Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore music listening and performance characteristics of middle and high school students. The questions under investigation addressed reasons for liking a favorite piece, time spent listening, media used to listen, ways in which students discovered new music, and the types of music performed as well as the types that students would like to perform. Results indicated that students liked their favorite pieces for musical reasons and reported listening to music roughly 4 hours each day outside of school. Students listened largely through portable devices and streaming technology, and just over half indicated they found new music through the Internet or dedicated apps. Classical, jazz, and rock were the most frequently performed genres, although students indicated greater interest in playing all 11 genres. Overall, the results portray middle and high school students as active consumers and performers of music.
As music educators select music and repertoire for their classes and ensembles, one consideration that may be influential is that of relevance. Such a consideration, however, would necessitate an understanding of students’ music preferences and other music listening habits and behaviors. Researchers investigating music preference have generally focused on identifying contributing factors for individual and group preferences. Kuhn (1980) listed 10 such variables that had received common attention by researchers until that point, including participant age, music training, and complexity of the music stimulus. More recent investigations have included variables such as parental music preferences (ter Bogt, Delsing, van Zalk, Christenson, & Meeus, 2011), gender differences when comparing audience preferences with the music played by radio promoters (Donze, 2017), and the concept of song-specific age, referring to one’s preference for songs that were popular during different points in their life (Hemming, 2013; Holbrook & Schindler, 1989, 2013). While attention to causative variables has increased understanding of music preference decisions (the what kinds of questions), such investigations do not easily address underlying issues of how or why.
The most prevalent method to assess reasons for liking music seems to center on explorations of the participants’ favorite pieces of music. Lamont and Webb (2010) examined both short- and long-term favorite pieces of music over the period of a month, asking participants to keep a journal and write about why their listed piece was a favorite on that particular day. Responses varied and participants often gave multiple reasons, although reasons could roughly be grouped into music characteristics, emotional or physical responses in the listener, appropriateness of context, memories and links to other things, and temporal factors. Bosacki, Francis-Murray, Pollon, and Elliott (2006) found similar psychological and emotional reasons when investigating favorite pieces of music of younger students.
Other researchers have incorporated more traditional survey measures to explore reasons for liking favorite pieces of music. Wells (1990) focused on the emotional uses of favorite pieces to influence mood. Boyle, Hosterman, and Ramsey (1981) asked participants to list three favorite pieces of popular music and then rate 11 reasons for liking those pieces. These students, in Grades 5 through college, included both social and music factors in their responses, such as singer or vocal group, instrumentation, danceability, and peer influence. Participants indicated that melody, mood, and rhythm were most important overall, although some factors interacted significantly with age. For example, peer influence was a more important factor for younger students than for older students. Using a similar technique, Rosenbaum and Prinsky (1987) provided participants with seven reasons to choose why they liked their three favorite pieces, including options such as “It’s good to dance to,” and “It helps me to relax and stop thinking about things” (p. 85). Among other aspects, the researchers found that fewer than 10% of participants chose their favorite pieces based on the lyrics. While the influence of lyrics was much more favorable in the Boyle et al. (1981) survey, participants in the two investigations were provided with different response options, possibly explaining the disparity.
In addition to questions underlying music preference decisions, several researchers have explored more specific characteristics of listening habits. One such characteristic is the amount of time spent listening to music on a daily basis. Bosacki et al. (2006) found that 57% of their elementary-aged participants listened to music every day, with the time spent listening increasing as the students grew older. By the sixth grade, 85% of participants indicated that they listened to music every day. The researchers also explored rates of radio and CD/cassette ownership by the participants, finding that nearly three-quarters of participants owned either a radio or a CD/cassette player. In a recent study by Krause and North (2016), such methods of listening via physical media were used most often by only 15% of participants, whereas one third of participants most preferred their mobile device, followed closely by their desktop computer. Although the latter study took place 10 years later, the difference may also be attributed to differences in ages of participants. Krause and North (2016) included a wide range of ages, from 72 years old to the youngest participants being 16 years old. Consequently, it seems plausible that a shift in listening habits may occur in the middle and high school years.
