MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Predicting Music Appreciation with past Emotional Responses to Music

Author(s): Robert H. Woody and Kimberly J. Burns
Source: Journal of Research in Music Education, Vol. 49, No. 1 (Spring, 2001), pp. 57-70
Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. on behalf of MENC: The National Association for
Music Education
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3345810
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 JRME 2001, VOLUME 49, NUMBER 1, PAGES 57-70 57

This study is an exploration of the musical backgrounds and beliefs of nonmusicians

and the relationship of these variables to music appreciation factors. Subjects were
533 college students enrolled in 17 sections of courses in Music Appreciation and
Music for Classroom Teachers. Subjects completed a questionnaire regarding their
musical backgrounds, preferences, and beliefs and then heard and responded to four
highly expressive classical music excerpts. Data analyses indicated significant rela-
tionships between certain musical background factors and responsiveness to classical
music. More specifically, past emotional experience with classical music was a reli-
able predictor of music appreciation, as measured by appropriate recognition of
expression and willingness to listen to classical music on one's own time. Implica-
tions are drawn regarding approaches for teaching classical music to nonmusicians,
including increased focus on expressive qualities in music listening experiences.

Robert H. Woody and KimberlyJ. Burns

Ball State University

Predicting Music
Appreciation with
Past Emotional

Responses to Musi
One of the recognized goals of music education is to expos
dents to styles of music that they might not hear through
involvement in popular culture. Accordingly, music educators
introduce students to "classical" music with the hope that stu
will ultimately acquire an appreciation for this style that man
itself as attending concerts and listening to this music on the
time. Past research, however, suggests that music education
often successful in influencing the preferences of students t
classical music (Finn-is, 1989).
The basic belief underlying the objectives of music appreciation is
that increased exposure to classical music will ultimately result in
increased appreciation of or preference for this musical style.

Robert H. Woody is an assistant professor of music education in the School of

Music, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306; e-mail [email protected]. Kimberly
J. Burns is an assistant professor of music education at the same institution. Copyright
@ 2001 by MENC--The National Association for Music Education.

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58 WOODY/BURNS

Research generally affirms that exposure and formal training con-

tribute to preference for certain styles of music (Cutietta, 1992). Few
would argue that long-term exposure to classical music throughout
one's childhood often produces appreciation for this musical genre.
What remains uncertain, however, is whether a semester's worth of
exposure to classical music can influence nonmusicians' apprecia-
tion. Research studies looking at this type of short-term exposure
have yielded largely inconclusive results with students of all ages
(Hargreaves, 1984; Peery & Peery, 1986; Price & Swanson, 1990). In
fact, certain types of music exposure in formal educational settings
may foster negative attitudes about music (Sloboda, 1990).
A common approach to teaching music appreciation involves
instruction about basic elements of music and historical review of
Western music. In this approach, students are introduced to term
nology for basic musical elements (e.g., rhythm, pitch, timbre) and
then learn to identify the different uses of these elements while li
tening to classical music. Especially with regard to the college level,
this approach has been the center of considerable debate (Mann
1999), in part because little research attests to its value. On the con-
trary, Zalanowski (1986) found that "concrete analytical" instruction
did not improve classical music appreciation among nonmusi
majors. Similarly, the instruction carried out by Price and Swanson
(1990) resulted in increased knowledge of classical music pieces, b
not in more positive opinions of the works. Critics of this tradition
approach contend that it fails to offer a holistic music experience t
listeners. As the result of their research, Lewis and Schmidt (1991)
suggested that "overemphasis on such intellectualization may ma
music listening a clinical rather than an aesthetic experience" an
that students instead could be encouraged to respond to the musi
emotional content (pp. 318-319). This implies an alternative
approach that focuses on the expressive qualities of classical mu
and allows students to draw upon their existing ability to respon
subjectively to music (Hargreaves & Colman, 1991). Similarly, Man
(1999) recommended that teachers of music appreciation start wi
students' immediate affective responses, "to begin with what our st
dents bring us!" (p. 104).
In fact, there is considerable research on the musical tastes and
beliefs that adolescents and young adults may bring with them to a
formal music instructional setting (see Zillmann & Gan, 1997, for
overview). In a study of junior and senior high school students,
Schwartz and Fouts (1999) reported that, among adolescents, the
most common motives for listening to music were to relieve boredom
and to entertain themselves. Also frequently mentioned, however,
were motives that the researchers categorized as emotional attune-
ment, such as "to feel better," "to keep me in the mood I am in," and
"to help me get into a particular mood" (Schwartz and Fouts, 1999,
p. 6). These results corroborate the theory of mood management,
which maintains that people choose sensory materials in order to
regulate their affective experiences and mood states in desirable ways

