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DOI: https://doi.org/10.46502/issn.1856-7576/2023.17.03.8
Cómo citar:
Sulaieva, N., Demianko, N., Remezova, N., Irkliienko, V., & Rahulina, M. (2023). Common pedagogical principles of teaching and
development of musical abilities of schoolchildren in educational structure. Revista Eduweb, 17(3), 93-101.
https://doi.org/10.46502/issn.1856-7576/2023.17.03.8
Common pedagogical principles of teaching and
development of musical abilities of schoolchildren in
educational structure
Principios pedagógicos comunes de la enseñanza y desarrollo de las
habilidades musicales de los escolares en la estructura educativa
Nataliia Sulaieva
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5066-8605
Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor, Department of Music named after Hryhoriy Levchenko, Faculty of
Psychology and Pedagogy, Poltava V.G. Korolenko National Pedagogical University, Poltava, Ukraine.
Nataliia Demianko
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8292-6461
Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor, Department of Music named after Hryhoriy Levchenko,
Faculty of Psychology and Pedagogy, Poltava V.G. Korolenko National Pedagogical University, Poltava, Ukraine.
Nataliia Remezova
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6358-454X
Senior Lecturer, Department of Music named after Hryhoriy Levchenko, Faculty of Psychology and Pedagogy,
Poltava V.G. Korolenko National Pedagogical University, Poltava, Ukraine.
Viktoriia Irkliienko
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5731-3751
Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor, Department of Music named after Hryhoriy Levchenko,
Faculty of Psychology and Pedagogy, Poltava V.G. Korolenko National Pedagogical University, Poltava, Ukraine.
Marharyta Rahulina
https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7687-2117
Assistant, Department of Music named after Hryhoriy Levchenko, Faculty of Psychology and Pedagogy, Poltava
V.G. Korolenko National Pedagogical University, Poltava, Ukraine.
Recibido: 22/04/23
Aceptado: 08/06/23
Abstract
The article focuses on the formation of musical skills in secondary school students and addresses the
challenges faced by music education in this regard. Using analytical and bibliographic methods, the study
analyzes scientific literature on the development of musical abilities. Additionally, a questionnaire survey
was conducted online to gain practical insights into the training and development of musical abilities in
schoolchildren. The research identifies key theoretical aspects related to shaping pedagogical features of
musical ability development. It also explores the perspectives of music scholars and teachers on critical
aspects of the issue. By providing insights into the pedagogical aspects of musical skill formation, the study
aims to enhance music education practices in secondary schools.
Keywords: formation of musical abilities, educational process, music training, music education, musical
skills, musical abilities.
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Resumen
El artículo se centra en la formación de habilidades musicales en estudiantes de secundaria y aborda los
desafíos que enfrenta la educación musical en este sentido. Utilizando métodos analíticos y bibliográficos,
el estudio analiza la literatura científica sobre el desarrollo de las habilidades musicales. Además, se realizó
una encuesta en línea para obtener información práctica sobre la formación y el desarrollo de las habilidades
musicales en los escolares. La investigación identifica aspectos teóricos clave relacionados con la
configuración de las características pedagógicas del desarrollo de la habilidad musical. También explora las
perspectivas de académicos y profesores de música sobre aspectos críticos del tema. Al proporcionar
información sobre los aspectos pedagógicos de la formación de habilidades musicales, el estudio tiene
como objetivo mejorar las prácticas de educación musical en las escuelas secundarias.
Palabras clave: formación de habilidades musicales, proceso educativo, formación musical, educación
musical, habilidades musicales, habilidades musicales.
1. Introduction
A scientific and specialized music literature review has shown that pedagogical and educational publications
today pay great attention to developing students' musical skills.
The problem of developing students' musical abilities is wide and varied. Consequently, significant scientific
discussions are taking place around issues related to the nature of musical skills, structure, formation
process, and regularities.
The theoretical part of this research substantiates the concept, components, and main factors of musical
skills development during secondary school students' education.