The investigation of listening habits and other music behaviors during the adolescent years seems increasingly critical as professional discourse in music education moves to include more relevant music course offerings. Isbell (2007) provided an overview of existing research on popular music in the public school curriculum, concluding that more research is needed about “how best to close the gap between the music studied in school and the private music world of our students . . . ” (p. 61). Such a gap was also described by Campbell, Connell, and Beegle (2007) who found that students in an essay contest were frustrated by the lack of relevant music course offerings in their schools. Brittin (2014) found a relationship between adults’ personal music omnivorism, or positive reception toward a broad array of music, and omnivoristic views on music to be included in the public school curriculum. In other words, participants who indicated liking a variety of music styles thought a greater number of styles of music should be included in schools. Even among students currently enrolled in a school instrumental ensemble, Brittin (2016) noted disparities in the type of music played on their instruments at home and at school. Further exploration seems necessary to better understand existing incongruities between students’ music interests in and out of school.
Given the increased listening options for adolescents and the need for greater understanding of possible disparity between music interests in and out of school, the purpose of this study was to extend early studies and more fully explore music listening and performance characteristics of middle and high school students. The specific questions under investigation were (a) What musical, social, and other characteristics contribute to identifying a piece of music as a current favorite piece? (b) How much time do students spend listening to music outside of school? (c) What are the types of media students use to listen? (d) How do students discover new music? and (e) What types of music do students currently perform, and how does this compare with what they would prefer to perform?
Method
Participants
Participants (N = 586) were middle and high school students at a large residential summer music camp in the southeastern United States. Students who had just completed Grades 6 to 12 were represented with 166 (28.3%) students in middle school, or Grades 6 to 8, and 418 (71.3%) students in high school, or Grades 9 to 12 (two students [0.3%] declined to answer this question). Grade-by-grade and specific camp-by-camp breakdowns may be seen in Table 1. Three hundred thirty-five students identified as female (57.2%), 222 students identified as male (37.9%), and 29 students declined to answer (4.9%). Four hundred thirty-two students (73.7%) took private lessons (M = 3.8 years, SD = 2.7). These summer camps were selected because of their large enrollment and diversity of music offerings.
Camp- and Grade-Level Participant Numbers.
Two students did not indicate their grade level and are not represented in the table.
Survey Construction
The first half of the survey instrument exploring 11 reasons why participants like the music they do was based on the often-cited research of Boyle et al. (1981) with minor updates to terminology to be more familiar to contemporary students. The middle section concerning listening habits was drawn from the research of Bosacki et al. (2006) and Krause and North (2016), while the final section about in-school versus out-of-school playing habits replicated Brittin (2016). The use of survey questions from previous research was done to maximize content validity and reliability of the topics under investigation. A draft of the survey was shown to graduate students in music education with experience teaching these age groups to assess clarity, formatting, and face validity. Minor edits were made to incorporate feedback.
Procedure
Due to the varying length and structure of the music camps, we decided to administer the survey during the evening hours while campers were at the dormitory. We thought this would be the best way to maximize participation while having the least impact on camp participation. The resident assistants, all collegiate music majors or active music teachers, administered the survey to allow for the least intrusive setting possible. Surveys were administered in one sitting near the end of each respective camp to allow students time to familiarize themselves with the camp environment and allow the resident assistants to build a rapport with the students in an effort to encourage more honest, and consequently valid, responses. Instructions were printed at the top of the one-page survey to ensure consistency between administrations (see supplemental material). Participation in the study was voluntary and the survey took approximately 10 minutes to complete.
Analysis
Data were analyzed descriptively. Where appropriate, comparisons were made between groups (genders, grades, camps, and private lessons) using analysis of variance tests. In all of these analyses (overall differences and the four group comparisons), the Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons was used to set the criterion for statistical significance, which resulted in an alpha level of .01 (.05/5 = .01). We tested the consistency of responses to the questions asked and obtained a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of .81. This outcome suggests that overall the items had acceptable internal consistency. Responses to individual questions were slightly lower in consistency: for the 11 reasons, the coefficient was .75 and for the last two items indicating interest and playing the various genres, alpha was .78.
