Page 106 - Glasbenopedagoški zbornik Akademije za glasbo v Ljubljani

into two: an experimental group (n=29) receiving rhythm-based music tra-
glasbenopedagoški zbornik ◆ letnik/volume 20 ◆ številka/number 41
ining and a comparison group (n=27) receiving general music lessons. The in-
tervention consisted of 13 music sessions (once a week) over the period of three
months, integrated into regular school schedules. The experimental group in-
tervention activities included percussive instruments (e.g. djembe), body per-
cussion, movements synchronized with beats, and simple rhythm patterns pra-
cticed through clapping or drumming. These interventions, influenced by Karl
Orff’s method, were designed to develop beat synchronization, and enhance
spatial awareness and motor skills, as well as to improve phonological aware-
ness. The comparison group followed general music education activities, inclu-
ding singing and melody-focused exercises, without specific rhythm or move-
ment activities. Among the children in both groups (15 out of 29 children in
the experimental and 12 out of 27 in the comparison group), those identified
as lower-level readers were a subgroup with lower literacy skills. The literacy as-
sessment was conducted using the Finnish ALLU test (Ala-asteen Lukutesti,
ie. Reading Test for Primary School) (Lindeman, 2005), and working memo-
ry through the Corsi Blocks test (Vandierendonck et al., 2004) before and af-
ter the intervention, with additional follow-ups at 8 and 20 months. Results
showed no significant differences in overall reading development between gro-
ups, but lower-starting-level readers in the experimental group demonstra-
ted significant and sustained improvements in literacy skills (after 17 months)
compared to the comparison group, underscoring the long-term benefits of
rhythm training. Regarding the study’s hypothesis that rhythm training be-
nefits cognitive functions linked to reading, the experimental group showed
moderate improvements in visuospatial working memory, which supports this
hypothesis. The study highlights the feasibility of embedding rhythm-based
interventions into school curricula, without requiring specialized resources,
and their potential to support children with early reading difficulties. Findin-
gs suggest that rhythm-focused music training can serve as an effective inter-
vention for at-risk readers in educational settings.
Zuk et al. (2018) aimed to examine neural correlates of phonological pro-
cessing in 40 healthy English-speaking children, aged from 6 to 13 years. Chil-
dren were divided into three groups including: (1) musically trained children
(n=16); (2) musically untrained children (n=13); and (3) musically untrained
children with diagnosed dyslexia or scoring below 90 on standardized rea-
ding assessments (n=11). The primary goal was to explore if musical training
enhances phonological processing and whether these improvements can be-
nefit children with dyslexia. The study used functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI) to measure brain activity during a phonological task where
children had to identify whether two spoken words started with the same ini-
tial sound. They compared all three groups. A control task was also perfor-
med, which involved identifying if two words were spoken in the same voi-
ce (gender matching). During the procedure, accuracy and reaction time were

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