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UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST

A STUDY OF THE AESTHETIC RESPONSES OF UNDERGRADUATE

STUDENTS TO MUSIC

GEORGE BLANKSON

2015

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UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST

A STUDY OF THE AESTHETIC RESPONSES OF UNDERGRADUATE

STUDENTS TO MUSIC

BY

GEORGE BLANKSON

Thesis submitted to the Department of Music and Dance of the Faculty of Arts,

College of Humanities and Legal Studies, University of Cape Coast, in partial

fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Master of Philosophy Degree in

Music Education.

JULY, 2015

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DECLARATION

Candidate’s Declaration

I hereby declare that this thesis is the result of my own original work and that no

part of it has been presented for another degree in this University or elsewhere.

Candidate’s Name: George Blankson

Signature: ……………………………. Date: …………………………..

Supervisor’s Declaration

We hereby declare that the preparation and presentation of the thesis were

supervised in accordance with the guidelines on supervision of thesis laid down

by the University of Cape Coast.

Principal Supervisor’s Name: Prof. Isaac Richard Amuah

Signature: ……………………………. Date: ……………………………..

Co-Supervisor’s Name: Dr. Eric Debrah-Otchere

Signature: …………………………… Date: ……………………………..

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ABSTRACT

To yield the educational value of music education in schools, most music

educators align music education with aesthetic education. Accordingly, the

development of the aesthetic responsiveness and sensitivities of students have

been widely embraced. Yet, there is little or no information regarding the delivery

of music education which, in part, can contribute to the evocation of important

aesthetic experience in listeners. This research work was an attempt to study the

aesthetic responses of Ghanaian undergraduate students to music with the primary

purpose of providing a strong information base for the delivery of music

education in Ghana. Using a mixed method design, I compared the aesthetic

responses of music and non-music students to six musical types. All subjects used

the Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI) to track aesthetic responses to

six different musical selections. Also, questionnaire administered after each

listening experience asked subjects to indicate whether or not each had an

aesthetic response. It was found that the frequency and magnitude of subjects'

perceived aesthetic experiences were different for music and non-music majors.

All subjects differentiated across the various musical selections, indicating

relatively higher and lower aesthetic interest at various points within the music.

Analyses of emergent data indicated that music students differed significantly

from non-music students in aesthetic responsiveness.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to express a heartfelt thanks and appreciation to my principal

supervisor, Prof. Isaac Richard Amuah, whose selfless dedication, commitment,

ideas and timely reminders have culminated in the completion of this work.

Also, I wish to extend my sincere appreciation to my co-supervisor, Dr.

Eric Debrah Otchere for the inspiration and motivation to complete this work. I

am particularly grateful for the deep insights he shared with me as well as the

books and research works he made available for me to use.

To Katharina Langsch and colleagues, I extend my profound appreciation

for the inspiration and encouragement. I am grateful for the opportunity to stay in

Berlin and discuss my work at various platforms including a presentation at a

doctoral colloquium at Potsdam University, Germany.

More so, I am thankful to all the lecturers, staff and students of the

Department of Music and Dance for the cooperation, support and encouragement.

I wish to single out for mention the Head of the Music and Dance department for

the tremendous support he offered.

Finally, I extend profound appreciation to my father, Mr. George

Blankson and my dearest siblings for all the love, care, prayers and support they

offered me in diverse ways resulting in the successful completion of this work. To

all those who have, in diverse ways, contributed to the success of this research

work, I am grateful and thankful.

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DEDICATION

To my two fathers who have lavished upon me love, care and support in diverse

ways.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Content Page

DECLARATION ii

ABSTRACT iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv

DEDICATION v

LIST OF TABLES x

LIST OF FIGURES xi

LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS xiii

CHAPTER

ONE INTRODUCTION 1

Background to the study 1

Statement of the Problem 11

Purpose of the study 14

Research Questions 15

Research Hypotheses 15

Significance of the study 16

Need of the study 18

Delimitation of the study 19

Definition of terms 20

Organization of the study 20

TWO REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 22

Introduction 22

Definitional Issues of Aesthetics 22

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Philosophical approaches on Aesthetic response to music 23

Psychological approaches on Aesthetic response to music

28

Sociological approaches on Aesthetic response to music 31

Aesthetic Experience 32

Music Preference(s) 36

Factors that affect music preference(s) 36

Theoretical framework 40

Research on Aesthetic response and various aspects of

music 45

Summary of the whole literature review 47

THREE RESEARCH METHOD 49

Introduction 49

Research Design 49

Population 52

Sample 53

Sampling Techniques 54

Research Instruments 56

Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI) 57

Validity and Reliability 65

Questionnaire 61

Procedure for data collection 62

Music Stimulus 65

Data analysis procedures 67

Limitations 68

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Suggested solutions to limitations 68

FOUR PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

OF DATA 70

Introduction 70

General biographical data 70

General Trend 71

Factors affecting Aesthetic response 75

Gender 75

Age 77

Musical training 80

Analysis of Research Questions and Hypotheses 84

Discussion 104

FIVE SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND

RECOMMENDATIONS 109

Introduction 109

Summary 109

Presentation of the major findings 111

Findings relating to variables and aesthetic response 112

Findings relating to the research questions and hypotheses 113

Conclusions 114

Recommendations 115

REFERENCES 117

APPENDICES 129

APPENDIX A 130

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APPENDIX B 133

APPENDIX C 134

APPENDIX D 135

APPENDIX E 136

APPENDIX F 137

APPENDIX G 138

APPENDIX H 139

APPENDIX I 140

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LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

1 Number of participants who had Aesthetic responses 72

to each of the musical types

2 Age Groups of Participants and Aesthetic response 77

3 ANOVA - Number of Years of Musical Training 81

and Aesthetic response

4 Spearman’s rho correlation between familiarity of music 103

and Aesthetic response

5 Pearson’s moment correlation of participation in 104

musical groups and Aesthetic response

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

1 Diagram of the absolute- expressionist position 41

2 Diagram of the inverted-U curve 43

3 A diagram representing the population, sample and 56

sampling techniques used in this study

4 A picture showing the potentiometer and the 16-bit analogue 58

5 A picture showing the dial and the 16-bit analogue 59

6 A linear graph showing the mean Aesthetic response to the 73

six musical types

7 Bar graph of the aesthetic response of males and females 76

8 Differences in age groups and Aesthetic response 78

9 Number of years of musical training and Aesthetic response 82

10 Collective temporal graph of Aesthetic response to the 85

Classical music

11 Collective temporal graph of Aesthetic response to the 87

Country music

12 Collective temporal graph of Aesthetic response to the 88

Traditional music

13 Collective temporal graph of Aesthetic response to the 90

Hiplife music

14 Collective temporal graph of Aesthetic response to the 91

New-age music

15 Collective temporal graph of Aesthetic response to the 92

Avant-garde music

16 CTG of Aesthetic response of music and non-music students 93

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17 CTG -Music and Non-music students to the Classical music 95

18 CTG- Music and Non-music students to the Country music 97

19 CTG-Music and Non-music students to the Traditional music 98

20 CTG- Music and Non-music students to the Hiplife music 99

21 CTG- Music and Non-music students to the New-age music 100

22 CTG- Music and Non-music students to the Avant-garde music

101

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LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

CRDD Curriculum Research and Development Division

CRDI Continuous Response Digital Interface

CTG Collective Temporal Graph

E.G Example

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the study

It is an ancient and pervasive idea that most people, more or less, respond

to music. In fact, almost any human can report experiencing different feelings that

would be regarded to have been generated by some piece of music. While some

music may generate such feelings immediately, others depend on thought and

knowledge. Much has been mentioned by researchers that music evokes or

generates feelings in people (Reimer, 2009; Juslin & Sloboda, 2001; Langer,

1979). Another most familiar response to music for most people include overt

movements such as tapping the beat to one’s foot, swaying the body or dancing,

goose bumps and gross behaviour changes.

In addition, as evidenced in the work of Bartlett (1996), responses to

music can also result in marked physiological changes in the body, notably,

changes in heart and pulse rate, breathing or muscular tension, among others.

Understandably, some studies even show that the foetus responds to sounds and

music in the environment (Amuah & Sracoo, 1996). According to Philips-Silver

and Trainor (2007), responding to music appears to develop early, and it is

fundamental to music processing throughout one’s life; serving, possibly, the

function of sharing aesthetic and emotional judgment of music with others. Taken

together, the foregoing discussion underscores the centrality of the fact that

responding to music is a necessary component, if not the essence, of any musical

experience. And so, the idea of responding to music (physiological or

psychological) is not a far-fetched phenomenon.

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Now, owing to the ubiquity of music, which has been precipitated largely

by a quantum leap in technology in the past decades, the range, diversity and

accessibility of music to individuals and households have expanded remarkably.

There is no gainsaying that “many people hear music everyday of their lives”

(Hargreaves, 2001, p. 105). For better or worse, music is imposed on us in

churches, offices, market places, schools and others too numerous to mention.

According to Hargreaves, North and Tarrant (2006) “approximately 40-50% of

most people’s everyday lives involve music in some way, whether in passive

listening, or in more active participation” (p.135). The implication of this is that

the musical experiences of many people are by no means limited. Yet, let me say

in passing that, many people who listen to music may be unaware of what music

can do to them over a prolonged exposure (Otchere, 2013). By extension, this

constant besieging of our senses with musical stimuli calls into particular

attention the kind of musical experiences people encounter. It is, perhaps, more

accurate to consider the nature and type of responses people experience every day

principally through listening to music. What are the responses to the different

kinds of music people listen to everyday? What are the reactions of people to

various musical excerpts and what informs such reactions or responses?

To address such questions, McDermott (2012), in part, suggests that,

normally, hedonic and aversive responses occur prominently as people experience

music. While some types of music are considered by people to be relaxing,

beautiful, enchanting or pleasant, other musical types are considered to be

otherwise unpleasant and awful. In the same vein, according to Shimamura

(2013), as people experience art works, responses such as disgust, surprise, anger,

sadness, horror and a myriad of other emotions can be generated.

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It remains to ask, what makes some encounters with music pleasant and

self-rewarding and others not for people? How do we appreciate a work of music?

Philosophers, psychologists and recently neuroscientists have sought answers to

these questions both with focused and interdisciplinary approaches. The idea of

aesthetics as a philosophical or scientific enterprise has provided valuable insights

concerning the nature and value of arts works, including music. The field of

aesthetics has offered insightful ways of appreciating and broadening experiences

with art works in general. As early as the fifth century, philosophers (Plato and

Aristotle) thought deeply about the nature and value of music, and developed

conceptual approaches of aesthetic experiences (see literature review in Chapter

Two for a detailed discussion). Specifically, psychological and brain sciences

have shed important lights on our understanding of aesthetic responses to music.

Accordingly, most music educators justify the teaching and learning of

music in basic schools on the basis of Aesthetic Education. Leonard and House

(1959) hold that the development of people’s responsiveness to the aesthetic

qualities of musical works is the only basis for music education. To them, the core

essence of music education in general education is to assist students to develop

the ability to perceive and respond aesthetically to music. In the same vein, Peters

and Miller (1982, as cited in Elliot, 1995) conclude that “the best use of music in

the schools and the best reasons for the inclusion of music in the curriculum stem

from music as part of what has been known as ‘aesthetic education” (p. 28).

Congruent with the foregoing, Reimer (1989) reaffirms the notion that music

education ought to develop our responsiveness to the aesthetic qualities of sound.

Clearly, at the heart of the foregoing quotations, is the persistent emphasis on

conceptualizing music education to be aligned with the aesthetic concept of

music.

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Appropriately, there is a plethora of writing and research works with

essential claims that remain congruent with the axioms of music education as

aesthetic education (Reimer, 2009; Amuah & Sracoo, 1996). For example,

McDermott (2012), maintains that music is the domain in which our aesthetic

response to sound is most obvious and striking. He states further that for a typical

human listener, music can be a highly rewarding stimulus. In contemporary

societies, where music is universally present and accessible (Dutton, 2002),

aesthetic responses to music such as aesthetic judgment (judging a piece of music

as beautiful), aesthetic emotions (awe, enjoyment, nostalgia), aesthetic taste or

simply enjoying a piece of music are important and frequent occurrences which

develop early in life and lingers.

By keying in on the construct ‘aesthetic response’, Barrett (2006) claims it

is one of a constellation of related terms and concepts such as aesthetic

preference, aesthetic judgment, musical preference and music appreciation. For

him, these terms are employed, predominantly, in music education (both theory

and practice) when attempting to “describe and/or define the nature of music

knowing, experience, and judgment” (p.173). Indeed, like many other concrete

terms, the very object of interest, aesthetic response, is prone to heavy and serious

debate. The main plank for such controversy is rooted in the fact that aesthetic

experience is a multidimensional process composed of several components and

stages, some of which are involuntary and implicit.

Now, to single out the construct (aesthetic response) for operational

delineation, the Greek word aisthesis, literally meaning sense experience or

perception, is the etymological root of the word aesthetics (sometimes spelled

esthetic) (Sparshott, 1982). Although the philosophical study of artistic pursuits

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can be traced to the Greeks (as evidenced in Plato’s Symposium), aesthetics was

coined by a German philosopher, Baumgarten in 1735. To the Greeks, art was

conceived as a process more than as a product or entity. Virtually, Western

philosophical thinking differed from the Greeks. In his Critique of Judgment,

Kant in 1790 was of the view that aesthetic experience depended on our intuitive

sense and perceptual faculties to perceive the formal qualities of an object, in

order to make direct, personal judgment in a ‘disinterested’ manner. In other

words, according to Kant, beauty in objects must be apprehended without

consideration to external factors. Likewise, Sparshott (1982) believes that

aesthetics, the umbrella term for all philosophical and scientific inquiries, was

concerned with artistic efforts and people’s responses to them.

From the initial stages, Baumgarten had a definite interest of establishing a

field of inquiry that would analyse poetic imagery. However, during the

eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the precincts of aesthetics extended rapidly to

comprise the study of visual images and objects, music works and ultimately

natural things like sunsets, flowers and landscapes (Elliot, 1995). It is apparent

that central to the discussions of aesthetics is a concern for the value judgment

reflected in the expression of an object as beautiful. Generally, art works are the

prototype domains for issues of aesthetic research, though natural things (sunsets,

rainbow and landscape) may also be treated as aesthetically relevant. According

to Radocy and Boyle (2003), although it is in relation to art and its value or

meaning that the term aesthetic is mostly employed, aesthetic feeling may also

result from interaction with nature. To recast the above discussion in terms of

music, today aesthetics is commonly used to denote the nature, meaning and value

of musical works and the sensory experiences of the human existence.

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The latter term “response”, according to Barrett (2006, p.173) implies “the

end-point of some form of an interaction; one that could be the result of

precipitate stimulation, behaviourist training, or, considered reflection.” Put

simply, an action or change in condition evoked by a stimulus is referred to as

‘response’. It is important to note that responses can be varied and take on many

forms. Hargreaves (2001) notes that, musical response covers a very wide range

of human experience.

Aesthetic response is, in the words of Leder, Belke, Oeberst and Augustin

(2004) the amalgamation of constant interaction of both cognitive and affective

responses to music, resulting in an aesthetic emotion, which in many cases is both

pleasing and self-rewarding. This view is based on the assumption that cognitive

and affective responses are reciprocally linked (Scheerer, 2003). The rallying

point expressed here is that a rather complex network of stimulus, personal

experience and situational context all come into play in an aesthetic experience

(Jacobsen, 2006). The foregoing shares in common with earlier philosophical

conceptualization of aesthetics: that the end-point of such interaction with an art

work is a reflection of value judgment. And such reflection is a product of

cognitive and affective processes of an individual. Given its diversity, the study of

aesthetics, can be couched in philosophy, psychology and sociology. This is given

a thematic treatment in Chapter Two under the literature review. However, the

primary focus in this study is the place of aesthetic experience in music education.

As stated before, research on aesthetic response to music has generated a

large body of knowledge. A good starting point is to trace experimental studies of

aesthetic responses to the work of Binet (1903). His research (Experimental study

of Intelligence) was much slanted towards ascertaining the types of apprehension

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or apperception. Binet, Myers and Valentine (1914, as cited in Hargreaves &

Colman, 1981) studied the individual differences in attitudes toward tones in large

samples of subjects. Later, Myers (1922) extended this research to include real

musical materials. Since these ground-laying findings were obtained, a good

number of studies have also examined the relationship between variables such as

complexity, familiarity and predictability of music and various measures of the

aesthetic response. For instance, Hargreaves (1986) was interested in the degree

to which one likes and/or dislikes a piece of music and the level of subjective

familiarity. The study revealed that familiarity with the music led to an increase in

preference. Similarly, Silvia (2005) identified that the variables: novelty,

complexity and predictability, had effects on the aesthetic emotions of interest and

enjoyment. According to Davis (2003), some music psychologists have devoted

considerable attention to investigating which musical elements are necessary for

people to have an aesthetic experience. Among some of the musical elements

researchers have explored include rhythm, timbre, harmony, dynamic levels and

melodic contour. In a classical review of the studies on aesthetic responses, Davis

(2003, p. 60) concludes that “much research on aesthetic response has focused on

listener preference.” There is heavy emphasis on comparison of musicians and

non-musicians in listening preference. According to Davis’s review, little

variations exist between the two groups (musicians and non-musicians). In a

related study, Amuah and Sracoo (1996) observed the ability of students to

respond to the expressive qualities of music. In their study, it was concluded that

“improved musical behaviour is a function of age” (p. 63). This array of enlisted

studies is a testimony to the fact that the axioms of aesthetics have shaped and

influenced the thinking of many music educators. More importantly, it

underscores the fact that music education, among other things, must assist

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students to develop aesthetic appreciation for the music they listen, perform and

create. No wonder, in his oft-cited book, Reimer (1989) claims the ultimate goal

of music education is to lead to the attainment of “profound feelingful reactions to

music” (p. 46).

As an upshot to the above, most music educators align themselves with

perspectives of music education as aesthetic education (Davis, 2003). Generally,

in the history of Western music education, Jorgensen (2003, as cited in Davis,

2003) notes, two streams of musical thought, namely Musica Practica and Musica

Theoretica. These have existed side by side, sometimes integrated, other times

adjunct but both impacting the practice of music education. On the one hand,

scholars, notably Reimer (1989), have reasoned that for a more complete

understanding or perception of musical elements, musical experience must

include a learned aesthetic response. To these scholars, music appreciation and

aesthetics is best taught through listening to and analysing musical works. On the

other hand, Elliot (1995) has vigorously contended that an aesthetic experience or

response is acquired first through participation in or the practice of music.

Nonetheless, contemporary philosophers and educators have argued for the use of

both approaches. As a result, music education as aesthetic education seems to

hold its sway the world over.

