The Effect of Instruction in Vocabulary and Listening on Nonmusicians' Descriptions of Changes in Music

This study examined the effect of instruction in vocabulary and listening on number of changes counted in a music excerpt, verbal descriptions of these changes, and use of music vocabulary. One hundred twenty-four undergraduate nonmusicians were divided into four groups: vocabulary only, listening only, vocabulary plus listening, and contact control. Following 4 weeks of differential instruction, listening only and vocabulary plus listening counted significantly fewer changes on the posttest than the pretest; vocabulary plus listening gained significantly in number of descriptions of musical elements; and both vocabulary only and vocabulary plus listening gained significantly in use of technical vocabulary.