Effects of Using Graphic Notations on Creativity in Composing Music by Australian Secondary School Students

Theory and research in visual imagery and creativity have shown that use of graphic notations could enhance creativity in composing music. However, no such study has been conducted with Australian students. The purpose of the study was to determine if composing music with graphic notations makes a significant difference in creativity in composing music when compared to composing music without graphic notations by Australian secondary school students. Subjects were 47 seventh-grade students (all male) attending a private school in Sydney, Australia. The students were divided into two equal groups of Experimental (n = 22) and Control (n = 25) group on the basis of their musical ability. The Experimental group received an instruction on how to use graphic notations for composing music, while the Control group did not. The students' compositions were videotape-recorded by the researcher for judges' evaluations. Four expert judges evaluated creativity of the compositions using 3 criteria, i.e. Being 1) Original, 2) Structured, and 3) Musical, and 5-point rating scales. The results showed that the Experimental group's creativity scores were significantly higher than the Control group's (p < .05). Therefore, the results confirmed the findings by Auh & Walker (1999) with Korean secondary school students in Korea. Implication: Teachers should use graphic notations to stimulate creative thinking in instructions on composing music.