Effects of Music Education and Family Income on Melodic Skills of Children From Underserved Communities

Abstract

Research on formal music education and the development of musical skills in school-aged children from disadvantaged backgrounds is relatively scarce. The purpose of this study was to investigate potential effects of music or drama instruction in nonmusically trained children's melodic perception and performance from underserved communities and to explore the relationship of these skills with family income. Participants included 154 children around 7 years old (77 girls) attending the second grade in public primary schools without music education, in economically and socially deprived areas, in Portugal. Classes were randomly assigned to one of three experimental groups—music, drama, and control. Music and drama programs were implemented during one school year. Children's melodic skills were evaluated preintervention and postintervention using a pitch discrimination task for melodic perception and a researcher-designed task (singing a song) for melodic performance. Children's family income was also analyzed. The results showed positive associations between melodic perception and performance skills and no effects for family income. Children's melodic perception improved across all groups, suggesting developmental effects. For melodic performance, whereas no significant differences were found among the three groups, the music group exhibited higher scores compared to the other groups. Findings suggest that music education programs can have a beneficial impact upon underprivileged children's melodic skills.