Learning strategies and multimusicality in ear-learning tasks: An experimental pilot study
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This article reports on a small-scale experimental pilot study examining instrumentalists’ techniques for aural learning of new melodies from various cultural traditions, with the goal of contributing to a contemporary understanding of multimusicality. It examines what strategies musicians employ to learn new melodies and whether these strategies vary when the musicians are asked to learn melodies from unfamiliar music-cultures. The study participants ( n = 12) were recruited from an arts department at a third-level institution in Ireland. Several were multimusical, with a high level of training and/or experience in two or more music-cultures. The article identifies three broad learning strategies deployed by study participants, which at times overlapped or were used simultaneously. These are named ‘segment-by-segment’, ‘joining-in’ and ‘chords-before-melody’. While learning strategies are based on experience and existing knowledge, genre and music-culture background proved to be poor indicators of the strategies deployed in the experimental task. Participants applied the same learning toolkit to both familiar and unfamiliar musics, but individual strategies differed based on a number of parameters. The findings raise interesting questions about multimusicality, and they suggest further research is needed to more fully explore these questions.
Author: Kayla Rush
Institution: Dundalk Institute of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Music
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,650
Funder: Dundalk Institute of Technology
OpenAlex ID: W4410357108