The effect of handedness on novice learners of keyboard instruments

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The effect of handedness on novice learners of

keyboard instruments

Master’s thesis

Author: Arjen Hilbers

Supervisor: dr. M. Sadakata Program: Music Studies University of Amsterdam

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Abstract

Many music educators would recognize left-handed students who struggle in their first approach to handle a musical instrument. Standardized methodologies for music education rarely differentiate in materials for left and right-handed novices. This raised the question of whether left-handed novices experience disadvantages from learning instruments with their nondominant hand compared to their dominant hand. Playing keyboard instruments with the nondominant hand might impede an effective way of practicing. The current research

examined the effect of handedness on novice learners of keyboard instruments and aimed to gain new insights in teaching and learning keyboard instruments for both left and right-handed novices.

An experiment was conducted with eight left-handed and eight right-handed novice learners of keyboard instruments, in the age of twelve to fourteen years old. The experiment consisted of three tasks. The participants were asked to perform all tasks with their dominant and nondominant hand. In the first task, the participants alternated two keyboard keys as fast as possible within a ten-second period. In the second task, the participants performed a short ascending and descending stepwise motive. Next, the participants performed a four-measure ascending and descending melody in the third task. In order to examine the effect of handedness on keyboard playing, the following two aspects of the dominant and

nondominant hand performance were measured and analyzed: 1) performance accuracy measured by the number of mistakes and 2) a self-report rating on participants’ individual experience of success.

The results clearly indicated that handedness had an effect on novices’ keyboard performance. Firstly, right-handers performed significantly more trills with their right hand on the finger trill task compared to their left hand. In contrast, left-handers performed a similar number of trills with both hands. Secondly, right-handers made significantly more mistakes with their left hand on the second and third task compared to left-handers. At last, right-handers reported a significantly greater experience of success with their right hand compared to left-handers. In contrast to right-handers, left-handers performed relatively similar with both hands.The outcomes indicated that right-handers benefit more from playing keyboard with their dominant hand compared to left-handers with their dominant hand. For left-handers, the quality of the performance and the experience of success was less dependent on whether the dominant hand was used.

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1. Introduction

1.1 Novice learners of keyboard instruments

At many secondary schools, music is taught to students in order to develop artistic competences and knowledge of music as an integral aspect of culture. The creativity, expertise and vision of music educators as well as the available instruments and used methods determine the music educational content to a large extent. For many music educators, the primary goal is to guide children through a process of discovering and developing several aspects of their individual musical potential. In general, music educators realise the importance of teaching a varied lesson which encompasses the multifaceted nature of music in a modern way. In the past decades, the old-fashioned carillon has been replaced by the keyboard as basic instrument for modern music education at many schools. According to a standardized method for music education in the Netherlands called Muziek

Meester!, music behavior can be divided into five domains: singing, listening, performing,

music reading and moving on music (Van der Lei, Haverkort, & Noordam, 2010). Based on these five domains, modern methodologies such as Intro and BeatsNbits provide

contemporary musical materials for learning music at secondary school. Besides singing and listening, the focus in music lessons is mainly on instrumental practice in order to encourage the development of musical abilities and musical skills.

The well-accepted pedagogical idea which underlies educational methods states that motivation is of profound importance for an effective learning process (Walter & Kralingen, 2011). Music teachers urge students to pay more attention to potential improvements of their performed sounds to increase motivation. In this way educators also support the musical learning of a student. The achievement of a good sounding instrumental result increases intrinsic motivation for further learning (Hallam, Cross, & Thaut, 2009). Professor in education and music psychology, Susan Hallam, put forward the concept of effective practice as a useful strategy for achieving a sounding result effectively (Hallam, 2012). Effective practice is defined as achieving the desired musical result in the shortest possible time (Hallam, Cross, & Thaut, 2009). The achievement of short-term goals in practicing music and appropriate support for novices are principles underlying the concept of effective practice. It is, therefore, one of the teacher’s priorities to guide students towards an

achievable goal in their music practice. In line with these principles, De Bézenac and Swindells (2009) stated that the learner’s self-awareness of musical, cognitive and motor abilities plays a key role for feeling self-assured in practicing music. The current study aims to investigate the concept of effective practice in relation to the use of the dominant and nondominant hand in learning keyboard instruments.