Results 1
Reasons for Liking Songs
Students used a 7-point scale to indicate the relative importance of 11 researcher-provided reasons for liking their favorite songs, based off the work of Boyle et al. (1981). Overall ratings showed that the melody (M = 5.66), rhythm (M = 5.50), and mood (M = 5.49) of a piece were the most important reasons given. Lowest rated reasons for liking songs were because the song was trending (M = 2.62) and because their friends liked it (M = 2.87). Students who identified as female rated lyrics, meaning, and the singer/group as more important than did males, although only the differences in ratings for lyrics and meaning of a song were significant (p < .01). There were no significant differences in reasons for liking between the grades, although students in the higher grades (9–11) tended to rate lyrics and meaning relatively highly, while melody and mood were rated lowest by seventh graders. There were significant differences between the camps in reasons given: choral and string camps gave higher ratings for lyrics and meaning of songs, whereas marching band leadership and middle school band students gave low ratings to mood as a reason for liking. Whether a student had taken private lessons did not affect the reasons given for liking songs.
Time Spent Listening to Music
Students reported that they spent an average of 3.71 hours per day listening to music outside of school, although the standard deviation was relatively large (SD = 2.92 hours). Some campers reported listening on average less than 15 minutes per day, while others listed 12 or more hours. No significant differences were found in time spent listening between genders, whether students had private lessons, and type of camp attended. There was a difference between grades; older students (Grades 9–12) reported they spent more time listening (M = 4.24 hours) than younger students (Grades 6–8, M = 2.96 hours), p < .01.
How Is Music Listened to Outside of School
The media used for music listening primarily included portable devices (phone and MP3 players, M = 5.83), websites and streaming (M = 5.09 and 4.88), and car radios (M = 4.72). Females used their phones (M = 6.06) to listen more than males (M = 5.53), p < .01, and car radios (M = 4.99) more than males (M = 4.39), p = .001. Females tended to stream more than males (M = 5.10–4.51), though not significantly, p = .015. Students in higher grades used computers and tablets (M = 4.55) more often than Grades 6 to 8 (M = 3.70), p = .01. Private lessons had no relationship to media used in listening. The only camp that showed differences in media use was the middle school band camp, whose members used computers and tablets (M = 3.48) less often than students in the other camps (M = 4.56), p = .001.
How Is New Music Discovered?
Respondents were asked an open-ended question: How do you usually find new music? One half of the students (51%) reported they find new music by using the Internet and dedicated apps, about one third (32%) get recommendations from family and friends, and almost one fourth find new music from the radio (23%). Other ways to find new music were listed infrequently (from ensembles or teachers 8%, individual’s own research 7%, TV/movies/games 4%, all other categories were 3% or less). There were no notable trends related to the discovery of new music between genders, camp, instruments, or lessons. There was a trend for older students to rely more on friends and family, and the Internet and apps to find new music, and less on the radio. Sixth graders relied more on TV/movies/video games than older students.
Genres Performed/Interest
The survey requested respondents to rate 11 different genres on (a) how often they sing or play each of the genres and (b) their interest in singing or playing the genres in school or on their own. Overall, classical music was rated highest in how often it was performed by these students (M = 5.64), followed by jazz (M = 3.96), and rock music (M = 3.27). All other genres’ average ratings were below 3 on the 7-point scale (hip-hop, folk, religious, country, Celtic, bluegrass, and mariachi). There was a significant difference overall in classical music between the grades, with older students indicating that they performed music in the classical genre relatively more frequently than students in the lower grades (p = .001). Students who had taken private lessons indicated more performance of classical music (M = 5.84) than those without (M = 5.09), p < .001. Similarly, those with lessons performed blues more often than those without (M = 2.81 vs. 2.23), p < .01. Not surprisingly, significant differences (p < .001) were found between the camps in genre performances of classical, blues, jazz, religious, and folk music. Students in all camps except jazz camp rated classical music as most often performed. Jazz music was rated as performed second most frequently in all camps except for jazz camp (where it was most frequent). Other genres were fairly close across the camps except for blues (higher for jazz campers), and religious and folk genres (higher for choral students). Several differences (p < .01) were found between genders in performance frequency. Males reported performing blues more frequently than females (M = 3.18 compared with M = 2.28), along with jazz (M = 4.56 compared with M = 3.52), and rock (M = 3.62 compared with M = 2.98).
