45 Musical Activity in The Music Learning Process Through Children Songs in Primary School Level Syahrul Syah Sinaga1, Tjetjep Rohendi Rohidi1, Soesanto1, Victor Ganap2 1Postgraduate Program, Unversitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia 2Postgraduate Program, Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta, Indonesia Received: December 29, 2017. Revised: April 23, 2018. Accepted: June 10, 2018 Abstract This study aims to analyze and describe the musical activity in the process of learning music through children songs in primary school. A qualitative approach in this research is made by fo- cusing on the field research method. Data were collected by observation techniques, interviews, and documentation studies. Data analysis was done by following certain stages respectively, i.e. data collection, data reduction, data display, conclusion drawing, and verification. The results showed that musical activities implemented in three primary schools consist of (1) listening to music; (2) singing; (3) playing musical instruments; (4) moving to follow the music; and (5) read- ing music. However, forms, types, and variations of the musical activities taking place in these schools are different, depending on the schools’ policy, schools’ abilities, and music teachers’ abilities in teaching the music subject. Keywords: Children Song; Musical Activity; Music Learning How to Cite: Sinaga, S. S., Rohidi, T. R., Soesanto, & Ganap, V. (2018). Musical Activity in The Music Learning Process Through Children Songs in Primary School Level. Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research And Education, 18(1), 45-51. doi:http:// dx.doi.org/10.15294/harmonia.v18i1.12508 Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 18 (1) (2018), 45-51 Available online at http://journal.unnes.ac.id/nju/index.php/harmonia DOI: 10.15294/harmonia.v18i1.12508 ning process of music in Cultural Arts and Craft Arts subject, i.e. national songs, folk song, and children song. However, lack of understanding of teaching materials, such as rhythmic and measure (bar), reading and writing the musical notation, as well as the skills of developing and creating teaching materials are the main obstacles among teachers. As a result, students’ ex- periences of musical activities are varying depending on the teacher’s creativity as a planner, implementer, and curriculum de- veloper. The problem of differences in the exe- cution of a musical activity that occurs in every school, principal policy, and teacher creativity in determining the teaching ma- INTRODUCTION Syaodih (1998) in Mulyasa (2008) suggests that teachers play an important role in planning and implementing the curriculum. Besides the role of teacher as a planner, implementer, and curriculum developer for his class, the teacher also has the task in evaluating each curricu- lum refinement process. In the context of art education in primary school level, the role is carried out by the subject teacher of Cultural Arts and Craft Arts (SBK) and Art Culture and Craft Arts (SBdP). In the 2013 Curriculum for primary school, there are three types of song that should be taught in the teaching and lear- Corresponding author: Jl. Kelud Utara 3 Semarang, Indonesia E-mail: sinagaunnes@gmail.com p-ISSN 2541-1683|e-ISSN 2541-2426 Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 18 (1) (2018): 45-5146 terials are the reasons why this research is needed. Concerned with creativity, Csiks- zentmihalyi (1999) says that creativity will arise when a person makes a change in the realm that will be transmitted by time. Some individuals can even make a diffe- rence because of their personal qualities or have a lucky position in their realm. In the realm of art education, they are art critics, lecturers or art teachers, school leaders, artists and art galleries. The role of each individual has an enormous influence es- pecially in the development of music that can be enjoyed by the children. According to the implication theory of the perspective system by Mihaly Csik- szentmihalyi, a novelty of creativity can be generated through the process of inte- raction between the individual with his personal background, his cultural domain, and the community in the field (Sternberg, 1999). In addition to that, Csikszentmiha- lyi also reveals that creativity is an ability to create appropriate novelty works. The creativity itself arises through a symbolic system of how the social system responds to the new idea. If the novelty idea passes the selection and is able to provide bene- fits, then the idea can be manifested. Rohidi (2016) in his book entitled Art Education: Issues and Paradigms says that art education includes the art of mu- sic in a broader context aimed at ensuring every child and adult to get the rights of education and the opportunity to engage in development and participation in the field of culture and artistic. This is a funda- mental argument for raising the importan- ce of art education as a