Music education in Ghana, in one way or the other, is closely aligned with

perspectives of music education as aesthetic education. In an article, Ohene-

Okantah (1996) attempts to situate Reimer’s philosophy of music education as

aesthetic education in the context of African music and explores some of its

useful implications for music education in Ghana. In the same vein, Amuah

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(2010) avers that the delivery of music education in Ghana must be based on

socio-emotional education. The crux of Amuah’s philosophy is that:

Music education as an instrument for socio-emotional

education engenders two major goals: to develop

individual’s sensitivity to music and, thus, enhance the

process for his/her emotional development as well as the

use of music as a tool to pursue the agenda of social

solidarity and development (2010, p.188).

A manifestation of this is the heavy emphasis on developing aesthetic

appreciation which is a latent function of the music programs of the Universities.

Specifically, in some Ghanaian Universities, students are permitted to take

courses like aesthetics of music, music appreciation and aural culture. Virtually,

this phenomenon is no different from music in the secondary and basic schools.

For instance, according to the teaching syllabus for creative arts (CRDD, 2007;

p.11), teachers must take note of the following:

a) Perceptual growth (using the sense in exploring, observing the

environment and performing creative activities).

b) Emotional growth (the pupils’ feelings, attitudes and responses to

what he/she thinks, sees and does).

c) Aesthetic growth (the pupils’ ideas and response to beauty through

appreciation and valuing).

As evident in the above, to a large extent, the music education program

operated at the various educational levels in Ghana is congruent with the axioms

of aesthetic education. More or less, most music educators agree that music

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education must, among other things, develop the aesthetic appreciation of

students. This granted, it remains to ask if the music education program (with

emphasis on aesthetic development) captures the essence and meaning of music to

Africans within the context of the role, value and performance practices of music

in our culture. Obviously, Reimer’s philosophy of music education as aesthetic

education has some very useful implications for music education in Ghana. But as

Oehrle (1991) cautioned, music education must take into consideration the modes

of thinking and ways of music making in Africa. Likewise, Nketia (1999) notes

rightly that:

Philosophies of music propounded for particular cultural

environments such as the philosophy of aesthetic education

cannot be copied or borrowed lock, stock and barrel.

Though each one dealing with a particular human

condition, cultural ideals or values or problems of

transmission and reception in music may have something to

offer, it may not provide all the answers that may be needed

in the African context (p. 10).

The foregoing assertions set the tone for developing a music education

program that attempts to factor in the African perspective into the equation of

aesthetic education. Ideally, to do this, one requires scientific research to inform

choices and practices. In Ghana, the need for a strong knowledge base to inform

musical practices cannot be adequately stressed. For this reason, a quality music

program which is targeted, among other things, to develop aesthetic

responsiveness of students must be informed by empirical evidence. According to

Boyle and Radocy (1987), it is apparent that decisions on musical development

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may have vital and long-ranged consequences on individuals, schools, community

and societal goals for music education. Therefore, it is imperative for studies to be

carried out to, first and foremost, ascertain the level of aesthetic responses of

students to different types of music in order to assist in conceptualizing and

developing a music education program that is well suited for Ghanaian students;

and this is a primary goal for this present study.

The foregoing underscores the need for music educators to carefully

design a framework (especially one that takes into account the Ghanaian

perspective) to assist students to respond aesthetically to music. As such, one of

the initial steps is to study the responses of students to music. It is for this reason

that this present work studies the aesthetic responses of undergraduate students to

music.

Statement of the Problem

Generally, there is a large body of extant literature on aesthetic

experiences and responses. Much research on aesthetic response to music has

focused on listener preference (e.g. Madsen & Geringer, 2004; Flowers, 2002;

Frega, 2001; Capperella-Sheldon, 1993). Other researchers have also explored

various measures of the aesthetic response, such as the degree to which one likes

or enjoys a piece of music, in relation to different variables such as complexity,

novelty, familiarity, predictability, just to mention a few (Silvia, 2005;

Hargreaves, 1986). Furthermore, there are also a considerable number of studies

that view aesthetic response to music as a function of age, education and socio-

economic status (Madsen & Geringer, 2004; Amuah & Sracoo, 1996). Two things

all of these previous studies have in common are that:

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a) fundamentally, the aesthetic experience is a human experience

(Reimer, 1989);

b) these studies are Western oriented in content and approach.

Once one begins to consider the depths and components that could make up

aesthetic response, it becomes clear that the arena would include a broader realm

of human endeavours. Indeed, aesthetics of music will include and require studies

from different angles, perspectives, approaches and locations to shed more light

on human sensitivity and responsiveness generally. Research to date has brought

us a large body of knowledge, but much more yet needs to be done.

Apparently, despite the general extant literature on aesthetic experiences

and responses, no study has been done in Ghana that focused on eliciting the

aesthetic responses of undergraduate students. Yet, music education in Ghana is

aligned closely with aesthetic education. Perhaps, studies which come close to

this have broadly covered overt/verbal responses to music and listener’s ability to

identify intrinsic qualities of a musical stimulus. However, in this study, the focus

goes beyond preferential judgment or response to a musical stimulus. By way of

extension, my goal is to attempt to correspond the aesthetic peaks of students with

musical elements and dimensions that are mostly associated with such responses.

In other words, this present work looks at which musical devices drive the

aesthetic responses of students. This will yield vital information for the

development of an aesthetic framework that encapsulates the Ghanaian culture

and music. As Nketia (1999) rightly puts it, “aesthetic education cannot be copied

or borrowed lock, stock and barrel” (p.10). There is the need for a strong

informational base to support teaching of music in schools. Any aesthetic stance

to be used as a basis for teaching music must be relevant to the society in which

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we live and satisfy the general conditions under which the Ghanaian education

operates.

Amuah and Sracoo (1996) identified a problem that places the need for an

empirical evidence to back the delivery of music education in Ghana into proper

perspective. They note that, “it has been observed that very few people respond to

music aesthetically, a process that involves, not only reacting to the expressive

qualities of music, but also responding to it feellingfully” (p.48). This

phenomenon, according them, is due to the fact that most people listen to music

for the sheer pleasure of musical sounds. And as a result, most people do not

derive maximum benefits from the music they listen to. Although musical

behaviours like performance, composing and analysis could stimulate musical

experiences (aesthetic experiences), listening is the foundational interaction to a

musical experience and a channel through which people experience the power of

music. It follows then that to improve the quality of musical experience, it is

fundamental to improve the ability to listen with perceptual discernment and

affective sensibility.

On a closely related point, despite its fundamental place in any musical

experience, relatively few empirical studies have addressed conceptual

approaches to listening to music in Ghana. Even so, most previous studies

employed either verbal or written data acquisition techniques in measuring

perceived musical expressions of listeners to musical performance. The problem

is not only about the need to augment the extant literature, but also the techniques

employed for data collection in previous studies. Scholars, like Asmus (2009)

have highlighted the potential flaws associated with the verbal or written

measurement strategies for assessing musical responses. Suffice it just to mention

that according to him, while most people find it difficult to vividly verbalize their

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musical experiences, written measurement strategies predetermine responses of

subjects and therefore bias results.

By keying in on data acquisition strategies, a technology based

measurement strategy such as Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI) has

a relative advantage over the traditional ones. Through the use of equipment that

allows for real time tracking of responses to music, researchers are rigorously

exploring how individuals and groups perceive and interpret musical information

as it is presented during the act of listening. Consequently, this measurement tool

has been used widely in preference research, emotional, affective and aesthetic

responses to music (Madsen & Geringer, 2004; Capperella-Sheldon, 1993). In

Ghana, no study has focused on measuring perceived musical expressions

(responses) of listeners to musical performance with a CRDI despite its relative

advantage over the verbal and written measuring strategies. Hence, this calls into

particular attention the need to incorporate the CRDI into studies of music

listening nature conducted in Ghana.

Purpose of the Study

Generally, the purpose for this study was threefold. My primary purpose

for undertaking this research was to explore the nature of aesthetic responses of

undergraduate students to different musical genres (using six broad musical types

specified by studies on musical preferences of college students). Stemming from

this, specific objectives of the study were:

a. To study the aesthetic responses of Ghanaian students to different

musical types.

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b. To find out if there was a significant difference in the aesthetic

responses of Ghanaian music and non-music students to different

musical types.

c. To study if there was a significant relationship between familiarity

of music and aesthetic responses of Ghanaian students.

d. To explore a possible relationship between Ghanaian students’

participation in a musical groups or ensembles and aesthetic

responses.

Research Questions

Based on the purpose of this study, the following research questions were

set to guide the research:

a. What are the aesthetic responses of Ghanaian undergraduate

students to different music types?

b. What differences exist in the aesthetic responses of Ghanaian

music and non-music students?

c. What is the relationship between familiarity of music played and

aesthetic response among Ghanaian students?

d. To what extent does participation in musical groups influence

Ghanaian students’ aesthetic responses?

Research Hypotheses

The following null and non-directional alternative hypotheses were set to

statistically test the three research questions above (excluding the first research

question):

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1) H0 - There is no significant difference in the aesthetic response

of Ghanaian undergraduate music and non-music students

to different musical types.

H1- There is a significant difference in the aesthetic response of

Ghanaian undergraduate music and non-music students to

different musical types.

2) H0- There is no significant relationship between aesthetic

response and the familiarity of music played to Ghanaian

students.

H1 -There is a significant relationship between aesthetic

response and the familiarity of music played to Ghanaian

students.

3) H0 -There is no significant relationship between Ghanaian

student’s participation in musical groups and aesthetic

response.

H1- There is a significant relationship between Ghanaian

student’s participation in musical groups and aesthetic

response.

Significance of the study

Through this study, the empirical research on aesthetics and music will be

augmented. In other words, this study will add to the literature on aesthetics

related to music. Generally, many theories and studies concerning aesthetic

experiences are tethered to aesthetics response to paintings and sculpture.

Hargreaves and Castel (1987) claim that the aesthetic research has remained

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lopsided in favour of the figurative arts at the expense of performing arts such as

music, dance, drama and theatre. Yet, it is through music that our aesthetic

responses are most striking and profound (McDermott, 2012). And so, this study

is an attempt to redress the imbalance, by filling in the gaps in the empirical field

of aesthetic experiences in music.

Furthermore, the findings of this study, it is hoped, will vastly influence

the delivery of music education in Ghana. This study will provide a strong

informational base for developing a framework to assist students to respond

aesthetically to the music they listen to. As Reimer (1989, p.10) points out,

“practice must be grounded in a secure philosophy”, music educators, scholars,

teachers and curriculum planners, informed by the empirical evidence of this

study, can develop theoretical conceptions for the delivery of music education in

Ghana.

In addition, this study will provide music educators with relevant data for

the selection of learning activities and musical repertoire for use in the classroom.

This study will assist music educators to decisively select songs or suggest types

of music to be studied in schools, having a good idea of what musical variables

drive the aesthetic development of students. As such, this study will provide

relevant data on what underpins the aesthetic responses of students, which can be

used to consciously hone in on the pertinent variables, and thereby enhance the

musical appreciation and aesthetic responses of students by making those

responses more focused.

Beyond the classroom, composers, performers, advertisers, teachers,

parents and all music stakeholders can also incorporate the findings of this

research into their respective activities. Knowing which aesthetic devices drive

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aesthetic response of students, composers and performers can purposely employ

musical resources that will engender aesthetic responses. Lastly, the findings of

this study may initiate a forum for further discussions concerning aesthetic

responses.

Need for the study

The centrality of the need to make aesthetic encounters ecumenical for

people has become apparent. Viewed historically, aesthetics has attracted the

attention of many scholars. Given its diversity, the study of aesthetics has

promoted dialogue among people in various disciplines, including philosophy,

psychology, sociology, musicology, music education, empirical aesthetics and

most recently neuroscience. Recent debates have given way to an interdisciplinary

approach to studying and understanding aesthetic experiences. Emerging from the

study of aesthetics are divergent theories, models, research methodologies and

assumptions. Indeed, a summary of a review of all that pertains to aesthetics will

simply exhaust this study. Although researchers have made substantial strides in

illuminating the complex interaction of many factors and processes that underlie

an aesthetic experience to music, the literature indicates the need for much

additional research to be carried out. Due to the fact that individual differences,

dispositions, expertise and values that people bring to an aesthetic encounter

differ (Silva, 2005), conducting studies with diverse samples and musical stimuli

will increase the chances of hiking up the right path.

To recast this study into perspective, the sample (Ghanaian undergraduate

students) and the inclusion of musical types like Ghanaian traditional and popular

music used here are different from all existing works on aesthetic response. Also,

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the study attempted to explore the influence of participation in music group on

Ghanaian students’ aesthetic response.

In particular, the need for this study is further heightened by the necessity

to develop a framework that is suited for the delivery of music education in

Ghana. In their oft-cited book (2003), Flolu and Amuah, make a striking report

that “very few people, if any, who pass through the school system are given the

opportunity to develop skills in effective music listening” (p.124). Yet, many

people in Ghana experience music through music listening activities. Therefore,

there is the need for studies to be carried out to develop a framework to help

people respond aesthetically to music.

Delimitation

The purpose of this study was to explore the aesthetic responses of

Ghanaian undergraduate students to different musical types. With respect to this,

the parameters for this study were set. To this end, reasons why certain

dimensions or types of music were identified by subjects to be more pleasant or

interesting than others are not prime subjects of this study. At best, I offer logical

speculations based on what the literature indicates, personal experiences and

observation. Also, the aesthetic responses of participants in this study were

measured with Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI) and its

accompanying exit questionnaire.

Finally, the population target used for this study was undergraduate

students from a public university in Ghana. By focusing on the aesthetic response,

this study perceived, interpreted, deduced, inferred and concluded within the

scope of the selected population target.

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Definition of Terms

Aesthetic Response: For this study, in accordance with Shimamura’s

definition, I considered aesthetics as a ‘hedonic’ response (response to a sensory

experience), “which is simply a judgment of preference or interest” (2013, p.2).

He avers further that such responses can be graded from very positive to very

negative or from very interesting to very dull. Given this definition, aesthetic

responses transcend just the emotional thrill of ‘wow’ or just undergoing an

emotional interlude an aesthetic response does more than just evoking a feeling of

‘wow’.

Musical Preference: As used in this study, the term is associated with

Hargreaves, North and Tarrant (2006) view that musical preference refers to “a

person’s liking for one piece of music as compared with another at a given point

in time…” (p.135).

Music students: As used in this study, music students refer to participants

who were majoring in music at the time this research was conducted.

Non-music students: Here, all participants who were studying any other

subject apart from music in the University, at the time this research was

conducted, were considered to be non-music students.

Organisation of Chapters

The next section will focus on the review of related and relevant literature.

It will focus on what other authorities have said about various aspects of the

research problem. This will help to clarify and streamline the research and give

the study its focus.

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The next chapter will be the methodology for this study, which will cover

a description of the procedures by which data required for the study will be

collected and analysed. It will specifically take a critical look at the research

design, population, sampling and sampling procedure, research instrumentation,

data collection procedure and data analysis. The next chapter will be the

presentation of pertinent data collected from the field and the subsequent analysis

and interpretation of the emergent data.

Finally, presentation of the summary of this study, suggestions and

recommendations for future research will follow. References and the appendices

used in the research work will also be presented.

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CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Introduction

An essential early step in the research process, regardless of the approach

adopted, is reviewing the accumulated knowledge about the variables of interest.

According to Neuman (2003), the assumption for reviewing literature is that

“knowledge accumulates and people learn from and build on what others have

done” (p. 96).

Here, I look broadly at the literature on aesthetic responses to music,

particularly focusing on the mechanisms that underlie or come into play in an

aesthetic encounter. In this way, the literature on aesthetic experience as

addressed by a variety of intellectual domains such as philosophy, psychology,

sociology is reviewed. The primary focus of this section is to provide an overview

of research findings reported in the past decade and how they have contributed to

the understanding of aesthetic responses to music. Given the enormous corpus of

literature related to the focus of this study, I carefully employed topical, thematic

and conceptual approaches. By way of concluding this chapter, a summary of the

main issues in the literature of aesthetic responses to music is provided.

Definitional Issues of Aesthetics

The subject of aesthetic response to music has attracted the attention of

many scholars from diverse intellectual domains including philosophy,

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psychology, music education and sociology. Consequently, the extant literature

covering all these disciplines on aesthetics is enormous. Yet, what actually

constitutes an “aesthetic response” has eluded a concrete definition. For centuries,

scholars have pondered on those attributes of music that give meaning and lead to

a heightened sense of emotion, intellectual engagement and a profound sense of

awe - a general perspective of aesthetic response, although not univocally

embraced by all scholars.

In what follows, I consider how various scholars from various

perspectives have addressed these questions and the lights they have shed on

aesthetic response. To begin with, it is appropriate to look at some philosophical

approaches on the aesthetic concept.

Philosophical approaches on Aesthetic Response to Music

Throughout history, people have wondered about the nature and function

of music - what it is all about, and why do humans seem to care about it so much.

The branch of philosophy concerned directly and primarily with questions about

the nature and value of the arts, and value judgment reflected in the expression of

an object as beautiful is called “aesthetics”. Now, it is important to note that the

study of the nature of music, its effects and values, and human response has been

a topic of philosophical debate since the time of early Greek philosophers. To the

Greeks, music was a force that affected everything that existed (Abeles, Hoffer &

Klotman, 1995). This conception of music, called ethos, underpinned the belief

that music had an influence on the will, character and behaviour of an individual.

In actual sense, the Greek concern is rooted in The Republic of Plato and The

Politics of Aristotle, where Plato, for example, believed that music in Dorian and

Phrygian modes could instil a sense of courage and soberness and restraint,

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respectively. In the same vein, Aristotle is cited as noting that “if one listened to

the wrong type of music he or she would become the wrong person” (as cited in

Abeles, Hoffer & Klotman, 1995). Influenced by German romanticism and

French classicism, many other scholars (Schiller, 1967; Maritain, 1924) sought

explanation for arts (including music) from metaphysics and arithmetic problems

respectively. Implicit in the aforementioned works are traces of various ways to

conceive of music. Now, while the above discussion points out the divergent

viewpoints, formalization of this discourse sprang from the work of Baumgarten

(1750) under the rubric ‘aesthetic’.

In the account of Baumgarten, who coined this term, aesthetics connotes

“a type of understanding that occurs through sensory experience of the world, that

is, through perception rather than conception” (Barrett, 2006; p. 174). From

Baumgarten’s initial concern with poetry, the boundaries of aesthetics widened

rapidly during the eighteenth and nineteenth century to include the study of visual

images, effectiveness of music and eventually all natural objects. Taking a cue

from Baumgarten’s ground laying conception, Immanuel Kant (1790) also

thought that the faculty of judgment enabled people to have an experience of

beauty and grasp those experiences as part of an ordered, natural world with

purpose (cited in Kant, 2012). Furthermore, he reasoned, the apprehension of

beauty in objects without consideration to external factors. This view enjoyed the

espousal of many scholars until later other scholars (e.g. Hargreaves, 1989)

emphasized the context and social use and production of a work.

