
In early childhood education and therapeutic settings, musical performances are often improvised to meet children's developmental needs. While such improvisation plays a vital role in supporting communication, emotion, and engagement, it has rarely been systematically described or analyzed. This study introduces a method for documenting and interpreting improvised piano performances used by educators and therapists, with the goal of making context-sensitive musical expertise more visible and transferable. We propose a dual-layer labeling system that captures both the type of musical activity (e.g., singing, movement, instrument, listening) and the performer's real-time intention (e.g., learning, enjoyment, interaction). This structure is combined with two simple acoustic indicators—horizontal and vertical note density—to quantify the texture of performance. Data from 41 musical segments were collected across daycare, kindergarten, and therapy settings. Results show that even when the same song is used, performance characteristics vary measurably depending on children's states and pedagogical aims. Comparative analysis with Orff and ISO frameworks suggests that the proposed approach adds finer granularity to practice-based analysis.
Improvised Performance, Early Childhood Education and Music Therapy, Labeling and Visualization
Improvised Performance, Early Childhood Education and Music Therapy, Labeling and Visualization
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 0 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Average | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Average | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Average |