The so-called Sword and Shield Hypothesis states that humans use their preferred dominant hand for approach actions and their non-preferred dominant hand for avoidance actions (Brookshire & Casasanto, 2012). Being a music teacher myself, I noticed that left-handed beginners often approached instruments with their dominant hand in their first music lessons at secondary school. When learning a basic rhythm on drums, left-handers intuitively changed hands for playing hi-hat and snare drum. Also, in their first practice of guitar chords, left-handers intuitively held the guitar’s fretboard in their right hand. When learning a melody on keyboard, left-handed students intuitively approached the keys with their left hand. In my keyboard lessons, I also observed that most left and right-handed students preferred to use only three fingers for practicing a simple melody, when no finger and hand instructions were

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given in advance. For both, left and right-handers, the index and middle finger were used most frequently. The preferred third finger differed between thumb and ring finger.

In the process of instrumental learning, feelings of incapability as a result of an inappropriate use of hand and fingers might impede an effective way of practicing. Although methods for music education generally encourage the learner to develop motor skills, methodologies rarely differentiate in materials for left and right-handed students. It is therefore possible that left-handed students do not benefit optimally from the current methodologies. Research is needed in order to explore whether left-handed students are challenged and encouraged in the same way as right-handed students in practicing music. The current study aims to explore the potential problems novice learners of keyboard encounter in hand use when playing melodies with their dominant and nondominant hand.

1.2 The use of hands in keyboard playing

1.2.1 Bimanual coordination

As with many actions in daily life, playing a musical instrument is a bimanual task. Repetition is the key in the process of developing fine motor skills for a more fluent, accurate, and consistent instrumental control (Maynard, 2006). Most wind and keyboard instruments require a similar hand coordination of both hands. In contrast, string instruments require a different coordination for both hands. With regard to hand coordination for string instruments, the function of the left hand is to press the strings in the correct position, whereas the right hand draws the bow across the strings. String instruments demand for what is called asymmetrical patterns of bimanual coordination (Konczak, Velden, & Jaeger, 2009). A keyboard instrument offers the possibility to play more than two tones at the same time. In standardized repertoire for keyboard instruments, the left hand generally functions to play the bass lines, whereas the right hand plays the melodies. The harmonies can be played with both hands. In contrast to monophonic instruments, the bimanual complexities for keyboard instruments are related to the instrumental potentials of playing polyphone and polyrhythmic music.

Since the invention of keyboard instruments, composers have written music, often called études, in order to train finger control and finger independency. To novice learners of keyboard instruments, an adequate use of hands and fingers is systematically learned through a fingering system. In sheet music for novices, the numbers one to five are presented above or below the notes to indicate a finger-key relation. The ability to relate musical notation to the keyboard keys as well as to the fingers is a first step in learning keyboard instruments. In line with the concept of effective practice, a correct use of fingering and thereby a correct position of the hands on the keyboard keys, increase the potential for reaching better sounding results in keyboard playing. Furthermore, learning novices how to use fingers adequately is an example of appropriate support and therefore essential for reaching effective practice.

1.2.2 The use of fingers in keyboard playing

The required ability to use every finger independently is another aspect which underlies an adequate use of hands on keyboard instruments. In 1997, Parncutt, Sloboda, Clarke, Raekallio and Desain developed a computer model which generates the most efficient finger indications for simple melodies. Various rules associated with finger span and finger

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which states that the fourth and fifth finger (the ring and little finger) should be preferably avoided in fingering, because they are less strong and skillful than the other remaining fingers (Parncutt et al., 1997). In 2014, Nellåker and Lu examined the model by comparing the results with the methodological view of two expert pianists. In contrast to the fingering of the computational model, the ideal fingering as suggested by the pianists prescribed the need for using the fourth and the fifth finger in some occasions. The study of Parncutt et al. showed interesting similarities between theory and practice of novice learners. Moreover, the avoidance of the weak ring and little finger in the computed fingering is in line with the earlier mentioned observation that students in my music lessons avoided the use of weak fingers.

It should also be noted that, professional pianists are trained to perform independent finger movements for each finger (Furuya, Flanders & Soechting, 2011). A study by Häger-Ross and Schieber (2000) showed out that nonmusicians revealed the least independent finger movements with ring and middle finger. The plausible assumption that practicing contributes to a better performance of independent finger movements was confirmed by the study of Furuya, Nakamura and Nagata (2014b). In their study, fifteen participants without any formal instrumental education practiced a twelve-tone sequence, fifty times per day. The results showed an increase in independent finger control after four successive days of practicing. A similar research by Furuya, Nakamura and Nagata (2014a) showed that the least individuated fingers, the ring and little finger, showed the most progress in individuality after four successive days of practicing. These results thus showed that an intensive practice of a musical task with all fingers positively influences the independent finger control of novice learners of keyboard instruments.

