Brazilian listeners (N = 303) were asked to identify emotions conveyed in 1-min instrumental excerpts from Wagner’s operas. Participants included musically untrained 7- to 10-year-olds and university students in music (musicians) or science (nonmusicians). After hearing each of eight different excerpts, listeners made a forced-choice judgment about which of eight emotions best matched the excerpt. The excerpts and emotions were chosen so that two were in each of four quadrants in two-dimensional space as defined by arousal and valence. Listeners of all ages performed at above-chance levels, which means that complex, unfamiliar musical materials from a different century and culture are nevertheless meaningful for young children. In fact, children performed similarly to adult nonmusicians. There was age-related improvement among children, however, and adult musicians performed best of all. As in previous research that used simpler musical excerpts, effects due to age and music training were due primarily to improvements in selecting the appropriate valence. That is, even 10-year-olds with no music training were as likely as adult musicians to match a high- or low-arousal excerpt with a high- or low-arousal emotion, respectively. Performance was independent of general cognitive ability as measured by academic achievement but correlated positively with basic pitch-perception skills.
Online diagnostic measurement of musical abilities in a school environment is a new way to enhance pedagogic effectiveness. In our study we developed a technology-based musical perception test which examines basic musical hearing abilities among 1st to 11th graders in Hungarian schools (N = 2961). The instrument was composed of tasks measuring the discrimination of rhythm, tempo, melody, pitch, harmony, timbre and dynamics, and we also tested the connection between auditory and visual modality. The results indicated an increasing developmental tendency during the period under examination. Students who attend classes with a special music curriculum achieved better results, except in the first years of school. A weak relationship was found between socio-economic background variables and test achievement; however, parents’ educational attainment and students’ school marks have a stronger relationship. Similarly to previous research findings, no significant gender differences were found.
Music performance anxiety (MPA) is a phenomenon often encountered among professionals and students who make public appearances. This article presents the results of a study carried out on a sample of music students in superior music conservatories in Spain (N = 434). Our goal was to analyze MPA on the basis of Barlow’s (2000) anxiety theory, supplementing it with further personality constructs such as dispositional optimism, general auto-efficacy, and sensitivity to reward and punishment. Our structural equation modeling (SEM) results reveal that several of those constructs exert their effect via the helplessness factor – the central construct in Barlow’s theory – and that they likewise exert a further series of direct effects on MPA. All in all, the variables taken into consideration account for 45.6% of variance in MPA in males and of 52.1% thereof in females. This study thus upholds Barlow’s theory of anxiety, while broadening it with further explanatory mechanisms.
It is well recognised in psychology that music has affective connotations and that musical stimuli can modify affective states. The aim of this study was to assess the affective connotations of 120 fifteen-second musical excerpts, covering both modern musical genres such as pop, rock, jazz, rap/R&B and electronic music (5 x N = 20), and classical music (N = 20). Expert judges used predetermined criteria to select excerpts with positive or negative valence that induced high arousal or low arousal. The excerpts were assessed by 50 undergraduate students (25 women) from different academic departments, aged between 18 and 28 years (M = 21.46 years, SD = 1.85). They listened to all 120 fragments and rated them with respect to six dimensions: valence, arousal, dominance, origin, subjective significance and imageability. Analyses showed that ratings were reliable, with high split-half correlations and Cronbach’s alpha estimates. We did not identify any gender differences concerning affective reactions to the music. Some music genre specificity was found for all measures, and initial music preference appeared to shape affective ratings. The results presented here will be of interest to researchers working on musical perception and the influence of music on affective outcomes and emotional regulation.
In this work, we compared emotions induced by the same performance of Schubert Lieder during a live concert and in a laboratory viewing/listening setting to determine the extent to which laboratory research on affective reactions to music approximates real listening conditions in dedicated performances. We measured emotions experienced by volunteer members of an audience that attended a Lieder recital in a church (Context 1) and emotional reactions to an audio-video-recording of the same performance in a university lecture hall (Context 2). Three groups of participants were exposed to three presentation versions in Context 2: (1) an audio-visual recording, (2) an audio-only recording, and (3) a video-only recording. Participants achieved statistically higher levels of emotional convergence in the live performance than in the laboratory context, and the experience of particular emotions was determined by complex interactions between auditory and visual cues in the performance. This study demonstrates the contribution of the performance setting and the performers’ appearance and nonverbal expression to emotion induction by music, encouraging further systematic research into the factors involved.
