Summary:
In this paper we present the results of a short 2-month intervention on the music lesson on the benefits of improvisation in the development of creativity. The intervention took place in 3rd grade students of a private primary school in the northern suburbs of Athens. Before and after the intervention was conducted, we administered the Measure of Creative Thinking in Music, MCTM-II), which examines 4 Musical Parameters, defining Creative Thinking in Music (Webster, 1994). Specifically, Musical Extensiveness examines the length of time that a person will devote to a musical creation. Musical Flexibility examines the range of musical expression in terms of dynamic (slow/high), pitch (low/high) and tempo (slow/fast). Musical Originality examines the use of imaginative and novel musical ideas, and Musical Syntax examines the logical consequence of musical ideas in terms of repetition, contrast and sequence (Webster, 1994). The main finding after the intervention was that the two groups (experimental - control) had a difference in their performance. The experimental group scored a better overall score for the four musical parameters than the control group. However, the difference between them was not statistically significant, which could possibly be attributed to the duration of the intervention.
Keywords:
music, creativity, improvisation, intervention, creativity assessment
