The effect of repertoire on the singing achievement of second grade students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to contribute to the body of research on the singing achievement of students. Through a quasi-experimental design using two intact groups, the research question addressed second grade students’ (N=80) singing achievement when singing a major tonality criterion song or a pentatonic tri-chord criterion song. The researcher collected samples from Group A (n=40), which sang the major tonality song and Group B (n=40), which sang the pentatonic tri-chord song. On five different occasions, the researcher taught the criterion songs to the two groups with a scripted procedure, using a combination of general music techniques including holistic and phrase-by-phrase singing along with movement activities. During the sixth visit, the researcher reviewed the criterion songs with each group. Students were individually audio-recorded singing the entire criterion song that they learned over the 5-week period. Three independent judges analyzed the song samples using the researcher created and vetted Singing Achievement Measure (SAM) that was comprised of four 4-point descriptive rating scales and one 2-point rating scale. Interjudge reliability (r=.94), descriptive statistics, and the intercorrelations of SAM criteria were calculated. Data were analyzed through a two-sample t-Test (p < .05). Results indicated that there was no significant difference between the singing achievement of Group A and Group B. Principle Component Analysis was calculated and confirmed that the scores for each of the five criteria were similar between Groups A and B. This study has the potential to inform music educators about the effect of song repertoire choice on students’ singing achievement.