Graduation Year

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

Music

Major Professor

Jennifer A Bugos, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Victor Fung, Ph.D.

Committee Member

David A. Williams, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Darlene DeMarie, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Jack Wilkins, MA

Keywords

Creativity, Improvisation, Music Training, Elementary Music

Abstract

Jazz improvisation is known as the highest-known art form concerning improvisation due to its frequency and development of creative ideas (Feldman 1964). Research shows that the art of spontaneous creation can contribute to children’s ability to problem-solve, social and emotional well-being, and academic success into adulthood (Biasutti, 2017; Heble & Laver, 2016; Kiehn, 2003; Kuzmich, 1980; Solis, 2009). Improvisation is crucial for developmentally comprehensive music programs; however, improvisation is scarce in elementary music classrooms and curricula. For this pilot study, a group of 31 children aged 5-8 and considered at-risk participated in a study where they were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (n=15) receiving a six-week multimodal jazz training or a control group (n=16) receiving a six-week unimodal singing training. The students completed pre and post-test measures specializing in music achievement (pitch & improvisation), cognition (inhibition & shifting), and emotions (Noldus FaceReader 9.0). The multimodal jazz curriculum was designed to incorporate movement, playing, singing, and listening into every lesson. Results showed that children were engaged via a novel jazz program for elementary students. Results for music achievement showed a significant time effect on pitch accuracy scores between the unimodal (singing) and multimodal (jazz) groups. Conversely, no significant effects were observed in the improvisation scores with respect to time, group x time, and group. The Noldus FaceReader indexes seven student emotions (neutral, happy, sad, disgusted, scared, surprised, and angry) during the AIRSS- Subtest measures: improvisation, imitation, and favorite song. There were significant time effects (decrease) in the emotion “neutral” during the improvisation task and time effects (decrease) in the emotion “scared” during the favorite song task. Results of a preliminary analysis of the cognitive measures (Flanker Task, Dimensional Card Sort, and Day and Night Stroop) showed no significant effects on inhibition or shifting. An exploratory analysis that entailed coding the participant’s verbal responses showed a significant increase in how much the participants “liked” vocally improvising before and after music training. These results may show that students are more comfortable with singing improvising and may like vocal improvisation after music training; however, they do not show a significant difference from the multimodal jazz group compared to the unimodal group, potentially due to overlapping program similarities and small sample size. This study contributes multimodal jazz music training to education and to research to be used as a stand-alone or supplementary resource for elementary music education in improvisation and jazz.

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