Audience Members' Recall of Lyrics in a Live Choral Performance Context

This study examined audience members' (N=402) ability to recall lyrics in a choral composition immediately after the piece was performed live in a concert setting. Participants wrote down as many words contained in the lyrics as they could recall, and then briefly described in their own words the overall meaning of the lyrics. Among primary results: (a) 22.63% of participants recalled individual words from the performance; (b) recall among participants overall ranged from 0 to 27 words (M = 1.04 words); (c) regression analysis indicated a modest statistically-significant relationship between frequency of individual words recalled and years of choral ensemble experience; and (d) responses to overall meaning fell most frequently into categories of "Don't Know" and "Love." Results were discussed in terms of music-text relationships in choral music, limitations of the study, and suggestions for further research.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Kansas

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Morton, Hilary Lynette

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Daugherty, James

• Education, Music
• listening
• lyrics
• memory
• music
• recall
• text

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright held by the author.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

http://dissertations.umi.com/ku:11030

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:kuscholarworks.ku.edu:1808/37086