JRME, VOLUME 50, NUMBER 4, PAGES 333-342 333

The purpose of our study was to explorerelationships among children's aural percep-
tion, music listening condition, and the accuracy of children's reading of listening
maps. The aural discrimination skills of 41 elementarychildren weretestedusing the
Intermediate Measures of Musical Audiation (IMMA). The children were then sys-
tematically assigned to one of three listening conditions: passive, unstructured
active, or structured active. After listening to European art music according to their
assigned condition, every child traced a graphic listening map while listening to the
music a second time. Results of an ANCOVA with accuracy of map reading as the
dependent variable, listening condition as factor, and IMMA as covariate, showed a
significant effectfor the IMMA [F (1, 37) = 8.86, p < .01], but no significant effect
for listening condition. In a separate analysis, IMMA scoreswereshown to be related
to piano experience.When group means for accuracy of map reading were compared
by piano experience,children with piano experiencehad a significantly higher mean
accuracy score of 48.25, SD = 18.75 (n = 16) comparedto children with no piano
experience,M = 32.44, SD = 17.39 (n = 25), t = 2.76, p < .01. Our results support
previous researchin which investigatorsfound that music experienceexplained accu-
racy of music-reading ability in children and adults.

Joyce Eastlund Gromko and Christine Russell

Bowling Green State University

Relationships among
Young Children's
Aural Perception, Listening
Condition, and Accurate
Reading of Graphic
Listening Maps
From the time children begin to speak, gesture, and draw, they are
acquiring literacy across multiple symbol systems. Generally, howev-
er, when school personnel and funding agencies refer to literacy,

Joyce Eastlund Gromko is a professor of music education at Bowling Green State

University (BGSU), Bowling Green, OH 43403; e-mail: jgromko@bgnet.bgsu.edu.
Christine Russell graduated from BGSU with a master'sdegree in music education in
May 2002. She is currently band and orchestra director at Bishop Dwenger High
School, 1300 East Washington Center Road, Fort Wayne, IN 46825; e-mail: crus-
sell@bishopwenger.com. Copyright ? 2002 by MENC:The National Association for
Music Education.
334 GROMKO/RUSSELL

they are referring to the reading of print and the speaking and writ-
ing of verbal language. In fact, developmental psychologists whose
macrotheories form the basis of our research in music also focus on
the development of linguistic and number literacy. Piaget (1952,
1954, 1962, 1968) and Piaget and Inhelder (1969, 1973) concerned
themselves primarily with the development of linguistic and logical-
mathematical symbolic fluency. Contemporary with Piaget, Vygotsky
(1978, 1986) emphasized the importance of "more capable peers"
within a child's social environment in nurturing children's language
fluency (1978, p. 86). Influenced by both Piaget and Vygotsky,
Bruner (1960, 1966) reiterated the importance of the child's own dis-
covery and the role played by parents, teachers, and peers in nurtur-
ing children's language fluency.
Gardner (1983) expanded the theoretical base in cognitive theory
beyond language and number to include consideration of symbolic
fluency in music and visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, and interper-
sonal and intrapersonal symbol systems of communication. Like the
Russian anthropologists of the early 20th century (e.g., Mikhail
Bakhtin, 1981; Valentin Voloshinov, 1973), Gardner argued for the
validity of and commensurate status of multiple symbol systems.
Music was one of the systems Gardner included in his original list of
seven intelligences. However, at present, our field has no macrotheo-
ry that explains the development of music literacy-the ability to
read, write, and think in musical sound. Therefore, the theoretical
grounding for this paper was in the results of various empirical stud-
ies about the relationship of children's aural perception, their read-
ing of traditional notation in music, and their invented notations for
musical sound.
In a recent study comparing the discrimination of tonal patterns
by first graders, adult novices, and adult experts, Holahan, Saunders,
and Goldberg (2000) found that whereas adult novices were faster in
their discriminations of differences, these novices were no more
accurate than first graders. Adult experts' discriminations were both
more accurate and faster, suggesting that musical experience is more
influential than maturation in the development of aural perception.
In a study with elementary-school children, Gromko and Poorman
(1998a) found that aural perception was related to children's age,
their ability to describe musical direction with line drawings, and
their ability to read standard notation.
In a study in which the authors sought effective pedagogical strate-
gies for enhancing aural perception, Gromko and Poorman (1998b)
found that the more active and engaged children were during listen-
ing, the better their perception of the form of a composition.
Children who traced a graphic listening map performed better on
the form perception task than did those who merely listened intent-
ly. In turn, children who performed a choreographed dance reflect-
ing the music's melodic contour and rhythmic patterns performed
better than those who merely traced the listening map. Thus, the lis-
tening condition that included both visual and kinesthetic elements
 JRME 335

