Engagement and skill development through an innovative classroom music program

Abstract

Rates of music participation are low in developed nations. This may be attributed in part to the failure of school music to engage children sufficiently to motivate them to continue learning and participating in music. We tested the Harmonix program of classroom music education, which is currently being designed to maximize engagement in music learning. The program employs a set of new, harmonically tuned percussion instruments, using cyclical, self-cuing patterns, and hierarchical rhythmic structures that match complexity with ability. Graphical scores reduce cognitive load, and assist students to compose music from the first class. Cooperative learning activities consolidate learning and further stimulate engagement through personal and group expression. Using a combination of timely self-report and objective measurement, we found that student learning and skill acquisition increased over the six-week program while high engagement was maintained. Engagement measures also increased within each session. Over the six weeks of the program no significant changes were observed in attitudes toward music.