(2), 115 - 130.
34.
Kratus, J. (1991). Characterisation of compositional strategies used by children to create a melody. Canadian Music Educator, (Special ISME Research Edition)33, 95 - 103.
35.
Kratus, J. (1989). A time analysis of the compositional processes used by children ages 7 - 11. Journal of Research in Music Education, 37, 5 - 20.
36.
Loane, B. (1984). Thinking about children's compositions. British Journal of Music Education, 1(3), 205 -231.
37.
Lincoln, Y.S., & Guba, E.G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Newbury Park, California: Sage Publications.
38.
Marsh, K. (1995). Children's singing games: Composition in the playground ? Research Studies in Music Education, 4, 2 - 11.
39.
McMillan, R. (1990). Musical composition in junior secondary school students. Unpublished Masters Degree thesisMelbourne: La Trobe University.
40.
Salaman, W. (1988). Objectives and the teaching of composition. British Journal of Music Education, 5(1), 3-20.
41.
Simmonds, R. (1988). An experiment in assessment of composition. British Journal of Music Education, 5(1), 21 - 34.
42.
Smith, K.C., Cuddy, L.L., & Upitis, R. (1994). Figural and metric understanding of rhythm. Psychology of Music, 22(2), 117 - 135.
43.
Swanwick, K. (1994). Musical knowledge; Intuition, analysis and music education. London: Routledge.
44.
Swanwick, K. (1991). Further research on the musical development sequence . In Psychology of Music, 19, 22 - 32.
45.
Swanwick, K. (1988). Music, mind, and education. London: Routledge.
46.
Swanwick, K., & Tillman, J. (1986). The sequence of musical development: A study of children's composition. British Journal of Music Education , 3(3), 305 - 339.
47.
Tillman, J. (1989). Towards a model of development of children's musical creativity. Canadian Music Educator, 30(2), 169 - 174.
48.
Upitis, R. (1992). Can I play you my song? The compositions and invented notations of childrenPortsmouth: Heinemann Educational Books.
49.
Upitis, R. (1990). Children's invented notations of familiar and unfamiliar melodies. In Psychomusicology, 9(1), 89 - 106.
50.
Upitis, R. (1990a). This too is music. Portsmouth : Heinemann Educational Books.
51.
Upitis, R. (1990b). The craft of composition: Helping children create music with computer tools. Psychomusicology, 8(2), 151 - 162.
52.
Upitis, R. (1987). Toward a model for rhythm development. In J.C. Peery, I.W. Peery, & T.W. Draper, (Eds.), Music and child development (pp. 54-79). New York: Springer-Verlag.
53.
Upitis, R. (1987a). Children's understanding of rhythm: The relationship between development and music training. Psychomusicology, 7(1), 41 - 60.
54.
Upitis, R. (1987b). A child's development of music notation through composition: A case study. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Washington, DC.
55.
Webster, P. (1987). Conceptual bases for creative thinking in music . In J. C. Peery, I. W. Peery, & T. W. Draper, (Eds.), Music and child development (pp. 158-174). New York: Springer - Verlag.
56.
Webster, P. (1987a). Refinement of a measure of creative thinking in music. In C. K. Madsen, & C. A. Prickett, (Eds.), Applications of research in music behaviour (pp. 257-271). Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press.
57.
Wells, G. (1986). The meaning makers. Portsmouth : Heinemann.
58.
Wiggins, J.H. (1994). Children's strategies for solving compositional problems with peers. Journal of Research in Music Education , 42(3), 232 - 252.
