Musical play: a case study of preschool children and parents

In this rather broad study, the experimenters wanted to know how preschool children play musically when given a free rein, and how the role of the parent and a parent's behavior influences children's free music play. They observed 18 children over ten weeks in several different kinds of sessions and when the experimenters were involved in the play, they allowed themselves to be led by the children's exploration. They coded for three different types of play; in unfinished play, a child in free music play is interrupted in the middle of doing something and shows a desire to continue. In extinguishing play, there are behaviors by others that interrupt free music play and result in the ceasing of the play. Finally, in enhancing play, the role of others serves to encourage free music play. The experimenters found that parents can be very instrumental in the music play of their children, and that the role of others may have implications for peer-to-peer relationships and also artistic expression in the context of a family system.

While I was initially confused by the presence of a "prologue" and "epilogue," and I am much less accustomed to this extreme of qualitative research, I think the broadness of the inquiry adequately matches the broadness of possible findings. In a free play environment, there are an infinite number of different things that could happen, and especially in a realm of inquiry that is relatively young, research questions must be necessarily broad. I also think that this kind of research finding has implications for all kinds of areas, not just music in preschool children's lives. Especially in secondary and post-secondary arts education, there is a rampant obsession with correction and perfection that begins even in primary school, where children are only permitted to repeat back a rhythm pattern or paint with a certain kind of brush, on a certain kind of paper, or even in literary arts where sonnets and quatrains and limericks are taught but no one would even think to suggest allowing freeverse, let alone writing in a style like Joyce or Faulkner. The same is true in fine arts and performing arts; in music, composition is taught as "something other people do" and children are taught simply to play the music, not to play with it or allow any sort of creativity, even with nuance of expression. The modern conservatory's obsession with canon is a larger version of the oppressive ban on creativity that begins early in life when parents engage in extinguishing behaviors toward play. Encouraging free play, especially in arts, engenders creativity, builds confidence, allows children to integrate modes of perception, even exercises their linguistic skills. I read on the main blog that one of the moms noticed her child loving the song "Yankee Doodle" and even changing the words around to create a humorous version. Without parents exhibiting enhancing behavior toward play, those creative exercises are less likely to happen.