AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
observation skills, as well as arithmetic and spelling
performance’ (Kokas 1972: 108). Summarizing Kokas’ research,
it can be stated that compared to other school subjects, the
practice of music education showed clearly better results among
children participating in everyday music lessons.
Kodály’s educational ideas, resp. the impact assessment of
singing and music and its idea of personality development also
engaged many researchers. Among others, using complex
psychological and pedagogical surveys, Ilona Barkóczi and
Csaba Pléh intended to explore the effects of regular singing,
music making, physical movements and listening to music on the
whole human personality. The experiences and results gained
during their research were presented to the public in their paper
entitled ‘A Psychological Follow-up Study of the Method of
Kodály’s Music Education’ (Kodály zenei nevelés módszerének
pszichológiai utánvizsgálata). The researchers proved their
hypotheses according to which the general level of intelligence –
regarding the intelligence examined with traditional methods –
did not change under the influence of the Kodály method, but
the developing effect of music education in creativity was clear
(Barkóczi-Pléh 1977: 141).
The correlation between intelligence and creativity has increased
as a result of music education. The number of those who had
good intelligence but poor creativity decreased. Social
differences also played a significant role in intelligence-studies.
Among the children, they were of higher and lower social status.
The creativity-enhancing effect of music education has been
demonstrated to a great extent in lower-class groups. ‘In children
with low social status, the disproportion between verbal and
non-verbal intelligence has equalized or decreased; in other
words, the structure of intelligence has become more balanced.
All this suggests that the compensatory effect of music education
on cultural disadvantage is realized through the structure of
intelligence and the development of creativity’ (Barkóczi-Pléh
1977: 142).
As the above-mentioned studies show, active music, singing,
musical movement, creative music classes and diverse creative
activities – with a systematic order of skill development –
primarily affect the individual’s emotional world and exert their
multifaceted positive transfer effects at all stages of
development.
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5 A study of ability development among student teachers
with the help of vocal and instrumental activities
5.1 The subject, purpose and process of a music-pedagogical
research
The music-pedagogical concepts and ability development studies
outlined above made it justified to examine the ability- and
personality development effects of instrumental and vocal-
instrumental activities among student teachers.
Research objectives: to survey the impact of creative musical
activities, the transfer effect of the use of instrumental play and
vocal-instrumental activities.
The research process: in the process of the study, the music
education with first-year pre-school- and teacher trainees took
place in 2 small groups (6-6 people), in two terms. The members
of the group were heterogeneous in terms of knowledge of music
and piano playing. In the period between the initial and final
phases of the study, we used an alternative method in which we
focused on instrumental education based on acoustic elements.
The aim was to avoid the way of acquiring self-serving academic
knowledge and to prioritize the acquisition of pragmatic
knowledge for the purpose of creative music education. This
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See also: BAKOS, A.: Zenepedagógia és zeneterápia (2014); CSEHI, A.: A zenei
képességek és a kisgyermekkori személyiségfejlődés kölcsönhatása (2018); TÓTH-
BAKOS, A.: Mozartov efekt -
môže hudba zlepšiť inteligenciu a kognitívne
schopnosti? (2015); TÓTH-BAKOS, A. – CSEHIOVÁ, A.: Music and Brain - Music
Training Transfer (2016).
process included enriching music education with instrumental,
vocal-instrumental, musical-kinetic elements and activities.
The research methods were aimed at examining ability
structures and approaching developmental trends. The main
phase of the study series covered solving written music tests and
reproducing tasks. A deductive research method was used for the
study. Musical abilities were examined in a multidimensional
system, adapted to the specific conditions of music and
instrumental teaching.
Accordingly, we focused our studies on 4 areas: 1.) rhythm, 2.)
written auditory and 3.) auditory reproductive examination tasks
and 4.) musical activities focusing on the study of instrumental
play.
5.2 Content and course of the research
In our ability-research, we monitored the process of musical
development and surveyed the development of individual
abilities and skills. Based on the results, we were able to draw
conclusions that testify to the positive results of ability
development.
The traditional music- and instrument playing education first
teaches sounds and the system of sounds; only then does it turn
to melodies and the unity of melodies. The pedagogical approach
– mostly based on the vast majority of nursery rhymes and folk
songs – primarily focuses on the text and the musical text. A
melody is the first structural unit that – like the sentences, words
and syllabi used in speech and written text – can be broken down
into musical sentences and motifs. In grammar, the syllable
represents microstructure, the sentence, the unity whereas in
music the motif represents microstructure and the melody, unity.
Students performed singing, writing, reading, and instrumental
musical activities through the common use of microstructures
and unity. Thus, the musical language and its structure became a
model-construction for them, often using spontaneous forms of
activity. In such learning process, ‘the learnt musical language
becomes their own to such an extent that it is also used in free
improvisation […] and is transferred to other learning activities’
(Kokas 1972: 16).
The positive features of the pedagogical approach applied to the
development of musical skills could be found in the realization
of vocal-instrumental reproductions, musical productions and in
the form of individual chamber plays and chamber groups’
plays. An important pillar of our alternative method was the
simultaneous act of musical instrument playing and singing. The
instrument playing accompanied by singing makes the
composition ‘lively,’ for the students receive the rhythmic and
melodic elements, the microstructures of the structure of the
composition with their own vocal-instrumental reproduction.
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We can establish several correlations between certain areas of
the alternative method used in the process of our ability-
research. Many musical perceptions stem from physical
movement. When it comes to teaching students to play a musical
instrument, it is better to guide beginners not by counting but by
perceiving the pulsation of the songs. Awareness of rhythmic
forms proved more useful after the primary rhythmic experience.
The acquisition of rhythm and melodic motifs was aided by
music-related sensorimotor performances, such as walking to the
rhythm, mostly applauding, drumming, and so on.
The basics of sensorimotor rhythm exercises are thus activities
that use elements of movement based on materials of singing,
vocal-instrumental reproductions, nursery rhymes and folk
songs. Hearing training is also an integral part of the rhythm
training process regardless of whether we are talking about
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In our study, we worked with two types of microstructures. We first focused on the
rhythm exercises, then on the melody motifs (the melody already contains the rhythm).
It is also effective to present the same material in a variety of forms. Above all, we
emphasize the increase of the durability of the “experiential” memorized material, as
well as the search for correlations between the individual elements; not only to recall
the acquired knowledge, but to be able to apply it in new circumstances.
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