The energy needed to incite body movement, and therefore also finger movement, is called kinetic energy. Ferrario, Macri, Biffi, Pollice and Sforza (2007) investigated the useful unitary kinetic energy of each finger of the right hand when playing a minuet of J.S. Bach. Their nineteen participants were conservatory students and professional pianists. Ferrario and colleagues found that the thumb and index finger used the most unitary kinetic energy per single key press. Compared to the kinetic energy used for the thumb, approximately one third less was used for moving the little finger. Furthermore, the middle and index finger were used most frequently, followed by the thumb, ring finger and little finger, in order of

frequency. The preference for using strong fingers are in line with the earlier observation that students in class intuitively preferred to use their strong fingers.

Another study on finger force in right-handed amateur and trained pianists

investigated the effort of finger forces in performing short melodies with mainly their weak fingers (Parlitz, Peschel & Altenmüller, 1998). In this study, three melodies were performed with alternate combinations of the middle, ring and little finger of the right hand while the other fingers were tied down (i.e. pressing and holding piano keys during the task). In contrast to the trained pianists, the results showed that the amateurs used their finger force uncoordinatedly and uneconomically. Surprisingly, the amateurs wasted finger force in their non-playing strong fingers in particular. Parlitz and colleagues clearly demonstrated that for a coordinated use of finger force and the ability to use fingers independently a certain amount of instrumental training is required. In other words, novice learners of keyboard instruments do not have sufficiently developed the ability to control finger force in order to independently operate the middle, ring and little finger.

To sum up, novice learners of keyboard instruments tend to avoid their weak fingers, have a lack of ability to control fingers independently and have not sufficiently developed abilities for an economical coordination of finger force. This means that they could encounter difficulties in finger use in their first phase of practicing the instrument. Existing teaching

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methods for beginner learners predominantly consist of small intervals and repeating patterns that are supposed to stimulate finger control and independence. The melodies on amateur level often show stepwise ascending and descending contours and require no frequent hand movements (Kreader, Kern, Keveren & Rejino, 2001; Overmars et al., 2016). In this way, methods help students to improve their skills in short term, which is in line with the concept of effective practice.

1.3 Handedness in keyboard playing

1.3.1 Handedness

Often people categorize themselves into left-handed and right-handed. However, prior to this categorization, the relevant question raises what the origins of handedness are. Handedness is traditionally seen as binary. Recent theories, however, assume handedness is a

multidimensional phenomenon (Smit and Sadakata, 2018). Fagard, Chapelain and Bonnet (2015) aimed to measure and define ambidexterity i.e. using both hands equally. Based on the outcome of several combined standardized handedness questionnaires, Fagard and colleagues classified handedness in terms of a strong left and right handedness or a mixed handedness. This classification approaches handedness as a spectrum rather than an absolute orientation. The importance for the recognition of handedness as a continuous variable was already stated by Peters and Durding (1978). In their study, a finger tapping task was performed in order to measure handedness among children. The distribution in performed results also emphasized the assumption that handedness is considered to be a spectrum. The difference between the number of finger taps with the left and right hand was smaller for left-handers than right-handers. Thus, left-handers are ‘less’ left-handed than right-handers are right-handed.

1.3.2 Measuring handedness

Handedness can be measured by two standards: hand proficiency measures and hand preference measures (Van Strien, 2002; Brown, Roy, Rohr, Snider & Bryden, 2004). The first is referring to the physical strength and motor skills of each hand, the latter is referring to the preferred hand of a person doing regular tasks, such as writing, hammering or using scissors. Several instruments are available to determine hand proficiency, e.g. measuring grip strength of both hands by holding a dynamometer (Van Strien, 2002; Brown et al., 2004), measuring the number of finger taps of the index finger of both hands in a ten-second period (Peters & Durding, 1978; Van Strien, 2002, Brown et al., 2004) and having

participants move dowels and pegs with each hand from one place to another as soon as possible (Van Strien, 2002, Brown et al., 2004).

Previous research has shown that a person's hand preference can be effectively measured by self-reporting questionnaires. Such questionnaires consist of questions about daily actions whereof participants have to indicate which hand they use by doing these acts. In the past decades, researchers have attempted to develop adequate hand preference questionnaires which show cohesion between daily life actions and hand preferences. For example, Curt, Mesbah, Lellouch and Dellatolas (1997) state that writing and drawing are the best items to determine a general indication of hand preference by young adults. Veale (2014) developed a four-item questionnaire. She found that the use of four items is valid and reliable and predicts 94% of the variance on the longer ten-item inventory, known as the standardized Edinburgh Handedness Inventory by Oldfield (1971).