Generally, philosophical enquiry into aesthetic response to music has

centred on definitional issues concerning the nature of music, value judgment

about its nature and quality of musical works as well as experiences. As a matter

of fact, owing to the broad dimensions aesthetics of music has assumed, there are

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as many aesthetical standpoints as there are theorists (Hanslick, 1986; Sparshott,

1982). Aestheticians have proffered theories, usually under various guises, to

account for determining factors in making meaning and judgments of music.

From the review of these theories, I noted that, from an initial emphasis on the

rational, cognitive engagement with music separate from emotions and the

sensuous, to contemplation of intrinsic qualities in abstraction to the context of

social use and production, aesthetic theories expanded to assume various

dimensions. Accordingly, writers have grouped aesthetic theories, as a way of

providing a modicum of order, in dealing with theories of aesthetics. In general,

most of these aesthetic theories (under various guises) fall into four major

domains: Absolutism/Formalism, Referentialism, Expressionism, and Absolute-

Expressionism.

Absolutism. According to the Absolutists account, the meaning of music

is derived from contemplating exclusively on musical elements or structural

qualities (melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, dynamics, textual and form) in

abstraction to the other experiences. Essentially, here, the listener considers a

musical work purely on the basis of sensory features - that is the aesthetic

interplay of musical elements and structures. Within the absolutist framework,

there is an additional distinct view called Formalism. Formalists maintain that

“musical meaning is primarily intellectual and based on perception and

understanding of the formal structural relationships within a composition”

(Radocy & Boyle, 2003). An absolutist may be a formalist when aesthetics is

conceived as focusing exclusively on the so-called aesthetic qualities which give

form to the music. However, the formalists restrict this capacity of contemplating

on music to elites. In short, not all absolutists subscribe to the elitist view of

formalists, but all formalists are absolutists.

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Now, to recast the above discussion in terms of aesthetic response to

music, the absolutist’s (formalist’s included) concept of music rests on three basic

assumptions. The first assumption is that musical works exist to be listened to in

one way: only by focusing on the aesthetic qualities (elements and structural

properties of music). The second assumption is that the value of musical works is

always intrinsic or internal. And finally, the assumption that if listener’s listen to

pieces of music aesthetically they will undergo a special kind of emotional or

disinterested pleasure. Viewed historically, aesthetic theories under the rubric

absolutism/ formalism, take their root from nineteenth century elitist view of the

arts. As pointed out by Abeles, Hoffer and Klotman (1995), this elitist view holds

that musical understanding and appreciation are the exclusive reserve of the

intellectual elites. Here, the composers, conductors, critics and the likes are cited

as people with extra-ordinary and superior ability to contemplate music.

This approach to aesthetics, although it underscores the uniqueness of

music, artistic development and the need to educate the masses to understand the

musical properties, is not immune to shortcomings. First, with its limitation to a

‘special’ group of people (music elites), it is doubtful if most average persons will

ever appreciate ‘great works of music (Abeles, Hoffer & Klotman, 1999). Second,

the assumption that it is by attending solely to the formal properties of music that

listeners will undergo an aesthetic experience limits the scope of musical

experience. The possibility of music embodying or representing other sensuous or

expressive power is eminent. Thus, to conceive of music in abstraction to any

moral, social, religious, political, personal or otherwise practical connection that

these formal qualities may embody, or represent, as claimed by the formalists, is

woefully inadequate to account for the nature and value of music and lacks

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practical usefulness. But as a theory of aesthetics, the absolutist/formalist claim

holds some iota of truth and accounts partially for the nature and value of music.

Referentialism. As the name itself suggests, the referentialists hold that

music refers listeners to non-musical ideas or associations. In other words, the

meaning of music is derived ‘outside’ of the music. By and large, the culture of

the music, the context of the performance, past experiences of the listener and

lyrics of the music all serve to influence the meaning of music. Often when

people hear a piece of music that represents or embodies an idea, emotions or

events, they derive some meaning and value from the work. A clear evidence of

this happens when one listens to patriotic songs or national anthems.

Notwithstanding its practical soundness, as a theory of aesthetics, referentialism is

prone to flaws. The main plank on which arguments are levied against it is that, it

violates the meaningfulness of artistic experience. Such a position makes aesthetic

reactions vague and can lead discussions on aesthetics down a thorny path.

Expressionism. From the name, it may be apparent that this position

holds that music expresses feelings and emotions. For most people, music serves

the primary goal of expressing emotions. According to Langer (1979), music is

the “tonal analogue of the emotive life.” Expressed through tempo, tension and

relaxation as well as other musical devices, music can simulate real life

experiences. On the surface view, this theory sounds appealing and consequently,

many people resonate with it because of the common experience of the emotional

dimension of music, but, like all the above foregoing theories expressed herein

have flaws, the expressionist theory of aesthetic response is no exception.

Now, the concept of equating aesthetic response to the arousal of emotions

has remained mired for many years. First, this aesthetic stance makes evaluations

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largely subjective. What this means is that any emotional thrill can qualify for an

aesthetic experience. But a more pressing concern is that other experiences, other

than music, including food, sex, drugs, money also elicit pleasurable emotions.

That is emotional expression is not unique to music only. On the basis of this, it

remains unclear if this theory can account adequately for aesthetic response to

music.

Absolute-Expressionism. The next aesthetic position to consider, which

also has been adopted as one of the theoretical frameworks under whose aegis this

study is placed, is absolute-expressionism. According to this theory, the arts offer

meaningful cognitive experiences and enable the individual to derive optimal

enjoyment of the arts (Reimer, 1989). This philosophical strand is discussed in

detail under the ‘theoretical framework.’ In the following, I shall review the

aesthetic response through the lenses of psychology, which inadvertently provided

scientific accounts of some of the key issues raised in the philosophy of

aesthetics.

Psychological approaches on Aesthetic Response to Music

There is a longstanding connection between the field of psychology and

musical understanding and appreciation. Although aesthetics was born as a branch

of philosophy, psychological views have offered valuable insights by way of

providing empirical and scientific explanations to the phenomenon of aesthetics.

According to Barrett (2006, p. 176), “psychological views of aesthetic response

have arisen largely from the study of music perception and cognition in the field

of psycho-acoustics, specifically the subfield of empirical or experimental

aesthetics.” Psychological views from experimental aesthetics have basically

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informed theoretical and methodological approaches for conducting research in

aesthetics.

Psychological science of aesthetics. The empirical investigations of

aesthetic experience can be traced to Gustav Fechner (1860) who wanted to give a

scientific treatment to human sensation. In the bid to offer a general

understanding of the perceptual qualities that drive our aesthetic experiences,

Fechner focused on analysis of the elemental properties of an artwork, rather than

confronting complex philosophical concepts of beauty. Despite the influence of

Fechner’s account, Gestalt psychology proffered an alternative which was more

of a holistic approach to perception. Gestalt psychologists reasoned that

perception cannot be dissected into basic elements because the whole is different

from a sum of its parts.

Building on Fechner’s work, Berlyne (1971), who is credited with

establishing the field of empirical aesthetics, took a different dimension and

developed a theory about the way artworks arouse feelings. According to Berlyne,

the most liked stimuli (musical work) are the ones with optimal degree of arousal,

and this degree of liking gradually decreases towards the extremes of arousal

potential. A major component of Berlyne’s experimental aesthetics is the optimal-

complexity model (also described as inverted U shaped curve). This is discussed

in detail in the theoretical framework.

Having paved the way for the experimental study of aesthetics by offering

theoretical and methodological approaches, there has been an immense interest in

research works examining aesthetic response using a wide range of variables and

measures. Informed by Berlyne’s work, North and Hargreaves (1997) offered

alternative explanations to aesthetic responses, based on a review of research

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related to music in everyday life. They are a) radio plugging b) preference-

feedback c) acculturation and familiarity, and d) complexity and tempo. Put

together, the underlying assumptions for the proffered theories can be

conveniently summarized as:

a) At any given time there should be a positive relationship between

liking and familiarity, but over time liking should wax and wane as

a person chooses to or not to listen to given pieces of music.

b) Through acculturation some music becomes more familiar and

predictable, thus less subjectively complex.

Cognitive science. With heavy reliance on digital computers, cognitive

scientists basically seek to understand mental processes such as perception,

memory, language, emotion and reasoning. In fact, cognitive science adopts a

multidisciplinary approach to the study of psychological processes. Cognitive

scientists study mental abilities from information processing perspective -

information is encoded, stored and retrieved by the brain. This kind of processing

is top-down where knowledge guides the sensory processes and orients critical

features of the arts. This position is distinguished with the bottom-up where low-

level sensory processes lead to knowledge. The cognitive science approach is

founded on the assumption that people apply their knowledge of this world to

interpret experiences.

Applied to aesthetic experiences, cognitive scientists hold that based on

personal and cultural knowledge, the listener forms expectations that help to

interpret musical works and direct listening to salient features. “Prior knowledge”,

according to Shimamura, “influences aesthetic experiences” (2013, p.18). The

idea expressed herein is that schemas (conceptual framework) are used as guides

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for perception and understanding. When listening to music, people may have

expectations of how the music should be performed and this requires some form

of knowledge in music; knowledge of the music can help in processing the music

from top to the elemental qualities of the music (Shimamura & Palmer, 2014). In

recent years, cognitive science has gained interest as an approach in addressing

the ways in which we process sensory experiences, especially our aesthetic

responses to music. The implication for this study is that, as participants

(especially those with musical training) apply conceptual framework in

interpreting or processing a piece of music, aesthetic responses may be evoked. In

this study, conscious effort is made to sample music and non-music majors who

apparently may express different processing and interpretation of the played

musical stimulus.

Sociological Approaches on Aesthetic Response to Music

Most people will readily agree that beyond the music (physical properties

of music) and the one who listens to music, the social engagement aspect of music

forms an integral part of musical enjoyment and appreciation. To this end, the

cultural, situational and social context of any musical engagement cannot be

downplayed. The sociological views on aesthetic response tend to centre on

musical ‘preference’ or ‘taste’, under the broad rubric of ‘musical appreciation’.

Here, of particular interest to music educators and researchers is the examination

of adolescent’s preference for specific musical genres. In this respect, Frith (1987)

notes that adolescents consider popular music as a possession and also that, they

feel a sense of ownership of such song(s), the performance and its performer(s).

The findings of Frith is further buttressed by Hargreaves and North (1999), who

note aptly that music plays an important role in adolescent’s identification and

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delimitation of their social groups. For adolescents, ‘their music’ is used as a

means of including others into their social group and excluding others.

In relation to this current study, the sociological views of aesthetic

response highlight the fact that individual and collective experience of music in a

social and cultural setting are central to the development of aesthetic response and

this is manifested in a range of musical modes of engagement. By way of

extension, in the analysis and interpretation of emergent data, this study gives due

cognizance to the cultural context in which musical behaviour (aesthetic response)

occurred.

Aesthetic Experience

Having couched aesthetics under the intellectual domains of philosophy,

psychology and sociology, it remains to consider how this particular affective

musical behaviour called ‘aesthetic response’ has been variously described by

scholars. Mention must here be made that an aesthetic response to music is the

outcome of an aesthetic experience. But most of the time, the two terms (aesthetic

response and aesthetic experience) are used interchangeably. And, regardless of

what it is or what constitutes it, “aesthetic experience” is recognized as a human

experience (Reimer, 1989). Now, in the discussions to follow, the focus is more

on the experience than the aesthetic qualities of objects, events or phenomenon.

The common view for most people will be to equate the aesthetic

experience or feeling with the sense of beauty. While this may be partially true,

other scholars (e.g. Hargreaves, 1986) reason that certain aspects of music which

contribute to the aesthetic value may not fit neatly into the rubric of beauty.

Before any further discussions on aesthetic experience to music, it must be

observed that the terms aesthetic and affective responses are sometimes used

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interchangeably (Amuah & Sracoo, 1996). However, some scholars have drawn

distinctions between the two terms. To this end, a musical response that involves

awareness of emotional component to the stimulus is often regarded as affective

response whilst an aesthetic response constitutes an intense, subjective and

personal experience resulting from an interaction with a musical event.

Consequently, since musical responses are inherently subjective, a clear cut

demarcation of the two cannot be drawn. Even so, Hargreaves (1989) aptly argues

that an aesthetic experience applies to “more or less any reaction that any person

might have to any work of art, defined in the broadest possible terms” (p. 108).

This implies that a lay person’s judgment or preference for a piece of music and a

music critic’s critique both reflect aesthetic experience. Although this position is

broad and automatically encompasses any musical response, other proffered

positions either pertain to a particular situation or rather delimits the range of

responses that could be generally considered as an aesthetic experience. Yet, other

scholars (Madsen & Geringer, 2004; Hancock, 2008) have opined that aesthetic

experiences are too subjective to be studied by researchers and therefore, what

actually aesthetic experiences represent, elude definition. These concerns

notwithstanding, some scholars have attempted to offer explanations to aesthetic

experiences.

Radocy and Boyle (2003) maintain that, most often, aesthetic experience

is described as a particular type of affective behaviour which is a subjective,

personal response to the aesthetic qualities of music. However, in their view, what

exactly constitutes these aesthetic qualities is not mentioned. Reimer (1989) also

believes that an individual’s response to the aesthetic qualities is based on his/her

ability to perceive the expressive qualities of music. For him, aesthetic experience

is the outcome of attending or being absorbed in music’s embodied meaning and

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reacting feelingfully to the expressive aesthetic qualities. According to Reimer,

the aesthetic qualities are conveyed by melody, harmony, rhythm, tone colour,

texture and form which also are “expressive of or analogous to isomorphic with

the patterns of felt life or subjectivity or conditions of livingness” (p.102). In

addition, Reimer maintained that the “aesthetic experience serves no utilitarian

purpose. It is experienced for the sake of experience in and of itself” (1989, p.

116).

It seems clear enough from the discussion that Radocy and Boyle (2003)

and Reimer (1989) conceive of aesthetic experience in two ways. First, aesthetic

experience is subjective which implicitly connotes diverse degrees and intensity

of this experience depending on a number of variables. Second, for an experience

to be truly musical, listeners must perceive and respond to the aesthetic qualities,

and that this experience is valuable in itself. However, Bowman (2003) and Elliot

(1995) have levied heavy criticisms (which even sympathetic critics identify)

against Reimer’s work on the grounds of narrowing our musical understanding

and experience of the diversity of musical endeavours and musical products

worldwide by a) imputing a single purpose to all of them, b) imposing a single

mode of response on all their listeners, and c) attributing a single motivation to all

music makers and music listeners everywhere. By so doing, Elliot claims, the

fallacy of inculcating the ethnocentric ideology of the eighteenth-century is

committed.

Commenting on the aesthetic experience, Knieter (1971, as cited in

Radocy and Boyle, 2003) also cites five characteristics that embody an aesthetic

encounter, namely: focus, perception, affect, cognition and cultural matrix. For

him, an individual must first focus by devoting attention to the music and respond

thereto. Upon focusing, the next process is perception (awareness of the sensory

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data). Granted that an individual focuses and perceives the musical stimulus,

Knieter further states that two types of affect occur; physiological changes (such

as change in blood pressure, respiration and electrodermal response) and

feelingful reaction (emotional sets). Concomitant to the affect is cognitive

processing which is particularly important to the aesthetic experience. This stage

involves analysis, synthesis, abstraction, generalization and evaluation. In this

sense, musical knowledge and training contribute greatly to the quality of an

aesthetic experience. Finally, reflected in the aesthetic experience are the values

that one learns within a cultural context. Kneiter’s model for the aesthetic

experience seems to capture the core constituents of the aesthetic experience

(cited in Radocy & Boyle 2003). Eventually, his work informed many research

works and other aesthetic theories. Similarly, Abeles, Hoffer and Klotman also

identified six characteristics of the aesthetic experience: the non-utilitarian value

(aesthetic experience is an end in itself), the feeling dimension, intellect

engagement, focus of attention, experiential nature of the aesthetic experience,

and a rich and meaningful experience it offers.

From the discussion above, for an experience to be aesthetic, it must result

in a feelingful reaction to the perceived interaction of the aesthetic qualities the

music embodies. It also seems clear enough to recognize that an aesthetic

response is meaningful within a cultural matrix. Expressed in the foregoing is

that, an amalgamation of affective and cognitive processes of a musical stimulus

is the outcome of aesthetic experience (Leder et al, 2004). The general idea is that

aesthetic experiences transcend undergoing an emotional interlude.

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Music Preference(s)

The preferences for music types affect aesthetic responses to that music.

Also musical preferences result from a complex mixture of musical, personal and

environmental characteristics. Just as preference for certain foods or clothing to a

large extent has an effect on us, so does preference for certain types of music

influence aesthetic responses. Taking into consideration research findings on

familiarity of musical stimulus and likeness, it may seem plausible that aesthetic

response to preferred piece of music or musical types can be positive. It is in view

of this that this study reviews literature in the area of music preference,

particularly in looking at the factors that affect musical preference as they also

affect aesthetic responses. In addition, this will also place into perspective the

musical preferences of university students (who form the research participants)

and inadvertently inform the musical stimulus to be used for the study.

Factors that Affect Music Preference(s)

Individuals manifest different preferences for various musical types.

Accordingly, a myriad of factors tend to affect the musical preferences of

individuals which mainly are categorized into inherent musical factors (structure,

style, complexity, familiarity of music), individual psychological factors (age,

gender, cultural group, musical training), and social variable factors (work,

leisure, entertainment situations, presence or absence of others) (Hargreaves,

North & Tarrant, 2006). The authors refer to these dimensions as the three-tier

framework of musical preference. In the subsequent paragraphs, these three broad

dimensions are discussed.

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The person (human-related factors). In relation to this current study, the

human-related factors of musical preference which have far reaching

consequences are age, gender, and musical training. First, age is a major

determinant of musical preferences. Generally, age accounts for differences in

behaviour among people and as a result studies on musical preference contain

numerous references to age effects. The literature indicates that while popular

music appeals to adolescents, other musical types, especially classical, are less

preferred (Hargreaves & North, 1997). Here, while older (40 years and above)

people had larger preference for classical music, adolescents resonated more with

popular music including soft rock and country. A number of explanations have

been offered to account for the disparities in musical preference for different age

groups. The most obvious may be that as people grow older, their musical

preferences also change. Alternatively, Otchere (2013) explains that,

compared with classical music, popular music incites

responses that make listeners move, dance, clap or shout

(which are typical tendencies of people in the teen ages).

Classical music is comparably more relaxed and requires

deeper intellectual processing (which typically reflects

adulthood rather than teenagers) (p. 36).

As far as this study is concerned, this review highlights the point that people of

differing age group have a liking for different musical types.

Another human-related factor of musical preference is gender. Like many

other empirical studies, although gender is not a primary variable in this study, it

is also considered to ensure representativeness of population. The literature on

music preference and gender seem to converge on the fact that, compared with

females, males are more likely to prefer music described as ‘hard’ or ‘tough’.