The practical part of the study includes an assessment of students' basic musical skills, which are the most
important in educating schoolchildren, the most important general musical and special abilities, as well as
the most promising areas of musical skills development that need to be improved in the modern educational
system. In addition, the survey made it possible to identify the most important areas of potential
international cooperation between educational institutions in developing musical abilities as part of the
educational process.
The authors conclude the issues raised based on the research results. In particular, it was found that the
main musical skills of students, which are the most important in schoolchildren's education, are vocal and
musical-auditory representation, melodic and rhythmic sense, musical thinking, and the essential general
musical abilities are the mastering of musical knowledge, skills and abilities and the musician's ability to
convey their understanding of musical composition during the performance. In addition, it was found that
the most important special musical abilities are the recognition and reproduction of a musical composition.
The study showed that the most critical areas of musical abilities development that need to be improved in
the modern educational system are cognitive-sensory musical skills, understanding, and the ability to
respond emotionally to music. The survey made it possible to identify "Musical abilities as qualitative
properties of mental functions" and "Interconnection of external and internal conditions of skills
development as a starting point of the psychological and pedagogical theory of musicianship" as the most
important areas of possible international cooperation of educational institutions for the development of
musical abilities.
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2. Literature review
Music is one of the most powerful educational tools that adds aesthetic color to a person's spiritual life
(Román-Caballero et al., 2022).
Aesthetic education, in the broadest sense, transfers the experience and skills acquired by the society. The
forms of experience transfer can be very diverse. They become more complicated as the person develops
and, in the historical context, as the structure of knowledge and social relations grow, which should continue
since the movement of history is only possible with the active transmission of the cultural achievements of
humanity to the next generations (Cooper, 2020).
In the philosophical sense, aesthetic education implies qualitative changes in the level of aesthetic culture
of an educational object, which can be either an individual, a social group, or society as a whole. In practice,
it is a continuous process throughout a person's life. Aesthetic education forms and develops a person's
perception and empathy, as well as their aesthetic preferences and values, and the ability to create
something precious in art and beyond (everyday life, actions, and behavior) (D'Souza & Wiseheart, 2018).
Aesthetic education, therefore, has two main functions:
− the formation of the aesthetic and value-oriented orientation of the individual.
− the development of creative capabilities determines aesthetic education's place in public life.
− the connection with other types of educational activities.
Music can lift the mood, and it can both depress and support, as well as inspire, help, and relax (Fasano et
al., 2019).
Regarding musical abilities, there is a distinction between external and internal ear training. External ear
training performs two functions, the first of which is the clear perception of the music another person
performs. In this case, the auditory objects are pitch, dynamics, metronomy, and timbre. The second
function concerns the perception of one's own playing and self-control (Briot & Pachet, 2020).
Systematic music education provides significant musical development for preschool children. Musically
gifted children quickly outpace less gifted children in developing their general knowledge and skills.
However, perseverance is no less important than talent in successfully mastering music (Eren & Öztug,
2020).
All types of art serve the primary goal of forming a modern, well-rounded person. The process of art
perception itself is a complex cognitive act in which a work of art functions not only as a means of
understanding the surrounding or historical reality but also as a cognitive object and as an independent
artistic value. A complete perception of beauty in art is available only to a fully and harmoniously formed
personality with developed interests, tastes, and spiritual needs (Degé & Schwarzer, 2018).
A well-developed musical ear is required for a full-fledged musical and aesthetic perception. The musical
ear is a complex skill that includes pitch (melodic and harmonic), rhythmic, dynamic, and timbre hearing.
The ability to follow the line of a melody and the direction of its movement while listening to music only
appears in school children after some time. However, there are several difficulties, especially with
underdeveloped ears and poor musical and auditory attention. In addition, harmonic hearing and the ability
to perceive and perform polyphonic music are also developed during music perception (Hilt et al., 2019).
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During music education, children are introduced to various musical forms and acquire certain knowledge,
skills, and abilities to listen to music. In addition, the child develops a passion for music, aesthetic skills,
and the ability to appreciate music (Habe, Biasutti & Kajtna, 2021), (Wang, 2022).