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 JRME 59

(Zillmann, 1988). Along these lines, Sloboda (1992a) argued that

"music does not create or change emotion; rather it allows a person
access to the experience of emotions that are somehow already 'on
the agenda' for that person, but not fully apprehended or dealt with"
(p. 35).
Musical mood management can be seen when some young people
choose popular music styles for the expression of emotion-related
ideas, such as romance or defiance (Zillman & Gan, 1997). If mood
or emotional expression of music is consequential in all of their
music choices, it is possible that many young people do not appreci-
ate classical music because they believe it is incapable of expressing
the emotions or moods that they experience in life. One factor may
be that lyrics, absent in much classical music, can be more powerful
in affecting the moods of young adult listeners than other purely
musical elements (Stratton & Zalanowski, 1994). Of course, formally
trained musicians would attest to classical music's capacity for expres-
sive communication. Research has documented that performing
musicians intend to convey moods and emotions in their music and
that listeners tend to perceive them, often with considerable agree-
ment (Gabrielsson & Juslin, 1996; Shaffer, 1992). Madsen (1997b)
found that this kind of emotional response to classical music is large-
ly accomplished through attention to melodic and dynamic ele-
ments.

Research has suggested that adolescents and young adu

an optimal age for expansion of their musical preference
Sims, Malin, & Sherrill, 1992; LeBlanc, Sims, Siivola, & Obert, 1996).
"Open-earedness," or the tolerance of a variety of musical styles,
tends to decline as children enter adolescence but then rebounds as
they mature to young adulthood (LeBlanc et al., 1996). The pre
study explored the musical backgrounds and beliefs of nonmus
young adults (college students), with the primary focus being
emotion-related factors. Subjects' preferences for various mu
styles were examined, but special attention was paid to their attitu
and reported behaviors related to classical music in particular.
study addressed the following general research questions:
1. What are the characteristics of nonmusicians (e.g., musical pre
erences and beliefs about emotion and music) that may inf
ence their appreciation of music styles?
2. How do nonmusicians respond to pieces of classical music t
are considered highly expressive among musically sophist
ted listeners?
3. Can music appreciation among nonmusicians be predicted by
past emotional responses to music?

METHOD

The subjects in the study were 533 undergraduate nonmusic

majors enrolled in 17 sections of courses in Music Appreciation and

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60 WOODY/BURNS

Music for Classroom Teachers offered at the researchers' university.