in addition to the aural component was most effective in enhancing

the children's aural perception of musical form.
The effectiveness of kinesthetic responses for enhancing aural per-
ception of musical sound is not a new idea. In a landmark study, Sims
(1986) investigated the effect of active listening on the attention,
music preference, time spent listening, and piece recognition of 79
preschoolers. Active listeners performed hand movements while lis-
tening to piano pieces by Mussorgsky and Bizet and preschoolers in
the passive group listened quietly with their hands in their laps. Sims'
results showed that preschoolers were most attentive during listening
when the children were engaged in hand movements that corre-
sponded to the characteristics of the music.
Considerable research in the area of children's invented notations
has shown that children's aural perception is reflected in their
invented notations (Bamberger, 1991; Barrett, 2000; Davidson &
Scripp, 1992; Gromko, 1994; Hargreaves, 1986). But is their aural
perception also reflected in the speed and accuracy with which they
read?
Cassidy (2001) examined the usefulness of graphic listening maps
for improving aural perception of recorded art music by college-level
music education majors (n = 17) enrolled in a secondary music meth-
ods class compared to nonmusic majors (n = 51) enrolled in an ele-
mentary music methods class. Her results showed that "music educa-
tion majors who presumably have extensive experience in music had
little trouble following any of the listening maps" (p. 18), but non-
music majors "had more difficulty as the listening maps progressed
to more abstract representations of musical sounds" (p. 18). Music
majors, with their extensive musical experience, were accurate read-
ers of all three graphic listening maps, regardless of whether the map
was concrete (e.g., a one-to-one correspondence between sound and
symbol) or abstract (e.g., one icon represented one measure of three
beats or one icon represented one entire section of music). Nonmusic
music majors with limited musical experience were less accurate
readers. They accurately read the map with a one-to-one correspon-
dence between sound and symbol. Cassidy's study showed again the
importance of musical experience for reading accuracy. From these
results, we wondered whether the effect of experience was due to the
higher aural perception of the music students or whether visual and
kinesthetic responses to the music before reading the listening maps
might have resulted in higher reading accuracy for the nonmusic
majors.
The purpose of our study was to further investigate young chil-
dren's reading accuracy and the relationships between reading and
children's aural perception and active versus passive music listening
conditions. On the basis of previous research, we hypothesized a sig-
nificant effect for aural perception and an active listening condition.
We compared three listening conditions: passive, unstructured
active, and structured active. The passive group listened intently to
the music without distraction on the first listening; on the second lis-
336 GROMKO/RUSSELL

tening, they followed the map. The unstructured active group

responded spontaneously to the music by moving their hands
through 50 pounds of sand, after which they followed the map.
Spontaneous responses in sand have been shown to enhance the
quality of children's invented notations for musical sound (Fung &
Gromko, 2001). The structured active group mirrored one of the
researchers in a choreography performed with the arms that reflects
the music's melodic contours and rhythmic motives. Such choreog-
raphy, called "kinesthetic analogues" (Cohen, 1997) in other studies,
has been shown to enhance children's perception of musical form
(Gromko & Poorman, 1998b; Sims, 1986; Sutter, 1999). On the sec-
ond listening, the children in the present study followed the map.