All the concepts we use to describe individual manifestations of musical abilities emphasize their various
psychological aspects and expressions. Musicality can only exist with basic musical skills, but not limited to
them. Musical development, like all other mental and psychological processes, is constantly evolving and is
a transition from involuntary reactions to a conscious understanding and ability to reproduce and create
music (Miksza et al., 2021), (Ward, 2019).
3. Aims
This research aims to determine the standpoints of music scholars and teachers on the features of musical
abilities development during secondary education among schoolchildren.
4. Materials and methods
A practical study of current tendencies in the development of musical abilities was conducted by
interviewing 254 scholars and 312 music teachers who teach in 28 secondary schools in Khmelnytsky,
Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, and Kyiv regions of Ukraine. The study was conducted by using the
Survey Monkey service.
5. Results
At the beginning of the survey, we found out the respondents' opinions on the basic musical skills of
students, which are most important in schoolchildren's education (Figure 1).
Figure 1.
Basic musical skills of students, which are the most important in schoolchildren's education, %.
Source: compiled by the authors.
According to the survey, the basic musical skills of schoolchildren include vocal, musical aural
representations, melodic and rhythmic sense, and musical thinking.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Vocal sense
Musical imagination
Musical thinking
Musical and rhythmic
sense
Ability to perceive and
experience a musical
composition
Ability to accurately
play and create new
rhythmic combinations
Harmonic sense
Musical aural
representations
Ability to react
emotionally to music,
to experience it as a
meaningful expression
51
33
52 49
37 34 31
49
31
49
32
53 54
41
32 32
53
34
According to scholars According to music teachers
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An important aspect of the research topic is identifying the most important general musical abilities
(Figure 2).
Figure 2.
The most important general musical abilities, %.
Source: compiled by the authors.
During the survey, respondents identified the most important general musical abilities as the acquisition of
musical knowledge, skills, and abilities and the musician's ability to convey their understanding of the
content of musical composition during a performance.
According to the survey, scholars and teachers identified the most important special musical abilities
(Figure 3).
Figure 3.
The most important special musical abilities, %.
Source: compiled by the authors.
Figure 3 shows that the most important special musical abilities are the identification and playback of a
musical composition.
The questionnaire allowed us to identify the most important areas of musical abilities development that
need to be improved in the modern educational system (Figure 4).
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Musical memory
Acquisition of musical
knowledge, skills, and
abilities
Ability of musicians to
convey their
understanding of the
content of musical
composition during a
performance
Accumulation of
musical impressions
and listening
experiences
Mental activity of the
listener, musician
33
49 44
32 3131
51 48
29 33
According to scholars According to music teachers
0
10
20
30
40
50
Recognition of a
musical
composition
Distinguish a
musical
composition
Comparing musical
compositions
Performing a
musical
composition in an
action-visual
orientation in pitch,
rhythm, timbre,
and dynamic
balance
41 32 31
43
44
29 32
45
According to scholars According to music teachers
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Figure 4.
The most important areas of musical abilities development that need to be improved in the modern
educational system, %.
Source: compiled by the authors.
According to the survey, the formation of such components of musical abilities development as cognitive-sensory
musical skills, understanding, and ability to react emotionally to music requires the most significant attention
when educating.
The research has identified the most important areas of possible international cooperation between educational
institutions in developing musical abilities as part of the educational process (Figure 5).
Figure 5. The most important areas of possible international cooperation between educational institutions in
developing musical abilities as part of the educational process, %.
Source: compiled by the authors.
As seen from Figure 5, according to scholars and teachers, such areas can be primarily "Musical abilities as
qualitative properties of mental functions" and "Interconnection of external and internal conditions of skills
development as a starting point of the psychological and pedagogical theory of musicianship".