We examined the possible effects of six dimensions of music self-concept on determination of self-esteem, through the application of models based on individual and normative-group importance. Previous studies have supported the individual model of importance in narrowly defined self-domains such as spiritual self-concept that might be unimportant for most people, but very important for some people. However, results from more recent studies of spiritual, academic, and physical self-concepts involving latent variable methodologies support the normative-group model. Here, we extended the use of latent variable methods to music self-concept using a sample of 512 junior high students (11–16 years old). Our results for music-reading skills supported the individual importance model rather than the normative-group importance model. Additional results revealed that singing, instrument playing, and the importance of instrument playing had direct rather than interactive linkages with self-esteem. Collectively, these results highlight differential effects of performance (singing, instrument playing) and knowledge (reading) on self-esteem, and imply that strategies to enhance self-esteem may vary within different domains of music instruction and participation. At a more general level, the findings together with those from previous studies indicate that interconnections between specific and global aspects of self-concept vary across domains and are more complex than previously thought.
Music self-concept integrates perceptions, beliefs, and self-schemas about a person’s musical abilities and potential. Like other self-concept dimensions, it is multifaceted, hierarchically organized and has implications for motivation toward musical practice. The Music Self-Perception Inventory (MUSPI) is a theoretically-based instrument assessing six specific music self-concept dimensions, as well as global music self-concept. Nonetheless, its applicability is limited by its length (84 items) and by the fact that it does not provide a way to control for consistency biases in the context of repeated measurement. In this study, we developed and validated two parallel versions (A and B) of the MUSPI, and showed that both yielded equivalent psychometric properties to the original, and were fully equivalent to one another. We also tested whether the MUSPI-A and MUSPI-B psychometric properties generalized (were invariant) across gender and grade-differentiated subgroups. Finally, we examined the convergent validity of the MUSPI-A and MUSPI-B. Results highlighted the psychometric soundness, and equivalence, of the various MUSPI versions on all criteria, and showed that they presented patterns of associations with other constructs equivalent to that observed with the original MUSPI.
This article presents a description and pilot evaluation of Tuned In, a brief group intervention using music listening to teach young people emotional awareness and regulation skills. The program is underpinned by a two-dimensional (valence and arousal) model of emotion and activities to enhance participants’ emotional responses while listening to music. The four-session program was piloted with 51 university students aged 18–25 years (67% female). Approximately a third of the sample was above the normal range for depression, anxiety or stress symptoms. Participants were randomly assigned to Tuned In or a wait-list control. Tuned In involved groups of around eight participants with two psychologist facilitators. Tuned In participants experienced greater improvement in emotional awareness and clarity and total emotion regulation than controls. Weekly ratings pooled for the entire sample (after the wait-listed participants had completed Tuned In) indicated significant improvements over time in emotional awareness, ability to name emotions, and ability to regulate emotions. Ratings of engagement were high and the overall attendance rate was 98%. Tuned In shows promise as a brief emotion regulation intervention for young adults.
We investigated the effects of familiarity, level of musical expertise, musical tempo, and structural boundaries on the identification of familiar and unfamiliar tunes. Healthy Western listeners (N = 62; age range 14–64 years) judged their level of familiarity with a preselected set of melodies when the number of tones of a given melody was increased from trial to trial according to the so-called gating paradigm. The number of tones served as one dependent measure. The second dependent measure was the physical duration of the stimulus presentation until listeners identified a melody as familiar or unfamiliar. Results corroborate previous work, suggesting that listeners need less information to recognize familiar as compared to unfamiliar melodies. Both decreasing and increasing the original tempo by a factor of two delayed the identification of familiar melodies. Furthermore, listeners had more difficulty identifying unfamiliar melodies when tempo was increased. Finally, musical expertise significantly influenced identification of either melodic category, i.e., reducing the required number of tones. Taken together, the findings support theories which suggest that tempo information is coded in melody representation, and that musical expertise is associated with especially efficient strategies for accessing long-term representations of melodic materials.
This article reports a qualitative study investigating the factors affecting confidence levels amongst adult amateur choral singers. Three focus groups (involving a total of 18 participants) and 16 individual interviews were carried out with experienced choral singers, and over 40 hours of recorded verbal data were collected. The research aims were to explore the lived experience of choral singers; to examine the main influences on choral singers’ perceptions of their voices and performance ability; to identify factors affecting their confidence as choral singers; to extrapolate confidence-building strategies for amateur choral singers. One of the major emergent themes was choir configuration, which encompassed the spacing between singers, the layout of the choir, the position of the individual singer within the choir, and the position of the choir within the venue. All of these elements reportedly had effects upon the confidence of choral singers during rehearsal and performance. These findings have practical implications for leaders of amateur choral ensembles, as choir configuration may be used as one of the tools for building collective and individual choral confidence.