METHOD

Subjects
A letter informing parents in general terms about the study was
sent home with all second and third graders enrolled in an Iowa ele-
mentary school located in an area that is predominantly rural. All
children at the school received regular music instruction from a
music specialist. Forty-one second and third graders (20 boys and 21
girls) from six classrooms returned the signed parent and student
consent forms. In a brief survey, 16 of the 41 children reported study-
ing piano privately.
Procedures

We tested all 41 children for their discrimination of tonal and

rhythmic patterns using the tonal and rhythmic subtests of the
Intermediate Measures of Music Audiation (IMMA) (Gordon, 1986)
in the school's library. The IMMA measures children's ability to
aurally perceive and judge for similarity short patterns consisting of
three pitches played in uniform duration units (tonal subtest) and 3
to 12 sound bits arranged into a rhythmic motif played on a uniform
pitch (rhythm subtest). Whereas the stimuli in the tonal and rhyth-
mic subtests differ slightly, the task requires aural discrimination of
fine differences of pitch and rhythm without the benefit of visual
notation. When taken as a composite, the two IMMA subtests mea-
sured what we hypothesized would be a necessary but not sufficient
cognitive ability for reading music with accuracy and speed.
The testing time of 35 minutes included the tonal subtest, a brief
intermission, and the rhythmic subtest. IMMA subtests were scored,
and a composite score was created by summing the two subtest
scores. Scores were then ranked from lowest to highest. Working
from the lowest to the highest score, students were systematically
assigned to one of three listening conditions: passive, unstructured
active, and structured active. Groups were thus balanced for aural
perception ability. Using the survey data about children's piano expe-
 JRME 337

rience, the researchers double-checked the systematic assignments for

distribution of piano experience. Groups were shown also to be bal-
anced for piano experience: passive without experience, n = 8; passive
with experience, n = 6; unstructured active without experience, n = 8;
unstructured active with experience, n = 6; structured active without
experience, n = 9; structured active with experience, n = 4.
The three graphic maps chosen were from basic music series text
materials (Silver Burdett Ginn, 1995) that had been piloted for their
accuracy in representation of the music and for their usefulness as
graphic scores with advanced elementary children, novice adults,
and expert adults. The Grade 1 map for "Long-Eared Persons" from
Carnival of Animals by Saint-Saens consisted of graphics in a one-to-
one correspondence with the sound, arrows to indicate a rapid up-
bow, metrically accurate iconic bars to indicate the duration of sus-
tained notes, and high and low placement on the page of iconic bars
to indicate high and low pitches of sustained notes. The Grade 3 map
for "March" from NutcrackerSuite by Tchaikovsky consisted of graph-
ics in a one-to-one correspondence with, for instance, metrically
accurate iconic pictures of trumpets to indicate rhythm and melodic
contour, a cursive coil for the violin motive, and a cymbal for the
cymbal crash. The map included repeat signs, icons of the instru-
ments that were playing to indicate timbre, indications of highs and
lows of melodic contour, and indications of rhythmic duration. The
Grade 4 map, subsequently deleted from our analysis because of its
difficulty level, was for "Minuet" from WaterMusic by Handel. It con-
sisted of metrically accurate beamed stars that were very nearly stan-
dard notation, including beamed eighth notes, a dotted quarter note
followed by an eighth note, and dotted half notes. Following the map
required that the reader understand conventional notation.
On the day following testing, individual children came in alpha-
betical order to the research room, a brightly lit, carpeted room off
the school's library, with one student arriving every 15 minutes.
Testing spanned 3 school days. Upon entering the research room,
children sat cross-legged on a small rug, behind a plastic container
measuring approximately 24" x 20" x 6", with the listening maps
placed on the cover. The videocamera was to their left. Children were
told that they would be reading three graphic listening maps while
listening to music. They were guided in following the map without
the music so they understood how to trace the graphics left to right.
With the map turned over, they were told that they would have a
chance to hear the music. Passive listeners were invited merely to lis-
ten. Listeners in the unstructured active group were invited to "show
how the music goes" with their hands in 50 pounds of white sand in
a plastic container. Listeners in the structured active group were
asked to mirror the first author as she performed choreographed
hand movements that reflected the music's melodic contour and
rhythms. After listening according to their assigned condition, chil-
dren were invited to follow the graphic listening map with the music
using either their pointer finger or a plastic pointer. Map accuracy
338 GROMKO/RUSSELL