Ratings of interest in playing each of the genres were similar to those above, although notably student interest ratings for each of the 11 genres were higher than ratings for how often each was performed. Classical (M = 5.75), jazz (M = 5.03) and rock (M = 3.93) were rated of highest interest to these students, significantly different from each other and all other genres. Differences between genders were not significant, although females tended to indicate higher interest in folk, religious, and Celtic styles, and males showed greater interest in jazz. Similarly, differences between grades were not significant, while older students tended to indicate greater interest in all genres, especially classical and Celtic genres. No significant difference was found in ratings of those taking private lessons compared with those who had not had lessons, though lesson takers tended to rate both classical and jazz of higher interest than those without lessons. Finally, there was not an overall difference in interest between the camps; most students rated classical music of highest interest, but camps and genres did interact significantly. Not surprisingly, jazz camp students showed the greatest interest in jazz and blues genres (M = 6.0 and 5.31, respectively). String camp students rated classical music higher than all other camps (M = 6.44), followed by piano campers (M = 6.18), choral (M = 6.04), and band campers (M = 6.01).
Discussion
Responses to participants’ reasons for liking music bore striking similarities to those obtained by Boyle et al. (1981), despite the passage of nearly four decades. The top three reasons (melody, mood, and rhythm) in the current study were identical to those obtained in the earlier study, although the rank order differed slightly. Overall, musical factors were rated the highest and nonmusic or social factors rated lowest, although it is possible that these ratings were influenced by the self-reported nature of the study, especially considering that the participants were young musicians. Gender differences also reflected earlier results, with females rating lyrics and sentiment, or meaning, significantly higher than males in both studies. Participants in the choral and string camp rated lyrics and meaning as more important. This finding makes sense given the primacy of text in choral music. It is also possible this finding may be an artifact of gender, as both the choral and string camps had a much higher number of female participants than males. A curious departure from the results of Boyle et al. (1981) are differences based on age. We found no significant differences in the age groups, whereas the previous researchers found differences for most of the factors. The differences in findings may be attributed to the range of participant ages included in the original investigation. Several of the significant differences found by Boyle et al. (1981) were between the college-age participants and a younger group, such as fifth or seventh grade, whereas the current study only included participants in Grades 6 through 12. The discrepancy in results based on age indicates a need for further research.
Participants reported listening to music for just under 4 hours a day outside of school. Older students reported more time spent listening. This finding continues the trend found by Bosacki et al. (2006) with students in Grades 1 through 6. As students age, it is possible that increased personal freedom allows the opportunity to spend their time as they choose. It is encouraging that the results seem to suggest that students will choose to spend their time listening to music. The relatively large standard deviation of almost 3 hours appeared to indicate a wide variety of listening times, even among student musicians. It is also a possibility, however, that the large standard deviation may call into question the validity of participant responses. The range of responses, from 0 to 12 hours, indicated a certain degree of discrimination but no attempt was made to verify the accuracy of responses. Future researchers might explore how listening times among student musicians compare with nonmusicians in an effort to better understand the listening habits of young people, or researchers may attempt to use more behavioral methods of responses to better address issues of validity.