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Females, in stark contrast, tend to prefer music described as ‘softer’ and

‘romantic’ (Hargreaves & North, 1997). A possible explanation of this apparent

gender differences in music preference is that of the established conventional

general gender stereotypes and social roles. From the point of view of

physiological make-up of both sexes, where males exhibit gross motor skills and

females fine motor skills, according to scholars such as Agak (2002), males prefer

loud and rigorous music while females prefer soft and gentle music. Now, since

this current study includes students from both sexes, this review offers another

parameter for interpreting to the responses that may emerge.

All through this study, the effects of musical training on musical

behaviour is expressed. As has been observed by Davis (2003), the majority of

studies on experimental aesthetics have focused on comparing listening

experiences of musicians and non-musicians. Interestingly, results from these

studies show that little variation exists between the two groups. Taking a cue from

the literature on aesthetic response, this study also investigates musical training as

a variable.

The final point to consider is the influence of ethnicity and cultural

background on musical preferences. In the light of the fact that music is

performed in a cultural, national and ethnic group context, music preferences may

vary widely from one person to the other. Music is organized within a cultural

context and listening or performance is done in a particular setting that influence

preference for that music. For example, Radocy and Boyle (2003) maintain that

musical meaning can be derived within a particular context. In Ghana, musical

styles of the various ethnic groups have distinct features that make them unique to

their respective cultures. Individuals in their respective cultures easily relate and

identify with musical types prevalent in their ethnic group as well as the

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performance context. However, it needs pointing out that people from other ethnic

groups can have preference for music associated with another ethnic group. In

view of this, since Ghana is a multi-ethnic society, research participants were

sampled from different cultural backgrounds and ethnic groups which implied

varied musical preferences. Hence, this provides, yet, another parameter for

interpreting emerging data.

Musical factors. A consideration of music characteristics brings to focus

elemental components of music such as structure, style, complexity and

familiarity of music, among others. It would seem apparent that different musical

types embody various characteristics. Generally, four classes are primary

properties of the musical stimulus: physical properties, complexity, referential

meaning and performance quality. Physical properties include rhythms, structure,

form, melody, harmony, timbre, harmony among others. The other three classes

stem from how the physical properties are employed in the music. Obviously, all

these properties which are experienced at different levels by people may

contribute to the differences in the musical preferences.

From the foregoing discourse, a number of factors come into play to result

in peoples’ preferences for musical types. In fact, a detailed review of all of these

factors is beyond the scope of this study. In accordance with the purpose of this

study, the literature on musical preference was reviewed to encompass those

factors which have direct bearings on this work. This was to provide a palpable

ground for the interpretation and analysis of emergent data.

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Theoretical Framework

To provide a particular perspective, or lens to examine the questions set in

a study, it is extremely important to review the work in the light of theoretical

framework. In this sense, theoretical framework may be referred to as foundations

that set the parameters and boundaries for a study. Founding a study on theoretical

framework carries with it a number of advantages. Among these advantages

include directing the focus of the work and providing particular perspective for

examining the work. For these reasons, this study was placed under the aegis of

four theories: (a) Absolute expressionism, (b) Berlyne’s arousal theory, (c) Mere

exposure theory (d) Piaget’s Genetic Epistemology.

Absolute Expressionism. Based on the understanding that aesthetic

responses may be a function of complex interplay of variables including musical

stimulus, personal experiences, situational context, among others, this study was

viewed through the lens of absolute expressionism. Absolute expressionists

believe that the nature and value of music is derived from attending to the internal

qualities such as melody, rhythm, tone colour and harmony (Abeles, Hoffer,

Klotman, 1995). However, other extra-musical concepts can serve to enhance the

experience with the music. Commenting on this view, Reimer (1989) insists that

the meaning and value are internal; they are a function of attending to the internal

qualities themselves and how they are organized. But, additionally, Reimer

realized that the artistic or cultural influences surrounding the work of art may be

strongly involved in the experience of the work. Expressed in the foregoing

discussions are two core issues that bear significantly on this study.

First, aesthetic experiences can result from attending to the internal

qualities of the art music and how these qualities have been employed in the

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music. By extension, the perceptual capacity of an individual in identifying these

musical qualities (form, structure, elements, organization, technical, and

dynamics) and how they have been ingeniously used to embody an idea in the

music may elicit some aesthetic experiences. However, most people are not

sufficiently conscious of musical details. And so, invariably such people listen to

music for the sheer pleasure of musical sounds. By their training, undergraduate

music students are expected to develop their musical perception to be conscious

of musical details and their usage in the music. In effect, since learning how these

musical elements work and are organised greatly enhance the musical experience,

undergraduate music students are expected to respond differently from other

students who may not have acquired any formal music training.

Second, absolute expressionists recognize that artistic or cultural factors

influence the meaning and value of a piece of music. Commonly, the words in a

song, such as patriotic, social protest and religious songs, and so on, can indeed

evoke powerful feelings or affective responses. This theory affords a parameter

which will be appropriated in the analysis and interpretation of the emergent data.

Figure 1 provides a visual display of the absolute-expressionist position.

Artistic/cultural influences
Extra-artistic
Art work
(Music) Meaning and value

Figure 1: Diagram of the absolute expressionist position

Illustration cited from Reimer (1989)

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Berlyne’s Arousal Theory. Another influential theory that borders on this

study is Berlyne’s arousal theory of experimental aesthetics. The basic thrust of

Berlyne’s theory is that preference for stimuli is related to their arousal potential,

which is the amount of activity they produce in areas of the brain such as the

reticular activating system (Hargreaves & North, 2004). Put differently, the most

liked stimuli (musical work) are the ones with moderate degree of arousal, and

this degree of liking gradually decreases towards the extremes of arousal

potential. Another tenet of this theory is that, liking for music is determined

principally by the effect of collative stimulus properties of the music (complexity,

novelty/familiarity, redundancy/uncertainty, surprise, incongruity).

Essentially, this theory accounts for how people may have different

preferences for various musical types. Carrying this theory to its logical

conclusion, Hargreaves and North (2004) claim, there is an inverted-U

relationship between preference and stimulus arousal potential. The original idea

of the inverted U adapted by Berlyne and subsequently other scholars

(Hargreaves, North and Madsen) was first proposed by Wundt. There are a

considerable number of studies which are supportive of the inverted U-shape

curve hypothesis (Radocy, 1982; Hargreaves & Casting, 1986). In Figure 2a, the

low level intensity of stimulus starts from zero and then rises to a peak and after

further increases in exposure, likeness for the music declines.

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Pleasantness (Wundt)
Hedonic value (Berlyne)

Stimulus intensity (Wundt)

Arousal (Berlyne)

Novelty (Berlyne)

0 +

_ (a) The Wundt/Berlyne curve

Favourability

Familiarity/Time

0 +

(b) The hypothesized curve linking favourability to familiarity/time

Figure 2: Diagram of the inverted-U curve

Hargreaves (2001) building on Berlyne/Wundt’s curve, notes that, zero

familiarity with musical stimulus (nil exposure to the musical stimulus) could also

imply complete familiarity with the stimulus. For him, (as illustrated in Figure 2b)

liking for completely novel stimuli is initially negative: people initially dislike

novel objects. However, Hargreaves (2001) notes that,

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as the objects become more familiar, liking becomes

increasingly positive, reaching a peak at some optimum

familiarity level, and further increases in familiarity give

rise to a decline in liking, which eventually becomes

negative at very high levels of familiarity (p. 110).

In essence, this theory highlights the differences in preferences of individuals for

certain kinds of music and underscores the role of collative properties such as

familiarity and complexity of music on responses.

A closely related theory to Wundt/Berlyne’s arousal theory (discussed

earlier) is the mere exposure theory (Zajonc, 1968; Sawyer, 1981; Miller, 1976;

Kunst-Wilson & Zajonc, 1980). The basic tenet of the mere exposure theory is

that, the more exposure we have to a stimulus, the more we will tend to like it.

That is familiarity breeds liking more than contempt. Choices are made based

more often on familiar things than on unfamiliar things. The explanation for this

is that things grow on us and we acquire tastes for things often over time with

repeated exposure (Otchere, 2010). Generally, empirical studies abound in

showing the relationship between familiarity of music (as a variable) and musical

responses. For example, Bradley (1999) found a significant positive correlation

between song familiarity and song preference across a number of selected songs.

In relation to this study, the mere exposure theory provides an overarching

framework for explaining how familiarity can influence people’s responses to

music (which can be achieved by repeating stimulus). This inadvertently can

either serve to enhance or diminish an aesthetic encounter.

Piaget’s Genetic Epistemology. Piaget proposed this theory to account

for the essential part of the organisation of thinking. His concept of genetic

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epistemology enabled him to explain how children tend to develop towards

increasingly abstract and logical forms of thinking. From birth, children gradually

acquire the logical forms of thinking through the accumulation of experiences

pertaining to the environment. According to Hargreaves (2001), Piaget’s theory is

based on the idea of adaptation to the environment. Adaptation is seen as the

process by which cognitive structures are developed. According to Piaget’s

account, adaptation takes place via the processes of assimilation and

accommodation. Hargreaves (2001) rightly notes, “we assimilate new objects and

events that we encounter in the environment: we accommodate to objects and

events by changing our ways of thinking about them.”

By the process of enculturation, people grow with cognitive schemes for

listening to music. The development of conceptual framework (scheme) is

essential for processing, analysing and appreciating musical pieces and

performances. This theory offers another parameter for understanding the music

preference of students.

Research on Aesthetic Response and Various Aspects of Music

For this study, reviewing some of the earlier studies relating to aesthetic

response and various aspects of music highlighted the salient variables as well as

informed the methodology. Two of such studies are reviewed in the subsequent

paragraphs.

In the first study, Madsen and Geringer (2004) examined the aesthetic

responses of trained musicians to graduated pitch changes in a musical context. In

their study, the primary goal was to ascertain the perceptive ability of music

majors in identifying a graduated pitch change compared with nonmusic majors.

Of particular interest, in their study, was to find out how perception of a graduated

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pitch change affects aesthetic responses. To achieve this purpose, subjects (music

and non-music majors) listened to an excerpt of Haydn’s symphony number 104

modified to reflect an initial rising or lowering pitch centre at the rate of one cent

for every 1.2 sec until a 300-cent pitch centre change was attained. The results of

this study indicated that when the aesthetic responses of both music and non-

music students were compared, music students tended to have a more favourable

response towards the unaltered performance than performances with sharper or

flatter pitch change conditions. Apparently, Madsen and Geringer stated further

that subjects (music and non-music majors) could not conclusively determine the

presence of a pitch change. Subsequently, the researchers in their study concluded

on the note that identification of “a gradual change of pitch remained in the

threshold of quite sophisticated musicians” (Hancock, 2008; p. 178).

In another related work, Madsen, Byrnes, Capperella-Sheldon and Brittin

(1993) studied the aesthetic responses of musicians and non-musicians to music

selections composed by Haydn, Holst, Strauss, Mozart and Puccini. In their study,

the CRDI was used to measure on-going and changing responses to the music

played. The results identified in the CRDI graph showed that the responses for

research participants were unique for each selection. However, group data were

similar for both frequency and magnitude of recorded aesthetic response. The

authors acknowledged that participants had an aesthetic response while listening

to the piece of music. However the intensity of the aesthetic responses varied over

the course of the performance resulting in both subtle and extreme changes.

With respect to all these studies, various methodological approaches have

been adopted in the study of aesthetic response. These include eliciting response

during the aural event using devices such as CRDI (Madsen & Geringer, 1999).

Now, issues concerning timing (during or after the aural event) for elicitation of

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response have, in reviewing the body of related research, implications for the

study. Significant questions are raised relating to a) responding in a listening as a

‘reflection-in-action’ and b) responding after listening as a ‘reflection-on-action’.

While the proponents of the latter claim that listening is ‘action’ and capable of

bearing distinction between the two types, Barrett (2006) is of the view that “what

is accessed ‘in’ rather than ‘after’ the event may be qualitatively different in ways

that are important to understanding aesthetic thinking and response” (p. 176).

Taking precedence from earlier research works, this current study employs both

‘reflection-in-action’ (using the CRDI) and ‘reflection-on-action’ (using a

questionnaire) for the elicitation of responses.

Summary of the literature review

In this review, pertinent and related literature on aesthetic response has

been discussed. The introduction to the chapter set the tone for the discussion by

acknowledging the importance of the whole exercise and presenting the structure

of the review. Subsequently, discussions on aesthetic response were couched in

philosophy, psychology and sociology as they all shed important light on the

topic. Now, drawing from the three major intellectual domains, the theoretical

framework adopted for this study was subsequently addressed. These included

Absolute-expressionism, Berlyne’s arousal theory, Mere-exposure theory,

Piaget’s Genetic Epistemology. In this review, interest was given to relationships

between this current study and the theoretical framework. Next, the potential

influence of musical preference on aesthetic response was reviewed. This

encompassed factors such as age, gender, musical training, musical variables,

cultural and situational context which affect musical preferences of people. Two

studies, in particular, were identified to have direct bearings on this study. From

these studies, important issues concerning the nature of sample, variables to

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consider in this study, musical resources, research instruments, research

methodology and data collection techniques were ascertained. All in all, the

relevant ideas stemming from this review were indispensable in shaping this

current study.

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CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODS

Introduction

In this chapter, I discuss the general procedures and methods designed and

carried out for this study. Generally, research methods represent the research

procedures for collecting, analysing, interpreting and reporting research studies.

Here, I divulge the array of activities: methods, techniques and procedures which

were associated with conducting the entire research. In this sense, the research

design used in this study encompassed the population and sample, the sampling

procedures, the nature of the data collection, the research instruments used,

validity and reliability, data collection procedure, and data analysis procedures. It

also includes the role I played as the researcher in the entire research process, the

anticipated limitations in the study and suggested solutions to the limitations, and

these are described in details in the subsequent paragraphs.

Research Design

The general research design of this study is discussed to help establish the

parameters of the study and specify data collection methods. A closer look at

some classic studies reveals that, thorough and high-quality studies result from

well-designed research procedure. Below is a description of the research design

used for this study.

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Concerning the types of research work, McMillan and Schumacher (2001)

identified three basic types, namely: basic, applied and evaluative research.

Generally, the distinctions between these types are essentially in the degree to

which the research facilitates decision making. Of the three types, this study tends

to be more of a basic research by function. Ultimately, results from this study will

provide empirical evidence that will inform the delivery and development of

aesthetic responses to music in the field of music education.

Another dimension of the research design to consider is the purpose of the

study. Neuman (2003) broadly categorized research works into three purposes

that they can serve, namely: descriptive, exploratory and explanatory research.

Notwithstanding the interrelatedness of the identified purposes to which a

research work can serve, Neuman claims further that most studies fall dominantly

into one type. Accordingly, this study heavily slants towards exploratory study.

Otchere (2013) cites Kumar (2005) as noting that exploratory studies are “usually

carried out when a researcher wants to explore areas about which s/he has little or

no knowledge” (p. 10).

With respect to the time-frame, this study was conducted within the

framework of the cross-sectional design. In a cross-sectional study, unlike

longitudinal studies where data is collected across time periods, data is collected

from research participants at a specific period of time.

Typical of most studies, the next dimension to consider is the general

procedure of the research work. Considering this present research, casual-

comparative design procedure was used to conduct this research. According to

Macmillan and Schumacher (2001), “rather than manipulating what will happen

to subjects, as in experimental designs, the research focuses on what has happened

differently for comparable groups of subjects, then explores whether the subjects

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in each group are different in some way”(p. 34). The quotation above succinctly

captures the nature of this current research. Specifically, two different groups of

University undergraduate students (music and non-music majors), were measured

on aesthetic responses, to ascertain the differences and similarities in responses

between the two groups. By simulating the listening conditions of students, this

study, without manipulating the variables, canvassed the experiences (aesthetic

response) that actually happen when students listen to music.

Finally, the mode of inquiry adopted for this study was the mixed method

approach. This term refers to “a class of research where the researcher mixes or

combines quantitative and qualitative research techniques, methods, approach,

concepts and language into a single study” (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004). This

present study combined quantitative and qualitative research methods, approaches

and techniques. Most studies that have employed mixed method research

approach have premised its use on the fact that more than one method carries

some benefits. The mixed method approach offers multiple approaches that

capitalize on the strengths of each approach (quantitative and qualitative) and

offset their different weaknesses (Creswell, 2002).

Indeed, research methodologists and scholars have devoted a great deal of

attention to explore the variant models of mixed method. However, the selection

of a variant model is premised on three key factors: a) the time order of data

collection, b) the relative weighing (priority) of the two approaches, c) how the

quantitative and qualitative methods are mixed. In view of the identified factors,

the specific research method design employed in this study was concurrent,

embedded correlational model (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004). Procedurally,

the time order for this study was concurrent: meaning that the quantitative and

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qualitative data were collected, analysed and interpreted at approximately the

same time. Also, the two approaches (quantitative and qualitative) were given

unequal weight (priority) in addressing the problem of this study. In this case,

quantitative method had a greater emphasis within the study than qualitative. In

relation to the mixing of the two approaches, the qualitative method was

embedded within a larger quantitative design. Here, the qualitative method was

embedded concurrently with the collection of quantitative data. Subsequently,

interpretations were made using the embedded qualitative data, as the two datasets

were brought together in a concurrent approach. Specifically, qualitative

analytical procedures (descriptive statistical procedures, relevance of context as

well as thematic analysis) were used in analysing and interpreting the emergent

datasets which were predominantly quantitative. As may be apparent, the above

description represented the defining characteristics for the selected mixed method

approach for this current study. The rationale for the selection of this approach

was that the quantitative data and the subsequent analysis would provide a general

understanding of the research problem. The embedded qualitative data and the

ensuing analysis of it, was to explain the statistical results by exploring the

participant’s views in more depth.

Population

The population for a study refers to a collection or set of measures of

variable that share common characteristics (Glenberg & Andrzejewski, 2007).

The population for this study was University undergraduate students. As a step in

this direction, the target population for this study was a public University in

Ghana. Understandably, members of this population shared some common

characteristics. In terms of age, members of this population may possibly be 17

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years old and above. In terms of education, they must have all gone through prior

education to at least high school level or its equivalent. Consequently, the

population for this study was carefully selected taking into account some specific

reasons.

First, the selection of this population was on the basis that, participants of

this study will be old enough and fairly matured to manipulate and handle the dial

of the CRDI device. This assumption was backed by the understanding that very

young and very old people have been found to have lower reliabilities than other

subjects (Asmus, 1999) and also that younger participants may not understand the

task they are to perform. The second reason was based on the assumption that the

educational level and experiences of the participants relatively will afford them a

sense of awareness of their preferences, value judgments and responses to diverse

music genres. Beyond this awareness, the required skill and vocabulary needed to

fill out the questionnaire would have been acquired by participants by virtue of

educational level. Lastly, to a considerable extent, participants would have been

amply exposed to different music genres. In sum, the population target for this

study was carefully selected in order to achieve the anticipated purposes for this

study.

