Rhythm, reading, and sound processing in the brain in preschool children

A child’s success in school relies on their ability to quickly grasp language and reading skills, the foundations of which are acquired even before entering a formal classroom setting. Previous studies in preschoolers have begun to establish relationships linking beat synchronization, preliteracy skills, and auditory processing. Beat synchronization involves the integration of sensorimotor systems with auditory and cognitive circuits and, therefore calls on many of the same neural networks as language. Using a drumming task, we analyzed the relationship between children’s ability to maintain an isochronous beat with preliteracy skills and frequency following responses (FFRs) in over 150 preschoolers. We show that preschoolers who performed well on the beat synchronization task outscored their peers on all preliteracy measures and had more robust FFRs. Furthermore, the good synchronizers experienced less degradation of certain FFR measures when listening in noise. Together, our results are consistent with the view that rhythm, preliteracy, and auditory processing are interconnected during early childhood.

Peer tutoring for improvement in rhythm reading fluency and comprehension

Peer tutoring in music education is an under-researched but burgeoning area of study. This study aims to assess the effects of the same-age peer tutoring project Ritmos en dos on rhythm reading fluency and comprehension. For this purpose, 24 students from the third grade of secondary education participated in the project. This research utilises a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design, combining (a) a pretest-posttest control group design, with (b) a qualitative study to understand the possible quantitative changes using the interactivity analysis model. Results confirm our hypotheses that students’ participation in the project improved their proficiency across rhythm reading fluency and comprehension. Regarding fluency, quantitative results show a significant improvement for the experimental group, but not for the control group; in comprehension, both groups show gains, but statistically significant differences favour the experimental group in the final comprehension level. Findings reveal different actions that might explain these improvements identified in the interaction between students. Regarding fluency, these actions were mainly related to pulse constancy and reading accuracy while in reading comprehension, students were found to carry out syntactic analysis and metacognitive reflection. Implications suggested from this study point to initial training and cooperative interaction as key elements to be tackled.

Teaching Pitch Notation–Reading Skills

The teaching of music-reading skills has been cited as a neglected area of music education needing improvement. Music reading is the process of translating notation into sounds. Producing the notated sounds by singing, more specifically referred to as sight-singing, is especially demanding because it requires the individual to first mentally construct aural images of the sounds, an essential process that is challenging to teach and assess. This article describes a series of activities for teaching music-reading skills in general music or choir, focusing mainly on reading and singing pitch notation, though many of the ideas could also be used to teach rhythm reading. The activities are sequential, are easy to implement, and allow for the assessment of skill acquisition at various stages of development.

Spesifikk visuell trening som pedagogisk metode med fokus på øyebevegelser som påvirker barns lesing

Lesing er en komplisert prosess med mange ulike komponenter. Barn er av-hengige av å kunne lese for å fungere godt i hverdagen. Denne studien fokuserer på lesehastighet og øyemotoriske bevegelser hos en gruppe skoleelever på 3. trinn. Målet var å studere om Bal-A-Vis-X (Balance, Auditory and Vision eXercises) kan ha effekt på barnas øyemotorikk og lesehastighet. Måleinstru¬mentene var ReadAlyzer og Nonsensordtest. Intervensjons-/treningsmetoden var Bal-A-Vis-X, der sandsekker og små racketballer ble benyttet. Barna ble plassert i en kontroll- og en eksperimentgruppe. Begge gruppene gjennomførte både pre- og posttest. Eksperimentgruppen trente Bal-A-Vis-X i 30 minutter en gang i uken i fem måneder. Øvelsene krever visuelle følgebevegelser, øye-hånd-koordinering og stødige rytmiske bevegelser basert på både visuelle og auditive signaler som krever presis fysisk teknikk. Resultatene viste at eksperimentgruppens lesehastighet ble endret signifikant på både ReadAlyzers lesetest og Nonsensordtest. Kontrollgruppens lesehastighet endret seg ikke signifikant. Denne studien indikerer at Bal-A-Vis-X kan være et supplement for alle barn i skolen med eller uten lesevansker. Metoden har viktige komponenter som er involvert i lesing, den er gøy og den gir barna mestringsfølelse.Nøkkelord: barn, visuell trening, rytme, lesehastighetAbstractReading is a complicated process with many different components. Children need to read in order to cope in daily life. This study focuses on reading speed and eye tracking for a group of pupils in their third year of primary school. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether Bal-A-Vis-X (Balance, Auditory and Vision eXercises) could be a method to improve children’s eye tracking and reading speed. The design is quasi-experimental where ReadAlyzer Eye Move¬ment Recording System (REM) and parts of a nonsense word test were used. The intervention method was Bal-A-Vis-X, using sandbags and small racket balls. The children were placed in a control and an experimental group. Both groups completed pre- and post-tests. The experimental group trained with Bal-A-Vis-X for 30 minutes once a week for five months. The exercises require visual move¬ments, eye and hand coordination, and steady rhythmical movements, based on both visual and auditory signals that require precise physical technique. The children in the experiment group showed significant improvement in reading speed and reading nonsense words. The control group showed no sig¬nificant improvement. This study indicates that Bal-A-Vis-X can be a supple¬mental method for all children in education with or without reading problems. The method has components important for their reading skills, it is fun, and it gives the sense of achievement of new skills.Keywords: children, visual training, rhythm, reading speed

The Effect of Pitch and Rhythm Difficulty on Vocal Sight-Reading Performance

Singing music at sight is a complex skill, requiring the singer to perform pitch and rhythm simultaneously. Previous research has identified difficulty levels for pitch and rhythm skills individually but not in combination. In this study, the author sought to determine the relationship between pitch and rhythm tasks occurring concurrently. High school singers ( N = 252) sang melodies with varying combinations of pitch and rhythm difficulty. Results indicate that pitch and rhythm skills retained their relative difficulty levels, regardless of the presence of other factors. Rhythmic success was significantly related to pitch success. Rhythm accuracy without pitch success occurred least frequently. Pitch accuracy without rhythm success occurred most frequently. Singers appeared to give priority to pitch over rhythm, performing pitch correctly at the expense of rhythmic accuracy. Singers with instrument/piano experience and singers with piano experience only scored significantly higher than did those with no instrument/piano training ( p < .05). Those with instrument and/or piano experience were more proficient at performing pitch and rhythm together than those without such experience. Implications for teachers include the necessity of emphasizing rhythmic continuity. Future research should explore the pitch and rhythm reading capabilities for instrumentalists, and singers’ ability to sight-read additional musical elements.

A CASE STUDY OF MUSIC AND TEXT DYSLEXIA

IN THIS ARTICLE, WE FIRST REPORT the data of normal music readers on a new music-reading battery developed in our laboratory. The battery was inspired by the brain damage literature on music-reading deficits and comprised visual and auditory tasks. Second, we report the battery data of IG, a university musician who was referred to us as potentially dyslexic for music, and also her data on text reading and neuropsychological tests.We compare IG's data with those of normal readers.We suggest that IG might represent a case of associated music and text developmental dyslexia.Her results also indicate a dissociation between her pitch and rhythm reading abilities not quite the same as normal readers, as well as an interesting dissociation between reading and repetition, opposite to normal readers.