High Schoolers' Approaches to Learning Melodies by Ear

Abstract

Aural learning, sometimes called “learning by ear,” is a fundamental mechanism of music, connected to musical perception, acquisition, and understanding. Researchers have primarily studied aural learning strategies through self-reported data or qualitative observations. Because the interaction between a learner and a recording offers a unique window into self-guided learning approaches and strategies, the aim of this study was to use participants’ interactions with the recordings as a data source. The purpose of this study was to investigate how high schoolers aurally learn unfamiliar melodies and identify trends that contribute to efficient learning.Twenty-nine high-school participants in individual sessions learned three different melodies by ear. As participants learned each melody, I used a modified, digital playback interface to collect interaction data on three learning constructs from the literature: (a) learning chunk length; (b) learning chunk order; and (c) synchronous versus turn-taking. Descriptive results showed that participants preferred to learn melodies in one-, two-, four-, or eight-measure chunks, and that their use of time learning either in a synchronously or turn-taking approach had no relationship to their total learning time. A Spearman Rank Order correlation revealed a moderate, inverse relationship between average chunk length and total learning time (Rho = -.506, p < .001) suggesting that participants who focused on learning larger chunks learned the whole melody faster. An analysis of participants’ choice of learning chunk order revealed three general approaches to the task. Participants used a “From the Beginning” approach approximately 14% of the time, characterized by repeatedly starting from the beginning and increasing the length of the learning chunk each repetition. Participants used a “Half to Whole” approach approximately 29% of the time, characterized by focusing on half of the melody at a time. Finally, participants most frequently used a “Bit by Bit” approach 57% of the time, characterized by learning short one- to three-measures chunks progressing from the beginning of the melody to the end. Most participants began and ended their learning session by listening to the entire melody. An ANOVA comparing approaches showed that the “Half to Whole” approach was significantly more effective than the “Bit-by-Bit” (F[2,66] = 10.25, p < .001), but showed no differences between other approaches. Some participants made notable changes in their approach between melodies showing some isolated examples of improvement when they chose longer chunks and switched to a “Half to Whole” approach. The approaches that emerged from this study provide a foundation for future experimental research on the way students best learn from recordings.