Cogprints

Stability of Tempo Perception in Music Listening

Lapidaki, Eleni (2000) Stability of Tempo Perception in Music Listening. [Journal (Paginated)]

Full text available as:

[img] HTML
87Kb

Abstract

This study was designed to determine whether listeners from different age groups and musical backgrounds (musicians and nonmusicians) could set tempi in a consistent manner over an extended period of time. The variables of musical style, familiarity, and preference were also considered. Subjects (n=90) heard the same six compositions on four separate occasions. The order of the presentation and the initial tempo of the examples were varied systematically in each session. Subjects were asked to listen to each composition and indicate whether the experimenter should set the tempo "faster" or "slower" until it sounded right to them; they had to adjust an initially wrong tempo to a personally preferred tempo. Results indicated that the initial tempo significantly dominated subjects’ "correct" tempo judgements: the slower initial tempo generally evoked slower tempo selections, and so on. However, a relatively small number of adults, mostly musicians, were remarkably consistent in their tempo judgements across all four trials. It appeared that these individuals possess an exceptional ability with respect to acute stability of large-scale timing in music. There was also evidence that the degree of consistency in correct tempo judgements gradually increased from preadolescence through adulthood. Few statistically significant differences in consistency of tempo judgements were found as a result of musical background. The findings strongly suggested that the style of musical examples influenced the degree of tempo consistency across trials. Moreover, there was statistically significant evidence that an increase of familiarity with and preference for the musical examples and the musical styles resulted in an increase of consistency of correct tempo judgements. The study concludes with recommendations for music education.

Item Type:Journal (Paginated)
Keywords:tempo perception, musical time, absolute tempo, music psychology, music education, music listening
Subjects:Psychology > Perceptual Cognitive Psychology
ID Code:1828
Deposited By: Lapidaki, Eleni
Deposited On:19 Oct 2001
Last Modified:11 Mar 2011 08:54

References in Article

Select the SEEK icon to attempt to find the referenced article. If it does not appear to be in cogprints you will be forwarded to the paracite service. Poorly formated references will probably not work.

Bamberger, J. (1994). Coming to hear in a new way. In R. Aiello (Ed.), Musical perceptions (pp. 131-151). New York: Oxford University Press.

Berry, B. R. (1990). Musical Time. the sense of order. Steyvesant,NY: Pendragon Press.

Behne, K. E. (1972). Der Einfluß des Tempos auf die Beurteilung von Musik [The influence of tempo on the judgment of music]. Köln, Germany: Arno Volk.

Bigand, E. (1993). Contributions of music to research on human auditory cognition. In S. McAdams & E. Bigand (Eds.), Thinking in sound. The cognitive psychology of human audition (pp. 231-277). Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.

Clynes, M., & Walker, J. (1982). Neurobiologic functions of rhythm, time and pulse in music. In M. Clynes (Ed.), Music, mind and brain: The neuropsychology of music (pp. 171-216). New York: Plenum Press.

Clynes, M., & Walker, J. (1986). Music as time's measure. Music Perception, 4 (1), 85-119.

Cott, J. (1973). Stockhausen: Conversations with the composer. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Davidson, L. (1994). Songsinging by young and old: a developmental approach to music. In R. Aiello (Ed.), Musical perceptions (pp. 99-130). New York: Oxford University Press.

Dorfman, J., Shames, V. A., Kihlstrom, J. F. (196). Intuition, incubation, and insight: Implicit cognition in problem solving. In G. Underwood (Ed.), Implicit cognition (pp. 257-296). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Dowling, W. J. (1993). Procedural and declarative knowledge in music cognition and education. In T. J. Tighe & W. J. Dowling (Eds.), Psychology and music. The understanding of melody and rhythm (pp. 5-18). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Dowling, W. J. (1994). Melodic contour in hearing and remembering melodies. In R. Aiello (Ed.), Musical perceptions (pp. 173-190). New York: Oxford University Press.

Epstein, D. (1985). Tempo relations: A cross-cultural study. Music Theory Spectrum, 7, 34-71.

Epstein, D. (1995). Shaping time. Music, the brain, and performance. New York: Shirmer Books.

Farnsworth, P., Block, H., & Waterman, W. (1934). Absolute tempo. Journal of General Psychology, 10, 230-233.

Feldman, J., Epstein, D., & Richards, W. (1992). Force dynamics of tempo change in music. Music Perception, 10 (2), 185-204.