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Several studies showed cohesion between hand proficiency measures and hand preference measures. Brown et al. (2004) reported significant correlations between the aforementioned hand proficiency tasks and a hand preference questionnaire. In line with this, Peters and Durding (1978) found a linear relationship between the number of finger taps with the left and right hand and hand preferences as measured by observing participants doing several manual tasks. Nalçaci, Kalaycioğlu, Çiçek and Genç (2001) showed a positive correlation between the number of finger taps with the left hand and the extent of left-handed preference within the spectrum of handedness. In conclusion,

handedness as measured with hand proficiency tasks and hand preference questionnaires are good indicators of someone’s hand orientation.

1.3.3 Handedness and instruments

For some instruments it is not unusual to ask for a left-handed instrument in a music store. Although history has shown a number of great left-handed guitar players, to our knowledge no academic studies have investigated the advantages for left-handedness on a left-handed guitar. Paul McCartney and Jimi Hendrix are great examples of left-handed guitar players. The left-handed guitar as well as methods for the left-handed guitarist are widely available as established means for learning guitar. Since there are no other examples of established left-handed instruments and methodologies, learning to play music left-handedly seems to be an exclusive development for guitarists. A few studies have investigated the preferences for a reversed piano among left-handers (i.e. the bass on the right and the treble on the left). The results showed that left-handed learners of keyboard indeed have a preference for a reversed piano (Smit & Sadakata, 2018), although this effect disappears after a few years of instrumental training (Laeng & Park, 1999). Except for the reverse function on modern keyboards, the reversed piano as alternative for the left-handed pianist has not been established as a standardized instrument.

Kopiez and colleagues (2011) have investigated the potential disadvantages of non-right-handed professional pianists and violinists in their performance of a scale playing task. In contrast to the hypothesized disadvantage for non-right-handers, their study provided evidence that both right-handers and non-right-handers performed better with their right hand. Kopiez and colleagues therefore assumed that handedness does not influence professional musicians who have adapted the standard playing position. Furthermore, they advocated for teaching standard position to novices in accordance with the right-handed norm, due to the little amount of extensive studies on the influence of handedness on instrumental performances (Kopiez et al., 2011). Their argument is based on the right-handed norm of classical instruments and repertoire as well as the right-right-handed qualities musicians are expected to acquire in order to become professionals. In line with Laeng & Park (1999), the findings of Kopiez and colleagues also indicate that potential disadvantages for non-right-handers disappear after a few years of instrumental training. However, the current research takes the novice learner of keyboard instruments as the object of study and aims to investigate the potential disadvantages non-right-handed novice learners encounter in playing keyboard instruments.

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1.4 The current research

According to my personal observations, left and right-handed novices intuitively approach keyboard instruments with their dominant hand. However, approaching the keyboard with the right hand is normative in the first phase of learning keyboard instruments. Standardized methods for keyboard instruments rarely differentiate in materials for left and right-handed students. This raised the question whether this is equally effective for novice learners with different handedness. The concept of effective practice states that short-term goals and appropriate support in practicing music are important factors for the achievement of a good sounding result (Hallam, Cross & Thaut, 2009). Furthermore, effective practice increases the intrinsic motivation for musical practice. For left-handed learners, playing melodies

predominantly with the nondominant hand (as most current teaching methods suggest) might therefore impede an effective way of practicing. Kopiez et al. (2011) demonstrated that left-handed professional pianists do particularly prefer using their dominant hand when playing a keyboard instrument. To my knowledge no studies have investigated whether this holds true for novice learners. In this study, we ask the question: what is the effect of

handedness on novices’ keyboard performance? More explicitly, the effect of handedness

on different types of melody performance will be examined in order to gain new insights for teaching and learning keyboard instruments for both left and right-handed novices. In this study, the quality of the novices’ keyboard performance will be measured by a four-item mistake analysis, i.e. the number of omissions, mishits, incorrect tone duration and key overlaps. The experience of success in practicing keyboard will be measured by a five-item questionnaire concerning questions about the principles underlying the concept of effective practice, i.e. difficulty experiences, self-appreciation and experienced duration of practicing.