Scoring Scheme for Map-Reading Accuracy

Saint-Saens, "Long-EaredPersons" from Carnivalof theAnimals

Grade 1, Silver Burdett Ginn, Inc. (1995)

* One
point for every exact match between child's trace and the arrow.
* Total = 15
points

Uudges' scores were summed; highest possible individual score = 30 points.]

Tchaikovsky,"March"from NutcrackerSuite
Grade 3, Silver Burdett Ginn, Inc. (1995)

* Line 1: One
point for rhythmic and regular tapping across trumpets per
motive.

* Line 2: 1
point for rhythmic and regular looping; 1 point for cymbal.
* Lines 1 and 2
repeat.
* Line 3: 1
point for rhythmic tapping downward on first motive; 1 point for
accurate tracing of either ascending and descending motive or descend-
ing and ascending motive.
* Line 4: 1
point for rhythmic tapping downward on first motive; 1 point for
accurate tracing of either ascending or descending motive.

* Lines 5 and 6: Like lines 1 and 2.

* Line 7: 1
point for accurate tracing across violin motive.
*
Repeat line 7.
* Grand total = 42
points.

[judges' scores were summed; highest possible individual score = 84 points.]

Figure 1. Scoring scheme.

was scored by awarding points for children's correspondence of

selected graphics to salient melodic contours and rhythmic motives
(see Figure 1 for scoring scheme). Videotapes of children's map
readings were evaluated independently by two judges and scored for
accuracy using the scoring scheme.
 JRME 339

RESULTS

Descriptive statistics for the maps showed a floor effect for the
Grade 4 map that consisted of conventional notation (Kur = 3.4).
Based on the leptokurtic distribution of the Grade 4 map, Grade 4
map scores were deleted from subsequent analyses. Interjudge relia-
bilities were r= .99, p < .001 for the Grade 1 map; and r= .97, p < .001
for the Grade 3 map. Based on the high interjudge reliabilities for
Grade 1 and Grade 3 maps, scores of both judges were summed for
each map and a map-reading composite score created. Descriptive
statistics for accuracy of map-reading composite scores showed a
mean of 38.61, SD = 19.35 (scores ranged from 8 to 94). The mean
composite IMMA score was 66.02, SD = 6.57 (scores ranged from 47
to 78).
To test our hypothesis that aural perception and an active listening
condition would be significantly related to accuracy of map reading,
we conducted a one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) on map-
reading scores. The dependent variable was the accuracy of map-
reading composite score; the factor was the listening condition with
three levels; IMMA was the covariate. With IMMA as covariate, the
ANCOVA statistical analysis adjusted the map-reading means for
each condition according to IMMA difference and revealed whether
there were any real differences directly attributable to the listening
conditions. Results of the ANCOVA showed a significant main effect
for IMMA [F (1, 37) = 8.86, p < .01] and no significant effect for lis-
tening condition. Adjusted means for accuracy of map reading by lis-
tening condition followed an upward trend from M = 37.86, SD = 4.83
(n = 14) for the passive condition; to M = 38.50, SD = 4.82 (n = 14)
for the unstructured active condition; to M= 39.53, SD = 5.00 (n = 13)
for the structured active condition. On the basis of these results, our
hypothesis that aural perception would be related to accurate map
reading was supported; our hypothesis that an active listening condi-
tion would be significantly related to accuracy of map reading was
not.
Because previous research has shown that music experience
accounts for speed and accuracy of discrimination judgments
(Holahan, Saunders, & Goldberg, 2000), we conducted a test of
mean differences for IMMA by piano experience. The means for
IMMA were significantly different depending on piano experience.
Children with no piano experience had a mean IMMA score of 63.72,
SD = 6.83 (n = 25) compared to children with piano experience, M =
69.63, SD = 4.19 (n = 16), t = 3.43, p < .001.
Given the relationship of piano experience to IMMA, we conduct-
ed a statistical test of mean differences for accuracy of map reading
by piano experience. Children with piano experience across all lis-
tening conditions had a significantly higher mean accuracy score of
48.25, SD = 18.75 (n = 16) compared to children with no piano expe-
rience, M = 32.44, SD = 17.39 (n = 25), t = 2.76, p < .01.
340 GROMKO/RUSSELL

