The Preschool Child's Knowledge of Musical Pitch

• Main Author: Nelson, Farol Ann
• Format: Others
• Published: DigitalCommons@USU 1976
• Subjects: verbal; memory; preschool; indian; headstart; children; Education
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/2358; https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3360&context=etd

The objective of this study was to determine what kinds of musical instruments were most effective in developing pitch discrimination in preschool children. Five melody instruments were used in this study, including a wooden soprano recorder, a C flute, a commercially made xylophone, a melodica, and a set of cut conduit pipes played as a xylophone-type instrument. Children from the Child Development Labs at Utah State University, Logan, Utah comprised the sample. It was found that children do identify high and low pitches more easily in some instruments than in others. They discriminated between high and low pitches of the wooden soprano recorder more accurately than was true of any of the other four instruments, and were lea s t accurate in their response to the xylophone. There were no significant differences between responses of boys and girls. It was also found that the child had to possess a directional knowledge of high and low before he could identify high and low pitch. It was concluded that the recorder was a more effective instrument in teaching children to discriminate between high and low pitches than any of the other four instruments tested.