Our expectation is that left and right-handers show a fewer number of mistakes in performing keyboard with their dominant hand. Left and right-handers are also expected to show a greater experience of success in performing keyboard with their dominant hand. These expectations are based on Laeng and Park (1999) and Smit and Sadakata (2018) who found that left-handed (novice) pianists showed better performances on reversed keyboards. However, Peters and Durding (1978) found that left-handers showed less differences in their dominant and nondominant hand performance on a finger tapping task compared to right-handers. Therefore, we expect that right-handers show a better

performance by using their dominant hand and also have a greater experience of success by using their dominant hand.

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2. Method

2.1 Participants

Sixteen secondary school students from Gomarus College Leeuwarden and Gomarus College Zuidhorn participated in this study (the age was ranging from twelve to fourteen years old). All participants had some experiences with keyboard exercises through seven months of a fifty-minute music lesson on a weekly basis. In music lessons at these schools, the participants are used to practice around 20 minutes on a keyboard every lesson. The participants for this study were selected on the basis of their hand preferences and lack of extracurricular instrumental background for keyboard instruments. A student was selected as right or left-handed, when the student had been seen writing with their right or left hand respectively. This first categorisation of handedness corresponds to Curt, Mesbah, Lellouch and Dellatolas (1997) who stated that writing and drawing are the best items to determine a general indication of handedness by young adults. Eventually, the experiment has been executed with eight participants with a right hand orientation and eight with a left hand orientation.

2.2 Stimuli

As previously mentioned, in methods for keyboard instruments melodic exercises for novice learners often show stepwise ascending and descending contours to encourage the learner to use all five fingers. In order to use all fingers on one hand, a melody logically passes all tones within a perfect fifth interval. For this experiment, short melodies were selected to enable the learner to achieve a sounding result in a short period of time. A repetitive ascending and a repetitive descending motive were selected as well as a four-measure ascending and descending melody. All motives and melodies were provided with letters in order to avoid problems due to a lack of musical reading skills (see Figure 1-4). The five-note motives (Figure 1 and 2) embraced a perfect fifth interval. The two melodies (Figure 3 and 4) were derived from the first four measures of classical compositions and transposed in C-major. Both melodies contained eighth, quarter, or half notes (no sharp or flat notes). The melodies fell in a range of the first line octave. A stimulus was defined as ascending melody when at least two-thirds of the notes showed an ascending interval. Similarly, a stimulus was defined as descending melody when at least two-thirds of the notes showed a descending interval. Each ascending or descending phrase started on either the first or fifth finger, depending on which hand was playing the melody (see Figure 1-4 for finger indication per hand). In order to provide the participants a clear task, the numbering for finger use was not shown in the actual stimuli. Instruction videos were made for both hand exercises of all stimuli in order to demonstrate the correct finger use. The numbers above the melodies demonstrate the correct use of finger for both hands as presented in the instruction video.

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Figure 1. Four repetitions of an ascending motive.

Figure 2. Four repetitions of a descending motive.

Figure 3. Ascending melody: first four measures of Minuet in G major by J. S. Bach (transposed in C).

Figure 4. Descending melody: first four measures of Musette in D major by C. Petzold (transposed in C).

2.3 Procedure

The experiment took place in the classroom for regular music lessons of Gomarus College Leeuwarden and Gomarus College Zuidhorn. Tables, chairs, keyboards, laptops and cameras were set up in a group formation (see Figure 5). At both schools, participants were tested in groups of two or three students.

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The participants were asked to perform three tasks on a keyboard. The first task was a collectively performed finger trill task inspired by the finger tapping task of Peters and

Durding (1978). The participants were asked to play two keyboard keys alternately as fast as possible with their index and middle finger within ten seconds for each hand. Before the actual task started, this task was practiced two times (i.e. once with both hands). The trill task was done in order to measure the handedness of participants.

The stimuli for the second task were presented on a laptop. In the second task, the participants were instructed to imitate the ascending melody (Figure 1) and, in addition, the descending melody (Figure 2) as good as possible as presented in a pre-recorded video example. Once they were satisfied with the performance result, the participants were asked to make a recording with the recording function available on the keyboard. The moment of recording afforded an indication that the participant was satisfied with their performance, because the initiative for recording was taken by the participant him or her self without any time pressure. Each melody (Figure 1 and 2) was played by both hands. Half of the left-handed and right-left-handed participants played the melody with their left hand and in addition with their right hand. The other half vice versa. After a melody was played with one hand, the participants were asked to answer question 1 to 4 of the questionnaire as presented in Figure 6. This questionnaire was administered to measure the experience of success in practicing melodies with the dominant and nondominant hand. The questions concerned aspects of effective practice in terms of experienced duration of practicing (question 1), self-appreciation (question 2 and 4) and degree of difficulty (question 3). After question 1 to 4 were answered, the same task was performed for the other hand. When the melody was

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performed with both hands, question 5 was added to the questionnaire in order to measure which hand provided the best experience of success.