major component of educational programs. This is relevant to Read (1970, p.1) in his book, “Education Through Art,” that art should be the basis of education. Department of National Educati- on (Yustisia, et al., 2007) suggests that art education is conceptually multilingual, multidimensional, multicultural, and mul- ti intelligence. Multilingual means the art of developing the ability of learners in expressing themselves creatively with various languages, such as: form langu- age, word language, voices, language of motion, role language, and the possibility of combination between the two. Multi- dimensional contains the understanding that art is a medium for the development of various competencies of learners, inclu- ding knowledge, understanding, analysis, evaluation, appreciation, expression, and creation by harmoniously integrating ele- ments of aesthetics, logic, and ethics. Cul- ture implies that art as a medium is able to cultivate awareness and ability of learners in appreciating the diverse culture inside the country and among other countries. As for multi intelligence, the role of art in education is to form a harmonious person in accordance with the psychological deve- lopment of learners in intrapersonal, inter- personal, visual-spatial, verbal linguistic, musical, mathematical, physical-kinesthe- tic, and so on. In the context of music subject, Gough and Millar (2015) revealed that giving mu- sical activity is important for children. This activity needs to be done because it allows children to explore feelings and express those feelings using several ways that will support them. In addition, activities also provide opportunities that explain the mu- sical experience of children in classrooms, groups and as an individual. Moreover, research from Temmer- man (1995) showed that the responds of students to the musical experience that was given to four schools from four diffe- rent regions were the same; although each region has different socio-economic, popu- lation, facilities and infrastructure in the learning process. In addition, his research also reveals the stages of activities perfor- med in musical activities include singing, playing games, listening to music, playing musical instrument, and moving by follo- wing music that integrates with curricu- lum or other planning. Related to the needs of children in expressing himself through the song, Si- naga (Radar Semarang, Friday, 18 March 2016) stated as follows: “Nowadays a lot of children’s tele- vision shows singing adult songs. It can Syahrul Syah Sinaga et al., Musical Activity in The Music Learning Process ... 47 affect the child’s own psychological condi- tion.” Referring to the statement, it shows that the role of media in serving children’s songs both in the event of talent competi- tion show and entertainment programs at this time is still less. Such condition can ne- gatively affect the quality of musical expe- riences experienced by learners. Therefore, Barnes (in Philpott, 2001) says that teacher training institutions have great challenges in assisting classroom teachers, especially those who teach SBK and SBdP to think creatively in developing teaching materi- als to give a positive impact for the lear- ning achievement. Related to that, this study focuses on teacher’s efforts in designing various mu- sical activities in music learning through children’s songs in primary school. METHOD This research was conducted by using qualitative approach focused on field research method. This approach was chosen because it is relevant to the under- standing of musical and teacher creativity in music learning through children songs. Referring to the principle of quali- tative research, researchers act as a key instrument. Therefore, researchers visited the field directly, adjusting to local time and space to obtain data (see Milles & Hu- berman, 1992). In addition, researchers at- tempt to build rapport with the subject and other informants in order to obtain com- prehensive information. The research was conducted in three primary schools, namely SD Negeri 01 Un- garan, SD Mardi Rahayu 01 Ungaran, and SD Mardi Rahayu 02 Ungaran. Research subjects include: (1) classroom teachers and music teachers in three schools that teach SBK and SBdP subjects in the field of music; (2) the principal who participa- tes in supporting the realization of subjects in school life; (3) managers of foundations or committees as policy supporters in the learning process of music in schools. Data collections techniques used in this study were observation, interviews, and documentation studies. Therefore, various data related to musical activity in the learning process of music at primary school level can be obtained completely. Data analysis is done in four stages: data collection, data reduction, data presentati- on, as well as conclusion and verification. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Musical activity in musical lerning pro- cess In general, music teachers in pri- mary schools are classroom teachers who are formally prepared to become teachers in various fields of study such as Natural Sciences (IPA), Social Sciences (IPS), Mat- hematics, Language, and Art. As a result, while teaching music, some teachers in many schools are experiencing difficulties. Based on observations in the field, the te- achers who have competence in the field of music are reflected from their mastery of the basic elements of music in musical activities such as singing and/or playing a musical instrument. These competencies are generally not derived from the results of learning in formal education institu- tions, but because by chance they are born from the family who pursue the field of art (artists). In addition, some other teachers had experience in music since they were either a band player at school or an auto- didact who learned music by themselves. Basically, musical activities in music learning consist of listening to music, res- ponding to music with rhythmical motion (responding), singing (singing), reading music notation (reading) and recording music (recording), playing instruments (playing), as well as analyzing and ap- preciating (Jamalus, 1988; Safrina, 1999; UNESCO, 2002; Temmerman, 1995; and Utomo, 2017). Therefore, in reference to the theory of musical activity, this research will explain the varieties of musical acti- vity that take place in the process of lear- ning music through children songs at the primary school level in Semarang regency. Musical activity is an important Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 18 (1) (2018): 45-5148 component in music learning to provide a musical experience to the students. Howe- ver, because of the various school condi- tions and competence of existing teachers, the capacity and form of musical activity that is held in each school are different. The data obtained from the three prima- ry schools studied showed that listening to music, singing, playing music, reading music notation, and moving following the music are some forms of activities that have taken place in music learning. Ho- wever, in the context of the use of music as a medium of learning, teachers have used the composition of various musical compositions, musical instruments, and electronic equipment to teach (see Utomo, 2017). The practice of all these five musical activities can be described as follows. Listening music activites The observation result from SD Ne- geri 01 Ungaran showed that the musical activity took place mainly when the teach- er gave an example of a song in music lear- ning. For example, when the researcher observed music learning in second and fifth grade. The process of giving musical experience through songs in both classes is done by the teacher through the audio me- dia and singing the song directly. A second grade teacher once said that, teaching the folk song material “Sio Tantina” and “Padang Wulan” in accor- dance with the national curriculum 2013 is done by playing the two recordings of the song. As one of the strategies, the recor- ding is collected by downloading the song through the internet. However, in the sixth grade, the three stanzas Indonesian anthem are taught by asking the students to listen to the songs sung by the teacher. However, since the students have mastered the melo- dy of the taught song, the listening activity is focused on the three stanzas lyrics of the song. Furthermore, the learning activities are done by the students by imitating the pronunciation of all the lyrics of the songs according to the existing melody sentence. Through these two musical activities, com- prehensively, the students obtain a mea- ningful musical experience with regards to song lyrics, tempo, high pitch (tone), and tone value (duration). Related to the activity of listening to music, according to the principal of SDN Ungaran 01, basically the students have gained experience from the family envi- ronment, electronic media, and through their interaction with peers. Although, not every song listened by the students are match with the characteristics, develop- ment, and needs of students. On the contrary, unlike the students of SD Negeri 01 Ungaran, listening to mu- sic among students of SD Mardi Rahayu 01 and 02 Ungaran is more diverse. As an educational institution incorporated in the Catholic Foundation, the students have been intensively gained musical ex- perience while attending church services with some additions to other experiences gained from the family environment, elec- tronic media, and interaction with peers. In both schools, the listening activity of music in various forms has been adequa- tely implemented. Through extracurricular activities, this activity is obtained through the activities of choir, drumband, and kara- witan (Javanese traditional music). In fact, according to the principal of SD Mardi Rahayu, the teachers or school attendants have the task of playing music like natio- nal songs, educational themed songs, and Mars of the