This research examines the music choices of interviewees on the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs over a 72-year period. In the programme, individuals with a public profile related to high achievement in their chosen occupation identify several pieces of their favourite music. Publicly stated music preferences offer insights into how individuals construct and wish to communicate crucial aspects their identities. We propose that, in this context, occupation is related to music preferences. We investigate this relationship within the framework of Holland’s RIASEC model of vocational personality types, previously ignored by research into music preferences. We consider music preferences in terms of the five-dimension MUSIC model of music preferences, and preference for acoustical attributes of chosen music. Results demonstrate several significant associations between RIASEC occupation types and MUSIC preference dimensions, and also a main effect for RIASEC type on acoustical music attributes such as tempo, energy and loudness.
An important aspect of researching everyday music use is determining the reasons people have for listening to music. While this has been the focus of an extensive body of research, findings have been inconsistent, and the frequencies and affective outcomes of different reasons for listening remain unclear. Emotional reasons for listening are of particular interest, as these have been consistently shown to be of central importance to everyday music use. The current study aimed to provide empirical data to clarify the frequencies of reasons for listening, and their affective outcomes, by using the experience sampling method (ESM). Participants (N = 327; mean age 21.02 years, SD = 6.18) used the MuPsych app, a mobile ESM designed for the real-time and ecologically valid measurement of personal music listening. Results revealed that emotional reasons were most frequently used only when the listener was in a negative mood. Listening to cope with a situation or forget problems was associated with negative affective states and poor emotional health and well-being. It was concluded that personal music listening is utilised to fulfil specific emotional needs, which are determined by initial mood, and influenced by emotional health.
The aim of this review was to identify possible positive health and wellbeing outcomes of participatory music activities for culturally and linguistically diverse people who could be described as vulnerable or "at risk" in particular migrant populations. Nine databases were searched spanning 10 years (2002–2013). The search returned 977 results with 45 articles reviewed. Seven articles met the inclusion criteria with most studies involving adolescents. Despite the reported health outcomes the review identified a scarcity of generalisable quantitative research (n = 2) and credible qualitative research (n = 5) indicating a distinct need for robust future investigation in this pertinent area of research.
This manuscript sought to investigate rater cognition by exploring rater types based upon differential severity and leniency associated with rating scale items, rating scale category functioning, and dimensions of music performance assessment. The purpose of this study was to empirically identify typologies of operational raters based upon systematic differential severity indices in the context of large ensemble music performance assessment. A rater cognition information-processing model was explored based upon two frameworks: a framework for scoring and a framework for audition. Rater scoring behavior was examined using a framework for scoring, where raters’ mental processes compare auditory images to the scoring criteria used to generate a scoring decision. The scoring decisions were evaluated using the Multifaceted Rasch Partial Credit Measurement Model. A rater typology was then examined under the framework of audition, where similar schemata were defined through raters’ clustering of differential severity indices related to items and compared across performance dimensions. The results provided three distinct rater-types: (a) the syntactical rater; (b) the expressive rater; and (c) the mental representation rater. Implications for fairness and precision in the assessment process are discussed as well as considerations for validity of scoring processes.
Music draws on body, space, time and relationships to offer a sacred experience. Musicking makes personal, social, emotional and spiritual connections with people. Cultural identity is formed through the arts, and the spirituality in music is a medium through which people explore their identities. This study examines how music facilitates the holistic development of two Melbourne-born Chinese-Australian Christian musicians. The Confucian Evolving Self Model, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs, and music education aims offer conceptualising scaffolds to illuminate their self-discovery. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to report on multiple semi-structured interviews undertaken over three years. This study considered the interaction of various value systems – the fusion of Confucianism, Christian and psychological cultures in the process of musical development and identity formation. It fills a research gap and complements existing approaches to understanding the social contexts influencing the acquisition of musical skills and musicians’ occupational choices. The permissive parenting that both participants experienced might account for them being able to follow a career in music without familial resistance. The current findings can advocate for music education because the spiritual aspects of musical experiences were perceived as a mirror in fostering the holistic development of both participants.
