Music reading errors of young piano students

This study investigated the music-reading errors of 6--13-year-old piano students (n = 35) as they read three unfamiliar musical pieces. The musical pieces were similar in terms of tonality, and rhythmic and melodic complexity, but differed in terms of simultaneity of left- and right hand and complexity of left-hand arrangement.Pitch errors were examined in terms of frequency, placement, and type. Of all pitches played, 23% were incorrect pitches. However, 30% of the incorrect pitches were followed by an immediate correction (self-correction). There were significantly more errors made in the left-hand parts than in right-hand parts of all three pieces. The most common error type was erroneous pitches, followed by redundant and omitted pitch errors respectively. Erroneous pitches were significantly more often contour preserving than contour violating. The younger children made significantly more redundant pitch errors and contour violating pitch errors than did the older children and the younger children tended to make more self-corrections than did the older children.Timing data were examined in terms of the length of performances and in terms of the length and frequency of pauses. No significant differences were found between pieces or age groups in terms of timing. A high frequency of pauses was noted in both age groups. Evidence drawn from pitch and timing errors suggested that the children in this study tried to play all the pitches in the score with little or no consideration for the rhythmic information in the score. This finding was in accordance with results of previous studies on children and music reading. Implications for music education and research are discussed

Children's ability to identify two simultaneous melodies

The present study examined 1st, 3rd, and 5th graders' ability to hear two simultaneous melodies. Two familiar ("Frere Jacques" and "The Barney song") and one unfamiliar melody were used as the stimuli. The pairs of simultaneous melodies were presented in different registers and timbre combinations. The children were asked to press specially labeled keys on a computer keyboard to indicate which song(s) they heard. Responses were recorded by a computer. The older children identified two simultaneous melodies faster (df = 2, F = 12.803, p $<$.01) and more accurately (df = 2, F = 13.098, p $<$.01) than the younger ones. While 70% of the 1st graders reported hearing two melodies and identified them with 75% accuracy, over 95% of the 5th graders reported hearing two melodies and identified them with 97% accuracy. Children who were able to correctly identify two simultaneous melodies did not tend to identify the melody in the upper or the lower register in any particular order when the timbre was the same in both registers. When the melodies were played with contrasting timbres (trumpet and piano) they tended to identify the trumpet melody before they identified the piano melody. However, in terms of response-speed they identified the upper melody faster than the lower melody. Children who were only able to identify one melody tended to focus on the upper melody when the timbre was the same in both registers but when the melodies were played with contrasting timbres they would attend to the trumpet melody regardless of register