A Comparison of Syllabic Methods for Improving Rhythm Literacy

Abstract

The author investigated the effects of three syllabic recitation systems on skills associated with the ability to read rhythm notation. Subjects were 160 second- and third-grade children enrolled in public schools in southern Maine. Twelve rhythm patterns containing half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes were used. Random combinations of the twelve patterns were combined into complete measures of 4/4 or 6/8. Subjects were tested on their ability to recognize, write, and clap these patterns. Evaluation of these three skills was based on experimenter-designed tests, and a pretest-posttest experimental design was used. Results showed that a syllabic system that differentiated between duple and triple subdivisions of the beat improved recognition skills to a greater degree than one that did not. Furthermore, a system in which specific words were assigned to intact rhythm patterns improved performance and notation skills to a greater degree than did the two systems that used monosyllables.

The oral tradition in the Sankofa Drum and Dance Ensemble: student perceptions

“…Howe (1998) advocates for an alternative canon of school repertoire consisting of music in the oral tradition in addition to canons of other musics marginalised within the Western classical tradition. 6 Other studies (Bebeau 1982;Bower 1972;Colley 1987;Persellin 1992;Shehan 1987a;Stockton 1982) look at using different visual/auditory stimuli (including mnemonics) in music transmission. The most relevant of these to the current study find the use of the mnemonic device extremely helpful within aural transmission (Booth 1987;Mbanugo 1986;Palmer 1976;Shehan 1987a,b), where this includes assigning sounds to rhythms.…”

Skill Development in Rhythm Perception and Performance: A Review of Literature

“…Colley (1987) examined the effects of different syllable systems on second-and third-grade children's ability to read, write, and perform rhythm patterns. Three groups each used different syllabic systems: (1) Kodály-ta, ti, etc., corresponding to note durations; (2) Gordon-du, de, etc., corresponding to metrical placements of notes; and (3) Word-using novel words in which the syllables and natural accents corresponded with that of note groupings.…”

Mathematical Notation, Representation, and Visualization of Musical Rhythm: A ComparativePerspective

“…Indeed, the employment of similar methods that use acoustic phonetic features of vowels and consonants appears independently in geographically distant cultures [12], [49], [50]. These systems are particularly useful for teaching rhythm, and have been an invaluable tool for transmitting rhythms in cultures based on oral traditions.…”