The Effects of Expressive Variation in Dynamics on the Musical Preferences of Elementary School Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of expressive variation in dynamics on the musical preferences of elementary school students. Participants were 315 students in Grades 1–5 who attended two urban elementary schools. The music teacher administered a music preference test that presented two versions each of 10 folk songs. One version of each song used expressive variation in dynamics; the other was consistently even in dynamics and other expressive variables. Analysis of the results indicated that a significant proportion of students at each school preferred the expressive versions of 6 different songs. Between the two schools, seven expressive versions were preferred. Age did not seem to have a systematic effect. It was speculated that different dynamic interpretations of the three nonsignificant folk songs may have produced different responses. Recommendations were made concerning the importance of expressive performance in elementary music education.

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