The project was carried out during class time in the first week of the
semester (i.e., before students received instruction related to musical
expression or other topics relevant to the study). The number of stu-
dents in individual classes ranged from 22 to 40. Of the total sample,
56% were women and 44% were men.
Subjects first completed a two-page survey questionnaire. The
questionnaire consisted of multiple choice and Likert-scale rating
items that asked subjects about their personal music preferences and
listening habits, their history of emotional responses to various styles
of music, and their beliefs about the emotionality of various styles of
music. Additionally, subjects' past exposure to classical music was
measured through responses to seven yes/no questions: (a) "Did you
grow up with classical music sometimes playing in your home?" (b)
"Have you played or sung classical music in a school music group?"
(c) "Did you grow up hearing classical music in church sometimes?"
(d) "Have you played or sung classical music in a church music
group?" (e) "Have you ever purchased a recording of classical
music?" (f) "Were you ever in a class that included listening to classi-
cal music?" and (g) "Have you ever been to a live performance of
classical music, such as a concert by an orchestra, symphonic band,
or choir?" On questionnaire items involving various styles of music,
six broad categories were used: Classical, Country, Gospel/
Contemporary Christian, Jazz/Blues, Pop/Rock, and Rap/R&B.
Selection of musical style categories, a well-established challenge of
this type of research, was accomplished by referring to the work of
Zillmann and Gan (1997, pp. 164-165).
After completing the questionnaire, subjects then participated in
the study's music listening task. Subjects heard four brief excerpts of
classical music and after each responded to four questions. Table 1
lists the four excerpts used in the study. Selection of the Beethoven,
Mozart, and Tchaikovsky excerpts was based on the research of
Sloboda (1992b), who specified classical music compositions to
which musicians reported having strong emotional responses in past
listening experiences. Sloboda also linked particular compositional
devices within the pieces of music (e.g., melodic appogiaturas, sud-
den dynamic changes, repeated syncopation) with physical effects of
intense emotional response, such as tears and shivers. The excerpts
of the three pieces used in the present study included as many of
Sloboda's identified devices as possible within approximately 2 min-
utes of music. Inclusion of the Vivaldi piece was based on the work of
Waterman (1996), who similarly documented specific locations in
the music that frequently elicited emotional responses in listeners.
The musical excerpts were played from compact discs through
wall-mounted speakers in music appreciation or music education
classrooms. The presentation order of the four excerpts was varied
among the groups of subjects, as drawn randomly from all possible
orders. After hearing each excerpt, subjects were asked to respond to
four written questions (included at the end of the questionnaire).

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 JRME 61

Table 1
Musical Excerpts Used in the Study

Excerpt Recording
Composer Work Excerpt Duration Information

Beethoven Concerto for Piano Rondo 2.25 Cleveland Orches-

and Orchestra (3rd mvmt.), tra, Leon Fleisher,
no. 4 in G Major, mm. 329-499 pianist, George
op. 58 Szell, conductor.
Sony Classical,
1992.

Mozart Requiem, K 626 "Dies Irae" 1:45 Bavarian Radio

Symphony Orches-
tra and Chorus,
Sir Colin Davis,
conductor. RCA
Victor, 1991.

Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet Love theme, 2.17 Philharmonia

(Fantasy Overture) mm. 200-266 Orchestra, Carlo
Maria Giulini, con-
ductor. EMI, 1987.

Vivaldi "Winter" Allegro non 2:16 Saint Paul

[L'inverno], molto Chamber Orches-
Concerto in (1st mvmt.), tra, Pinchas
F Minor, op. 8, mm. 1-38 Zukerman,
no. 4 violinist and con-
ductor. CBS
Masterworks, 1981.

Note. The specific recordings used in the study were those found in the library at Ball State
University, Muncie, Indiana.

The first question asked subjects whether they knew the piece of
music. The second question requested that they select from the fol-
lowing list the word that best described the expression in the excerpt:
anger, joy, neutral, peacefulness, or sadness. The four emotions were
based on established two-dimensional models of emotion that com-
bine a positive-negative dimension and arousal (or active-pa
dimension (Baumgartner, 1992; North & Hargreaves, 1997)
third question directed subjects to rate the intensity of their r
to the excerpt's expression using a 5-point Likert scale (i.e.,
weak, 5 = very strong). The final question asked, "If you were

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62 WOODY/BURNS

copy of this piece of music, would you listen to it at home?"

Subjects' responses to the questions for the four listening exam-
ples served as indicators of their appreciation for classical music.
Inasmuch as appreciation of something is defined by accurate aware-
ness and favorable regard for it, this study considered music appreci-
ation through the component variables of subjects' chosen emotion
words, intensity of emotional response ratings, and whether they
would listen to the pieces of music at home. Accurate awareness of
the pieces of music was reflected in the appropriateness of chosen
emotion words and the intensity of emotional response to these
excerpts (noted for their strong emotional content). Favorable
regard for the classical music excerpts was reflected in the subjects'
willingness to listen to the pieces of music on their own time.