Sample

In all, a sample size of 64 was selected from the population. For this study,

a sample size of 64 was considered ideal because, according to Glenberg (1988), a

sample size of 30 randomly selected from the population is large enough to

display important characteristics of the population from which it is selected.

Considering the purpose of this study, it became obvious that the sample must

reflect a number of diverse characteristics. Of particular interest for this study

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were the following: age, gender and academic program of study. It became

necessary for the sample for this study to be randomly selected to display these

variables. To this end, a sample of 64 was composed of 16 students from each of

the four undergraduate levels (100, 200, 300, and 400), out of which 32 were

males and 32 were females, as well as 32 music students and 32 non-music

students were stratified.

Upon these levels of stratification, it would be seen that the sample

naturally constituted a wide variety of features including association in musical

performing groups (choir, band, orchestra, among others) religion, ethnicity and

preferences. Thus, it can be said that the sample for this study was representative

of the population and also carefully selected to align with the variables considered

for this study.

Sampling techniques

To ensure that the sample reflected the population, probability sampling

techniques were employed. Glenberg (1988) puts it that each time any observation

in a population has an equal chance of occurring in the sample, it becomes

random sampling. In this section, the sampling techniques used to select the

participants for this study are described.

Considering the purpose of this study, it was important to divide the

population (undergraduate students) into mutually exclusive units before random

selection of participants could be done. This sampling technique is called

stratified random sampling. As the name suggests, stratified random sampling

involves dividing the population into groups called strata before simple random

sampling is carried out. In this case, the first strata was the level of undergraduate

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students (100, 200, 300 and 400) from which the sampling units were drawn. A

number of 16 students were drawn from each stratum (levels) in the selected

University. The type of stratified sampling techniques used here was

disproportionate because each level had unequal number of students.

Next, a secondary stratum considered was gender, where students from

each of the four undergraduate levels (first stratum) were subsumed into 16 males

and 16 females. Since this study, essentially was to explore the aesthetic

responses, it was important to have participants with varied musical training. As a

step in this direction, a third stratum composed of music and non-music majors

was done. The music students (n = 32) consisted of those who offered music in

the selected university whereas the non-music students (n = 32) were students

who studied course areas other than music.

The three levels of strata used here, although naturally constituted a wide

variety of features including, religion, educational level and participation in

musical groups, were purposely aligned with the aim of this study. By extension,

this sampling technique typified a mixed method sampling technique called

stratified-purposive sampling.

Having subsumed the sample under various strata, the independent within-

sample random sampling was conducted. As typical of this sampling technique, it

was to give each member of the population an equal chance of inclusion in this

study in order to make inferences from the sample about the population. Johnson

and Christensen (2000) aver that a sampling procedure which gives every member

of the population an equal chance of being selected is suitable for making

inferences about the population from which the sample was drawn. The choice of

these sampling techniques were aligned to the purpose of this study. Figure 3

shows a visual representation of the sampling techniques used for this study.

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Population
Undergraduate
students

Sample

Stratified purposive sampling

(Stratum)
Level Gender Courses

Independent within-sample random

Sample Sample
Sample from
from level from
courses
gender

Sample exhibiting
the characteristics
of the population

Figure 3: A diagram representing the population, sample and sampling

techniques used in this study

Research Instruments

The CRDI was the principal instrument used to measure aesthetic

responses to music. In addition, questionnaire was administered to ascertain the

biographical data. Participants were also required to indicate on the questionnaire

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whether or not they had an aesthetic response. The following is a description of

the instruments as well as their usage in this present study.

The Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI)

The CRDI device is a technologically based measurement strategy for

measuring on-going and changing responses to musical stimulus in a continuous

manner. This kind of measure is done synchronous to provided musical stimulus.

Developed in the late 1980’s at the Florida State University Center for Music

Research, the CRDI has been used for a wide range of studies including music

therapy and educational studies (Madsen, 1996). The basic work of this device is

that, a computer interface translates incoming voltage to a digital representation

ranging from 0 to 255; that is, placement of the pointer along the dial sends a

corresponding voltage that is converted to a numerical rating. These recorded

numerical ratings represent the dependent variable (aesthetic response) across

time.

This device is a non-verbal means of assessing musical responses in real

time synchronous with provided musical stimulus. Unlike the traditional

measuring strategies like adjective checklist, semantic differential method and the

use of Likert-scales, the CRDI has a relative advantage of measuring on-going

and changing musical responses while people listen to music. This advantage is

premised on the fact that when people listen to a particular type of music,

responses may vacillate or remain constant from the start to the end.

The choice of the CRDI was informed by four key factors which were

considered necessary to obtaining the desired results of this study. First, it is a

common experience that, most times, from an initial contact until the end of a

music listening episode, responses may largely swing back and forth. Secondly,

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to understand the self-defined aesthetic responses of students, it was deemed

appropriate to synchronize responses to music heard with aesthetic peaks. Thirdly,

the quantitative nature and graphical representation output of the CRDI was

considered ideal for this purpose. Finally, in reviewing earlier research works

related to this study, I found that most studies employed the CRDI in its data

collection (Geringer, Madsen, & Gregory, 2004). Now, to set up this device for

use, a computer, potentiometer, 16-bit analogue and dial were required.

Potentiometer. This component (also known as the interface box) is

connected to a computer using a 16-bit analogue. The interface used for this study

had eight ports, meaning eight responses could be ascertained simultaneously.

The function of the interface is to receive information from the dials which is

manipulated by the listener. In addition, the interface sends information to a

computer which is read as a graph. Further still, it has an inbuilt memory capacity

to store information.

Figure 4: A picture showing the potentiometer and the 16-bit analogue

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The Dial. The next component of this device is the dial which is

manipulated to signify a change in aesthetic response. Attached to the dial is a

pointer which ranges from 0 – 255 degree arc.

Figure 5: A picture showing the dial and the 16-bit analogue

Reliability and Validity

As a general rule, research instruments to be used for data collection must

exhibit a high degree to consistency (reliability) and measure exactly what it

purports to measure (validity).

Validity of the CRDI. It must be noted that pertinent issues on validity

relate to several different aspects of measurement. In actual sense, tests and

devices are designed for a variety of purposes. According to Geringer, Madsen

and Gregory (2004), the validity of a research instrument must be evaluated based

on specific purposes, and there are a number of ways that validity can be

expressed.

Most often, the content validity, which primarily relates to the judgment of

whether or not a test measures an intended content area, is used for classification.

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To do so requires establishing both face validity (judgment that the test appears to

measure some intended content area) and sampling validity (attaining a

representative sampling of the content area). Both of these issues have

implications for the application of CRDI in eliciting aesthetic responses. Now,

given the nature of the constructs being assessed by the CRDI, validity is

situation-specific and relates to the impinging factors of the particular research

context. As such, the CRDI has been used to measure a number of types of

responses to music including affective, mood, aesthetic, preference, and

emotional responses among others. In all these measurements, the CRDI was used

to measure various content areas depending on the focus of the research work.

Then again, as may be apparent from earlier discussions, aesthetic experience

often is multi-dimensional - an interplay of complex variables (idiosyncrasies of

particular settings, personal dispositions, population and musical selection).

According to Asmus (2009), no real conclusions have been drawn regarding the

validity of the CRDI.

Another way validity can be expressed is concurrent validity - a procedure

that attempts to relate the degree of relationship between one set of scores and

another previously recognized set measure earlier or at about the same time. In

this sense, the CRDI measures have been compared with other sets of

measurement. Among the studies that have recorded a high similarity between

CRDI measures and other sets of measurements include Brittin, 1991; Brittin and

Duke, 1997; Brittin and Sheldon, 1995; Geringer and Madsen, 1995/1996;

Johnson, 1992. Indeed, Geringer, Madsen and Gregory (2004) claim the validity

of CRDI is situation specific - that is, how the construct (in this case, aesthetic

response) has been conceived and the conditions that impinge on the particular

study.

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Reliability of the CRDI. Reliability is concerned with the degree to

which an instrument provides consistent measures. Like validity, the reliability of

an instrument can also be ascertained in a number of ways: test-retest, split

halves, parallel forms, sample observations compared with subjects, judges,

observers or devices. Unlike validity, establishing the reliability of an instrument

is quite straightforward. The reliability of the CRDI has been a focus for a number

of scholars including Capperella (1989), Madsen (1996) and Schmidt (1996). For

example, Capperella’s (1989) is credited with conducting one of the foremost

reliability studies of CRDI using the test-retest. Using the lever version of the

CRDI, Capperella divided the horizontal line into five music elements such as

dynamic and melodic. Forty participants listened to 10 classical musical excerpts

and moved the lever to the section of the dial corresponding to their focus of

attention. Test- retest reliability with musicians and non-musicians in each of the

five music element zones ranged from .73 to .98 with a mean of .90. Generally,

test-retest reliabilities have been found to range between .64 and .94 with most of

the studies being in the range of .85 and .95. Since the closer reliability tests are to

a correlation coefficient of 1.0 the more reliable the instrument is, the figures

above indicate that the CRDI is a reliable instrument. Even so, Schmidt (1996)

indicates that reliability can vary due to the subjects’ knowledge of the construct

being assessed and the subject’s age. This, of course, points toward the need to

give clear instructions on the use of the CRDI and also to ensure that subjects

understand the task they are to perform.

Questionnaire

Most of the studies conducted with the CRDI have included an exit

questionnaire which basically ascertained some important information to

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complement and confirm CRDI data. Participants were required to complete a

two-part item questionnaire. The stem question items, taken from Madsen and

Geringer (2004) were “did you have an aesthetic experience while listening to the

music?” “Did your movement of the dial correspond to what you define as an

aesthetic experience?” (p. 102).

Part one of the questionnaire consisted of biographical data including age,

level, subject of study, gender, indication of participation in musical group. Part

two, which participants completed after each music selection consisted of the

level of familiarity of music and the magnitude of the aesthetic response

(compared with other listening experiences), if there was any, during the listening

session. Seven response choices ranging from “dislike strongly” to “like strongly”

were employed. The objective was to confirm the presence or absence of aesthetic

experience during each music listening episode. Taking precedence from previous

studies, I felt it was extremely crucial for questionnaire to be completed after each

music selection to allow ample room for emotions aroused to stabilize before the

onset of another musical type (see Appendix A for a detailed account).

Procedure for Data Collection

The procedure for the collection of data in this study was subdivided into

two stages: pre-field activities (before the field) and in the field. The activities that

went under each of the stages are described below.

Pre-field activities. Having clarified and set the research topic into

perspective, I ensured that the CRDI device was properly set-up for use. This

process involved installing the software and making all the associated hardware

connections. Next, the settings of the CRDI device was calibrated to

accommodate two dials and mapped to read from a minimum value of 0 to a

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maximum value of 255. This was subsequently divided into five zones (zone 1

was approximately (0-51), zone 2 (52-102), zone 3 (103-158), zone 4 (159-210)

and finally zone 5 (211-255). This process was followed by setting the sampling

interval to the value of 1.0 second- meaning that response will be sampled once

per second. After this, the timings of the various music stimulus used in this

study were captured by recording the beginning time to the end point.

As part of the preparations, permission was also sought to use the seminar

room of the selected University’s music department for the collection of data.

Once permission was granted for the set days for data collection, I called the

research participants to remind them of their respective date and time and to also

get a confirmation of their participation.

In the field. While in the field, the research instruments and documents to

be used were made ready before the participants started reporting. This process

followed the standard protocols for conducting listening sessions and exercises.

Once the participants arrived, they were given orientation on the subject of

investigation (aesthetic response) and the use of the CRDI device, especially the

manipulation of the dial. Ample time (10 minutes) was allowed to ensure that

participants were well familiar with manipulating the dial to indicate a change in

aesthetic response. Two participants were made to sit at one of the two individual

CRDI stations. The stations were purposely arranged with large partitions to

physically and visually isolate one participant from the other. Once participants

were comfortably seated, the research assistants handed out the questionnaire to

them. Next, participants were instructed to fill-out the questions on the side

labelled Part one (biographical data) and be honest as they could in answering the

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questions. When the participants had completed this task and appeared

comfortable, I gave the following instructions:

Thank you for agreeing to be part of this study. You are about to

hear a series of six musical pieces from different musical types.

This study is an attempt to provide information about your

aesthetic experience to various musical types. As you sit quietly,

relax and listen to the music, move the dial to correspond to the

degree of aesthetic experience. Allow the music to take you

wherever it takes you as far as aesthetic response is concerned. Are

there any questions?

Using headphones, participants listened and responded to the music

stimulus as assigned. The participant’s assessment of their aesthetic response,

determined by their position of their arc pointer on a 255 arc, was recorded every

1.0 seconds (Gregory, 1992). Immediately the music was over, participants were

instructed to turn over to complete the section labelled Part two. Part two of the

questionnaire comprised questions to indicate whether participants had an

aesthetic response, the extent to which the CRDI correctly recorded their

response, and the level of familiarity of the music heard. In all, administration

time per session was approximately 30 minutes. The same process was duly

followed until all the responses of the research participants had been measured.

After measuring the responses of each participant, the emerging continuous data

was named to tally with a code on the questionnaire, classified and stored on the

computer for further processing (coding, entry analysis). As a gesture of

appreciation for participating in the research, participants were given some

refreshment.

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Musical Stimulus

For this current study, in line with the purpose, six musical types of

varying complexity and familiarity levels were selected from a study of musical

preferences of college students in Ghana. Using Otchere’s (2013) study as a

paradigm, important information on the various musical genres that undergraduate

students preferred was obtained. He identified Gospel, New age, Country,

Classical, Hip-life, Traditional and Hip-hop among others to be the musical

preferences of college students (see Appendix B). It should be carefully noted,

however, that my intention here was not to focus on preferences for musical

genres, but, rather using music of varied modes of engagement. By varied modes

of musical engagement I refer to the organization, structure, form and use of

musical elements in a piece of music. Accordingly, the selection of music

(classical, country, hip-life, traditional, new age and avant-garde) was based on

the fact that each type provides uniquely different mode of musical engagement

(see Appendix C). In addition, because familiarity of music is considered a key

variable in this study, the selection of music for classical and hip-life were

selected based on fame and popularity. In this manner, the selection of hip-life

was based on popularity, determined by sales as reported in the media (Media

chart down Ghana show, 2015) at the time of the study. Also, the selection of

Mozart’s variation for piano in C major was based on the familiarity of the theme

and qualities that the music embodies. The other musical types (avant-garde,

country and traditional) were based solely on musical reasons like mode,

structure, form and organization of musical elements.

The Classical musical type was Mozart’s variations of the piano in C

major. In general, the theme is composed of a balanced round binary form. While

keeping the tempo and harmony pure and simple, the theme of this music is

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varied in a number of ways: through increasing or decreasing tempo, mode

change and dynamics, among others.

The Country musical type was I’ll be there for you by Kenny Rogers from

the album Back to Home Again. This lyrical music, performed by a male vocalist,

is accompanied intermittently by strings and airy vocal sounds. This music is

characterized by simple chord progressions, repeated melodic themes, slow and

sometimes freely flowing tempo with a steady percussion beat. Also, the music

has an upbeat which creates a light-hearted feel.

The hip-life musical type was Adonai performed by Ghanaian popular

artists (popularly known as Sarkodie and Castro). Rendered in two languages

(English and Twi), this music is half-sung and half-rapped. It has definite

synthesized tones emphasized by an electronic guitar and heavy pound beat.

Harmonically, the entire music is built around two chords with little dynamic

variations.

The Traditional musical type titled Yaa Yaa Kole was an instrumental

piece performed by the Ghana dance ensemble. This music combines percussion

and wind instruments. In general, the piece is organized around a series of

rhythmic patterns that are each different but still complementary. While the

master drummer plays changing patterns, the other subordinate drums and

percussion instruments make up the accompanying mosaic of rhythmic patterns.

Generally, the rhythmic interplay and the harmonic effects convey a dramatic and

powerful overall feel.

The New Age musical type was titled Pilgrim from Enya’s Amaranthine

(Reprise Records). Generally, this music is characterized by very basic, tonal

melodies in major keys sung softly by a solo female vocalist, accompanied by

sustained, synthesized tones, including muted organ and airy choral sounds.

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Sustained diatonic block chords or gentle arpeggios created the bass lines. Slow

and sometimes freely flowing tempos, abundant use of echoes, little dynamic

contrast, and lack of percussion give the music an overall gentle dreamy feeling.

The next musical type used was Avant-garde music - Chamber Symphony

No. 1, Opus 9 by Arnold Schoenberg. This music is purely instrumental

performed by a chamber orchestra. Most sections of this music are primarily

dissonant while others have clearly distinguishable progressions.

All in all, the different musical types were selected to reflect varying

musical styles, familiarity, complexity and preferences, musical dimensions,

among others. The selected musical types were recorded to synchronize with the

timing of the CRDI and played in the order listed above. The total time duration

for the listening was approximately 25 minutes. The listening times were as

follows: Classical, 04:44; Country, 02:46; Traditional, 03:24; Hip-life, 03:50;

New-age, 03:01; Avant-garde, 2: 22.

Data Analysis Procedure

The analysis of the data involved quantitative and qualitative approaches.

The initial stages of the analysis included descriptive statistical procedures:

measures of central tendency (mean, median, and mode) and measures of

dispersion (variance/standard deviation).The second order of analysis comprised

testing the pre-set hypotheses and answering the research questions. The analysis

procedures used here included ANOVA and T-test.

More so, the outcomes of the hypotheses testing were addressed with

inductive analysis (evidence gathered from data and manifested by the outcome of

the hypotheses), deductive analysis (top-down relationships of the outcomes to

the available literature) and theoretical foundations as well as logic (personal

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interpretation based on my own experiences as a researcher). During

interpretation and discussion of results, ecological factors, time of data collection,

were all factored in to give a comprehensive picture of the aesthetic responses.

Limitations

As with most research works, in this study there were some anticipated

limitations. These limitations can broadly be classified into ecological issues and

difficulties in measuring inherently subjective responses.

A major concern for the study was the concurrent manipulation of the

CRDI dial and listening to music. An anticipated limitation is that due to lack of

familiarity with the CRDI device, research participants may centre attention on

manipulating the dial rather than synchronizing the felt aesthetic response with

the movement of the dial. This may lead to the movement of the dial not

reflecting any felt response to the musical stimulus. In this sense, Asmus (1999)

found lower reliabilities in studies where research participants were not fairly

familiar and matured enough to manipulate the CRDI device.

Another concern for this study was the general difficulty in measuring

inherently subjective responses to music. This study relied on the assumption that

respondents were very honest and had developed the capacity to recognize their

aesthetic responses to music which may not necessarily be the case. Owing to the

inherently subjective nature of responses to music, much cannot be done to

ascertain the veracity of such responses.