In the third task, the participants imitated the two four-measure melodic fragments from well-known classical melodies (Figure 3 and 4) with both hands. The procedure of practicing, recording and answering questions was similar to the second task.

Figure 6. Hand experience questionnaire. 1. How long have you been practicing?

long 1 2 3 4 5 short

2. What grade would you award yourself on the performance of the melody? (Dutch grading: 1-10)

free answer

3. How difficult or easy was it to play the melody?

difficult 1 2 3 4 5 easy

4. Is your performance similar to the instruction video?

not similar 1 2 3 4 5 similar

5. Which hand would you use, if you would receive an official grade on this performance?*

left hand right hand I don’t know

* Question 5 was added to the questionnaire when a melody was performed with both hands. 2.4 Data analysis

Prior to the data analysis, every participant was categorized on the basis of their

handedness as indicated by their preferred hand when writing. Next to this, the finger trill task was used to backup this self-report classification. The number of finger trills performed with the left hand was subtracted from the number of finger trills with the right hand. A positive value meant that more trills were performed with the right hand compared to the left hand. The opposite applied for a negative value.

The performance on a played melody in task 2 and 3 was measured by two aspects: the number of mistakes and responses to the questionnaire. The number of mistakes included the number of omissions (one omission when a note was skipped), mishits (one mishit when a note was played wrong), incorrect tone duration (one mistake when a note was played too fast or too slow, relative to the played tempo), and key overlaps (one mistake when two keys sounded together). An exception was made for melody 3 where possible struggles due to hand movement in measure 3 were not counted as mistakes. Per melody, the number of mistakes was converted to a hand performance score by subtracting the number of mistakes when playing the melody with the right hand from the number of mistakes when playing the melody with the left hand. A positive value meant that more mistakes were played with the left hand compared to the right hand, suggesting that participants played the melody better with their right hand. The opposite applied for a negative value.

The questionnaire was converted to a question score by taking the average of the answers to question 1 to 4 (question 2 was converted to a scale from 1 to 5). Question 5 was

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administered only after both hand performances were completed. When the participants answered left hand here, five points were averaged with the question score of the melody that was played with the left hand and one point was averaged with the question score of the melody that was played with the right hand. The opposite applied when the answer to question 5 was right hand. When the answer was I don’t know, three points were averaged with the question scores of both hands. Per melody, a hand experience score was computed by subtracting the question score of the left-hand played performance from the right-hand played performance. A positive value therefore meant that a greater experience of success was present for playing the melody with the right hand compared to the left hand. The opposite applied for a negative value. In order to examine whether the participants had a greater experience of success when making less mistakes, the correlation between the average hand performance score and average hand experience score on all stimuli was calculated.

3. Results

3.1 Participants and handedness measures

Sixteen participants performed the experiment whereof eight indicated as left-handed and eight indicated as right-handed due to the observed hand preference by writing. The results of the finger trill task are presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Average number of finger trills on task 1. Indication by

writing

No. of finger trills (right hand)

No. of finger trills (left hand)

Difference score (right minus left) left-handers (n = 8) 25.6 (6.9) 25.3 (6.6) 0.4 (3.0)

right-handers (n = 8) 32.6 (4.2) 26.5 (3.8) 6.1 (3.0)

The analysis indicated that the difference score was significantly greater for right-handers than for left-handers (t (14) = -3.884; p < .01). Left-handers’ average difference score was close to zero, suggesting that their performance with left and right hand was very similar. In contrast, right-handers’ average difference score was positive, suggesting that they

performed significantly more trills with their right hand than their left hand.

3.2 Hand performance score

In Figure 7, the hand performance scores are presented per melody and participant group. A two-way Repeated Measures ANOVA as melody as within-subject factor and handedness as between-subject factor indicated a significant main effect of handedness (F (1) = 6.128; p < .05). No main effect of melodies (F (3) = 1.121; p > .05) nor interaction between the two factors (F (3) = .164; p > .05) were significant, suggesting that the hand performance scores were significantly higher for right-handers compared to left-handers regardless of what melody they had performed.

Figure 7. Average hand performance score (standard deviation) per melody and participant group.

