Council for Research in Music Education

Review
Author(s): Linda K. Darner
Review by: Linda K. Darner
Source: Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, No. 103 (Winter, 1990),
pp. 64-67
Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of the Council for Research in Music
Education
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40318340
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 A Review

Linda K. Darner Eugenia Sfnor: The Singing of

Indiana State University Selected Tonal Patterns by Pre-
Terre Haute, Indiana school Children

PhD, Indiana University, 1984

University Microfilm Order No. 8501456

Two of the most prominently employed methods for teaching music to

young children today are those of Zoltan Kodaly and Carl Orff . Each of these
music educators begins children's singing activities with the sol-mi interval,
because children sing it naturally and more accurately in tune. Each advocates
the use of songs based on the pentatonic scale because children do not sing
half steps well in tune. The results of Eugenia Sinor's dissertation raise
important questions about the validity of some of these commonly accepted
beliefs.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the characteristics of tonal

materials which influence the ability of preschool-aged children to reproduce
them vocally, (p. 76) Forty-eight tonal patterns were chosen as representative
of those found in children's song material. Their range (no larger than a sixth)
and length (four notes) were limited to avoid undue effects of vocal limitations
or melodic memory problems. Each tonal pattern was described employing
the following characteristics: half steps, contour, range, repeated notes, step-
wise only, successive skips, number of different notes, and location of skips.

The items were administered to 96 children ranging in age from 36 to 71

months (three-year olds, four-year olds, and five-year olds) enrolled in six
preschool/daycare centers in the Bloomington, Indiana area. Half of the
subjects were male and half were female; one-third were between 36 and 47
months, one-third between 48 and 59 months, and one-third between 60 and
71 months. The researcher personally administered the items to each child
and tape recorded the response. The taped responses were evaluated by each
of four judges working independently. Inter-rater reliability on the items
ranged from .73 to .96. The response of each child was judged on a zero to 5
scale and recoded to 1 to 6 for purposes of analysis.

The data were examined in terms of all ages combined and each age
group separately: three-year olds, four-year olds, and five-year olds. First,
descriptive analyses were performed: mean scores and standard deviations
for each item were calculated. Inferential techniques were applied to examine
both characteristics of the subjects (sex and age) and characteristics of the
items.

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 Sinor

An examination of the item rankings listed by item difficulty (all ages

combined) revealed that six of the ten easiest items contained either the
half-step mi-fa or ti-do. The pattern s m s m, however, was the third easiest
item for all age groups. The scores for each of the three age groups were
compared utilizing a Spearman Rank Order Correlation analysis. There was
very low correlation between any two groups.

A series of inferential statistical procedures were performed upon the

data. The first procedure reported was a Mest to determine the influence of
sex (gender) on performance. Sex was found not to be a significant factor in
the performance of the test items. A one-way analysis of variance, however,
revealed age to be a significant factor. A crosstabulation was then performed
using the distribution of scores on an item by age block. Chi-squares for each
of these were reported. Twenty-nine of the 48 items were significantly
different from normal expectations. The scores were then dichotomized into
two categories: low scores (1, 2, 3) and high scores (4, 5, 6). Percentages of
subjects in each of the three age groups were computed and presented in a
table. However, no discussion was presented to explain the contribution of
this information to the study. The 29 significant items were then examined to
determine for which age group the item was easiest, more difficult, and most
difficult and presented in a table. Again, there was no discussion concerning
the importance of this tabular information.

Analyses were performed to examine the item characteristics and their

influence on the performance of the children. First, the data were subjected
to an analysis of variance with all subject and item characteristics grouped.
Four variables had a significant effect on the performance scores: age,
contour, number of different notes, and location of skips. Since these vari-
ables had several levels, analysis was continued, examining these variables
separately. Contour had six subcategories, range had seven, number of notes
had three, and location of skips had eight. Within these subcategories, two
from the contour variable (down, and down-up), two from the range variable
(diminished fifth and minor sixth), two from the number of notes variable (2
notes and 3 notes), and two from the location of skips variable (between 3 and
4, and between 1 and 2, and 2 and 3) were statistically significant. From this
analysis, however, it was not possible to determine how much of the total
variance was attributable to these item characteristics. A step-wise multiple
regression was performed on the data using the mean performance score as the
criterion variable. All levels of the subject and item characteristics were
introduced as dummy variables. Overall, the 24 variables entered into the
equation accounted for only 8.6 percent of the variance in performance scores.
Age of the subject contributed the greatest variance (3.8%). The next four
strongest predictors of the variance were 1) a skip located between the third
and fourth notes of a pattern, 2) a v-shaped contour, 3) all stepwise motion,
and 4) the presence of only two different notes.

