Page 72 - AC-2-2

Arts & Communication Japanese children’s musical flow

spontaneously attempted to produce a sound by holding infant, in her mother’s arms, tilted her head toward the
the bow without placing the violin on her shoulder. She source of the sound. Many children produced resonant
held the bow in her right hand and placed the bow on the metal sounds, occasionally raising the metal pieces high
strings of the violin that was lying on the floor. Since the and looking around while gesturing for others to observe.
sound was scratchy, her mother held the bow and guided Caregivers also attempted this after their children made
her to the best position. The girl began moving the bow sounds, enjoying the experience and listening to some
back and forth vigorously, eventually producing a nice explanations provided by specialists and researchers on
tone. For another example, a 5-year-old boy sat in front of metallic materials. One mother compared several sounds
a low table where researchers had prepared various-sized and told her child, “It’s completely different,” and shared
violins for children. The boy’s mother and grandmother the observation with the researcher.
attempted to select the best instrument size for him. They In this section, a variety of flows were observed across
carried many different-sized violins and tried placing them children of all ages. For instance, a 3-year-old girl excitedly
on his shoulder to assess which size fit him best. They held a chopstick in her right hand while her mother provided
repeated the action several times while the boy was looking the metal materials. She repeatedly struck the material,
at another booth, which was a technology device producing occasionally varying her speed, and continued playing for
a rhythmical drum sound similar to a DJ. The caregivers over 5 min. Another 5-year-old boy deliberately selected
found a violin that fit the boy well and positioned it on his materials and listened closely to the differences in sound by
shoulder, guiding him to hold the bow in his right hand and placing each material close to his ears. He remained focused
move it. Although he managed to produce some sound, it for 10 min, exploring the subtle differences in the sound.
was scratchy. Meanwhile, the grandmother started playing Similarly, a 7-year-old boy seated next to his mother engaged
the violin and practicing, but the boy was always looking in a similar manner to the 5-year-old boy. In his case, his
at other booths. They eventually left the violin booth after mother also enjoyed exploring the sound, and eventually,
approximately 5 min. In another instance, a 9-year-old he asked her to hold several materials as he played them
boy who is a 3 grader successfully produced sound on together, resembling wind chimes. Caregivers’ intervention
rd
the violin. He sought guidance from his parents on how was minimal; they mostly observed the children, or they
to hold the violin, and they demonstrated by imitating a also enjoyed the activity instead of supervising the children.
violinist. He held the violin and produced some sound. Table 2 indicates the most observable flow indicators in
However, when his mother instructed him to place his each category.
fingers on the violin strings to change the pitch, the sound Notice that although the result indicated that the
became scratchy compared to when he played the open children’s flow was stifled by the technology and the violin
strings without fingers. He then left the booth and moved sessions and facilitated mostly by the metallic materials,
to another one. we shall not generalize the result based on these findings.

3.3. Metallic musical materials Rather, the result may imply the caregiver’s stance toward
each instrument, affecting whether it stifles or facilitates
Self-assignment was clearly evident, as many children the children’s flow. By contrasting the violin and metallic
carried the materials and experimented with the sounds. materials, it was noticeable that caregivers’ attention to
Self-correction was observed as children adjusted their teaching their children how to play the violin or even
grip on the strings or chopsticks. The subtle movement how to make a sound on the violin was with a very strong
resulted in varied timbres, and children listened attentively intention, while both caregivers and children shared
to the different sounds produced by metallic materials. the activity on the metallic materials; thus, children’s
The gesture was particularly notable in this activity, with
children carefully placing the chopsticks and striking Table 2. Observable flow experience during the workshop
them lightly to achieve the desired ringing tones. Some
anticipation was observed as children began touching Flow indicators Technology Violin Materials
the materials before the session started. Expansion was Self-assignment ○ ∆ ○
frequently observed. For example, a 5-year-old boy joyfully Self-correction ∆ ∆ ∆
played with metal pieces in sync with the music playing Gesture × ∆ ○
from the MIDI instruments. Extension was also evident, Anticipation × × ○
as children stayed much longer than expected. Awareness Expansion ∆ ∆ ○
of others was clearly observed, most often when other
children were trying several different metallic musical Extension × ∆ ○
materials one by one with the other participants. Even an Others ∆ ○ ∆

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2024) 5 doi: 10.36922/ac.1782