A Comparison of Syllabic Methods for Improving Rhythm Literacy

The author investigated the effects of three syllabic recitation systems on skills associated with the ability to read rhythm notation. Subjects were 160 second- and third-grade children enrolled in public schools in southern Maine. Twelve rhythm patterns containing half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes were used. Random combinations of the twelve patterns were combined into complete measures of 4/4 or 6/8. Subjects were tested on their ability to recognize, write, and clap these patterns. Evaluation of these three skills was based on experimenter-designed tests, and a pretest-posttest experimental design was used. Results showed that a syllabic system that differentiated between duple and triple subdivisions of the beat improved recognition skills to a greater degree than one that did not. Furthermore, a system in which specific words were assigned to intact rhythm patterns improved performance and notation skills to a greater degree than did the two systems that used monosyllables.