The effects of cognitive-emotional music listening in ear training on acquired knowledge and liking of the lessons

Previous research has shown that a cognitive-emotional approach (CEA) to music listening can improve music teaching in general education schools. This study tested it in music school ear training lessons. The aim was to compare the standard teaching approach (STA), which focuses more on cognitive and analytical tasks, and CEA, which also incorporates emotional, multimodal and interdisciplinary elements, on children’s knowledge acquisition and their liking of the lessons. Both approaches involved Dvořák’s music (an excerpt from the 4th movement of Symphony No. 9 in E minor, op. 95 ‘From the New World’) and had the same learning outcomes in two lessons, one related to the E natural minor scale and the other to rhythmic elements and duration. The sample consisted of 423 pupils, who were on average 10.5 years old and attended third grade in 16 Croatian music schools. Half of them participated in lessons prepared in STA, while the other half received lessons in CEA. Findings reveal that implementing CEA in ear training results in increased liking of the lessons, while the knowledge acquired in the lessons remains similar or better than that gained in STA. The implications of including music listening in ear training lessons were further discussed.