Simulation has been applied as a tool for learning and training in sports, psychology and medicine for some time, but its current use and potential for training musicians is less well understood. The aim of this study was to explore musicians’ perceptions and experiences of using simulated performance environments. Nine conservatory students performed in two simulations, each with interactive virtual elements and vivid environmental cues: a recital with a virtual audience and an audition with virtual judges. Qualitative data were collected through a focus group interview and written reflective commentaries. Thematic analysis highlighted the musicians’ experiences in terms of (1) their anticipation of using the simulations, (2) the process of performing in the simulations, (3) the usefulness of simulation as a tool for developing performance skills and (4) ways of improving simulation training. The results show that while simulation was new to the musicians and individual levels of immersion differed, the musicians saw benefits in the approach for developing, experimenting with and enhancing their performance skills. Specifically, the musicians emphasised the importance of framing the simulation experience with plausible procedures leading to and following on from the performance, and they recognised the potential for combining simulation with complementary training techniques.
Although it has been shown that singing together encourages faster social bonding to a group compared with other activities, it is unknown whether this group-level "collective" bonding is associated with differences in the ties formed between individual singers and individuals engaging in other activities ("relational" bonding). Here we present self-report questionnaire data collected at three time points over the course of seven months from weekly singing and non-singing (creative writing and crafts) adult education classes. We compare the proportion of classmates with whom participants were connected and the social network structure between the singing and non-singing classes. Both singers and creative writers show a steeper increase over time in relational bonding measured by social network density and the proportion of their classmates that they could name, felt connected with, and talked to during class compared to crafters, but only the singers show rapid collective bonding to the class-group as a whole. Together, these findings indicate that the process of creating a unitary social group does not necessarily rely on the creation of personal relationships between its individual members. We discuss these findings in the light of social cohesion theory and social identity theory.
This study aimed at using the Networked Flow (NF) model to investigate group collaboration in the context of musical bands. We analyzed the relationship between flow, social presence, structural dynamics and performance as they related to 15 bands in a rehearsal room. Flow was measured using the Flow State Scale; social presence was assessed with the Networked Minds Social Presence scale; and interpersonal communication structure (exchange of gazes and verbal orders) was assessed by means of Social Network Analysis (SNA). In addition, we considered: (a) a subjective measure of performance, rated by each member on an ad-hoc questionnaire; and (b) an expert rating of performance, based on the evaluation of audio-video recordings of each group. Findings showed the multifaceted nature of the relationship between social presence and flow. Group flow score was a significant predictor of self-reported performance, but not of expert-evaluated performance. Moreover, several correlations were found between flow, social presence and patterns of interpersonal coordination (both implicit and explicit). Specifically, SNA reveals that flow was positively related to exchanges of gazes and negatively associated with exchanges of orders. Overall, this study contributes to further elucidating the complex interplay between group flow and intersubjective dynamics in music collaboration.
The aim of the present research was to consider what particular features are significant predictors of whether music is present in a given situation, as well as what factors influence a person’s judgments about the music. Applying Mehrabian and Russell’s (1974) Pleasure-Arousal-Dominance model to everyday experiences of music, 569 people reported on their activity for the previous day via the Day Reconstruction Method (Kahneman, Krueger, Schkade, Schwarz, & Stone, 2004). Data concerning each event included the activity and location, and characterization of the experience using the Pleasure–Arousal–Dominance measure. Moreover, for those events where music was present, participants also indicated how they heard the music and made four judgments about the music. Results indicated that the location, activity, and the person’s perception of dominance were significant predictors of the presence of music during everyday activities and that person’s judgments about the music. Contrary to prior research that has considered predominantly situational pleasure and arousal variables, the present results demonstrate that dominance is arguably the important variable in contextualized music listening.
Research on the affective phenomena involved in music has grown exponentially over the last 20 years. One particular topic is the use of music for affect self-regulation (i.e., the process of creating, changing, or maintaining affective states). Being a recent field of research, knowledge remains scattered and heterogeneous. An integrative literature review was conducted to present the results from recent research and critically analyse its overall conceptual state. A systematic search of online databases focusing on publications from January 1994 to June 2014 was completed. An extensive screening resulted in the selection of 34 publications, which were analysed with regard to their focus, conceptual clarity, and the results obtained concerning the following levels: goals (G), strategies (S), tactics (T), and mechanisms (M). The findings show that the GSTM levels have not been studied with equal weight and precision. Moreover, additional relevant dimensions of analysis have also emerged. A considerable degree of inconsistency in the use of terms and conceptual imprecision was found across the publications, and the lack of a model aggravated the situation. The main components of affect regulation through music were identified. A compilation of definitions of affective terms and recommendations for future research are presented.
Growing up and becoming an active participant in society can be challenging for young people. Factors such as ethnicity, disability and gender can, separately, pose difficulties. When combined, they can develop into insurmountable obstacles. The use of music interventions and activities to overcome some of these obstacles is explored in this article, using two cases of young First Nations people diagnosed with autism, in British Columbia, Canada. Although there are similarities, the differences in severity of ASD, place of residence and school situation, to mention a few factors, make a huge difference in their daily lives. Their contrasting possibilities to be present and participate in society may have implications for their social inclusion in adulthood. Results show that both traditional and contemporary music interventions can provide foundations for inclusion and they need to be carefully designed for each individual.
