INFORMATION TO USERS This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the original submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand markings or patterns which may appear on this reproduction. 1.The sign or "target" for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is "Missing Page(s)". If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting thru an image and duplicating adjacent pages to insure you complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a large round black mark, it is an indication that the photoyapher suspected that the copy may have moved during exposure and thus cause a blurred image. You will find a good image of the page in the adjacent frame. 3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., was part of the material being photographed the photographer followed a definite method in "sectioning" the material. It is customary to begin photoing at the upper left hand corner of a large sheet and to continue photoing from left to right in equal sections with a small overlap. If necessary, sectioning is continued again — beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete. 4. The majority of users indicate that the textual content is of greatest value, however, a somewhat higher quality reproduction could be made from "photographs" if essential to the understanding of the dissertation. Silver prints of "photographs" may be ordered at additional charge by writing the Order Department, giving the catalog number, title, author and specific pages you wish reproduced. 5. PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. Filmed as received. Xerox University Microfiims 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 MASTERS THESIS M-8994 KEMP, Barbara Ann THE COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF CONTEMPORARY YOUTH MUSIC AND TRADITIONAL FOLK MUSIC IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUSIC COMPREHENSION IN SIXTH GRADE STUDENTS. The American University, M.A., 1976 Education, music Xerox University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan48ioe THE COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF CONTEMPORARY YOUTH MUSIC AND TEIADITIONAL POLK MUSIC IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUSIC COMPREHENSION IN SIXTH GRADE STUDENTS by Barbara Ann Kemp Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of The American University in partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (Music Education) Signatures Committee; Chairman: m W Ps /rl Dean of the College I^ m a » Date Date 1976 The American University WashingtonI D.C. 20016 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ....................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................. v Chapter I, INTRODUCTION.............................. 1 Statement of the Problem ••••••• 6 Specific Problems •••»••••• 6 Delimitations ..................... 7 Basic Hypothesis ................ 8 Basic Assumptions ............. 8 Definition of Terms •••••••• 9 Contemporary youth music •••«*• 9 Traditional folk music ••*••• 9 Bubblegum r o c k ......................... 10 Folk-rock •••••*••••• 10 Soul music ................... 11 Need for the Study ......................... 12 II. RELATED LITERATURE AND R E S E A R C H .............. 18 The Historical and Stylistic Characteris­ tics of Contemporary Youth Music • • • 19 The Musical Preference of the Student Population ....... 27 III. PROCEDURES ..................................35 The Description of the Experiment .... 35 The Selection of the Groups ...... 36 The Presentation of the Lessons .... 73 ii The Construction of the Tests • • • • 39 The Construction of the Questionnaire • 40 The Administration of the Tests • . • 40 The Administration of the Questionnaire 41 The Estimation of the Reliability of the Test ••••••••••• 41 The Estimation of the Validity of the Test •«••#•••••) 42 IV. PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA . , 43 Statistical Procedures ........... 44 Pre-test Mean Comparisons . , 43 Pre-test and Post-test Mean Comparisons 46 Mean Gain Comparisons ...... 48 Interpretation of the Data . 49 Description of the Questionnaire • • 50 V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS.............. .. 55 Purpose of the Study . 55 Design and Methods . 56 Results ....... 57 Implications and Conclusions 59 Recommendations .... 60 APPENDICES 64 A. Musical Repertoire ...... 64 B. Questionnaire ........ 69 C. Raw Scores of the Contemporary and Traditional Groups ........... 73 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 76 A. Books . 76 B, Periodicals 79 C. Unpublished............. 80 ill LIST OF TABLES 1. Comparisons of Pre-test Mean Scores • • • • • 46 2. Comparisons of Pre-test and Post-test Mean Scores ...................... 47 3. Comparisons of Mean Gain Scores ................ 48 It ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Investigator wishes to express her indebtedness and appreciation to Dr. Jon Boggs and Dr. Basil Korin for their advice, assistance and guidance in the development of this paper. Without their timely help, this work would not have been completed. Special thanks are due my mother, Mrs. Hattie Kemp and my sister, Gloria Wiley who were constant sources of encouragement and motivation. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A major task of the elementary general music teacher has been the selection of suitable music materials from which learning principles are applicable and in which the students are genuinely interested* A majority of current teaching materials in music education are based on examples taken from the European slasslcal idiom or from traditional folk sources* Students hare frequently been disenchanted with traditional music and hare rejected it as being irrelerant and o&d-fashioned* Runmler supports this riewpoint in maintaining that there is a noticeably sharp decline in American youth attraction toward the music utilized within the public school curriculum between early elementary and late junior high school years. He feels that youth see music as just another discipline instead of a crehtire experience and they dislike the restrictions imposed on their frsedom.^ Stanton states, howerer, that many students are for erery kind of music except the kind ,— ^ '4toy Sunnier, "To ^ Solve^ ^ athe ^ MIInvolvement .a. * a — Perplex,"— nRoy Sunnier, "To Solve the Involvement Perplex," Music Educators Journal 56 (March 1970):59» usually provided In music education* He further observes that the music styles most in vogue with many students are not presently pursued in the channels of music education, nor are they an outgrowth of the educational jurocess*^ Oliver Broquist, in studying 2,594 Wisconsin school children, concluded that there was an inverse relationship between a student's grade level and his positive attitude about music study* The longer a child attended school the less he liked music*^ Informed music educators are aware of the vast differences between the music utilized within the school curriculum and the music to which many students subscribe during life outside of school* Leonhard asserts, "It is time we face the fact that we are subjecting students in schools to music that received scant, if any attention from them outside of school*"^ Worsen contends that, "In an era of protest, irritation and rapid change when students tell us that the subjects we teach and the methods we use ^Royal Btanton, "A Look at the Forest," Music Educators Journal 55 (november 1966) 238* ^Oliver A* Broquist, "A Survey of the Attitude of 2,594 Wisconsin Elementary School Pupils Toward Learning Experiences in Music,*' (Ph*D* dissertation. University of Wisconsin, 1%1), p. 95# ^Charles Leonhard, "Hunan Potential and the Aesthetic Experience," Music Educators Journal 55 (April 1968): 110. are irrelevant and ineffectual, music educators cannot simply sit back with eyes closed and ears tuned backward*"^ In addressing the Tanglewood symposium, Norman Dello Joio stated that young people are generally too restricted in their musical experience* He further observes that creativity and individuality in students are frustrated and stifled by existent rigid instruction*^ In recognizing the necessity of freeing music education from its traditional narrow approach, the members of the Tanglewood Symposium challenged music educators to bridge the gap between the traditional music apifl?eciation or performance class and the music of the youth* The Tanglewood Declaration recommended that the program of music education include: Music of all periods, styles, f e w smd cultures * * . The musical repertory should be expanded to involve music of our time in its rich variety» including current popular teenage music * . Leading music educators attach significance to the ^Louis Q* Wersen, "A Charge to Music Educators," Music Educators Journal 54 (November 1967): 80* ^Norman Dello Joio, "The Contemporary Music Project," in Music in American Society: Documentary Report of the TangleWooH^. ea* ^berx À* cnoate ^Washington: Music 'Eiducatore' hfatïonal Conference, 1968), p* 91. ^"The Tanglewood Symposium— Music in American Society," Music Educators Journal 54 (November 1967):51. use of contemporary youth muaic as a particularly appropriate medium to he used with children and as suitable educational material to be included in the public school curriculum* Contemporary youth music is the spontaneous expression of the thoughts, emotions, aspirations, experiences, and character of the younger generation with which it