AIRS 3rd Annual Conference: 2011
Title: Improvisations of Estonian children
Authors: Marju Raju (Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre), Jaan Ross (Estonian
Academy of Music and Theatre)
Presentation format: Short oral
Sub-themes: 1.3
Introduction
AIRS Test Battery was piloted in Estonia with 26 children ages 4-12. This presentation focuses
on results from two components of the Test Battery: component 7 (improvising an ending to a
melody) and component 8 (improvising melody for picture). Comparing to other components
of the Test Battery, improvisational elements seemed to be most challenging for the
participants. Improvisational performances are influenced by various aspects. Results depend
on different concepts of song in Estonian and language and culture based connotations on
singing. In Estonian language, the word “song” does not have a music-specific meaning. For
example, for our historical folk songs (regilaul) it is quite common to use same tunes with
different lyrics, so the melody carries rather a helpful device for recalling huge amounts of
lyrics from memory. Estonian word laul (song) is also used for poems, epic texts or even
stories. As we did not ask participants to define “song” or “singing” nor defined the concept
ourselves giving the instructions, definition of “song” could therefore be presented as a scale
where spoken words are at one end and words sang with melody in other end. The usage of
rhythm on the other hand differs as personal knowingly “sings” or “talks”. Words (with or
without a musical melody) recited in the meaning of singing have stronger rhythmic structure, a
beat. If the rhythm or speed for spoken words is recognizably altered, it could be considered as
singing. Success for completing improvisational components also depend on child´s overall
habitude of testing, willingness to perform this kind of exercises and level of performance
anxiety. Prior music education seems to influence structure and harmony of improvisations.
 
Bios
Marju Raju is a doctoral student of musicology in Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre.
She has a M.Sc. in psychology (2007) form Tallinn University and a master’s degree in
musicology (2008) from Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. She received best student
presentation award at AIRS Annual Meeting 2010. Her academic works has been published in
Musicae Scintiae, Psychology of Music and Res Musica. Marju Raju is currently employed in
civil service. She is working as an analyst at the Ministry of Social Affairs of Estonia where
she is responsible for coordination of research projects and conducting analysis on gender
related topics.
Dr. Jaan Ross studied at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre and received his
equivalent of M.A. in musicology cum laude in 1980. Later he studied at the Moscow P.I.

 Tchaikovsky Conservatory and obtained his Ph.D. in musicology at the Lithuanian Academy
of Music and Theatre, Vilnius, in 1988. In 1992, he obtained another Ph.D. in psychology at
the Abo Academy University, Turku, Finland. His primary research field has been the
relationship between music and language, in particular between sounds of music and speech.
He is the author of a few monographs or textbooks published in English, Russian or Estonian.
In 2003 he was elected a member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences and in 2009 a member
of the Executive Council of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music
(ESCOM). He is a member of editorial board of a number of scholarly journals, including
Musicae Scientiae, Journal of Interdisciplinary Music Studies and Proceedings of the Estonian
Academy of Sciences. He has translated into Estonian or edited translations of books by John
Sloboda, Johan Sundberg and Nicholas Cook. He has also translated into Estonian
contemporary Russian fiction.