The purpose of this study was to compare personality traits using the Big Five personality taxonomy and alcohol consumption of classical and heavy metal musicians. Also, we compared personality traits of classical and heavy metal musicians with norms for the Croatian population, and data on alcohol consumption with a representative sample of the general Croatian population. Participants in the study were men (N = 249) playing either classical (N = 113) or heavy metal music (N = 136). Personality was measured with the IPIP-50 personality questionnaire and participants answered several questions about alcohol consumption. We found no significant differences in personality traits between classical and heavy metal musicians, but both classical and heavy metal musicians differed significantly in personality from the norms, having higher scores on extraversion, agreeableness, and especially intellect. Belonging to a heavy metal musicians group was associated with consuming alcohol more often. Also, frequency of alcohol consumption was statistically higher for heavy metal musicians than in the general population.
Research has shown inconsistent results concerning the ability of young children to identify musical emotion. This study explores the influence of the type of musical performance (vocal vs. instrumental) on children’s affect identification. Using an independent-group design, novel child-directed music was presented in three conditions: instrumental, vocal-only, and song (instrumental plus vocals) to 3- to 6-year-olds previously screened for language development (N = 76). A forced-choice task was used in which children chose a face expressing the emotion matching each musical track. All performance conditions comprised "happy" (major mode/fast tempo) and "sad" (minor mode/slow tempo) tracks. Nonsense syllables rather than words were used in the vocals in order to avoid the influence of lyrics on children’s decisions. The results showed that even the younger children were able to correctly identify the intended emotion in music, although "happy" music was more readily recognised and recognition appeared facilitated in the instrumental condition. Performance condition interacted with gender.
The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether uses of music partially mediate the link between personality and music preference. Undergraduate students (N = 122) completed the following scales: The Brief Big Five Inventory, The Uses of Music Inventory, The Short Test of Music Preference, The Life Orientation Test Revised, The Beck Depression Inventory, and the Perceived Stress Scale. Openness to experience positively predicted preferences for reflective-complex (RC; e.g., jazz/blues) and intense-rebellious (IR; e.g., rock/metal) music and was inversely related to upbeat-conventional (UC; e.g., country/pop) music, whereas extraversion was positively related to preferences for energetic-rhythmic (ER; e.g., rap/soul) and UC genres. A link between trait optimism and ER music preference was fully mediated by the more prominent extraversion trait. The relationship between openness to experience and RC music preference was partially mediated by cognitive uses of music, with a marginally significant analysis indicating partial mediation of emotional uses of music for openness to experience and IR music preference. Trait neuroticism, perceived stress, and depression scores all correlated positively with emotional uses of music. The current findings support studying personality contextually alongside uses of music when investigating music preference and shed light on how negative affect may inform emotional uses of music.
This research examines adults’ reported motivations for listening to music that they enjoy ironically using Thematic Analysis. Based on the pilot study (N = 96), ironically-enjoyed music was defined as "Music that is enjoyed because of being bad, despite being bad, or for different reasons than intended." Many relevant self-regulatory functions of listening to music in general were relevant to ironically-enjoyed music in the main study (N = 175). Ironic enjoyment of music also has unique characteristics: the additional role of mocking, ridiculing, and laughing at the music, and the social benefit that this provides. Music that was listened to "because of" its negative features had a variety of musical features, and the listening usually served functions unique to ironic enjoyment of music. When music was listened to "despite" negative qualities, the music itself was often described as having attractive rhythm, melody or lyrics, while the irony protected the listener from conflicting values associated with the music, helping the listener communicate to others that they did not identify with the music on a higher level. Unfamiliar music mainly played a social role, whereas familiar music related to nostalgia as well as most other functions.
Scherer and Zentner (2001) propose that affective experiences might be the product of a multiplicative function between structural, performance, listener, and contextual related features. Yet research on the effects of structure, and particularly texture, has mostly focused on perceived emotions. We therefore sought to test the effects of structural features on subjective musical experiences in a listening study by manipulating the performance, solo versus ensemble, of five segments of a piece for string quartet, while also exploring the impact of listener features such as musical training, listening habits and stable dispositions such as empathy. We found that participants (N = 144, 78% female; Mage = 22.74 years, SD = 5.13) felt like moving more (ME) and perceived their physiological rhythms change more (VE) during ensemble compared to solo conditions. Moreover, ME significantly predicted positive emotions, such as Wonder and Power, while VE significantly predicted both positive and negative emotions, such as Tension and Nostalgia. We also found direct main and interaction effects of both segment and performance factors on all four emotion models. We believe these results support Scherer and Zentner’s model and show the importance of considering the interaction between compositional and instrumental texture when studying music-induced emotions.
