Children’s musical and social behaviours in the context of music-making activities supported by digital tools: Examples from a pilot study in the United Kingdom

Children’s enjoyable experience in music-making has been reported to be crucial for their social and musical development. This research investigates the way in which participant young children develop their musical and social skills by digital technology-supported music-making activities within a multicultural educational context. Two different software packages were used in the research. Data collection methods reported in the current article included observations and field notes, video analyses and dialogue analyses. Initial results indicate that children developed their musical knowledge as a part of their active interaction with others. In particular, their use of digital tools provided a supportive environment for collaborative music-making. In this process, which seems to be non-linear in nature, children were observed to develop negotiation skills, empathy and a tendency to verbalize their thoughts whilst exchanging their musical ideas. The initial findings, therefore, provide evidence that using appropriate music technology in a classroom can be of benefit for children to develop musical and social skills.