Suggested solutions to limitations

Notwithstanding the anticipated limitations highlighted above, some

practical measures were taken to reduce the errors that possibly could have arisen

in this direction.

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To circumvent the anticipated lack of familiarity with the use of the CRDI

device, before the actual elicitation of responses commenced, ample time (10

minutes) was allowed for participants to get well acquainted with the CRDI

device, its use and manipulation. Also, participants were given instructions on the

use of this device. Again, the data collection was conducted in an atmosphere

where researcher and some research assistants were present to offer further

clarifications regarding the entire research process. All questions arising from the

use of the device from the research participants were satisfactorily addressed.

Furthermore, excerpts of music in each of the particular genre were played before

responses were taken.

Now, the general challenge associated with measuring inherently

subjective response was reduced by first, giving clear instructions on the general

nature of what is to be measured. Additionally, to be sure if there was an aesthetic

response to any of the musical stimulus, the questionnaire was used to confirm

such a response and its magnitude compared with other listening experiences.

As a further measure, an alpha level of .05 was used in the testing of the

hypotheses. Hence, a considerable margin of error was created to accommodate

the limitations in the research instruments as well as any sampling error.

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CHAPTER FOUR

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF DATA

Introduction

Here, the emerging data collected on the aesthetic responses of

undergraduate students are presented and discussed. The analysis was organized

into three major stages: the general trend of responses, variable effects, and

answering research questions and hypotheses. In relation to the initial stage, the

different facets of each of the identified variables relating to the sample of this

study were discussed. For the next stage, the various aspects of the variables were

integrated in order to show the general meaning, relationships and

interconnections between them. Finally, analysis was tailored towards proffering

answers to the hypotheses and research questions set for this study. At all these

levels of analysis, data was converted into graphs, figures and tables to give visual

summaries and further clarification to emergent results from data.

General biographical data

Of the total 64 research participants for this study, many (62%) were

within the 22-26 year group with the others (in descending order of frequency)

between the age ranges of 17-21 (25%), 27-31 (11%) and finally, 32 and above

(1.7%). The majority of the participants (70%) indicated that they had had some

form of formal musical training ranging between one year (minimum) to seven

years and above. Accordingly, 25% of participants indicated having received

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formal musical training from 1-3 years, 23% for 4-6 years, and finally, 22% for 7

years and above. However, only 30% of the (non-music) participants indicated

that they had had no formal musical training. Then again, many of the participants

(79%) indicated that they were at least members of one musical group or the other

(choir, band or orchestra).When asked to indicate the level of familiarity of the

musical stimulus used, the participants indicated hip-life and classical music to be

the most familiar whilst the avant-garde music was the least familiar. The other

musical types (country, traditional and new age) varied across the participants.

The results showed that the responses for research participants were unique for

each musical selection. Essentially, group data differed principally in terms of

frequency and magnitude of recorded aesthetic response.

General Trend

All the 64 participants listened to six musical types and indicated their

aesthetic response using the CRDI device. Apparently, 91% of participants

indicated having aesthetic response to the music played whiles the remaining

(9%) indicated having no aesthetic experience to the music played. On the

questionnaire, some participants indicated having no aesthetic experiences elicited

to the music played. On the CRDI scale, the aesthetic data read zero for all such

participants who had no aesthetic response to the music played. Strikingly, many

of the participants (92%) indicated having no aesthetic response to avant-garde

music (see Table 1 for details).

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Table 1: Number of participants who had Aesthetic Response to each of the

Musical Types

Did you have an aesthetic experience?

Yes No Total

Musical type Classical 63 1 64

Country 64 0 64

Traditional 61 3 64

Hiplife 64 0 64

New age 61 3 64

Avant-garde 5 59 64

The total raw aesthetic data on the CRDI scale consisted of 65,332 scores

ranging from 0 to 255 for all the research participants. From the responses of the

participants, it was identified that classical and hiplife musical stimuli elicited the

most aesthetic responses with a mean of 144 and 141 respectively. This was then

closely followed by new age music with a mean of 112 and traditional 110 as well

as country music 108. With a mean of nine, the avant-garde music played elicited

the least responses with most (91%) of the participants indicating having no

aesthetic experience. Figure 6 shows a linear graph of the mean aesthetic

responses of the research participants to the six musical types. Mention must here

be made that the participants who indicated high aesthetic response for classical

and hiplife also indicated that these two musical types were the most familiar. In

stark contrast, the less familiar music (Avant-garde) to the participants turned out

to be the one with the lowest mean. Another finding was that the initial response

to a familiar stimulus often resulted in a sudden leap in the responses from low to

high.

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Figure 6: A linear graph showing the mean Aesthetic response to the six
musical types

A study of the collative temporal graph revealed peaks, lulls and declines

in the aesthetic responses. Most of the musical stimulus (country, hiplife, new age

and traditional) had a progressive rise in the responses until the end of the music.

That is to say that, for these pieces, the peaks in the responses were approached or

arrived at gradually. The same cannot be said of the classical and avant-garde

music, which had remarkable lulls, valleys and decline in the aesthetic responses.

A glance at the visual representation of aesthetic responses gives a general

indication that, responses were tied to the music in its entirety. However, during

each musical listening episode, there probably were some musical elemental

properties or interplay of such properties which drove profound aesthetic

reactions.

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The collective temporal graph created with the CRDI data showed

comparable peaks and valleys in the responses to the musical excerpts. Beyond

the general trend of aesthetic responses, the collective temporal graph enabled

analysis of the responses to musical types synchronous with the stimulus across

time. This brought to light the musical properties which were mostly associated

with peaks, lulls and declines in the aesthetic responses along the temporal axis.

Accordingly, information on the characteristics which formed the basis for the

selection of the six musical types (such as modulation, change of mode, slow and

fast, dynamics, dissonances) and their respective aesthetic responses were also

ascertained. Also, the familiarity level of music, which is inadvertently tied to the

relative simplicity or complexity of music, played a major role in the various

aesthetic responses. Furthermore, variables such as gender, age and extended

period of musical training also were identified to have an influence on the

aesthetic responses.

In what follows, I divulged the factors which affected aesthetic responses

and the general character and nature of aesthetic responses to each of the six

musical types used in this study. Using collective temporal graphs created with

the CRDI data, visual analysis yielded information on the aesthetic responses to

the provided musical stimuli across time. The results identified in the CRDI graph

showed that the responses for research participants were unique for each

selection. However group data were similar for both frequency and magnitude of

recorded aesthetic response. It must also be acknowledged that although some

participants had an aesthetic response while listening to the music, the intensity of

such aesthetic responses varied over the course of the performance resulting in

both subtle and extreme changes.

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Factors Affecting Aesthetic Response

Reviewing the literature on aesthetic response to music, a number of

variables were identified to have an effect on the aesthetic responses of people to

music (Hargreaves, North & Tarrant, 2006; Rentfrow & Gosling, 2003). These

variables included gender, economic status, musical training, familiarity and age.

As a result of this, I consciously sampled the research participants to encapsulate

some of these variables to be explored in this study. Below are the discussions on

four of these factors as they relate to this study.

Gender

From the literature on aesthetic response and gender (Finnas, 1989),

clearly marked differences in the preference for different musical types between

males and females were observed. In this study, there were marked differences in

the musical preferences of males and females. The differences in the aesthetic

response between males and females were associated with the different

preferences for the musical types. Now, to ascertain whether the observed

difference between aesthetic response and gender was significant, an independent

sample t-test was conducted and examined. The t test revealed a statistically

significant difference between males (M = 120.98, s = 78.69) and females (M =

113.38, s = 79.95), t (63) = 12.232, p = .001, α = .05 (see Appendix D for details).

Overall, male participants reported significantly higher aesthetic responses than

did female participants. Here, compared with the females, male participants of

this study had higher musical training and this could account for the significant

difference.

With regard to the various musical types, aesthetic response for the

Traditional music recorded the highest difference between males and females,

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whilst the Avant-garde music recorded the least difference. Here, males indicated

high aesthetic responses to Traditional, Hiplife and Classical music than females.

On the flip side, compared with males, females indicated higher aesthetic

responses to Country, and New age. There was a slight difference between the

responses of males and females to the Avant-garde musical types. As shown in

the Figure 7, the bar graph provides a visual representation of the gender

preferences to the various musical types. The aesthetic responses of males and

females were unique for each musical type. However, the differences associated

with the musical types were in terms of the magnitude of aesthetic responses.

Figure 7: Bar graph of the Aesthetic response of males and females

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Age

According to the literature reviewed, another factor which has been

identified to have an effect on musical preference is age (Russell, 1997;

Hargreaves & North, 1997). Taking a cue from previous studies (e.g. Hargreaves,

Tarrant & North, 2006), each participant was classified into one of four different

age groups: (17-21), (22-26), (27-31), and (32 and above). This classification was

informed by the fact that undergraduate students could be 17 years old and above.

Also, from the literature (e.g. Madsen & Geringer, 2004), most similar studies had

used age ranges with an interval of five between the groups. Generally, responses

of the various age groups to the six musical types remained largely similar (SD ≥

74 in each case). Accordingly, a one way ANOVA was conducted to examine if

there were statistically significant differences among participants in different age

groups and their aesthetic responses to the different musical types. The results

revealed statistically significant differences among the age groups F (3, 60) =

86.511, p = .000, α = .05 (see Table 2). This shows a quantitative evidence to

support a difference in aesthetic response between the age groups.

Table 2: Age Groups of Participants and Aesthetic Response

Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

Between Groups 1.6306 3 543480.231 86.511 .000

Within Groups 4.0978 60 6282.174

Total 5.7454 63

A Post-hoc Scheffe test was carried out to provide multiple comparisons

of the various age groups. In all, research participants between the age groups of

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(32 and above) differed most significantly in their aesthetic responses compared

with the other age groups. Apparently, this statistical significance must be

understood in the light of the fact that a small number of participants (1,7%) were

in the 32 and above age group. Also, the aesthetic responses of participants in the

age group (22-26) and (17-21) differed significantly (see Appendix E). Figure 8

shows a linear graph of the aesthetic responses of the various age groups.

Figure 8: Differences in age groups and Aesthetic response

Now, placing the findings of this study into proper perspective yields

some convergence with some previous studies. A closer look at the mean

aesthetic responses of age groups revealed that the responses of participants in the

age group of 32 and above were much more varied and of a wider scope than that

of all the other age groups. This finding is similar to a study by Otchere (2013),

who observed that by virtue of the infinite age range (32 and above), unlike the

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other age groups with a range of five (5) (e.g. 17-22), it is logical for this age

group (32 and above) to have a wide-ranging set of preferences and responses.

Moreover, it was also observed that aesthetic responses of people in the age

groups 22-26 and 27-31 did not differ greatly.

Musically, aesthetic responses for avant-garde, classical, traditional,

country and hiplife remained largely the same for the first three groups (17-21,

22-26 and 27-31). This is a clear pointer to the fact that musical tastes, when

developed, remain largely consistent across some number of years. Apparently,

the participants in the age group of 32 and above had higher aesthetic response to

avant-garde, classical, traditional and country musical excerpts.

Another important observation was that the means of aesthetic responses

for avant-garde and traditional music increased by function of age. Compared

with the other musical stimulus, avant-garde and traditional musical stimuli had

more complex harmonic intervals and progression as well as rhythms. Possibly,

this result may be an indication that by reason of the differences in the ages

(which may reflect different levels of musical enculturation), some musical types

become more familiar and predictable, thus resulting in preference for complex

rhythmic and harmonic progressions as the age of subjects increase. Similarly, a

study by Hargreaves and Castell (1987) found that preference for complex

melodies increased as subjects’ age increased. By extension, the observed

statistical significant difference obtained in this study could be attributed to the

possibility of a wide age difference between the -32 and above- age group and the

other age groups.

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Musical Training

Another variable which has remained very important in the discussions on

aesthetic response is musical training. From the literature, Davis (2003) makes it

clear that experimental studies on aesthetic responses focused on comparing

listening experiences of musicians and non-musicians abound. Buttressing the

aforementioned, Madsen and Geringer (1990) also observed that most of the

studies on aesthetic responses have looked at musical experiences that require

little prior knowledge and extensive knowledge and experience. Now, as the

discussion on aesthetic experience has delved into cognitive science, the

generated body of literature seems to converge on the fact that the development of

conceptual structures and frameworks, which is a function of musical training, is

important for processing and evaluating musical pieces, which inadvertently,

gives meaning or appreciation to the music (Nieminen, Istok, Brattico,

Tervaniemi, Hautilainen, 2011). This idea is crisply captured by Shimamura

(2013) who writes that “prior knowledge influences aesthetic experiences” (p.18).

The idea expressed herein is that musical training can serve to enhance or

diminish musical behaviours. In this study, my focus for musical training was

twofold: Program of study (music and non-music) and number of years of musical

training.

Program of study. By virtue of their education and training, music majors

are expected to differ in their responses to music compared with non-music

majors. For instance, music majors are expected to develop conceptual schema for

processing, analysing and appreciating musical pieces and performances.

Interestingly, according to the literature, most results from these studies show that

little variation exists between the two groups (Davis, 2003). Amidst all these

findings, a number of studies also point to significant differences between both

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groups (e.g. Madsen & Geringer, 2004). In actual fact, it was against the

background of recommendations from these studies for further investigation into

this subject matter that this undertaking was embarked on. In the case of this

study, however, the observed differences between the responses of music and

non-music students did amount to statistical significance. An independent sample

t-test showed a statistical significance between music (M = 117.97, s = 77.91) and

non-music (M = 116.30, s = 80.99) students, t (63) = -2.675, p = .007, α = .05 (see

Appendix F).

Number of years of musical training. Beyond the program of study of

participants, I set out to examine whether the number of years of musical training

acquired could also influence the aesthetic responses. This was borne out of the

fact that, regardless of the program of study in school, some non-music

participants may have had some form of musical training and experiences. To this

end, all the participants were required to provide information of their number of

years of musical training. This constituted four main categories: None (those

without any form of music training, whatsoever), 1-3 years, 4-6 years and 7 years

and above of musical training. Analysis of variance revealed a statistically

significant difference between the number of years of musical training and

aesthetic response, F (3, 60) = 130.33, p = .000, α = .05.

Table 3: Number of years of Musical Training and Aesthetic Response

Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig.

Between Groups 2.4516 3 817127.920 130.332 .000

Within Groups 4.0898 60 6269.587

Total 6.5414 63

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Figure 9: Number of years of musical training and Aesthetic response

A Post hoc Scheffe test was further carried out to provide multiple

comparisons of the statistically significant difference between ae sthetic responses

and the number of years of musical training. The test showed that the highest

difference was between participants with (1-3) and (7 years and above) years of

musical training (see appendix G). Between participants with (none) and (1-3)

years of musical training there was no significant difference. Interestingly,

between 4-6 and 7 years and above there was also no significant difference.

The implication of this result found in this study is that 1-3 years of

musical training was not adequate enough to amount to any statistically

significant difference between those without any musical training. However,

according to this study, extended musical training (4 years and above of musical

training) seems to influence aesthetic responses, at least, when compared with

those without any form of musical training. Juxtaposing the findings in this study

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and the classical review of studies on aesthetic responses by Davis (2003), there

seem to be a convergence. Davis observed that most of the studies found little

variations between the aesthetic responses of music and non-music majors.

However, some studies, Davis admits, found musical training to impact on the

aesthetic responses. An array of studies (Madsen & Geringer, 2004; Hancock,

2008; Radocy & Boyle, 2003), have reported that extended years of musical

training strongly influenced the perception and appreciation of music. A case in

point is a study by Madsen and Geringer (2004) who reported that a gradual

change of pitch remained in the threshold of quite sophisticated musicians. Thus,

the finding of this study that higher number of years of musical training impact on

aesthetic response, yet again, is not new-fangled at all.

Musically, the intensity of aesthetic responses varied for the musical types

resulting in subtle and extreme changes for the various groups. In this case,

classical and hiplife musical stimulus recorded the highest differences between

participants with extended number of years of musical training (4-6 and 7 and

above) and those with fewer years of musical training (none and 1-3). The

intensity of aesthetic response for classical music increased by the number of

years of musical training. In other words, the higher the number of years of

musical training, the higher the magnitude of aesthetic responses. However,

traditional and avant-garde music stimulus appeared to be similar in frequency

and magnitude across the groups. Then again, responses to new age and country

musical stimulus appeared to be unique for each of the groups.

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Analysis of Research Questions and Hypotheses

Research Question 1: What are the aesthetic responses of Ghanaian

undergraduate students to different music types?

The aim of this question was to study the aesthetic responses of research

participants across a number of musical dimensions and characteristics. In the

light of this, the six musical types were carefully selected to represent varying

modes and styles of musical engagements, musical dimensions and qualities,

familiarity and complexity as well as duration. As such, each musical stimulus

was selected based on a predominant musical idea or property. Using collective

temporal graphs, created with the CRDI data, visual analysis was carried out

between each musical stimulus and the resultant aesthetic response.

Now, synchronizing the six musical types with the aesthetic response

(using the CRDI) yielded information on the nature of responses and the most

associated musical dimensions such as modulation, change of mode, dynamics,

tempo as well as dissonant sounds. In what follows, I divulge the aesthetic

responses to each of the six musical types used in this study.

Classical Music (Variations for piano in C major by Mozart). Generally,

this music is considered to be an ornamental type of variation. Qin (2005), states

that the melody of the theme dissolves “into notes of shorter value, playfully

embroidering the melody with runs, trills and arpeggios, utilizing transposition

into various registers of the keyboard” (p.107). This music was purposefully

selected to aid in studying the responses of participants across a number of

musical elements, dimensions and dynamics. Some of these included a change of

mode from major to minor and vice versa, contrasting dynamics such as loud and

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soft, theme and variation, among other things. To this end, five (5) clearly

distinguishable variations out of Mozart’s entire twelve variations were used in

this study. A collective temporal graph using the CRDI data for all the

participants who listened to this musical excerpt was created to visualize the

aesthetic responses.

Figure 10: Collective temporal graph of Aesthetic response to the Classical

music

Generally, an interesting point to observe is that the aesthetic response to

classical music gradually ascended from the start of the music culminating in the

first pinnacle of the response, after which it declined. From that point on, the

response vacillated until the end of the music. The gradual rise in the response

from the start of the music (occurring approximately between 0:20 and 1:30

minutes) was the period of the theme and the first variation. After a simple and

unadorned theme, with the same harmonic support, the melody line is embellished

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with sixteenth-note turn in variation (I). This may be an indication of an initial

preference for this familiar theme.

Also, it can be seen that the pinnacle of the aesthetic response occurred

between 1 minutes 40 sec and 2 minutes (Variation IV). At this section, according

to Qin (2005), in his analysis of this music, “Mozart shows more capacities and

idiomatic aspects of the piano” (p.110). The observed lull in the response, after

the pinnacle, ensuing in an extended vacillation in the response spanning from 2

min 20 sec to 3 min 40 sec, musically, marked the period of change of mode. The

most obvious character of this section is a change of mode from major and minor.