Experiencing and engaging with music have been fundamental to all societies across the ages. This study explores the connection between habitual music engagement and subjective wellbeing. Subjective wellbeing (SWB) comprises individual evaluations of life satisfaction, and is internationally regarded at policy and government levels. The present study uses data gathered in 2014 as part of the 31st survey of the Australian Unity Wellbeing Index to provide insight into the relationship between music engagement and SWB. A stratified random sample of 1,000 participants was interviewed via telephone. The findings revealed that engaging with music by dancing or attending musical events was associated with higher SWB than for those who did not engage with music in these forms. The findings also emphasised the important role of engaging with music in the company of others with regard to SWB, highlighting an interpersonal feature of music. The study provides an overview of the general relationship between music and SWB at a population level, by contrast to most research in the area that has focused on evaluating clinical interventions involving music. The insight gained from these findings can be used to inform future interventions and to better understand how music is involved in emotional regulation.
Musicians often play under circumstances in which pressure may lead to anxiety and performance deterioration. Theories suggest that a drop in performance is due to a shift in focus of attention towards task-irrelevant information. In this study, we asked music students to report what they think and where they focus attention in three situations: when they play under pressure (Study 1; n = 81), the moment just before choking under pressure and when they try to recover after a mistake (Study 2; n = 25). Focus of attention was examined using retrospective verbal reports and point-spread distributions. Besides a notable focus on music-related information (36.9%), music students reported a considerable number of worries and disturbing thoughts (26.1%) during playing under pressure (Study 1). Just before choking, they showed even more worries and disturbing thoughts (46.4%) at the cost of music-related focus (21.1%) (Study 2), as also confirmed by the point-spread distributions. During recovery after a mistake, attention was mainly focused on music-related information (53.0%) and less on thoughts that give confidence (18.5%) and physical aspects (16.6%). It is advisable to help music students with improving their performance, for example, by attentional control training or providing training with elevated levels of anxiety.
Prior research has shown that background music may be effective at reducing problem behaviors maintained by non-social (sensory) reinforcement in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, no study has examined the effects of background music on socially-reinforced problem behaviors, which are also common in this population. Thus, the purpose of our study was to extend previous research by examining the effects of background music on engagement in problem behaviors maintained by social reinforcement in children with ASD. Following a music preference assessment and a functional analysis, we used an alternating-treatment design to examine the effects of background music on problem behaviors in three children with ASD. Background music produced clear reductions in problem behaviors for one participant and marginal reductions in a second participant. Albeit preliminarily, our results indicate that background music may reduce engagement in problem behaviors maintained by access to other socially-mediated reinforcers.
Western music is characterized primarily by simple meters, but a number of other musical cultures, including Turkish, have both simple and complex meters. In Experiment 1, Turkish and American adults with and without musical training were asked to detect metrical changes in Turkish music with simple and complex meter. Musicians performed significantly better than nonmusicians, and performance was significantly better on simple meter than on complex meter, but Turkish listeners performed no differently than American listeners. In Experiment 2, members of Turkish classical and folk music clubs who were tested on the same materials exhibited comparable sensitivity to simple and complex meters, unlike the American and Turkish listeners in Experiment 1. Together, the findings reveal important effects of musical training and culture on meter perception: trained musicians are generally more sensitive than nonmusicians, regardless of metrical complexity, but sensitivity to complex meter requires sufficient exposure to musical genres featuring such meters.
Musical taste is believed to function as a social "badge" of identity that might develop according to a process of "self-to-stereotype matching". For this reason, individuals were expected to like musical styles that are stereotypically associated with fans that were similar to them. Three studies, each using a different measure of self-to-stereotype similarity, found that similarity to stereotypical music fans correlated significantly with participants’ self-rated musical tastes. These findings suggested individuals were more likely to prefer a musical style if they were similar, or at least perceived themselves similar, to the stereotypical fans associated with that musical style. In all three studies, evidence was also found to suggest that an individual’s similarity to stereotypical music fans might be used to predict their favourite musical style. Together these findings are argued to offer support for the idea that a process of self-to-stereotype matching might influence how individual musical tastes are formed, although alternate interpretations of this link between self-identity and musical taste (i.e., self-stereotyping) cannot be ruled out without further investigation.