DISCUSSION

On the basis of these results, we concluded that children who can

aurally discriminate musical patterns are predisposed to more accu-
rate reading of graphic listening maps and that aural perception abil-
ity may have been the result of previous musical experience. The 16
children who reported studying piano privately had a significantly
higher (p < .01) aural perception mean score than the 25 children
who had not studied piano. Based on the correlation between IMMA
scores and children's previous experience in keyboard instruction,
we recommend further research that investigates the causal effect of
music instruction that includes playing a musical instrument and
music reading on the development of children's aural perception
acuity and their ability to read both graphic and conventional nota-
tion with speed and accuracy. Our results with young children sup-
port the findings of Holahan, Saunders, and Goldberg (2000) and
Cassidy (2001), who found previous music experience explained
accuracy of music reading ability in children and adults.
Our results do not support the findings of Fung and Gromko
(2001), who found that unstructured active kinesthetic responses to
music enhanced children's perception of note groupings and rhythm
patterns in music. Although the adjusted mean for reading accuracy
was slightly higher for the unstructured active group than the passive
listeners, the means were not significantly different. Our results do
not support the findings of Gromko and Poorman (1998b) and
Sutter (1999), who found that structured active kinesthetic respons-
es to music enhanced children's perception of form in music.
Whereas the means followed an upward trend from passive, to
unstructured active, to structured active, we do not believe that one
listening was sufficient to show a practice effect or to enhance young
children's perception of musical details. We recommend that further
research allow more than one listening prior to the reading task to
test the effectiveness of visual and kinesthetic responses on children's
aural perception.

IMPLICATIONSFOR MUSIC EDUCATION

The results of our study with 41 second and third graders suggest
that reading a commercially produced graphic listening map with
speed and accuracy is dependent on children's aural perception, sup-
porting the idea that symbols must follow experiences with sound
and that music reading must be developmentally appropriate to be
effective. The children were most successful when reading the Grade
1 map. The two contrasting sounds in the music were distinctive to
the ear and clearly encoded in the equally distinctive graphics of the
map. Following the map required a left to right movement with no
repeats. Thus, for children with minimal music experience, the
Grade 1 map was a meaningful representation of the sound they were
perceiving. The Grade 3 map was more challenging for all the chil-
 JRME 341

dren and too difficult for children with minimal music experience.
The orchestral music often included more than one musical idea
while the map encoded only one musical idea. Following the map
required a left to right movement at a swift pace and required a dou-
bling back at the repeat bars. The distinctiveness of the looping coil
graphic in combination with the dotted rhythms played by the
stringed instruments provided a grounding device to most children,
allowing them to catch up and regroup if they had lost their place.
Thus, for children with some music listening and music reading
experience, the Grade 3 map was a meaningful representation of the
sound they were perceiving; for children with minimal experience,
the Grade 3 map was too challenging. Finally, the Grade 4 map, with
its conventional notation, was too challenging for all but the most
advanced musicians in the group. Reading the map with accuracy
and speed required knowledge of sophisticated rhythmic figures
within lengthy phrases played by orchestral instruments. In deciding
which listening maps are most developmentally appropriate, the
music educator must take into consideration the children's previous
musical experience in music listening and music reading, as well as
their ability to perceive the details in the music that are represented
in the graphics of the map.

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Submitted March 25, 2002; accepted June 6, 2002.