In terms of how participants physically accessed music, mobile devices (phones, iPods, and MP3 players) were rated as the most frequently used by almost three-quarters of a point. While Bosacki et al. (2006) looked at ownership, and not necessarily methods of listening, the technologies used by current participants show a sharp contrast from the radio and CD/cassette players owned just 12 years earlier. However, the current finding is consistent with Krause and North (2016), who included participants ranging in age from 16 to 72 years. The current findings suggest that the preference for listening devices begins even earlier than age 16. Websites, streaming apps, car radio, and computers/tablets all received a rating greater than 4, indicating frequent usage. Additionally, there was a jump of nearly a full point in the frequency of usage of computers and tablets between eighth and ninth grades. This age difference may explain the significant difference in media usage of the middle school band camp, which was the only camp comprised solely of middle school students. The popularity of the car radio stands out as the oldest of the most used mediums and was fairly consistent across all grade levels. CDs were the second least used medium behind vinyl, and this ranking was consistent across all grade levels, again supporting the idea of change since the work done by Bosacki et al. (2006). Although it is unclear whether music heard via other mediums, such as computers or MP3 players, may have been transferred from a CD, it is clear that students infrequently listen to music by inserting a CD into a CD player. The cause for gender differences in methods of music listening is also unclear. Future researchers might continue to explore gender differences in listening technologies to better understand the source of such differences.
When trying to discover new music, approximately half of the participants used the Internet or related apps, mirroring the chosen method of accessing music via mobile devices. Nearly one third of participants indicated that they discovered new music through recommendations from family or friends. This might seem contradictory with the earlier result indicating low importance of “Friends Like It” on the reasons for liking a piece of music, however, it seems plausible that young people may discover a piece of music through their peers, but not necessarily like it because their peers do. As students aged, friends and family, along with the Internet and apps, became an increasingly common source for finding new music. This finding makes sense given the increase in listening time as students aged, as well; as one listens to music for longer amounts of time, it is likely that more music will be needed. The youngest students indicated a greater amount of music found through popular media such as TV, movies, and video games. This may be reflective of a younger student’s sphere of influence, in that they are lacking the mobility and resources that older students may have access to, resulting in different sources of music influences. The open-response nature of the question was intended to elicit the most salient influences from participants. Future investigations into ways in which one finds new music might provide responses based on the current research in an attempt to gather frequency of usage or relative importance.
The final section of the survey explored how frequently various genres were currently performed by students and their interest in performing the same genres. Genres were purposefully undefined by the researchers, so it is possible that students were inconsistent in their categorizations. The only genres currently performed with a moderate amount of frequency (scoring above a 3 on the 7-point scale) were classical, jazz, and rock. Additionally, classical was rated almost 2 points higher than any other genre. For the most part, these three genres are the ones most popularly represented in school music programs, possibly explaining their popularity in current performance frequency. Older students indicated higher frequency in performance of classical music, a natural result from increased involvement in ensembles in high school and more music-making opportunities. For the first time, differences surfaced based on private lesson enrollment. Those enrolled in private lessons indicated greater frequency of classical music performance; again, a logical result given the increased time spent in lessons. Students taking private lessons also reported performing the blues genre more often. This may be due to the higher frequency of performance indicated by jazz and high school band students and is supported by the significant differences attributed to camp enrollment. All of these differences were to be expected: jazz performed most frequently by jazz campers, classical music performed most frequently by all other campers, while the religious and folk genres were higher for choral campers than students in other camps. Differences based on gender, with males indicating greater performance of blues, jazz, and rock, do not appear to be an artifact of camp enrollment, as there were roughly equal numbers of males and females enrolled in the jazz camp. Again, the source of differences attributed to gender are unclear and should be explored in future research.
Participant interest in performing all genres was higher than their currently performed frequency, indicating broad student interest in learning and playing a wide variety of music, echoing similar results found by Brittin (2016). The genres of classical, jazz, and rock were rated with highest interest, so the indication of the same three genres as those most currently performed provides evidence that school music programs are likely addressing students’ most pressing interests. Older students tended to indicate greater interest in all genres. Such a tendency might be the result of increased exposure to a wider variety of music, supported by the findings of greater listening time and greater variety of sources of finding new music for older participants. This finding also demonstrates the music omnivorism discussed by Brittin (2014)—an increased interest in a wide variety of music styles. While school music programs commonly address the most desired genres, this omnivorous interest indicates room for improvement in curricular music offerings.