school by using tape recorders equipped with sound system devices eve- ry morning. The playback of these songs is an effort to build the character education that must be done in every primary school in Semarang regency. Even in these two schools, the church songs also played es- pecially at the time before the church mass. In addition to this, playing the Javanese song or gendhing (klonengan) is an effort to introduce traditional art to the students. Singing activities Singing is a tool for children to ex- press their thoughts and feelings through tones and words. Therefore, singing is one part of musical activity that is important and dominant to be implemented in the Syahrul Syah Sinaga et al., Musical Activity in The Music Learning Process ... 49 simultaneously with one voice (unisono) led by the class president. After classroom teachers are present in the classroom, the activity then proceeds with the process of teaching and learning activities in accor- dance with the schedule of school subjects in each class. Playing music activities The activity of playing music in SD Negeri 01 Ungaran is done both as intra- curricular and extracurricular learning ac- tivities. In the intracurricular instruction, the teacher teaches the material on how to play a pianica instrument or a soprano re- corder. While in extracurricular activities, this activity takes place in the marching band activity. The learning activities of playing mu- sical instruments in SD Negeri 01 Ungaran are carried out in groups. For example in the fourth grade, to facilitate the imple- mentation of learning, teachers divide the students into two groups. One group of students plays pianica music instruments and one group of other students played a soprano recorder instrument. The learning of playing musical instruments at SD Mardi Rahayu 01 and Mardi Rahayu 02 are taught by art teach- er from the foundation. This policy is ta- ken because the burdens of existing class teachers that are considered heavy and not all teachers are competent in teaching music. Based on the results of research conducted in class 4-A, one of the song material used in learning a pianica musi- cal instrument is the traditional song from Central Java “Gundul-Gundul Pacul”. Be- fore the students learn the notation of the song that will be played, the teacher first teaches about the technique of puffing and fingering of natural scales (C Major). Moving following the music activities Implementation of activities to move following music in SD Negeri 01 Ungaran can be found every morning before the students go to class and begin the learning activities. All students ranging from gra- de 1 to 6 should do march accompanied school. Singing activities are always be lo- ved by students. Through this expressio- nal activity, the students are able to gain satisfaction that is meaningful for themsel- ves as an effort to develop their artistic and aesthetic ability. Singing activities in the three prima- ry schools studied were conducted in ac- cordance with the policies of each school. Some of the schools routinely do the activi- ty at the time: (1) before the bell rings as a sign of learning begins; (2) when marching with footsteps in place before entering the classroom; (3) when learning cultural art and crafts; (4) before the finish school bell; and (5) when flag ceremonial activities on Mondays or national big day flag ceremo- nies. In SD Negeri 01 Ungaran, as told by the principal, the routine of learner activi- ties that include singing activities, should be done by first up to sixth grade. Every day before all the students enter the class, they have to gather in front of each class, then marching in front of the door led by the chairman of the class. Singing activi- ty is done while walking on the spot with the accompaniment of students’ applau- se along with the rhythm of the song. For example, at the time when the researcher conducted the observation, the song that was sung by the third grade students was the song of Indonesian Character Student. Meanwhile, the song which was sung by the fourth grade student was Mars of SDN Ungaran 01 song entitled “Jayalah SD Ku” by Y Subagyo. Singing activities conducted at SD Mardi Rahayu is done in different ways. According to the principal of SD Mardi Ra- hayu, this activity is done regularly and to- gether in all classes at 7 a.m. In this school, all class teachers and administrative staff gather in the office and then do prayer ac- tivities together. While at the same time, all the students in each class are also doing prayer activities together continued by sin- ging Mars Mardi Rahayu song created by Y. Subagyo which the notation of the song has been written on the cover of all stu- dents’ notebooks. That mars song is sung Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 18 (1) (2018): 45-5150 by a classroom teacher before entering the class. The activity is followed by students sang the character education song while performing the movement; following the songs that the students had memorized. The songs sung by the students in each class are not the same, some of them sin- ging Mars of SD Negeri 01 Ungaran, Mars PPK Siswa Berkarakter Indonesia, Mars Pendidikan Keluarga, and ABITA. Some of the activities in moving body to follow the music in SD Mardi Rahayu include the conducting material songs that took place in the 3rd and 4th grade. The song used as a learning medium to is the song of Indonesia Raya with Time Signa- ture 4/4. The learning process is done by the teacher, starting with giving examples of hand movement pattern 4/4 while sin- ging Indonesia Raya song. Then, students practice it together with teacher guidance. Hand movement is as follows. Figure 1. 