RESULTS

Emotion-Related Musical Beliefs and Other Musical Background Facto

On the questionnaire's first item, subjects selected a statement t

describe their general feelings about music. Not a single subje
reported dislike for music, and less than 1% of the sample indicate
neutral feelings about music. Virtually the entire sample indica
that they either liked music (35%) or loved music (64%). The result
for favorite style of music were (from most popular to least
Pop/Rock-60%, Rap/R&B-20%, Country-10%, Jazz/Blues-
5%, Gospel/Contemporary Christian-4%, and Classical-1%.
Subjects also selected a statement related to mood to explain h
they choose the music they listen to. Approximately 10% of the sa
ple indicated that they choose their music for reasons other th
mood. Of the remaining subjects, nearly two-thirds (63%) respo
ed that they choose music to match their mood; 37% of subjects in
cated that they choose music to change their mood (e.g., happ
music to cheer up, relaxing music to relieve stress). Subjects
indicated with which styles of music they had experienced emotio
al responses in the past: Pop/Rock-87%, Country-68%,
Rap/R&B-63%, Classical-63%, Gospel/Contemporary Chris-
tian-57%, and Jazz/Blues-52%. Although classical music was the
favorite style of only 1% of the sample, a more substantial 63%
reported having an emotional response to it in the past.
Data analysis revealed a relationship between exposure to classical
music and emotion-related musical beliefs and experiences. Results
of a Pearson correlation indicated that subjects with more exposure
to classical music tended to rate the general emotionality of classical
music higher, r = .356, p < .001. Also, they were more likely to report
having past emotional responses to classical music, as determined by
a lambda statistic (1 = .852, p < .001). The group means for classical
music exposure, based on the 0 to 7 scale, were M = 3.96 for those
reporting a past emotional response and M = 2.47 for those not.

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 JRME 63

Table 2

Summary Data for Subjects' Responses to the Excerpts

Excerpt

Beethoven Mozart Tchaikovsky Vivaldi

Recognized the piece 8% 12% 74% 23%

Word choice for expression:

Anger 4% 54% 1% 27%

Joy 55% 16% 11% 19%

Neutral 22% 23% 7% 29%

Peacefulness 16% 1% 69% 5%

Sadness 3% 6% 12% 20%

Mean response to
excerpt's expressiona 2.77 2.69 2.88 3.05

Would listen to the

piece at homeb 44% 25% 51% 51%

a Used 5-point Likert scale, 1 = very weak to 5 = very strong; sig

between means for all excerpts, except as indicated by the underl

b Significant differences (p < .01) between responses for all exc

the underline, in McNemar tests.

Finally, supporting the general thrust of Slob

with greater exposure to classical music tended
sive to the expression of the study's listening exa
= .261, p < .01; Mozart, r= .247, p < .01; Tchaiko
and Vivaldi, r = .325, p < .01.

Emotional Response to Classical Music Excerpts

Table 2 is a summary of subjects' responses to

ples used in the study. Several features of these d
First, many subjects (74%) seemed to recogniz
Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet (perhaps through

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64 WOODY/BURNS

commercials and movies). Also, there was general agreement on the

expression of three of the four excerpts: joy in the Beethoven, anger
in the Mozart, and peacefulness in the Tchaikovsky. Interestingly, the
Vivaldi elicited the strongest emotional response from subjects (M =
3.05), but with little agreement about the word that best described its
expression. In fact, neutral was the most frequent word choice.
Finally, Mozart's "Dies Irae" was not well received by the sample. Its
expression yielded the weakest response from listeners (M = 2.69);
subjects also were least willing to listening to the Mozart excerpt at
home.

