| Traditional music notation is highly complex. It is significant that some aspiring musicians become very skilled at singing, playing instruments, songwriting, and/or composing without being able to read or write traditional music notation. This phenomenon suggests two distinct possibilities: (a) that the principles of music theory are simpler and more intuitive than the symbol system used to represent them, and (b) that traditional music notation is more accessible to left-brained learners than to right-brained learners. In either case, presenting traditional music notation before audiation may be counterproductive. This phenomenological qualitative study used purposeful homogeneous sampling. It included seven adults who have achieved proficiency as singers, instrumentalists, songwriters, and/or composers but struggled to learn traditional music notation, used an alternative notation system, or simply learned to sing, play, and/or compose by ear. The data were collected through two self-assessments---the Human Information Processing SurveyRTM (HIPS) and the Multiple Intelligences Developmental Assessment ScalesRTM (MIDAS)---and one-on-one interviews. The researcher developed two proposed models. The Domain-Intelligence model integrates Bloom's taxonomies of the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains as concentric circles, Sperry's split-brain model (in the cognitive domain), and Gardner's original seven multiple intelligences. The Learning Cycles model incorporates several factors of effective instruction. These two models were used to analyze the data. The analysis addressed three research questions: What are their typical experiences learning traditional music notation? What factors do they perceive make traditional music notation difficult? How do they perceive that music education can be more effective? The analysis presents a conceptual framework and enhanced conceptual framework. The implications of the findings for practice go beyond the participants' responses to reveal the central phenomenon: symbolic cognitive load, irrelevance, and negative attribution, all of which decrease interest and motivation. They suggest how to reverse the central phenomenon: positive attribution, essential cognitive load, and relevance, all of which increase interest and motivation. They also identify eleven criteria for a simpler, more intuitive music notation system. The recommendations for future research extend these models and implications to other symbol systems. |