Individuals with more musical training repeatedly demonstrate enhanced auditory perception abilities. The current study examined how these enhanced auditory skills interact with attention to affective audio-visual stimuli. A total of 16 participants with more than 5 years of musical training (musician group) and 16 participants with less than 2 years of musical training (non-musician group) took part in a version of the audio-visual emotional Stroop test, using happy, neutral, and sad emotions. Participants were presented with congruent and incongruent combinations of face and voice stimuli while judging the emotion of either the face or the voice. As predicted, musicians were less susceptible to interference from visual information on auditory emotion judgments than non-musicians, as evidenced by musicians being more accurate when judging auditory emotions when presented with congruent and incongruent visual information. Musicians were also more accurate than non-musicians at identifying visual emotions when presented with concurrent auditory information. Thus, musicians were less influenced by congruent/incongruent information in a non-target modality compared to non-musicians. The results suggest that musical training influences audio-visual information processing.
There is evidence that, when given simple musical instruments, young children construct pretend play episodes centered on the shape of the objects rather than their sounds. This attention to shape has also been observed when children learn the names of novel objects. Such a "shape bias", when engaging in pretend play with instruments and during linguistic tasks, may indicate the possibility that shape is a perceptually important attribute across contexts. The aim of this study was to determine whether children favor shape, color, or sound when identifying a novel object.
In two studies, 3- to 5-year-olds were shown target objects that were given a novel name and shared one attribute (e.g., shape, sound) with test objects. During one trial, the objects were shaken to produce sound, and during another, the children manipulated the objects in order to produce sounds. In both experiments, children selected based on shape significantly more often (p < .001) than chance rates, indicating a strong bias toward the shape of a novel object rather than the sound it produces during a cognitive task.
This research aimed to consider whether there were gender differences in the amount of practice undertaken by boys and girls, the practice strategies adopted and motivation to practise. A sample of 2027 girls and 1225 boys aged 6–19 years, ranging in level of expertise from beginner through to conservatory entrance level, playing instruments representative of the classical and popular instruments played in the UK completed a self-report Likert scale questionnaire. There were no statistically significant gender differences in weekly practice time or motivation to practise. Factor analysis of statements relating to practice revealed seven factors. There were statistically significant gender differences in relation to the adoption of systematic practice strategies (girls were more systematic), concentration (boys perceived they had higher levels of concentration) and immediate correction of errors (girls reported more immediate correction). There were no statistically significant gender differences in relation to the organisation of practice, the use of recordings and a metronome, the use of analytic strategies, and the adoption of ineffective practice strategies although for this factor there was a statistically significant interaction between gender and level of expertise.
This study aimed at determining whether adolescents and young adults use music as an agent of consolation when dealing with daily sorrow and stress. We furthermore tested whether three aspects of music listening, i.e., the music itself, its lyrics, and experiences of closeness to artists and fans, were experienced as comforting. Third, we explored whether consolation through music listening was related to music use and psychological problems. Overall, 1,040 respondents, age 13–30 years (M = 20.3, 70.7% female), responded to items measuring listening hours, music importance, music preferences, positive and negative affects elicited by music (PANAS), internalizing and externalizing problems, and consolation through music. Slightly over 69% reported that they (definitely) use music as a source of consolation. Furthermore, female respondents and respondents with higher levels of anxiousness/depression and lower levels of aggression sought consolation by music more often. The same result emerged for respondents with a preference for chart pop music, for those who found music important, and for those with stronger emotional reactions to music. Music’s consoling effects were reported as resulting particularly from the sound and texture of the music itself, from attribution of personal meaning to music’s lyrics, and, to a lesser extent, from perceptions of closeness to artists and other listeners.
A significant amount of existing research has dealt with the negative effects of music on people’s behavior, but only a few studies have shown that music with prosocial lyrics can increase prosocial behavior. This study focuses on the positive effects of music with prosocial lyrics on people in an everyday setting. Based on the general learning model, a field experiment (N = 256, 66% female) was conducted to test whether people exposed to music with prosocial lyrics engaged in more prosocial behavior by buying more fair trade products compared to regular products than did those exposed to songs with neutral lyrics. Guests of a café were randomly assigned to either the prosocial or the neutral music condition and were monitored by two observers who were instructed to report the prosocial purchase (of fair trade coffee) and tipping behavior of the guests. The results indicated that there is a significant positive association between prosocial behavior and the prosocial lyrics of the songs played. The study shows that it is most likely that music with prosocial lyrics can influence one’s prosocial purchase behavior in an everyday situation. The underlying mechanisms are still poorly researched, but these findings support the theoretical assumptions.
