The Effect of Using Rapping To Teach Selected Musical Forms to Urban African American Middle School Students

Abstract

A study determined the effects of a pedagogical approach using rap music on the learning of musical forms among urban African American youth and whether there were differential effects among students of different levels of self-esteem. Urban African American youth (n=66) from the St. Louis County Public Schools who were enrolled in general music classes at Brittany-Woods Middle School served as participants. Two randomly chosen classes formed the control group and 2 randomly chosen classes formed the experimental group. All participants were in grades 6 through 8. Participants were divided into high, middle, and low self-esteem groups. For the control group, traditional procedures (lecture, listening, etc.) were used to teach students binary, ternary, and verse-refrain forms. The researcher also composed 3 songs in binary, ternary, and verse/refrain form respectively. The experimental group was instructed in the same manner as the control group with the exception that the 3 researcher-composed examples were rapped to a pre-recorded rhythm soundtrack, and students were allowed to move rhythmically to the beat and perform as a "human beat box." A researcher-designed test was then administered to those in both experimental and control groups, and students made written comments regarding rap as a pedagogical device. Results indicated no significant differences between the experimental and control groups, but student comments suggest that the use of rap music was highly appealing. (Contains 18 references and 2 tables of data. Appendixes present the researcher-composed songs and students' comments.) (Author/RS)