Predicting Music Appreciation with Past Emotional Experience with

Music

As previously mentioned, music appreciation was analyzed

through the component variables of subject's chosen emotion words,
intensity of emotional response ratings, and reported willingness to
listen to the pieces of music at home. The final series of analyses
examined responses to the listening examples by dividing the sample
into two groups: subjects who reported experiencing past emotional
responses to classical music (n = 333) and those who did not (n =
200). Table 3 shows percentages of subjects' choices of words that
best described the expression of the four musical excerpts. With all
excerpts, the neutral label was more frequently chosen by subjects
with no past emotional experience with classical music. These sub-
jects also less frequently chose expression words that match the com-
poser's likely intent, such as anger for the Mozart ("Dies Irae" trans-
lates "Day of Wrath," describing the Day ofJudgment) andjoy for the
Beethoven (Kolodin, 1975, p. 13). Chi-square tests of the response
patterns across the five expression word choices yielded a significant
difference between the two groups of subjects for all excerpts:
Beethoven, X2(1, N= 529) = 18.00, p < .01; Mozart, X2(1, N= 532) =
12.27, p < .05; Tchaikovsky, X2(1, N= 531) = 14.57, p < .01; and Vivaldi,
X2(1, N= 527) = 14.03, p < .01.
Subjects' responsiveness to musical expression was examined by
comparing the two groups' mean intensity of emotional response to
each of the four listening examples (measured on a 5-point Likert
scale). With all excerpts, means were higher for subjects reporting
past emotional responses to classical music compared to subjects
reporting no such experiences: 3.01 to 2.38 for the Beethoven, 2.96
to 2.24 for the Mozart, 3.11 to 2.49 for the Tchaikovsky, and 3.41 to
2.44 for the Vivaldi. Computation of t-tests verified these differences,
suggesting that subjects with past emotional responses to classical
music were significantly more responsive to the expression of the
excerpts: Beethoven, t (531) = -7.41, p < .001; Mozart, t (531) = -7.23,
p < .001; Tchaikovsky, t (531) = -7.52, p < .001; and Vivaldi, t (531) =
-10.31, p < .001.
A final analysis considered subjects' responses to the question of
whether they would listen to the piece at home if given a recording;

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 JRME 65

Table 3

Percentages of Subjects' Choices of Words to Describe the Expression of the Excerpts and Their
Willingness to Listen to the Excerpts at Home

Word Chosen to Describe Expression of Excerpt Willing

to listen

Excerpt Anger Joy Neutral Peacefulness Sadness at home

Beethoven
No past responsea 3.5 45.0 29.5 18.0 4.0 20.0

Past responseb 4.0 62.3 17.6 14.3 1.8 58.7

Mozart

No past response 46.0 16.5 29.5 2.0 6.0 8.5

Past response 59.3 15.1 18.4 0.9 6.3 35.4

Tchaikovsky
No past response 1.0 11.5 11.5 62.5 13.5 29.0

Past response 0.3 10.0 3.9 74.0 11.8 64.0

Vivaldi
No past response 21.4 18.9 37.2 5.6 16.8 27.0

Past response 31.1 19.0 23.6 4.5 21.8 64.6

a No past emotional response to classical music.

b Past emotional response to classical music.

Note. Patterns of responses were significantly different between

square tests.

this was perhaps the single best indicator of su

ation. Percentages of affirmative responses are
hand column of Table 3. Results of chi-square t
jects with past emotional responses to classica
cantly more willing to listen to the pieces at h
N= 532) = 75.94, p < .001; Mozart, X2(1, N= 53
Tchaikovsky, X2(1, N= 533) = 61.12, p < .001; a
533) = 70.54, p < .001.
DISCUSSION

The results of this study affirm several commonly h

about music and young adults. First, virtually everybody
(keeping in mind that the subjects in this study chose

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66 WOODY/BURNS

music appreciation courses). In the present study, only a tiny fraction

of the sample did not express a fondness for music, with a majority
of subjects saying they "love" music. Second, classical music is not a
preferred style of music among this age-group. Very few subjects
reported classical music as their favorite style. Although this finding
may be disappointing to some musicians and music educators, it can
hardly be considered surprising. Finally, and perhaps more encour-
aging to the music profession, a majority of subjects reported having
past emotional responses to all the musical styles presented in the
study. This includes the classical style, to which emotional responses
were reported by nearly two-thirds of the sample.
Although this study focused on the role of past emotional
response in appreciation of classical music, it must be noted that
mere exposure to classical music remains a potentially confounding
variable. Because past exposure to classical music was correlated with
other emotion-related factors (e.g., having a past emotional
response), it alone could serve as a predictor of music appreciation.
It is possible that extensive involvement with classical music as a
young person may yield an appreciation for the style as an adult, even
without any marked sensitivity to its expressive qualities. It is perhaps
more likely that exposure to classical music contributes to the devel-
opment of expectations (including expressive expectations) used in
listening to this style (e.g., Repp, 1992). Such expectations may make
listeners more perceptive of the expressive qualities of classical
music, and ultimately result in greater appreciation for the style. It
remains uncertain, however, whether formal music appreciation
instruction can effectively build expressive expectations in students
through attention to basic musical elements (e.g., how articulation
and tempo are used to make music expressive) and aspects of music
history (e.g., the use of terrace dynamics in music of the Baroque
style period). It is, in fact, questionable whether even long-term for-
mal music training necessarily produces appreciable differences in
listeners' emotional responses to music (Madsen, 1997a).
A primary purpose of this study was to test the viability of a theory
that young adults do not appreciate classical music because they
believe it does not address the emotions and moods that they expe-
rience in life. The results of this study offer provisional support for
this theory. The majority of the subjects indicated that in their own
lives they choose music to match the mood they are in. Subjects
reporting no past emotional experience with classical music general-
ly showed less appreciation for the classical music listening examples,
as measured by their choice of expression words, the intensity of
their response to the excerpts, and their willingness to listen to the
pieces of music at home. Considering that the excerpts in this study
are documented for their emotional effects, it is important to note
that subjects without past emotional responses to classical music
more frequently selected the word "neutral" to describe the expres-
sion of excerpts.
The excerpts used in this study were chosen for their strong

