Multimedia programmes: creating computer music to enhance creative thinking

Creative music skills promote much more divergent thinking perceived as a key element of creativity. The current research examines how music-making software enhances creative thinking skills in music. The research discusses the impact of music-making multimedia software on creative thinking development while creating musical pieces of a variety of genres. The sample included 300 participants of the 3(d) year of study from three high educational establishments of China. The data were analysed using quantitative and statistical analyses, and the research method used to assess the results of pre-test and post-test for Measurement of Creative Thinking in Music (MCTM). The average value of the post-test found improvements in terms of four music parameters: musical length (ML) was improved by 66% and 66.5%, while musical flexibility (MF) by 41.6% and 36.2%. Musical originality (MO) was improved by 48.3% and 37.9%, musical syntax (MS) by 46.7% and 41.3%, respectively. The correlations of MCTM parameters were significant and it confirmed the positive effect of using multimedia software on the development of creative thinking in music. The findings can help educators to develop an effective framework for teaching music and enriching creative skills in students with music-making software. The research significance is that the results can help to improve creative thinking in high educational establishments.