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Formation of
understanding and
development of
emotional response skills
to music
Development of
cognitive-sensory
musical abilities
(melodic, tonal,
dynamic, and harmonic
components of musical
ear, sense of rhythm)
Development of
intellectual musical
abilities (musical
thinking in the unity of
its expressive and
creative components)
Development of musical
imagination
Development of musical
memory
41 45
31 29 28
44 47
33 32 27
According to scholars According to music teachers
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Interconnection of
external and internal
factors of skills
development as a
starting point of the
psychological and
pedagogical music…
Musical and auditory
abilities as complex
spatial and temporal
relations related to the
role of movements in
the perception of
space and time, as…
Musical abilities as
qualitative properties
of mental functions
Development of
musicality in ontogeny
as a system of general
and special skills that
closely interact with
each other
Diagnosis and solution
of problems of uneven
development of
individual musicality
components during
the musical and
pedagogical process
41 33
47
32 29
44
32
49
33 31
According to scholars According to music teachers
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6. Discussion
In the context of education reform, the modern school needs new theoretical elaborations, effective
methods of children's education and upbringing, and the solution of various artistic and pedagogical tasks,
among which the problem of forming musical abilities occupies a prominent place (Biasutti et al., 2019;
Valsiner, 2020).
The analysis of the studied literature on the research topic shows two main views on the essence of
musicality: musicality as an innate ability that cannot be formed and musicality as a trait created based on
natural ability. The relevance and importance of developing musical skills lie in the fact that musical
development has an irreplaceable impact on the overall development of a person: the emotional sphere is
formed, imagination, will, and fantasy are awakened, while perception is sharpened, and the creative forces
of the mind are activated (OuYang, 2020; Kozyntseva, Synakh & Dulebova, 2021).
The methodology of developing musical abilities as a system of knowledge, ways of acquiring this
knowledge, and approaches to musical skills study are constantly evolving, directly affecting the practice
of art education. Nowadays, high school teachers already have methods in their toolkits that allow them to
develop musical skills and abilities effectively. Still, they need to fully meet the ever-increasing demands
on the level of schoolchildren's development. Therefore, scientists are faced with continuing to study such
a complex phenomenon as musical abilities (Özer & Üstün, 2020; Kelly, Mantere & Scott, 2018).
A stable predisposition to music, literature, etc., is formed through music, literature, and other activities,
which becomes part of a functional system that is the brain center of abilities. Based on particular studies,
psychologists have identified the so-called sensitive periods, i.e., the optimal periods for developing skills,
after which each of them will be effectively formed at a certain age. They are determined by the sensitivity
of a person to certain types of influences related to mental functions that are in the process of maturation,
so with the onset of a sensitive period (at this point in life, not at any other), a child tends to develop in
specific directions. If, for any reason, at these stages, the children find themselves in a situation of speech
and activity isolation, the opportunities for developing the relevant skills are entirely or partially lost.
Therefore, the problem of the correlation between skills and age occupies a special place in the theory of
skills development, including musical ones (Turchet et al., 2018; Fan & Matvieieva, 2021).
While analyzing the specifics of the school-age child's development, it is appropriate to talk about the
importance of forming their artistic and aesthetic abilities, thereby pointing out the exceptionally high
possibilities of developing these abilities when studying art (Wang, Ma & Zhong, 2021; Dushniy et al.,
2022).
Highlighting the most characteristic differences in the structure of schoolchildren's musicality, we must
remember the interdependence in developing natural musical aural and aesthetic abilities. At the same
time, it is also necessary to consider a child's abilities to perform certain musical activities – listening,
accomplishment, and creativity (Kienig & Suplicka, 2018; Kozyr, Labunets & Liming, 2020).
7. Conclusions
Thus, the analysis of the scientific literature on the research topic and the questionnaire survey results
showed that musical art plays a huge role in the aesthetic education of the younger generation and
contributes to the formation of artistic needs and creative abilities. In perceiving music, children develop
the ability to analyze compositions and esthetically evaluate them.
All types of teaching and educational activities within the framework of musical activities with schoolchildren
should contribute to their spiritual development, world cognition, worldview formation, and moral
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education. From the early years of study, it is necessary to involve schoolchildren in various types of musical
activities since creative abilities are formed only through their involvement in appropriate musical activities.
Undoubtedly, the formation of creative abilities in children should begin with strengthening and developing
their creative activities. Creating conditions that will stimulate the natural course of the creative process
and activate children to engage in fruitful creative work is necessary to solve this pedagogical task.
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