| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study was to determine if the use of Edwin Gordon's patterns in Music Learning Theory, when used twice a week in one semester, can affect the tonal and rhythm scores of the Advanced Measures of Music Audiation (AMMA). This experiment was conducted in a large public school district in the Southwest United States. There were a total of 73 students (grades 8-12) participating within the experimental group (n = 38) and the control group (n = 35). Participants in the experimental group were instructed using tonal patterns during a treatment week and rhythm patterns the next treatment week. The control group participated in melodic singing one week using Ottman's (2004) Music for Sight-Singing. Rhythmic exercises were taught the next week, using McHose and Tibbs (1957) syllables. Both experimental and control groups performed their respective exercises vocally with a maximum of five minutes of instruction per visit. The pre-test for all three dimensions of the AMMA (tonal, rhythm, and total) was used as a covariate to control for any pre-existing differences. The independent variables were: (a) gender (b) private lessons, and (c) group (experimental or control). The dependent variables were the converted percentile post-test scores for all three dimensions (tonal, rhythm, and total) of the AMMA. A mean score analysis indicated that students who participated in private lessons, regardless of group assignment, exhibited the highest pre- to post-test mean score differences. A Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) revealed no significant main effects although a significant interaction existed between private lessons and group assignment in the post-test tonal dimension, F(1,72) = 4.61, p. < .04. | |
