John M. Geringer

The Relationship of Pitch-Matching and Pitch-Discrimination Abilities of Preschool and Fourth-Grade Students

This study examined the relationship between pitch-discrimination and vocal pitch-matching abilities of preschool and fourth-grade children. One hundred forty-four students were selected randomly and tested individually on both ability measures. Scores on the pitch-discrimination test served as the basis for three ability-level groups within each age group. Analysis of pitch-matching scores indicated a significant difference between the age groups, but not for the pitch-discrimination based ability groups; nor was there a significant age-by-ability group interaction. Rank-order correlations between the two measures were generally low, with the exception of the high-ability group of fourth-graders, where r = 61.

Intonational Performance and Perception of Ascending Scales

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between the performance of intonation and the perception of intonation regarding ascending scalar patterns. Ninety-six undergraduate and graduate music students from four instrumental groups were placed in one of four experimental conditions. Following differential verbal feedback, subjects either performed a second time or listened to their individual performances and retuned them using a variable-speed tape recorder. Results indicated a tendency toward sharp intonation throughout the study, relative to the standard of equal temperament. Differences between performance and perception were not independent of accompaniment and scale degree. Intonational perception of unaccompanied scales was less accurate than both accompanied scale perception and performance conditions of unaccompanied and accompanied scales.

TUNING PREFERENCES IN RECORDED ORCHESTRAL MUSIC

The purpose of this study was to investigate tuning preferences regarding recorded orchestral music. Specifically, the study was designed to test subjects tuning preferences while investigating both the direction and magnitude of mistuning. Sixty randomly selected undergraduate and graduate music students modulated a variable speed tape recorder to preferred pitch levels. Stimuli were recorded excerpts of ten orchestral works, each representative of a different key. Subjects listened to the thirty-second excerpts and turned a linear continuous-speed control knob with a pitch range of approximately an augmented fourth. Data consisted of cent deviation scores relative to A = 440 Hz. Results indicated a marked propensity to tune these excerpts sharper than their recorded pitch level. Subjects responses indicated the mean cent deviation for sharp tunings to be 149.29 cents (approximately 11/2 semi-tones); when tuning flat, the mean deviation was 88.43 cents.

Discrimination between Tone Quality and Intonation in Unaccompanied Flute/Oboe Duets.

The purpose of the study was to investigate discrimination in tone quality and intonation. Four-hundred-eighty (480) music and nonmusic graduate and undergraduate subjects checked good and bad quality/intonation classifications by listening to each of twenty-four oboe and flute duet performances. The duets were unaccompanied and performed either with good or bad quality and close to equal temperament or were adjusted 50 cents sharp between one instrument and the other. Results of the study indicated that there was a significant difference between the music and nonmusic majors across categories, with the music majors making more correct discriminations than nonmusic students. A significant difference in subjects indications of total intonation performance errors showed 38% “sharp” responses and 62% “flat” responses. This finding, while somewhat surprising, is consistent with prior research. Subjects perceived more intonation errors (although incorrectly) than tone quality errors. When indicating a preference for tone quality subjects were actually responding to intonation variables as opposed to quality variables throughout almost all of the com parisons.

Performance of Perceived Beat in Relation to Age and Music Training

The perception of beat across a range of stimulus speeds was examined using monotonic I stimuli. Two hundred forty subjects representing four age-groups (graduate, undergraduate, high school, junior high school) and two levels of music participation (music major/enrollment in band versus no participation in organized music activities) served as subjects. Thirteen sets of consecutive periodic 349.23 Hz (F4) tones were presented at various speeds in randomized orders. The rates of the 15-second examples were 40, 60, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 100, 120, 140, 160, 200, and 240 tones per minute. Subjects tasks were to listen to each example and to tap the perceived beat or pulse. Results indicate that college music majors and other listeners responded differentially. Music majors tended to identify beat tempi between 70 and 120 beats per minute (bpm) regardless of the speed of stimulus tones presented, suggesting that faster rates of presentation (≥ 140 bpm) were perceived as subdivisions of slower beat tempi, and that slower rates of presentation (≤ 60 bpm) were perceived as pulses spanning two or more faster beats. Although a similar tendency was apparent in the responses of the remaining subjects, a majority tapped beats identical to the stimulus tones across all rates of presentation. That is, nonmusic subjects seemed to perceive the stimulus tones as beats, regardless of the rate of presentation, whereas the trained musicians tended to perceive beat tempi within a defined range across all stimulus speeds.

EFFECTS OF BACKGROUND MUSIC ON MUSICAL TASK PERFORMANCE AND SUBSEQUENT MUSIC PREFERENCE

The present study examined the effects of background music on performance of a musical task and on subsequent preference for that music. 60 music and 60 non-music majors heard background music in music-only or music-plus-task conditions, and a third group heard no music in a task-only condition. A preference test of four musical excerpts, including the background music excerpt, was administered subsequently to all three groups of subjects. Although music majors scored higher than non-majors, background music did not differentially affect task scores. Music students exhibited a differential preference following both musical conditions, while non-music subjects demonstrated differential preference only following the music-only condition.

EFFECTS OF GUIDED LISTENING ON MUSIC ACHIEVEMENT AND PREFERENCE OF FOURTH GRADERS

Previous experimentation with background music has indicated that subjects may focus on a task to the exclusion of the music (Geringer & Nelson, 1979; Madsen & Wolfe, 1979). The present study was designed to investigate whether a music-related task affects achievement on a test related to that music and whether task or no-task listening conditions affect subsequent music preference. Ninety fourth-graders were block-randomized and assigned to three groups. The music-guide (n = 30) and music-only groups (n = 30) heard 5 min. of an orchestral music excerpt. Listening was conducted individually with headphones. The music-guide group completed a forced-choice written task while listening. The task related musical aspects of the excerpts to a choice of responses on the guide. An achievement test, emphasizing the same aspects as the guide, was then given to these two groups. All 90 subjects subsequently participated in operant and verbal measures of musical preference. Each subject was given 200 sec. to indicate which of four comparable orchestral excerpts was preferred. One excerpt was the one heard previously by the music-guide and music-only groups. An Operant Music Listening Recorder allowed each subject to select excerpts, and duration of listening time per excerpt was recorded. Verbal preference was then assessed. Results of the study may be summarized as follows: (1) Guided and music-only listening conditions did not result in significantly different scores on the music achievement test (t = 1.6, df = 58, f~ > .lo). (2) Neither listening condition influenced verbal or operant preference when compared with the control group (x 3.77, df = 6, p > .70; Friedman two-way analysis of variance, xr2 = 5, p = .20). (3) The Spearman rank correlation berween the verbal and operant preference measures was .68 (p < .02). Although the present study required subjects to attend to the music to complete the task, results were not unlike those of studies involving background music and musically unrelated tasks.