Andreas C. Lehmann

Student Musicians' Ear-Playing Ability as a Function of Vernacular Music Experiences.

This study explored the differences in ear-playing ability between formal “classical” musicians and those with vernacular music experience (N = 24). Participants heard melodies and performed them back, either by singing or playing on their instruments. The authors tracked the number of times through the listen-then-perform cycle that each participant needed for accurate performance. Participants retrospectively reported their thoughts and provided biographical information related to vernacular music experience. Analyses indicated that singing required fewer trials than playing on instruments and that vernacular musicians required fewer trials than formal musicians. The verbally reported thoughts indicated that participants used different strategies for encoding the melodies. Vernacular musicians applied a more sophisticated knowledge base to generate accurate expectations; formal musicians used less efficient strategies. Formal musicians devoted more conscious attention to physically producing the melodies on their instruments (e.g., fingerings), a process that was executed more automatically by vernacular musicians.

The influence of deliberate practice on musical achievement: a meta-analysis

Deliberate practice (DP) is a task-specific structured training activity that plays a key role in understanding skill acquisition and explaining individual differences in expert performance. Relevant activities that qualify as DP have to be identified in every domain. For example, for training in classical music, solitary practice is a typical training activity during skill acquisition. To date, no meta-analysis on the quantifiable effect size of deliberate practice on attained performance in music has been conducted. Yet the identification of a quantifiable effect size could be relevant for the current discussion on the role of various factors on individual difference in musical achievement. Furthermore, a research synthesis might enable new computational approaches to musical development. Here we present the first meta-analysis on the role of deliberate practice in the domain of musical performance. A final sample size of 13 studies (total N = 788) was carefully extracted to satisfy the following criteria: reported durations of task-specific accumulated practice as predictor variables and objectively assessed musical achievement as the target variable. We identified an aggregated effect size of rc = 0.61; 95% CI [0.54, 0.67] for the relationship between task-relevant practice (which by definition includes DP) and musical achievement. Our results corroborate the central role of long-term (deliberate) practice for explaining expert performance in music.

Preparation of a Public Piano Performance: The Relation between Practice and Performance

This study investigated an expert pianists nine-month preparation for a public music performance (recital) through the collection of practice diaries and MIDI recordings of the eight scheduled pieces. Recordings were made under the experimentally varied conditions of solitary performance and public performance. The practice diaries revealed that the expert (an advanced student performer) allocated practice time consistently across the entire preparation period and tended to use mornings to practice the pieces perceived as being more difficult. Total preparation time for each of the pieces could be predicted on the basis of the pianists subjective ratings of complexity and independent ratings of complexity given by other experts. An analysis of the performance data showed that, near the time of the recital, variability in performance tempo was large between pieces but very small for multiple renditions of the same piece, even under the different experimental conditions. Thus, to attain a highly reproducible public performance, the expert allocated practice time in response to task demands and engaged in specific preparations that would safeguard the performance against unexpected problems.

No disadvantage for left-handed musicians: The relationship between handedness, perceived constraints and performance-related skills in string players and pianists

Two studies investigate the influence of handedness on a musical performance. In Experiment 1 we compared designated non-right-handed (dNRH) and designated right-handed (dRH) string and piano players performing in the (non-inverted) standard playing position with respect to (1) performance-related variables (e.g., musical expression) and (2) health-related variables (e.g., discomfort). The 47 professional instrumentalists (pianists: n = 23, string players: n = 24) were classified for handedness (performance handedness) and participated in a survey study on sensorimotor skills and their sense of well-being at the instrument. In Experiment 2, we tested for differences in sensorimotor performance of both hands in right- and left-handed pianists: 19 professional pianists (music students) were classified for handedness (preference handedness). Participants performed scale playing. In Experiment 1 no evidence was found for a performance-related or well-being-related disadvantage in dNRH instrumentalists playing in the standard position. In Experiment 2 temporal sensorimotor precision in the right hand was superior to that of the left hand in both right- and left-handed pianists. We conclude that professional musicians adapt to the standard playing position regardless of their objective handedness. However, it cannot be ruled out that a subgroup of dNRH instrumentalists subjectively feel constricted when playing in the standard position.

The relation between lateralisation, early start of training, and amount of practice in musicians: a contribution to the problem of handedness classification.

