CHAPTER 5
                                    DISCUSSION

     Utilizing the most effective teaching method for student composition is essential to

the success of student performance. Both groups in this study experienced the same

guided composition process with prescribed parameters for their songs. This process

provided developmentally appropriate rhythms and pitches, practice with notation skills,

a template for creating the final product, and an instrument with only the necessary

pitches available. Because of the guided process, the teacher found the composition

project to be accessible to the students with few difficulties.

     Materials utilized in this study were necessary to determine the effect of color on

student performance accuracy. Performance results of this study indicate a statistically

significant comparison of playing accuracy with a t-test result of p=.03. Students in

Group One had a mean score of 12.07 while students in Group Two had a mean score

of 15. However, the median and mode of the two groups were the same.

     Students in Group One notated their compositions using a non-colored pencil and

played the xylophone with non-colored mallets (Figure 5-1). Though the average score

for this group was only 12.07, eight of the fifteen students played their compositions with

no mistakes. Students in Group One who scored considerably lower were observed

playing the instrument with little regard for the notation of their composition. Several of

these students played the rhythm of the rhyme accurately, but appeared to be

improvising the melody as they performed. It is not clear if the students in Group One

who did not play accurately were unable to decode the notation system or if they were

unsure which mallet corresponded with the pitches. According to the teacher-