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 66

In the conclusion, Sinor enumerates five hypotheses based on Kodaly and

other prevalent methodologies, and then examines them in view of her find-
ings:

1 . "Half steps are more difficult to sing than whole steps." Five of the
ten easiest items contained half steps. (Table 3B showed six items
with half steps, but it should be noted that item number 7 contained
a typing error: it was actually m r d /, not m r d i.)
2. "Large intervals are more difficult to sing than smaller ones, except
for the minor second." Of the ten easiest items, four contained only
stepwise motion and the other contained no interval larger than a
major third. The ten most difficult items in all rankings contained
descending major 6ths, ascending minor 6ths, and a descending
augmented 4th. (This reviewer's analysis showed two descending
major 6ths, one ascending minor 6th, and no descending augmented
4th; however, it seems interesting to note that five of the most difficult
items contained perfect 4ths - three descending and two ascending.)
3. "The descending minor 3rd is the easiest interval to sing." The
descending minor 3rd is contained in six of the ten easiest items in
the ranking for all ages. The smsm interval was the second easiest
(Table 3B listed it as third.)
4. "Descending patterns are easier to sing than ascending ones."

Sinor suggests that there is limited support for this hypothesis in the
study. Three of the ten easiest items are completely descending and two
additional ones are "down-up-down." (This reviewer suggests that comparing
the same intervals in ascending and descending items might prove to be a
valuable comparison. For example, the s m s m pattern was sung correctly
more often than the m s m s pattern. However, the pattern dm s s was sung
correctly more often than smdd. The pattern with the ascending first interval
sy d r m was sung correctly more often than that with the descending first
interval sdrm. The pattern dsls with ascending do to sol was sung correctly
more often than d s, /, s, when do descends to sol. In comparing these four
similar pairs, the evidence is evenly divided.

5. "Successive leaps are difficult to sing." Sinor found that succes-

sive leaps in the same direction did not significantly affect the
children's singing of the patterns correctly. [Of the six items with
successive leaps, one fell in the ten most difficult. The other five
were spread in the middle of the rankings between 16 and 30.
However, of the 13 v-shaped skips, three were in the ten most dif-
ficult combining a P4 with P5 or an M6. The three easiest v-
shaped skips were minor 3rds (s m s m, m s m s) or P5 (s d s d).
These findings support hypothesis two.]

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 Sinor

Sinor uses her data to determine the accuracy of these beliefs and
practices. Her data tended to support only the belief that the descending minor
third is the easiest interval to sing. Sinor's 48 patterns were ranked from
easiest to most difficult. The mean scores ranged from 2.094 to 4. The item
judged easiest received a rating of 4 with the most difficult item receiving a
rating of 2.094. A score of 4 translates to the scale as "transposed or contour
correct, notes wrong" and a score of 2 translates as having "only one note
correct". One might ask the question whether a score of 4 constitutes success,
provides any indication that students were able to sing the pattern accurately,
or should be used to dispel popular belief.

Another slight flaw would be in the use of tonal patterns to determine

whether children can sing half steps, minor thirds, etc. If one is interested in
measuring the ability to sing half steps, one measures that ability. By placing
the half steps within tonal patterns, it is impossible to discern whether one is
measuring tonal memory, interaction, or some other related factor.

Sinor had a tendency to report results but not to analyze and interpret
them for the reader. An example of this occurs when an analysis of variance
showed a significant difference for age group, yet no explanation for this
difference is given.

Sinor's findings, although inconclusive, certainly raise a number of

questions concerning the teaching of music to young children. Are the
hypotheses upon which present methodologies are based correct? How do
children learn music? What processes are most appropriate for teaching
children to sing? Music educators need to devote more energy into research
which will provide some of these answers, rather than accepting without
question the assertions from the prominent teaching methods in use today.
Sinor's dissertation is a valuable contribution to this needed investigation.

Linda K. Darner is Assistant Professor at Indiana State University. Her specialties

include early childhood and elementary music education.

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