young children's musical worlds

Abstract

This study explores preschoolers' real life engagement with music in everyday life, examining the choices that they have over music listening and the engagement that they show in relation to music in different contexts. A total of 32 children from the United Kingdom aged 3.2—3.9 years participated with their families, nursery teachers and other caregivers. Experience sampling methodology was used to capture up to 21 episodes within a seven-day period. A total of 437 episodes were captured, and 81% had music exposure, either at the time of the call (38%) or during the two preceding hours (43%). Children's music was most frequently heard and chosen by the children themselves; pop music was also frequently heard but less often chosen by the children. The roles of choice, format, focus and style in understanding children's early music listening behaviours and motivations are carefully analysed.

Keywords

contexts everyday life music listening musical engagement

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