Beyond Fun and Games: A Framework for Quantifying Music Skill Developments from Video Game Play

Abstract

Music-driven video games have become a popular recreational activity, but the extent to which they promote musical skill development has had little direct study. This project presents a framework for evaluating how core musical skills are impacted by playing rhythm games; games wherein players imitate and recreate a layer in a song by following visual prompts (simplified scrolling) and sound cues (the music itself and game-error sounds). Our pilot study of first-year university students (N = 20 within gamer and non-gamer cohorts) observed nine weeks of routine music game play, including pre- and post-assessments using both quantitative tests and qualitative surveys of music education and gaming habits. Among our pilot sample's initial results, quantitative data analysis suggests learning advantages among gamers over non-gamers only in visual tracking tasks of musical prompts, such as pseudo-notation cues similar to those in the games. Qualitative survey responses bolster the evidence of selective visual learning. With preliminary results warranting further study, we offer practical considerations for refinement of these methods within these or similar game-related music skill inquiries. © 2011 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.