This section is very expressive, soft and nostalgic. The left hand imitates the

melody in a lower pitch, creating an echo to the upper voice, which increases the

dramatic feeling (Qin, 2005).

Generally, this music reflects a work which was varied in many ways;

through increasing or decreasing of tempo, change of mode, varying the figures of

principle notes by decorating and combining several other ornamental techniques.

The highlights of the aesthetic responses to the various sections of this musical

excerpt give some insights into the preferences and sensitivity of the participants

of this study to music. From the foregoing, it remains to say that the peaks in

aesthetic responses were not swift, but they were approached gradually.

Country Music (I’ll be there for you - Kenny Rogers). From the visual

analysis, as shown in Figure 11, it is clear that aesthetic responses kept on

ascending until the end of the music. The gradual rise in the aesthetic response

indicates an overall preference for the entire music.

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Musically, the most striking change in the music is a smooth modulation

to the supertonic key. Prior to the said modulation, there are no marked changes in

the structure, instrumentation, melodic and harmonic progressions of the music.

Here again, the collective temporal graph showed that the peak in the aesthetic

response was gradually approached. The aesthetic response to this music

portrayed an overall appreciation and preference for the entire music.

Figure 11: Collective temporal graph of Aesthetic response to the Country

music

Traditional Music (Yaa, Yaa Kole - performed by Ghana dance

ensemble). Against the accompanying background of a mosaic of rhythmic

patterns, the principal instruments, xylophones and flutes (atenteben), expounded

the main theme of this music through the medium of extemporization, imitation

and call and response and repetitions. Now, looking at the visual analysis, as

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shown in Figure 12, quite interesting peaks and valleys along the temporal axis

are brought to light.

Figure 12: Collective temporal graph of Aesthetic response to the Traditional

music

Synchronizing the observed highlights of the response with the musical

stimulus, the introduction of flutes which imitated the melody and rhythmic

patterns of the xylophone marked the predominant distinguishing feature of this

section of the music. The acme of the aesthetic response from approximately 2

min 20 sec to 2 min 40 sec, musically, was preceded by an interspersion of a new

theme which is a popular xylophone folk music.

Another highlight of the response was the apparent decline in the response

following immediately after the climax was associated with a repetition of

fragmentary ideas from the main theme. At this point of the music, the same idea

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was repeated over and over until the music quietly faded out. This finding aligns

with an observation made by North and Hargreaves (1997) that when music

becomes predictable with repeated exposure, liking should wax and wane as a

person chooses to or not to listen to a given piece of music.

Hiplife Music (Adonai - performed by Castro and Sarkodie). Selected

based on its popularity and fame, this music recorded high magnitude in the

general aesthetic responses. Generally, this music was performed by male vocals,

half-sung and half-rapped, with electronic guitar, synthesized tones and a steady

percussion beat. This music is generally loud with a fast tempo, little dynamic

variations; heavy pounding danceable beat emphasized by drums and repeated

bass lines. It also has a chorus which is sung after every rap section of the music

making it is easy to listen to. The visual representation of the collective response

revealed a sudden leap from low to high which occurred between 0:20 and 0:40

sec. After this point, the response gradually scaled up towards the end of the

music. The initial leap in the response may be a pointer to an initial preference for

this music by reason of its familiarity to the research participants. Essentially,

familiarity with this music, in particular, played a significant influence on the

aesthetic responses.

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Figure 13: Collective temporal graph of Aesthetic response to the Hiplife

music

New Age Music (Pilgrim- Enya). Generally characterized by a very basic,

tonal melody sung softly and slowly and accompanied by sustained, synthesized

tones, including muted organ and airy choral sounds, most participants indicated

having an aesthetic response to this new age music. Looking at the collective

graph of the responses, it can be observed that responses gradually ascended

along the temporal axis until the end of the music. The selection of this music was

based on its clearly distinguishing features such as the abundant use of echoes,

little dynamic contrast, and lack of percussion which gave the music an overall

gentle dreamy feeling.

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Figure 14: Collative temporal graph of Aesthetic response to the New-age

music

Avant-garde (Chamber Symphony No. 1, Opus 9 by Arnold

Schoenberg). The selection of the avant-garde musical type was based on the fact

that it did not have any tonal centre and the melodic and harmonic progression did

not follow any conventional trend. Most sections of this music were primarily

dissonant while others had clearly distinguishable progressions.

In the analysis of the responses to the avant-garde music, research

participants had comparably low aesthetic responses. And as indicated earlier,

most respondents claimed having no aesthetic experience to the avant-garde

music. Essentially, as shown in Figure 15, regardless of the general low response

of this music, the collective graph of the responses showed two extended valleys

along the temporal axis.

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Figure 15: Collective temporal graph of Aesthetic response to the avant-

garde music

Research Question 2: What differences exist in the aesthetic responses of

Ghanaian music and non-music students?

Here, unlike the first question, a corresponding hypothesis was set to test

for statistical significance difference between the aesthetic response of music and

nonmusic students. In relation to this study, aesthetic responses to the musical

stimulus differed quite dramatically across the two groups. To test for statistical

significance, an independent sample t-test was conducted. The results of this test

showed a statistically significant difference between the aesthetic responses of

music ((M =117.97, s = 77.9) and non-music students (M = 116.30, s = 80.98), t

(63) = -2.675, p = .007, α = .005 (see Appendix F). The implication of this is that

the aesthetic responses of music students differed significantly from non-music

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students. Therefore, there was enough statistical evidence to reject the null

hypothesis. Consequently, the alternate hypothesis that specified a difference

between the aesthetic responses of music and non-music students was therefore

accepted.

By implication, the results showed that the general expectation for

aesthetic responses to differ between music and non-music students was

validated. Apparently, this statistically significant difference between music and

non-music students could be attributed to the fact that, by virtue of musical

training and experiences, preferences and tastes of music and non-music students

may be different.

Figure 16: CTG of Aesthetic response of music and non-music students

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Now, from the visual display as shown in Figure 16, there were some

quite interesting observed differences in the frequency and magnitude of aesthetic

responses to the musical types among the two groups. Virtually, the intensity of

the aesthetic responses varied over the course of the performance resulting in both

subtle and extreme changes for both groups.

From the foregoing, it may be plausible to assume that, in this study, the

music students seemed to have favourable responses to the relatively complex

musical stimulus whilst non-music students preferred the relatively simple and

easy to listen to music. Alluding to Berlyne’s arousal theory, it is likely that the

music students, by reason of their training and experiences, found hiplife and

country musical stimuli extremely simple with little elements of novelty and

surprise, and thus resulted in low arousal level. On the flip side, the relatively

complex music stimuli (avant-garde, classical and tradition) caused high arousal

for the non-music major resulting in low preference in comparison with music

majors. With regard to the aesthetic responses of music and non-music majors to

the selected musical stimuli, much more details into the differences were gleaned.

Classical. A quick glance at the collective temporal graph of music and

non-music students revealed a clear-cut difference in the aesthetic response to the

classical musical type. That of the non-music students ascended to a point and

begun to decline gradually whilst that of the music students kept on progressing

until the end of the music without any conspicuous decline or fall in response. As

shown in Figure 17, the collective temporal graph (CTG) provides a visual

representation of difference between the aesthetic response of music and non-

music students to the classical musical type.

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Figure 17: CTG - Music and Non-music students to the Classical music

Accordingly, the opening section of the music (variation I) recorded a

similar leap in the response (0-160 on the CRDI scale) for both music and non-

music students. This section marked the introduction of the simple, unadorned

popular theme. As already stated, this portrays an initial preference for this

popular theme due to its familiarity for both groups. Variation III- embellished

with sixteenth note-turn, the melody is treated in a rapid, wide ranging

arpeggiation in triplets in the right hand. Here, the intensity of the aesthetic

response was much higher for music students.

Variation IV – was the next section of this music with the most obvious

character of change of tonality from major to minor mode. This section of the

music marked the point of divergence in the responses of music and non-music

students. Whilst responses of non-music students declined, that of the music

students continued to rise. It may be plausible to assume that based on musical

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knowledge and experiences, music students derived more appreciation to hear the

same theme notes but with a feeling different than the major key.

Variation XI – Here, while music students reacted profoundly to this

section, responses of non-music students had a further decline to the

conspicuously calm melody which quietly smoothes in, shaped by a dotted-

eighth-sixteenth. Aesthetic responses of both groups to the last section (variation

XII) was no different from the previous variation. Musically, this section was

characterized by a return of the theme to a high-spirited last section with great

volume more.

Overall, the aesthetic response to the classical musical paints a picture of

how music and non-music students responded to the music. What may account for

the identified differences may be prior knowledge for processing, interpreting and

appreciation ‘theme and variation’ musical form. Supposedly, the prior

knowledge of how ‘theme and variation’ is composed provided expectations for

music students to interpret and listen to salient features.

Country. Unlike the classical musical stimulus with clearly defined

sections, the selected country music was strophic in form with the same melodic

and harmonic support. A noticeable musical change is a smooth modulation to the

supertonic key. As evidenced in the collective temporal graph, the aesthetic

responses of music and non-music students were pretty similar without any

marked changes or differences in the responses.

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Figure 18: CTG- Music and Non-music students to the Country music

From the graph, as shown in Figure 18, both groups had an on-going rise

from the start to the end of this music. However, in intensity, the aesthetic

response of non-music students was slightly higher than music students (see

Appendix H). The visual display of the aesthetic responses shows a similar

progressive rise in responses for music and non-music students.

Traditional. Selected based on its blend of local instruments (drums,

flutes and xylophones) and the interplay of relatively complex rhythms, the

inclusion of the traditional music was to study the aesthetic responses of

participants to Ghanaian traditional musical idioms, elements and rhythms.

Accordingly, all participants indicated having an aesthetic response to the

traditional music. In terms of magnitude, the mean aesthetic response of music

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students was higher than that of their non-music counterparts (see Appendix H).

However, in essence, the responses of both groups had similar rise, peaks and

decline. Hence, musically speaking, there were no marked differences in the

responses of the two groups to this music. The collective temporal graph, as

shown in Figure 19, gives a visual representation of the aesthetic response along

the temporal axis.

Figure 19: CTG-Music and Non-music students to the Traditional music

Hiplife. Selected based on its familiarity and popularity, aesthetic

responses of music and non-music students revealed a great deal of difference in

the magnitude of likeness for this musical type. Taken as a whole, aesthetic

responses of both groups were tied to the entire music rather than any specific

musical quality. Nonetheless, compared with music students, non-music students

experienced more preference for this music in this study (see Appendix H for

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details of the means of aesthetic responses). Alluding to Berlyne’s theory, the

relative complicity and simplicity of this music can account for the observed

difference in the magnitude of responses. To the non-music students, this music

may have invoked a fairly moderate degree of arousal resulting in higher

preference. By contrast, music students, by their experiences, found the simplicity

and predictability of this music lowly in arousal, hence the relatively low

preference.

Figure 20: CTG- Music and Non-music students to the Hiplife music

New age. From the visual display, as shown in Figure 21, there was a

gradual divergence in the response of music and non-music students towards the

end of the music. Taken as a whole, responses were fastened to the entire music

rather than any musical property. However, this music was selected to study how

participants would respond aesthetically to the abundant use of echoes, little

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dynamic contrast, and lack of percussion which gave the music an overall gentle

dreamy feeling.

Figure 21: CTG- Music and Non-music students to the New-age music

Avant-garde. Response to the avant-garde music was generally very low

with responses less than 50 on the CRDI scale. Unsurprisingly, 59 participants

indicated having no aesthetic response to this music. The remaining 5 participants

who indicated having an aesthetic response to this music were all music students.

Regardless of the absence of aesthetic response to this music (predominantly

dissonant and departs for the conventional harmonic progressions), music students

had a relatively higher response than non-music students as shown in Figure 22.

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Figure 22: CTG- Music and Non-music students to the Avant-garde music

The aim of this research question was to ascertain the differences in the

responses of music and non-music students in relation to the musical properties

and dimensions of the selected musical stimulus (e.g. modulation, timbre, and

dynamics). It remains to say, in conclusion, that, by virtue of their training, the

music participants were more open to appreciating the musical types than their

non-music counterparts. Responses to the classical musical excerpt yielded the

most information of the differences between the two groups. Without mincing

words, aesthetic responses to the other musical stimuli differed in terms of

magnitude of liking. Again, the visual representation of the responses revealed a

progressive rise in the aesthetic responses. Seemingly, from the collective

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temporal graph, it was evident that aesthetic responses were tied mostly to entire

music rather than any particular musical style or dimension.

Research Question 3: What is the relationship between familiarity of music

played and aesthetic response among Ghanaian students?

For this research question, a corresponding null hypothesis and its

associated alternative hypothesis were set to be tested. By reason of the ordinal

nature of the variable (level of familiarity), a Spearman’s correlation was

employed. Consequently, the test revealed a statistically significant relationship

between aesthetic response and the level of familiarity of music: r (63) = .370, p

=.000, α = .05.

The decision rule used here was that if p ≤ α, then reject the H0. In this

study, 0.00 was less than .05, therefore the H0 was rejected. Taken together, there

was enough statistical evidence to refute the null hypothesis which specified no

significant relationship between familiarity of music and aesthetic response.

Subsequently, in this study, the alternative hypothesis was accepted. The result

also indicated a positive correlation between the two variables. As shown in Table

4, a detailed account of the correlation between familiarity of music and aesthetic

response is given.

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Table 4: Spearman’s rho correlation between familiarity of music and

Aesthetic response

Level of Aesthetic
familiarity of response of
music played participants
Spearman's rho Level of Correlation
1.000 .370**
familiarity of Coefficient
music played Sig. (2-tailed) . .000
N 64 64
Aesthetic Correlation
.370** 1.000
response of Coefficient
participants Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .
N 64 64

Beyond the statistical analysis, visual analysis of the aesthetic responses

on the CRDI graph revealed that different levels of familiarity with musical

stimulus yielded different aesthetic responses to the music (see Appendix I for the

scatter dots/plots of this distribution). In this study, the identified relationship was

that the most familiar stimuli (hiplife, classical) recorded higher aesthetic

responses on the CRDI scale, whilst the less familiar stimulus, avant-garde music,

recorded the lowest responses. For the other musical types (country, traditional

and new age), the more familiar the stimulus were to the participants, the higher

the aesthetic responses on the CRDI scale. The foregoing is a pointer to the claim

of the mere exposure theory - the more exposed we are to a stimulus, the more we

tend to like it.

Research Question 4: To what extent does participation in musical groups

influence Ghanaian students’ aesthetic responses?

The aim of this question was to ascertain whether participation in musical

groups such as choirs, brass ensemble and orchestra could adversely influence the

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aesthetic responses to the selected musical stimuli. A Pearson’s moment

correlation was employed since data from both variables (aesthetic response and

participation in musical groups) were continuous. This test showed that the

aesthetic response and participation in musical groups did not share any particular

correlation. That is there is no strong correlational relationship in one direction or

the other: r (63) = .000, p = .844, α =.005 (see Table 5 for details).

Table 5: Pearson’s moment correlation of participation in musical groups

and Aesthetic response

Participation in Aesthetic
musical group(s) response
Participation in Pearson Correlation 1 .000
musical group(s) Sig. (2-tailed) .844
N 64 64
Aesthetic response of Pearson Correlation .000 1
participants Sig. (2-tailed) .844
N 64 64

The implication of this result is that the research participants in musical

groups did not directly have an influence on aesthetic responses. Therefore, there

was not enough evidence to refute the null hypothesis that predicted no significant

relationship between participation in musical groups and aesthetic responses. And

so, the alternative hypothesis was therefore rejected. Possibly, the small number

of participants (20%) who indicated having no association with musical groups

could be a major reason for no correlation between the two variables.

Discussion

Thus far, the analysis of the data has predominantly been quantitative.

However, according to the design of this study (concurrent, embedded

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correlational model), qualitative analysis is embedded in a predominantly

quantitative analysis. As such, the emergent themes and patterns within the data

are discussed without any recourse to statistical significance.

To start with, the purpose of this study was to examine the aesthetic

responses of music and non-music students to six musical types. From a broader

perspective, in this study, the results showed that the level of familiarity with the

music had a telling effect on aesthetic responses of research participants. For the

most part, the initial response with a familiar musical stimulus yielded a rise in

the aesthetic response. It is important to note that the aesthetic responses to each

of the six musical types reflected different levels of familiarity for the

participants. To single out for mention, the classical and hiplife musical types

which recorded the highest aesthetic responses were also the most familiar

stimuli. Owing to the Ghanaian media airwaves, this hiplife music was played

frequently resulting in massive popularity and general appeal of this music around

the period this study was conducted. Also, the theme of the classical music used

in this study, was adopted from a popular French folk song. According to Qin

(2005, p.106) “today, the tune is familiar in English-spoken countries as

“Twinkle, twinkle little star.” In Ghana, this endearing, simple, nursery rhyme has

become a popular children’s song. Thus, it stands to reason that the hiplife and

classical musical types were the most popular to the participants.

In stark contrast, the absence of aesthetic responses to the avant-garde music to

most of the participants could be due to the fact that this musical type is generally

unknown to the average Ghanaian. Only a handful of music students with seven

and above years of musical training indicated having an aesthetic response to the

avant-garde music. Seemingly, this finding may be an indication that preference

and appreciation of avant-garde music is dependent on the development of

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conceptual schemas for processing this music as well as adequate exposure which

comes with extended years of musical training. Alluding to the mere exposure

theory provides insight into this observed relationship between the level of

familiarity of the musical type and the level of aesthetic response in this study.

As a corollary to the above, another emergent pattern found in this study

was that familiarity with certain sections of the music resulted in high aesthetic

response. In this sense, the classical and traditional musical stimuli with familiar

themes had aesthetic responses peaking at those sections of the music. This

finding gains support from several other studies (Silvia 2005, Hargreaves, 1986),

which have reported the effects of familiarity of music on the aesthetic emotions

of interest and enjoyment.

Taken together, another important finding was that the vocal musical

stimuli (country, hiplife and new-age) were preferred most resulting in higher

aesthetic responses than the purely instrumental pieces. Compared with the

instrumental pieces (classical, traditional and avant-garde), the aesthetic responses

to the vocal pieces were the highest in magnitude. Understandably, this finding is

unsurprising because of the wide availability and accessibility of vocal music in

the Ghanaian cultural setting where the research participants were drawn.

Coupled with the fact that the Ghanaian musical environment is inundated with

vocal music, almost every form of musical engagement or activity (media,

churches, schools among others) is accompanied by singing. Symphonies and

concertos among others do not abound as much as vocal music in Ghana.

In terms of the nature and character of aesthetic responses, a recurrent

pattern was that, in this study, peaks in the aesthetic responses were gradually

approached. Except the classical and traditional music which featured familiar

themes culminating in sudden leaps in the responses, country, new age and hiplife

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musical types had a steady rise in aesthetic response until the end. Here, the

responses of the participants were tied to the overall appreciation of the entire

music rather than any specific musical style or dimension.