This study investigates the influence of extensive bimanual training in professional musicians on the incidence of handedness in the most basic form of right-handedness (RH) and non-right-handedness (NRH), according to Annetts “right shift theory”. The lateralisation coefficients (LCs) of a total sample of 128 bimanually performing music students were calculated for speed, regularity, and fatigue of tapping by using the speed tapping paradigm. Additionally, the accumulated amount of practice was recorded by means of retrospective interviews. The proportion of designated right-handers (dRH) and non-right-handers (dNRH) in hand performance was identified by binary logistic regression from LCs. A proportion of 30.8% designated NRH in the group of musicians was found, while in the control group of non-musicians (matched for age range) a proportion of 21.7% designated NRH was observed. Incidence of dNRH was higher in string players (35.6%) than in pianists (27.1%). As an effect of the extensive training of the left hand, tapping regularity increased and tapping fatigue decreased among those participants who evidenced an increased amount of accumulated practice time on the instrument. However, speed difference between hands (as indicated by LCs) remained uninfluenced by bimanual training. This finding is in contrast to those of Jäncke, Schlaug, and Steinmetz (1997). Finally, our study provides a more reliable (statistical) classification as an external criterion for future genetic analyses of handedness.

The Difficulty of Discerning between Composed and Improvised Music

The generative processes (types) of composition and improvisation are often claimed to differ from each other with respect to complexity, spontaneity, and listener expectation. While this conceptual difference might be tenable, it is unclear whether it has an empirical perceptual basis. In a listening experiment with three contrasting pieces - classical (Mozart), romantic (Scriabin), and free jazz (Rissi) - we compared composed and non-composed musical stimuli. 102 experts rated six one-minute excerpts using the scales “spontaneous/improvised” and “coherent/ rehearsed”. The ratings were of acceptable, though moderate, reliability, and the listeners reacted markedly differently to the three styles. However, the effect of generative type was either non-significant (Mozart, Scriabin) or caused by performative aspects for the free jazz piece (Rissi). This lack of clear evidence for perceiving the two generative types is in line with other research showing divergence between theoretical concepts and their perceptual salience.

Duration of playing bursts and redundancy of melodic jazz improvisation in John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps”

Studying musical improvisation is methodologically difficult because improvisations are hardly reproducible, and no established theory exists regarding their formation. In particular it is unclear when and if jazz musicians invent new (innovative) melodic patterns or rely on previously overlearned (redundant) phrases. Other similar goal-directed activities with high complexity are production tasks such as driving a car (Tanida & Pöppel, 2006) or producing spoken language (Fenk-Oczlon & Fenk, 2009). Trade-offs between deliberate cognitive processes and automatized execution can be expected under extreme time pressure in high speed improvisation, and pauses in the musical flow could be used by musicians to engage in generative cognitive activity. Using transcriptions of John Coltrane’s improvisation of “Giant Steps” we analyzed redundancy and innovation in melodic improvisation. Half-bar units were coded for types of melodic variants. We found motor-output units (playing bursts) of around 3 seconds’ duration with a slightly higher probability of innovative patterns appearing after longer (0.5 s) pauses. Also, a systematic curvilinear trajectory of innovation was found across the piece with a peak after three-fourths of the chorus. The discussion establishes a parallel between improvisation and conversational language production with regard to the length of utterances which seem to take into account the listener’s psychological present. The possibilities of expert improvisers to engage in deliberate problem-solving during performance are also addressed.

Using Admission Assessments to Predict Final Grades in a College Music Program

Entrance examinations and auditions are common admission procedures for college music programs, yet few researchers have attempted to look at the long-term predictive validity of such selection processes. In this study, archival data from 93 student records of a German music academy were used to predict development of musicianship skills over the course of a 4-year program. Audition grades for the principal instrument, aural skills, and basic knowledge of music theory were correlated with similar data available for the final exams. Final high school grades also were available. Results indicated moderate correlations between entrance and final grades for aural skills (r = .69) and music theory (.45). Piano majors did better at aural skills and music theory than other candidates. A positive influence of keyboard proficiency also was found for the nonpiano majors. The correlation between initial and final grade on the principal instrument was dependent on the instrument category: piano (.64), followed by voice (.55), winds (.24), and strings (.05). Stronger academic performance prior to college was associated with superior performance in academic subjects in college, whereas no influence was found for academic strength on students’ principal instrument performance.