There are two limitations to the study that should be considered before generalizing responses. Descriptive information was not collected from participants on geographical origin nor was information collected on participants’ socioeconomic status. While assumptions might be made about these characteristics for a typical summer camp attendee, it is possible the responses might be biased in favor of a particular geographic region or socioeconomic class of student. To the extent that these characteristics may influence the behaviors under consideration, the results should be interpreted accordingly.
Implications for Music Education
Several findings from the current study may be informative for the music educator. It is reassuring that students indicated musical reasons for liking a particular piece of music. This seems to not only validate students’ ability to discriminate between various musical and social influences but also indicates that students are most interested in the musical qualities of a piece of music. When educators select music for classroom use, it appears that attention to musical merits is not misplaced and should indeed be emphasized. It should be remembered, however, that reasons for liking were in relation to participant-selected favorite pieces and therefore may only be assumed to operate within styles and/or genres already preferred by the student.
The current results also suggest that today’s students are avid consumers of music through mostly digital means, with the amount of such consumption increasing as students get older. To find new music, students mostly rely on the Internet and related apps along with the more traditional type of recommendations gained from family and friends. Awareness of these trends may allow the music educator to more successfully converse with students about music and integrate music into the classroom. Allowing students the opportunity to discuss music discoveries or current trends may serve to broaden their listening repertoire, and perhaps even to help define music aspects. The use of programs and software familiar to students may allow the educator to assist students in better navigating music options critically, legally, and ethically. The widespread use of mobile devices for listening suggests that teachers may also be able to individualize students’ listening experiences if such technologies are permitted by school policies.
Students indicated greater interest in performing every genre investigated than what they currently had opportunities to perform. Furthermore, older students demonstrated greater amounts of interest. Combined with increased listening time and broadening of sources of new music, results seem to offer further support for the concept of open-earedness, first offered by Hargreaves (1982), and the music omnivorism discussed by Brittin (2014). As the students near adulthood, they appeared to be more receptive and interested in a wider range of music styles and offerings. For the music educator, such knowledge may be applied in both the day-to-day lessons and in the large-scale planning of curricular offerings from year to year. In the words of Droe (2006), “Knowledge of music preference and the factors that influence it seem indispensable to music educators in discovering appropriate rewards for their students: music that brings enjoyment to the student” (p. 30).
These data have additional implications for educators who lead performance-based classes. If an educator has been contemplating whether to expand current offerings or introduce new styles to an existing ensemble, the responses from participants offer strong support in favor of doing so. This is especially true for high school teachers as students’ music interests in both listening and performance apparently broaden during these years. These kinds of curricular changes are also supported by recent scholarship exploring culturally responsive pedagogy in addressing the need for ensembles, curriculum, and repertoire that provide more and varied opportunities for students to participate in school music (Boon, 2014; Lind & McKoy, 2016). Although the current study included only students who were performing musicians, it would not be unreasonable to assume that an expansion of ensemble offerings may attract a wider variety of students (DeLorenzo, 2012; Mixon, 2009).
Overall, the results portray middle and high school students as active consumers and performers of music. While educators may hope that students are willing recipients of instruction, the reality is that young people have predisposed opinions, beliefs, and preferences concerning music. Through a better understanding of listening habits and decision-making processes, educators may be able to more successfully engage and interact with students over the course of their music education.
Supplemental Material
Supplemental_Material – Supplemental material for Music Listening Habits and Music Behaviors of Middle and High School Musicians
Supplemental material, Supplemental_Material for Music Listening Habits and Music Behaviors of Middle and High School Musicians by Matthew L. Williams, John M. Geringer and Ruth V. Brittin in Update: Applications of Research in Music Education
Supplemental Material
UPDATE791216_Supplemental_Material_CLN – Supplemental material for Music Listening Habits and Music Behaviors of Middle and High School Musicians
Supplemental material, UPDATE791216_Supplemental_Material_CLN for Music Listening Habits and Music Behaviors of Middle and High School Musicians by Matthew L. Williams, John M. Geringer and Ruth V. Brittin in Update: Applications of Research in Music Education
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Notes
Supplemental Material
The supplemental material is available in the online version of the article.
References
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