3/4 Graphic Hand Measure Move- ment 4/4 (Source: Sinaga, October 2017) Reading music notation activity Reading musical notation is a mu- sical activity that requires the basic skills of music and musical theory. In the form of activities, this activity can be done by using vocals through singing activities or using musical instruments by playing mu- sic activities. Implementation of reading music notation activity that took place in SD Ne- geri 01 Ungaran has been implemented in all grade levels. However, when teach- ing grade 1 to grade 3, this activity is only done during singing activities. In practice, at the time of singing activities teachers al- ways write the notation of the song in the form of notes on the board. So indirectly, when the singing activities are done, stu- dents also begin to be introduced with tone symbols, tone (picth), tone value, and song tempo. In contrast to those taking place in grades 1 to 3, in grades 4 and 5 students have been taught in more depth about ways of reading music notation especially number notation. In practice, this activity is implemented through the activities of singing and playing musical instruments. At the time of playing a musical instru- ment, other than students applying their knowledge of tone symbols, tone values, and tempo, they also learn about the posi- tion of the tone, how to blow pianica and play recording instruments played, and also fingering techniques. In SD Mardi Rahayu 01 and SD Mar- di Rahayu 02 Ungaran, learning activities that involve reading music notation activi- ty are begun from third grade. This activi- ty is structured in the order of materials, the introduction of the number notation and music symbol notation, how to write notation, and the procedure of transposing the number notation into the music symbol notation or vice versa. After that, it is con- tinued by making the application through the activities of singing and playing mu- sical instruments. The practice of reading music notation through the playing of the musical instrument is done by using piani- ca. At the time of learning in grade 4, the activity of reading music notation using a musical instrument is done with num- bered notation. However, when students learning music in the 5th grade, the appli- cation of the use of music symbol notation has started to be taught to the students. Based on Tarwiyah (2003), in prac- ticing the soprano recorder music instru- ment, it will be more effective if it is done through the use of music symbol instru- ment. Therefore, when the teacher has the ability to teach the music symbol notation, teaching the music symbol notation can be applied from primary level in a simple way. Syahrul Syah Sinaga et al., Musical Activity in The Music Learning Process ... 51 CONCLUSION Based on the research results, it is shown that the musical activities in SDN 01 Ungaran, SD Mardi Rahayu 01, and SD Mardi Rahayu 02 Ungaran consist of: (1) listening music activities; (2) singing acti- vities; (3) playing music activities; (4) mo- ving following the music activities; and (5) reading music notation activities. Those five musical activities are experienced by students outside the learning process, intr- acurricular, and extracurricular. The intensity and quality of musical activities given to the students in primary schools that were researched are different. Those differences are caused by the diffe- rent school regulations, teachers educati- on, as well as teachers’ musical ability and experiences. Different musical activities can be seen from the variety of musical ac- tivities which were done outside of the the planned learning activity, intracurricular, and extracurricular acivities. REFERENCES Csikszentmihaly, M. (1996). The Creative Personality. Psychology Today, 29(4), 36-40. Gough, M. Peter Millar. (2012) Cur- riculum Support Teacher for Music. London:Neelbg Jamalus. (1988). Panduan Pengajaran Buku Pengajaran Musik Melalui Pengalaman Musik. Jakarta: Proyek Pengemban- gan Lembaga Pendidikan. Miles, H B. & Huberman A M. (1992). Analisis Data Kualitatif (terj. Tjetjep Rohendi Rohidi). Jakarta: UI Press. Mulyasa. (2008). Menjadi Guru Profession- al, Menciptakan Pembelajaran Kre- atif dan Menyenangkan. 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