Frances, R. (trans. 1988). The perception of music (trans. W. J. Dowling). Hillsdale, N. J.: Erlbaum.

Frischeisen-Köhler, I. (1933). The personal tempo and its inheritance. Character & Personality, 1, 301-313.

Geringer, J. M., & Madsen, C. K. (1987). Pitch and tempo in recorded popular music. In In C. K. Madsen & C. A. Prickett (Eds.), Applications of research in music behavior (pp. 204-212). Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press.

Halpern, A. R. (1988). Perceived and imagined tempos of familiar songs. Music Perception, 6, 193-202.

Hargreaves, D. J. (1986) The developmental psychology of music. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.

Harrison, R. (1941). Personal Tempo. Journal of General Psychology, 24 & 25, 343-379.

Hodgson, W. (1951). Absolute tempo: its existence, extent, and possible explanation. Proceedings of the Music Teachers National Association, XLIII, 158-169.

Imberty, M. (1981). Tonal articulation and perceptual structuring of musical time in children. In Basic musical functions and musical ability (Publication No. 32, 2nd ed., pp.107-130). Stockholm: The Royal Swedish Academy of Music.

Konecni, V. J. (1982). Social interaction and musical preference. In D. Deutsch (Ed.), The psychology of music (pp. 497-516). New York: Academic Press.

Lapidaki, E. (1990, July). L’ imagination au pouvoir: Some riddles on the issue. Paper presented at the Indiana Symposium on Research and Teaching in the Philosophy of Music Education, Bloomington, IN.

Lapidaki, E. (1992). Time. In B. Reimer & J. Wright (Eds.), On the nature of musical experience (pp. 246-248). Niwot, CO: The Universiry Press of Colorado.

Lapidaki, E., & Webster, P. R. (1991). Consistency of tempo judgments when listening to music of different styles. Psychomusicology, 10 (1), 19-30.

Lapidaki, E., & Webster, P. R. (1991). Consistency of tempo judgments when listening to musical compositions of different styles. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Illinois Music Educators Association, Peoria, IL.

LeBlanc, A. (1987). The development of music preference in children. In C. Peery, I. W. Peery, & T. W. Draper (Eds.), Music and child development (pp. 137-157). New York: Springer-Verlag.

Lerdahl, F., & Jackendoff, R. (1983). A generative theory of tonal music. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Levitin, D. J., & Cook, P. R. (1996). Memory for musical tempo: additional evidence that auditory memory is absolute. Perception & Psychophysics, 58, 927-935.

Lund, M. (1939). An analysis of the "true beat" in music . Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Stanford University.

Miles, D. W. (1937). Preferred rates in rhythmic response. Journal of General Psychology, 16, 427-469.

Mishima, J. (1956). On the factors of mental tempo. Japanese Psychological Research, 4, 27-38.

Petzold, R. G. (1963). The development of auditory perception of musical sounds by children in the first six grades. Journal of Research in Music Education, 21, 99-105.

Rimoldi, H. J. A. (1951). Personal tempo. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 46, 280-303.

Rosen, C. (1972). The classical style. Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven. New York: W. W. Norton.

Sheldon, D. A. (1994). Effects of tempo, musical experience, and listening modes on tempo modulationperception. Journal of Research in Music Education, 42(3), 190-202.

Shuter-Dyson, R., & Gabriel, C. (1981). The psychology of musical ability (2nd ed.). London: Methuen.

Sloboda, J. A. (1994). Music performance: expression and the development of excellence. In R. Aiello (Ed.), Musical perceptions (pp. 152-172). New York: Oxford University Press.

Underwood, G., & Bright, E. H. Cognition with and without awareness. In G. Underwood (Ed.), Implicit cognition (pp.1-40). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Wagner, C. (1974). Experimentelle Untersuchungen über das Tempo [Experimental investigations of tempo]. Österreichische Musikzeitschrift, 29, 589-604.

Wallin, J, (1911). Experimental studies of rhythm and time (Part 1 & Part 2). Psychological Review, 18, 100-133 & 202-222.

Winckel, F. (1967). Music, sound, and sensation: A modern exposition. New York: Dover Publications.

Wolpert, R. S. (1990). Recognition of a melody, harmonic accompaniment, and instrumentation: musicians and nonmusicians. Music Perception, 8, 95-106.

Zenatti, A. (1993). Children’s musical cognition and tast. In T. J. Tighe & W. J. Dowling (Eds.), Psychology and music. The understanding of melody and rhythm (pp. 177-196). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Metadata

Repository Staff Only: item control page