Effects of Exposure to Classical Music on the Musical Preferences of Preschool Children

Abstract

Musical preferences of 45 preschool children (mean age 4 years, 7 months) were assessed in a short-range longitudinal study incorporating a pre- and posttest experimental design. Six classical and two popular pieces were evaluated. All children liked all the pieces during the pretest. During the 10 months that elapsed between pre- and post-testing, an experimental group (n = 21) received weekly 45-min classes in appreciation of classical music during which they listened to classical music, sang classical themes, played musical games, learned the names and sounds of the instruments of the orchestra, and so on. Posttest results indicate the experimental group preferred the classical selections significantly more than the control group. The control group experienced a decline in preference for the classical pieces during the 10-month interval. The experimental group maintained a liking for classical pieces used in the study with no pretest–posttest differences. The hypotheses that repetition, modeling, and social reinforcement can influence musical preference, proposed in research with older children, are basically supported. All groups liked popular music. There were no significant pretest–posttest differences or decreases in liking for popular music.