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 JRME 67

expressive content. In choosing musical examples for music appreci-

ation instruction, teachers may wish to similarly consider a work's
potential for eliciting emotional responses in students, in addition to
its historical and music-theory-related merits. The results of this study
also suggest that familiarity may be an important consideration in
selecting music that will be well-received by a music appreciation
class; recall that the Tchaikovsky and Vivaldi excerpts were somewhat
recognizable to subjects and also elicited favorable responses from an
appreciation standpoint (Table 2). Finally, research by LeBlanc et al.
(1992) suggests that humorous musical selections may foster recep-
tiveness for unfamiliar styles of music.
With three of the excerpts in this study, there was general agree-
ment as to the emotion word that best described the expression, sup-
porting the findings of Gabrielsson and Juslin (1996). However, one
of the more interesting findings of this study related to the Vivaldi
excerpt. Although it elicited significantly more intense emotional
responses than the other excerpts, it also was the only excerpt with
little agreement among subjects on the expression word choice. In
fact, "neutral" was the most chosen word. It is possible that subjects
chose the word "neutral" not because they thought the Vivaldi was
devoid of expression (the mean intensity of response indicates oth-
erwise), but because none of the provided emotion words seemed to
them to fit quite right. This result may point to the ineffability of
music, an idea proposed by many music philosophers (e.g., Addis,
1999, Ch. 6; Reimer, 1989, Ch. 3). That is, the expressive qualities of
music can represent emotions and moods that language can only
imprecisely characterize.
The results of this study suggest that young adults who have had
past emotional experience with classical music are more responsive
to the expressive qualities of classical music and are more willing to
listen to this style of music on their own time. In light of these find-
ings, one might theorize that an integral part of music appreciation
instruction is the opportunity for students to experience first-time
emotional responses to classical music. Past research has offered
some initial insights into how this might be accomplished. The find-
ings of Sloboda (1990) indicate that students must perceive a non-
threatening environment in order to be comfortable enough to
respond emotionally to music. Fostering this would seemingly begin
by considering students' cultural backgrounds, including musical
preferences, which can influence emotional response to music
(Gregory & Varney, 1996). Given adolescents' and young adults'
fondness for popular music styles such as rock and rap, it would seem
unwise for an instructor to disparage these styles of music to students.
More generally, Price and Swanson (1990) concluded that instruc-
tors aiming to encourage more enjoyable listening experiences
"must consider an approach that is different than the typical lec-
ture/demonstration model that predominates in the music educa-
tion profession" (p. 45).
The present study has advanced the importance of emotion-relat-

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68 WOODY/BURNS

ed factors in the teaching of music appreciation. Its findings offer at

least provisional support for the theory that young adults do not
appreciate classical music because they have not experienced its
emotional potential; thus, they believe it cannot express the emo-
tions or moods that they seek in a music listening experience.
Although there remains uncertainty regarding the most effective
approach for delivering music appreciation instruction, the results of
this study suggest that music educators should consider their stu-
dents' emotion-related musical experiences and beliefs and plan
instructional activities that facilitate students' emotional responses to
presented pieces of classical music.

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