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In Table 2, the frequency of occurrence of mistake types is presented. The number of omissions was not significantly different between left-handers and right-handers (t (14) = . 534; p > .05), nor was the difference between number of mishits (t (14) = .317; p > .05), number of mistakes due to a wrong tone duration (t (14) = -.608; p > .05), number of key overlap (t (14) = .634; p > .05) and number of total mistakes (t (14) = .000; p > .05),

suggesting that left and right-handers performed a similar number of mistakes on all types of mistakes.

Table 2. Frequency of mistake types.

Mistake type Left-handers Right-handers Total

omission 17 (8.7%) 10 (5.1%) 27 (6.9%)

mishit 26 (13.3%) 22 (11.2%) 48 (12.3%)

tone duration 122 (62.3%) 142 (72.5%) 264 (67.3%)

key overlap 31 (15.8%) 22 (11.2%) 53 (13.5%)

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3.3 Hand experience score

In Figure 8, the hand experience scores are presented per melody and participant group. A two-way Repeated Measures ANOVA as melody as within-subject factor and handedness as between-subject factor indicated a significant main effect of handedness (F (1) = 7.335; p < .05). No main effect of melodies (F (3) = 1.046; p > .05) nor interaction between the two factors (F (3) = .167; p > .05) were significant, suggesting that right-handed participants reported a significantly greater experience of success of right-hand performance than left-hand performance compared to left-left-handed participants, regardless of what melody they played.

Figure 8. Average hand experience score (standard deviation) per melody and participant group.

3.4 Correlation between hand performance and hand experience

A significant positive correlation was found between the average hand performance score and the average hand experience score (r = .72; p < .01; see Figure 9), suggesting that a high experience of success with one hand corresponds to a low number of mistakes with the same hand.

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* A higher hand experience score corresponds to a higher experience of success with the right hand. A lower hand experience score corresponds to a higher experience of success with the left hand.

** A higher hand performance score corresponds to a better performance with the right hand. A lower hand experience score corresponds to a better performance with the left hand.

4. Discussion and conclusion

Eight left-handed and eight right-handed novice students of Gomarus College participated in an experimental research to the effect of handedness on the performance of melodies on keyboard instruments. The research question was: What is the effect of handedness on

novices’ keyboard performance? In this study, the principles underlying the concept of

effective practice as defined by Hallam, Cross and Thaut (2009) were related to a personal experience of success in practicing music. To evaluate the effect of handedness on

keyboard practice, the following two types of measures were recorded: 1) the number of performance mistakes and 2) the experience of success as measured with a questionnaire. Prior to the melodic tasks and questionnaire, the participant’s handedness was measured by a finger trill task.

In line with the studies of Brown et al. (2004), Peters and Durding (1978) and Nalçaci et al. (2001), a cohesion was found between hand preference and hand proficiency. The results of the finger trill task showed that students who were categorized as right-handed performed significantly more trills with their right hand compared to their left hand.

Participants who were categorized as left-handed performed an equal number of trills with their left and right hand. In line with the theory of Curt, Mesbah, Lellouch and Dellatolas (1997), the results of the finger trill task confirmed the participants’ categorization for this research as based on the preferred hand for writing. These results are also in line with the findings of Peters and Durding (1978) and confirm the expectation that right-handers show better results by using their dominant hand. The outcome indicates that left-handers are ‘less’ left-handed than right-handers are right-handed. This substantiates the conception to

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consider handedness as a spectrum. However, a possible explanation for the small difference between the left and right hand among left-handers could be that left-handers have developed a greater adaptability for motor skill tasks in a predominantly right-handed world. Another explanation could be that left-handed students had more chances to practice with their right hand in previous music lessons, because the keyboard exercises rarely passes notes under middle c. However, students only had keyboard lessons as part of their music educational curriculum for seven months, twenty minutes every week. For right-handed students, there is no need to use their left hand, because the melody keys are closer within reach of the right hand. This possibly explains why right-handers performed

significantly more trills with their right hand.

