Effects of The Lexical Rhythm Learning Strategy on Music Teacher Candidates’ Success in Rhythm Dictation

Abstract

Rhythm is a fundamental subject in music education. In general, voluntary, and occupational education between pre-school and higher education, rhythm instruction is included in music education either through instrument training or music theory. This study determines the effects of the lexical rhythm learning strategy on music teacher candidates’ success in rhythm dictation. It also presents the study group’s views and opinions about the strategies they used in learning rhythm. The study group (n=20) consisted of first year music teacher candidates registered in the Musical Hearing, Reading, and Writing II course in the Music Education Programme in the Department of Fine Arts Education at the Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Faculty of Education during the 2016-2017 academic year. The research used quantitative and qualitative methods. “The Rhythm Dictation Test” was used to test the research hypotheses. In addition, an interview form was administered at the end of both the pre-test and post-test to ascertain subjects’ strategies of writing dictates and their perception of the difficulty of the rhythm dictation. A significant difference was found between experimental and control groups in their total rhythm dictation scores, in favour of the experimental group. The lexical rhythm learning strategy was adopted by the entire experimental group, it was effective in the perception of rhythm patterns, and it made dictation easier. As a result, effectiveness of the lexical rhythm learning strategy in dictating compound rhythm patterns was highlighted.