ABSTRACT

This paper has as its purpose the exploration of musical learning. It begins with a definition of learning, considers the nature of musical meaning, provides an analysis and description of the products of musical learning, and gives attention to the relationship between musical learning and maturation. Learning is growth and development; learning is experience and something new that has been added. And it is a process that results in change in behaviors. But psychologists have not get agreed on a definition acceptable to everyone. All these behaviors result from musical learning. The following section has as its purpose the definition of the areas of musical learning and the clarification of the learning products of a musical education. Musical appreciation is defined as the apprehension and enjoyment of the aesthetic import of music. Musical understanding is defined as the ability to bring accumulated musical learning to bear on the solution of musical problems. In addition to these two, among the areas of musical learning are musical knowledge, musical skills, musical attitudes and musical initiative. Maturation associated with age is commonly accepted in both learning theory and learning practice. Ordinarily, a child of three is not expected to ride a bicycle, use a typewriter, or play the piano, but such accomplishments are commonplace for ten- or twelve-year-olds. Wheeler developed a gestalt theory of learning with a strong biological emphasis which attributed all behavior to growth. His theory implied a principle which has been called stimulation-induced maturation. The second type of maturation depends upon experience in stimulating environment and may be called experimential maturation or simply, for our purpose, musical maturation. Both types of maturation are important in musical learning. Many problems in musical learning arise through pupils` lack of musical maturation. Seashore did excellent pioneer work in serious experimentation to apply psychology and learning theory to musical learning and music teaching. Unfortunately, no one continued experimentation on the basis of Seashore`s work, and few music educators have developed new directions for such experimentation. Four men have been selected for brief discussion: B.F. Skinner, Jean Piaget, David P. Ausubel, and Robert M. Gagne´. Skinner takes an optimistic view of the possibility of applying results from experimental learning theory to educational practice by means of the teaching machine. Piaget, a Swiss psychologist, has developed a theory of mental growth by observing the behavior of children. Ausubel has established a spirited defence of both verbal learning and reception learning and has presented a subsumption theory of meaningful verbal learning and retention. Cagne´ has set forth a behavioristic position in learning that is having a profound influence on the thinking of educators. Eleven principles of learning are as following: 1. Efficient learning begins with a compelling and intelligible problem. 2. The learner must perceive the relationship between his learning experience and the problem he wants to solve. 3. Motivation is central to efficient musical learning. 4. Learning depends upon impressions received by the senses. 5. Provisional tries must be made in musical learning. 6. The perfection of complicated skills requires correct forms of movement established by practice. 7. Musical learning has a sequence of synthesis-analysis-synthesis. 8. Learning is an active process. 9. Learning is highly individualized. 10. Learning may transfer if generalization takes place. 11. Learning is affected by the total environment of the learning situation. Up to the present time, most of the efforts to apply learning theory to musical learning have taken this direction: Because a particular theory of learning indicates such and such to be true, the music teacher ought to do thus and so. This represents a logical application of principles of