May KokkidouDepartment of Visual and Applied Arts

University of Western Macedonia, Greece

How does musical humor affect children's willingness to listen to music?

How does musical humor influence children's attitudes and activities?

Since the time of Aristotle, philosophers and scholars have tried to understand and explain the origins and the functions of humour and laughter.According to Abraham Maslow (1968) humour is a supreme manifestation of the human spirit, a peak experience, a way of bringing delight to the heart; it is not driven by other needs but is linked to the disposition to play.

Humour in music is closely linked to its parodic or comic elements.

A common argument against the existence of musical humor is that in most instances which provoke smiles or laughter, this does not appear to lie in the musical sounds themselves but in the associated ideas, that is in extra-musical factors.

Can pre-school pupils appreciate humour in music? If so, how do they perceive and interpret music as humorous? Does the understanding of musical humour depend on prior experience?

About the studySamble: 25 children of pre-school age, 4 to 6 years old

Time: April and May 2011Instrument: InterviewsProcedure: Five pieces of music for listening. The students were asked two questions: “Is this music funny?” and “Why?”

Music pieces /passagesthe opening of the first movement of Kodaly's Háry János suite

the first movement of Eine Kleine Nichtsmusik by P.D.Q.Bach (Peter Schickele)

People With Long Ears from Camille Saint-Saëns's Carnival of the Animals

the first part of Richard Strauss's Till Eugenspiel's Merry Pranks

The third movement of Bizet's Jeux d’ enfants (the Spinning Top)

The students did not react with laughter to any of the pieces on a first listening. Nevertheless, after hearing explanatory information they showed perception of the humour in the music, laughed spontaneously and even at such length as to prevent them from following the development of the work

DiscussionLaughter is not a spontaneous response to music: searching

for and discovering the humorous dimension in

music has to do with searching for and discovering

analogies in real life

The perception of humour or its implications in

music requires additional cognitive stimuli

Children are able to appreciate humour in

music, which demonstrates their ability

to use metaphor and comparison in order to

proceed to symbolic interpretations

A humorous element provides motivation for a closer relation with a

work of music

Existing knowledge and previous experience

have a supplementary function, facilitating the

perception of musical humour

The findings of our research showed that

children aged 4 to 6 can be aware of musical

humor, though within a referential context

May Kokkidou