Now, synchronizing the aesthetic responses with the provided music types

yielded insight into the highlights of the responses of the participants and the

mostly associated musical dimensions or properties. From the visual display of

the aesthetic responses, three main characters of the responses were identified:

peaks, lulls and declines. Generally, across the six musical types used, very low

responses as well as decline in the response were associated with dissonant

sounds and harmonic progressions. Also, the transition from major to minor mode

did not seem to elicit favourable aesthetic responses as this resulted in a decline in

the response.

Another noticeable character of the aesthetic response was the various

lulls in the aesthetic response. Musically, a clear distinguishing feature of the lull

in the response was associated with repetition (with or without slight variations)

of a theme or an idea, little dynamic contrast and unvaried harmonic support. The

general identified trend in the responses of the participants across the six musical

types was that sections of a music which remained largely the same also had

responses remaining the same until there was a dramatic change or alteration in

the music. To single out for mention, the traditional music which had a section of

a mosaic of rhythmic patterns played by the supporting drums only, had responses

also remaining largely unchanged. Further repetition of this same theme resulted

in a decline in the response. Through several repetitions of an idea, the elements

such as novelty, surprise and incongruity (identified by Berlyne to drive aesthetic

experiences) are reduced therefore causing a lull or even a decline in the response.

Furthermore, North and Hargreaves (1997) observed that when music becomes

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predictable with repeated exposure, liking should wax and wane as a person

chooses to or not to listen to a given piece of music.

Now, the peaks in the aesthetic responses were associated with a number

of musical dimensions. To begin, the possible familiarity of the themes or ideas

employed in the music presumably caused such an intense response to the music.

The peaks in the aesthetic responses were all associated with a familiar theme or

music. Also, very expressive sections of the music engendered favourable

responses. In terms of tonality, responses to music in major mode were higher

than the minor keys. This could reflect the view that the most research

participants were accustomed with music in the major mode precisely because of

its availability and accessibility as compared with music in minor mode.

In a nutshell, the discussion of the emergent patterns in the data have

centred on the fact that aesthetic responses were generally tied to an overall intent

of the music resulting in an on-going rise in the response. However, certain

musical dimensions were identified to be mostly associated with the highlights of

the aesthetic responses. The peaks, lull and decline in the aesthetic responses

reflected the musical listening tastes and preferences of the participants. These

preferences have been shaped by cultural orientation, age group, gender, musical

training and other variables, resulting in subtle and extreme aesthetic responses

for each of the musical types.

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CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Introduction

Here, a summary of the whole thesis is given. This summary covers a

recapitulation of the purpose of study, the research questions/hypotheses

addressed, an overview of the research method employed, the various analysis

performed on the data and a statement of the main findings. Following the

summary, the conclusions drawn from this study and recommendations based on

the findings of the study will also be provided. By way of concluding the entire

study, some suggestions for future and further research will be offered.

Summary

This study primarily sought to explore the aesthetic responses of Ghanaian

undergraduate students to diverse musical types. As may be apparent from

previous chapters (introduction and literature review), music education as

aesthetic education is one which has enjoyed considerable attention from scholars,

educators and curriculum planners. Central to the discussions on aesthetic

education is the promotion of the development of the sensitivities and

responsiveness of students to musical art. As a result, music education as aesthetic

education seems to hold its sway the world over. In the case of Ghana, music

education is closely aligned with perspectives from aesthetic education.

Now, despite the generated body of literature in the area of aesthetic

education, little or practically no information is available regarding the delivery of

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music education after the order of aesthetic education. Thus, the need for

empirical evidence to support the delivery of music education to foster the

development of the aesthetic sensitivities of students is increasingly becoming

apparent. It is for this reason that I set out to explore the aesthetic responses of

undergraduate students to music.

Accordingly, stemming from the primary purpose of exploring the

aesthetic responses of undergraduate students to different musical types, three

specific objectives were developed: a) to find out if there was a significant

difference in the aesthetic responses of Ghanaian undergraduate music and non-

music students to different musical types, b) to study if there was a significant

relationship between familiarity of music and aesthetic responses and c) to

explore a possible relationship between student’s participation in musical group or

ensemble and aesthetic responses. Four research questions and three research

hypotheses were formulated to help gain deeper insight into the factors which

drive aesthetic responsiveness of students:

Subsequently, pertinent literature relating to the study was reviewed to,

among other things, place the study into proper perspective. This review

encompassed definitional issues concerning aesthetics and aesthetic experiences

addressed by a variety of intellectual domains such as philosophy, psychology and

sociology. Each domain focused on mechanisms that come into play or underlie

an aesthetic encounter. Also, literature was reviewed on music preference with

particular interest on the three-tier framework of musical preference by

Hargreaves, North and Tarrant (2006). The theoretical framework under whose

aegis this study was placed included Absolute expressionism, Berlyne’s arousal

theory, Mere exposure theory and Piaget’s Genetic Epistemology. By way of

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concluding the literature review, results from earlier research works concerning

aspects of music and aesthetic response were reported.

By design, this study employed concurrent, embedded correlational

model. This design, procedurally involved the collection of both qualitative and

quantitative data in a concurrent manner. Concerning the sampling procedures,

two major random sampling techniques (stratified random sampling and

independent within-sample random sampling techniques) were used to draw a

sample of 64 from the specified population.

Data was subsequently collected predominantly with the CRDI device and

its accompanying exit questionnaire. The CRDI instrument has been shown to

have a strong reliability with most studies ranging between a correlation

coefficient of .85 and .95. However, the validity of the CRDI is situation specific-

depending the construct been investigated and the conditions that impinge on the

particular study. Each participant manipulated a dial while listening to each of the

six musical types and accordingly completed the questionnaire.

The data analysis of this study was twofold: the first stage comprised

descriptive statistical procedures such as measures of central tendency and

measures of dispersion. In addition, linear graphs were used to study the

responses of participants across a number of variables. The second order of

analysis comprised testing the pre-set hypothesis and answering the research

questions. Here, inferential statistical procedures such as ANOVA and T-test were

also conducted.

Presentation of the major findings

The analysis began with the presentation of the biographical data on the

research participants. From this, it was observed that most of the participants

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(70%) had had some form of musical training. Then, I proceeded to investigate

the general trend of the aesthetic responses of participants. Taking a cue from

related research works, I also investigated three major factors such as gender, age,

program of study and musical training on aesthetic response. In relation to this,

gender, age and the number of years of musical significantly influenced the

aesthetic responses of the participants. Subsequently, the hypothesis and research

questions set for this study were duly answered.

Findings on variables and aesthetic response

To begin with, this study investigated the influence of gender on aesthetic

responses. Musically, there were some differences found between the aesthetic

responses of males and females in this study. As a matter of fact, the observed

difference amounted to statistical significance (p = .001). Whereas the female

participants in this study indicated high aesthetic responses for country and new-

age musical stimuli, their male counterparts indicated high aesthetic response for

hiplife, traditional and classical. However, the male participants had higher

musical training than female participants. By implication, the selection of pieces

for performance in schools will have to be done taking into due consideration

issues relating to gender differences and musical preferences.

In addition, another investigated variable which had an influence on

aesthetic response was age. Let me add that the differences in age and aesthetic

response yielded statistical significance (p = .000). In relation to age, aesthetic

responses of participants in the first three groups (17-21, 22-26, 27-31) remained

essentially the same. In this study, those in the age group of 32 and above,

representing 1.7% of the participants, had aesthetic responses which uniquely

differed compared with the other age groups.

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Finally, there was a statistically significant difference between the

aesthetic response of music and non-music students. Here, the major differences

between the two groups were associated with the frequency and magnitude of

aesthetic responses to the musical types. Beyond the program of study, I looked at

the influence of the general musical training on aesthetic responses. This was

conducted against the background that some non-music students could have had

some musical training. In this regard, it was also identified that a statistically

significant difference existed between participants with fewer years on musical

training (none and 1-3), on the one hand, and participants with extended years of

musical training (4-6 and 7 and above), on the other hand.

Findings relating to research questions and hypotheses

The first research question was to find out the general aesthetic responses

of Ghanaian undergraduate students to six musical types. From the study,

aesthetic responses to the vocal pieces were generally higher than the purely

instrumental types. Again, familiarity of music seems to play crucial role in the

appreciation and aesthetic responses to the musical types. Now, familiar music or

familiar sections of a piece of music resulted in high aesthetic responses.

Synchronizing the aesthetic responses with each of the six musical types across

time, the aesthetic responses of participants were favourable towards very

expressive sections of the music. Also, dissonant progressions, tonality change

(from major to minor) and loud music generally engendered low responses.

The second research question which had a corresponding hypothesis was

set to test if there was a significant difference between the aesthetic responses of

Ghanaian undergraduate music and non-music students. An independent sample t-

test showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the two

groups (p = .007).

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The third research question and its corresponding hypothesis were to

ascertain the influence of familiarity of music on aesthetic responses. Clearly, the

findings of this study showed that participants who indicated that a particular

music was very familiar also had high aesthetic responses to that music.

Eventually, a correlational test revealed a statistically significant relationship

between aesthetic response and familiarity of music: r (62) = .370, p = .000.

The fourth and last research question explored whether respondent’s

participation in a musical group could influence aesthetic response. Although

80% of research participants were members of at least one musical group (choir,

band, orchestra), there was no significant statistical relationship between aesthetic

response and participation in musical groups: r (62) = .000, p > 0.05. The results

implied that there was no strong correlational relationship in one direction or the

other.

Conclusions

From this study, insight is gained into the sensitivity and the

responsiveness of the research participants to music. Not only did aesthetic

responses to the six musical types indicate the musical preferences of participants,

but this study identified the characteristics of the musical dimensions which were

mostly associated with such preferences. The variables which, in this study, were

identified to have significant influence on aesthetic responses have also shed

some important light on factors which drive the aesthetic responses of the

research participants. Combining the findings, design, limitations and

recommendations for future research can initiate further prolific studies into

various aspects of aesthetic response to music.

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Recommendations

To begin with, researchers who would want to use the CRDI device must

endeavour to include a digital filtering system which can subject musical

recordings to analysis to generate one or more musical indices (that is collative

properties of the music). This will ensure that music with multiple indices such as

pulse, rhythm, melody, harmony and non-periodicals among others are properly

filtered in order to show the exact musical elements that impact aesthetic

experiences.

Regarding the use of the CRDI device, it may be helpful for future

research works to use visual overlays on the screen of the dial to clearly

demarcate the various levels or degrees of aesthetic responses. The reason for this

is to help streamline the manipulation of the pointer of the dial used by

participants to indicate the intensity or magnitude of felt aesthetic responses.

Furthermore, future research works must use a larger and a more varied

sample in studying aesthetic responses. It is considered important because a more

varied and larger sample size may produce statistically significant results and give

more support for generalization. Again, the use of a wider range of musical

excerpts will help bring out the contrast between the aesthetic responses to the

musical elements; major and minor, loud and soft, slow and fast among others.

Another angle from which to look into the aesthetic sensitivity of people

is to study aesthetic responses to particular music types under different

dimensions but the selected music would be modified and altered in many ways

– change of tempo, tonality, dynamic expressions, pitch centre and harmonic

progressions. This will provide significant insight to contrast the aesthetic

responses to the various characteristics of music.

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Further studies can replicate this study at other levels of education – basic

and secondary, graduate educational levels to gain insight into the trend of

aesthetic responses and the associated musical characteristics which highlight the

responses for general conclusions to be drawn. This will also provide the

opportunity for further investigation to be carried out into the variables identified

to have an effect on aesthetic responses (gender, age and extended musical

training).

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APPENDICES

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Appendix A

Music and Aesthetics: A Study of Aesthetic Responses of Undergraduate

Students to Music

The purpose of this questionnaire is to collect data on the aesthetic responses of

undergraduate music and non-music students. Please listen to the music and
consider each of the questions carefully and answer as honestly as possible.
Respond by ticking the appropriate box and fill in the blank spaces as required. I
sincerely assure the anonymity and the confidentiality of the information you
provide. The information is strictly meant for research purposes only. Thank you.

PART ONE: Biographical information

1) Sex: Male Female

2) Age 17 - 21 22 – 26 27 - 31 32 and above

3) Academic program of study (e.g. BA. Arts, BSc Science, B. Mus)

……………………………………………………..

4) Undergraduate level 100 200 300 400

5) Number of years of musical training:

None 1-3 4–6 7 and above

6) Are you in any musical performing group(s)? (Please tick as many as may

apply)

None Choir Orchestra Band

Others (not mentioned here) ………………………

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Appendix A continued

PART TWO:

1) Did you have an aesthetic response for each of the following musical

stimulus played?

Classical Yes No

Country Yes No

Traditional Yes No

Hiplife Yes No

New-age Yes No

Avant-garde Yes No

2) Did your movement of the dial correspond to what you felt as an aesthetic

experience for each of the following musical stimulus played?

Classical Yes No

Country Yes No

Traditional Yes No

Hiplife Yes No

New age Yes No

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Appendix A continued

Avant-garde Yes No

3) Please indicate the level of FAMILIARITY of each of the following musical

stimulus using the scale provided

(Unfamiliar) 1---------------2--------------------3-------------4-------------5 (Familiar)

(Never) (Rarely) (Sometimes) (Often) (Always)

a) _____Classical d) _____Hiplife

b) _____Country e) _____New age

c) _____Traditional f) _____ Avant-garde

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Appendix B

Music Preferences of Ghanaian Undergraduate Students

Musical genres Frequency Per cent Rank

Gospel 192 46.3 1st
R&B 37 8.9 2nd
Reggae 30 7.2 3rd

Hip-life 29 7.0 4th

Hip-hop 29 7.0 4th
Classical 21 5.1 6th
Cools 19 4.6 7th
Country 16 3.9 8th

High-life 14 3.4 9th

Traditional 9 2.2 10th
Rock 9 2.2 10th
World 6 1.4 12th
Jazz 4 1.0 13th

Total 415 100.0

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Appendix C

The six musical types used for this study

Musical Type Song Composer/Artist

Classical Variation for the piano in C major Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Country ‘I’ll be there for you Kenny Rogers

Traditional Yaa Yaa Kole Ghana Dance Ensemble

Hiplife Adonai Castro and Sarkodie

New age Pilgrim Enya

Avant-garde Chamber Symphony No. 1, Opus 9 Arnold Schoenberg

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Appendix D

Differences in Gender and Aesthetic Response

Std.
Gender N Mean Deviation Std. Error Mean
Aesthetic Male 32475 120.98 78.690 .437
response of Female 32475 113.38 79.951 .442
participants

An Independent Sample t-test of Gender and Aesthetic Response

Levene's
Test for
Equality of
Variances t-test for Equality of Means

95%
Confidence

Sig. Interval of the

(2- Mean Std. Error Difference

F Sig. t df tailed) Difference Difference Lower Upper

Equal
variances
assumed 16.471 .000 12.232 3 .001 7.599 .621 6.381 8.817
Equal
Aesthetic variances
response of not
participants assumed 12.233 60 .001 7.599 .621 6.382 8.817

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Appendix E

Scheffe’s Multiple Comparisons of Age Groups and Aesthetic Response

Mean 95% Confidence Interval

(I) Age of (J) Age of Difference Std. Lower Upper
participants participants (I-J) Error Sig. Bound Bound
17-21 22-26 3.450* .731 .000 1.41 5.49
27-31 1.117 1.124 .804 -2.02 4.26
32 and
-36.156* 2.562 .000 -43.32 -28.99
above
22-26 17-21 -3.450* .731 .000 -5.49 -1.41
27-31 -2.333 1.019 .155 -5.18 .52
32 and
-39.606* 2.518 .000 -46.64 -32.57
above
27-31 17-21 -1.117 1.124 .804 -4.26 2.02
22-26 2.333 1.019 .155 -.52 5.18
32 and
-37.273* 2.658 .000 -44.70 -29.84
above
32 and 17-21 36.156* 2.562 .000 28.99 43.32
above 22-26 39.606* 2.518 .000 32.57 46.64
27-31 37.273* 2.658 .000 29.84 44.70
*. The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.

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Appendix F

Differences in Program of Study and Aesthetic response

Program Std. Std. Error

of study N Mean Deviation Mean
Aesthetic Nonmusic 32475 116.30 80.989 .457
response of Music 32475 117.97 77.917 .424
participants

An Independent Sample t-test of Program of Study and Aesthetic Response

Levene's
Test for
Equality of
Variances t-test for Equality of Means

95%
Confidence
Interval of

Sig. the
(2- Mean Std. Error Difference

F Sig. t df tailed) Difference Difference Lower Upper

Aesthetic Equal
-
response of variances 5.260 .000 3 .007 -1.6670 .622 2.887 -.448
2.679
participants assumed

Equal
-
variances not 60 .007 -1.6670 .623 2.889 -.446
2.675
assumed

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Appendix G

Scheffe’s Multiple Comparisons of Number of Years of Musical Training and

Aesthetic Response

(I) Number (J) Number 95% Confidence Interval

of years of of years of Mean
musical musical Difference Lower
training training (I-J) Std. Error Sig. Bound Upper Bound
None 1-3 .488 .840 .953 -1.86 2.84
4-6 -12.059 .859 .000 -14.46 -9.66
7 and above -12.119 .876 .000 -14.57 -9.67
1-3 None -.488 .840 .953 -2.84 1.86
4-6 -12.547 .889 .000 -15.03 -10.06
7 and above -12.607 .906 .000 -15.14 -10.08
4-6 None 12.059 .859 .000 9.66 14.46
1-3 12.547 .889 .000 10.06 15.03
7 and above -.060 .923 1.000 -2.64 2.52
7 and above None 12.119 .876 .000 9.67 14.57
1-3 12.607 .906 .000 10.08 15.14
4-6 .060 .923 1.000 -2.52 2.64
*. The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.

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Appendix H

Descriptives of the Aesthetic Response of Music and Non-music Students to

the Musical Types

Program of
study Musical type Mean N Std. Deviation
Nonmusic Classical 137.83 9548 74.260
Country 116.75 3502 73.223
Traditional 102.78 5580 74.902
Hiplife 154.40 6044 68.435
New age 104.96 3962 77.813
Avant-garde 2.96 2797 13.489

Music Classical 149.10 10463 69.213

Country 99.70 3713 75.066
Traditional 116.57 5940 76.127
Hiplife 127.80 6435 69.617
New age 118.15 4224 71.240
Avant-garde 13.97 3016 28.422

Total Classical 143.72 20011 71.885

Country 107.98 7215 74.660
Traditional 109.89 11520 75.847
Hiplife 140.68 12479 70.312
New age 111.77 8186 74.780
Avant-garde 8.67 5813 23.170

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Appendix I

Scatter plot of Aesthetic Responses and Level of Familiarity

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