This research aimed to explore the potential problems left and right-handed novices encounter in the first phase of keyboard instruments due to their hand orientation. In the experiment, the quality of the performance was analyzed by four types of mistakes, namely: omission of notes, mishits, inaccurate tone duration and key overlap. The results on the hand performance score showed that right-handers made more mistakes with their left hand compared to left-handers. This indicates that for right-handers the quality of the performance depends on whether the dominant hand was used. The results showed that left-handers made more mistakes with their right hand compared to right-handers. However, as shown in Figure 7, the hand performance score was closer to zero for left-handers than right-handers. Compared to right-handers, this indicates that for left-handers the quality of the performance is less dependent on whether the dominant hand is used. These results are in line with the expectation that both participant groups have a better performance when playing a melody with the dominant hand and the expectation that right-handers show better performances in using their dominant hand compared to left-handers. Furthermore, the results clearly show that for both participant groups two-thirds of the total number of mistakes were made due to an inaccurate tone duration. Surprisingly, both participant groups made an equal total number of mistakes. These results indicate that left and right-handed novice learners of keyboard instruments encounter similar difficulties in practicing melodies.

The results of the hand experience score showed that right-handers had a greater experience of success on practicing melodies with their right hand compared to left-handers. This indicates that for right-handers the degree of success depends on whether the

dominant hand was used. The results showed that left-handers had a greater experience of success with their left hand compared to right handers. However, as shown in Figure 8, the hand experience score was closer to zero for left-handers than right-handers. This indicates that for left-handers playing a melody with the dominant hand does not provide a much better experience of success. These results are in line with the expectation that both

participant groups have the greatest experience of success for using the dominant hand and the expectation that right-handers have a greater experience of success for using the

dominant hand than left-handers.

A strong correlation was found between the number of mistakes and individual experiences of success in performing melodies with the dominant and nondominant hand. This emphasizes the cohesion between subjective personal experiences in practicing music and the objectively measured quality of the musical results. The questionnaire investigated the concept of effective practice in terms of difficulty experiences, self-appreciation and experienced duration of practicing. Based on these aspects, the concept of effective practice correlates with the quality of the musical result as analyzed by number of mistakes. In conclusion, an interesting similarity was found between the hand performance score, the hand experience score and the score on the finger trill task. All scores demonstrated that

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right-handers took greater advantage of using their dominant hand compared to left-handers.

Due to a lack of studies on handedness and novice learners of keyboard instruments, the ambition of this study was to take a closer look at the effect of handedness on the quality of melody performances and the experiences of success in practicing. Although the aim of this study was similar to that by Kopiez and colleagues, our study found interesting

contrasting results. Kopiez et al. (2011) found that left-handed professional pianists performed best with their nondominant hand. The current study showed that left-handed novice learners of keyboard perform slightly better with their dominant hand. Moreover, a slightly higher degree of success was found among left-handers playing the melodies with their dominant hand. This suggests that to a certain extent left-handers profit from playing melodies with their dominant hand during their first keyboard lessons. However, the question is how this knowledge can help left-handed novices in the first phase of learning a keyboard instrument.

Music teachers and developers of keyboard methodologies are recommended to differentiate in exercises for the left and right hand for left-handed novices. As mentioned earlier, beginner exercises for keyboard are often based on melodies starting around middle c, which is closest to the right hand. In this way, current methodologies offer sufficient meaningful exercises for right-handers in order to reach an experience of success. However, practicing keyboard exercises composed for the left hand might contribute to the experience of success for left-handers. In the context of secondary school, a left and right-handed student could collaborate in order to increase their experiences of success as well as their performance result. For example, the higher level of polyphonic music has the potential to increase motivation among students when a successful performance is reached. Developers of methods for music education are therefore recommended to compose polyphonic pieces for two players i.e. a left and right-handed student.

From a music pedagogical point of view, students should be encouraged to develop skills for both hands in learning keyboard instruments. Left-handed novices seem to have a greater potential to learn playing keyboard instruments with both hands compared to right-handers, because left-handers do not experience much greater difficulties in practicing keyboard with their dominant hand compared to their nondominant hand. Furthermore, their experience of success does not depend on the playing hand. It is therefore recommended to encourage left-handed novices to develop skills for both hands. A development of both hands might lead to better keyboard performance skills for using both hands together. Further research is needed in order to investigate whether left-handed novices have a greater potential to acquire skills for playing keyboard with both hands together compared to right-handers.

In higher-level repertoire of piano music, the left-hand part often shows larger interval patterns (e.g. arpeggios and octave alterations). The stimuli used in this study were based on stepwise ascending and descending melodic contours. The results showed that left-handers performed slightly better in playing stepwise melodies with their left hand compared to right-handers. Left-handers might therefore be better in learning more complex melodic structures for the left hand compared to right-handers. Further research is needed to examine whether left-handed novice learners of keyboard are better in performing more complex alternating large interval patterns with their left hand compared to right-handers and whether this difference is greater than the results as found in the current study.

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The effect of handedness on novice learners of keyboard instruments