The aim of this study was to investigate, describe and understand the developmental function (musical and social/emotional) of nine toddlers’ private spontaneous songs. Between the initial interviews with the eight families and follow-up interviews 5 to 6 weeks later, parents observed their child at home twice a week for 4 consecutive weeks. When the child was alone at bedtime, the parents stood outside the bedroom door and completed a written Parent’s Observation and Reflection Form (PORF) describing and contextualizing what they heard on a minute-by-minute basis for the first 15 minutes of each session. Additionally, the parents collected audio recordings of the eight sessions using a smartphone that they placed inside the child’s room. Data sources included transcripts from family interviews, field notes, PORFs, and audio recordings. Findings suggest that many of the toddlers used solitary spontaneous singing at bedtime as a way to demonstrate and practice musical skill, reflect, experiment, self-soothe, and understand their own worlds. Spontaneous singing functioned to support these adaptive strategies during this intense developmental period. Further research is needed to understand the conditions and varieties of toddlers’ private spontaneous crib song.
Music is widely acknowledged to have social efficacy at the group level. This effect is hypothesised to be underpinned at least in part by entrainment. During collective musical behaviours, entrainment – the shared synchronisation of internal oscillators – is suggested to afford the perception of actions, intentions and motivational states as joint action, shared intentionality and mutual motivational states, which in turn fosters interpersonal affiliation and prosocial behaviours, including trust. However, it is unknown whether entrainment’s effects on prosociality persist when we are passive observers. In this study, 44 participants (21 women; average age = 28; average years of musical training = 10) watched audio-visual tokens in which a) the footsteps of an actor were entrained (synchronised) with a drumbeat, b) the footsteps were disentrained (unsynchronised) with the drumbeat and c) the soundtrack was grey noise (control condition). Participants were subsequently required to decide if the actor was engaged in a trustworthy or untrustworthy activity. Results show that participants were more likely to judge the actor as trustworthy in the entrain condition than the disentrain condition, but that the entrain condition was not significantly different to the control condition. Furthermore, this pattern of results was only found for a subgroup of the stimuli. There were no effects of age, gender or musical training. Given the nature of the task, which encourages passive entrainment rather than active movement, these findings indicate that the prosocial outcomes of musical engagement may be more common and have a broader significance than previously suggested.
Sadness induced by music listening has been a popular research focus in music and emotion research. Despite the wide consensus in affective sciences that emotional experiences are social processes, previous studies have only concentrated on individuals. Thus, the intersubjective dimension of musical experience – how music and music-related emotions are experienced between individuals – has not been investigated. In order to tap into shared emotional experiences, group discussions about experiences evoked by sad music were facilitated. Interpretative phenomenological analysis revealed four levels of discourses in the sharing of experiences evoked by joint music listening: (1) describing the emotional experience, (2) describing the music, (3) interpreting the music, and (4) describing autobiographical associations. Negotiated meanings of musical expression and emotional content were present. When exposed to different types of music and musical expression, the informants distinguished various kinds of sadness with distinct meanings. Shared experiences were affected by expectations of the musical style, structure, and performance, as well as expectations of the emotional content of music. Additionally, social norms and cultural conventions played important roles in the negotiations.
Recognizing the need to include musicians in mainstream wellbeing profiling and to move beyond a focus on debilitating factors of the music profession, this study aimed to understand how professional musicians experience wellbeing in the light of Positive Psychology. Guided by the PERMA model, the goal was to track enhancers and challenges for wellbeing in relation to the model’s five components: positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishment. Participants included six professional musicians from six activities: solo, orchestral, choral, chamber, conducting and composing. Two interviews were conducted with each participant, separated by two weeks of diary record-keeping. Results point to high wellbeing. A clear sense of self appears as an overarching sustainer of wellbeing and the transition to professional life as the most challenging time regarding musicians’ flourishing. Positive emotions emerged as highly related to musical moments, while varying repertoire and experiencing different ensembles appeared as central sources of engagement. Meaning emerged as linked to the shared nature of music-making, and a sense of accomplishment was built on internal goals and oneness in performance with others. The key processes for positive functioning appeared to involve responses to, and regulation by, relationships. Implications are discussed in relation to the role of holistic training in educational settings.
This study investigated the performance preferences of listeners without formal training in music. Specifically, it asked whether the quality of the performance (as represented by the status of the performer), the order of presentation of the performances, and extrinsic information about the quality of the performance impacted preferences. In Experiment 1, participants heard pairs of performances of solo piano music and were informed that one was played by a conservatory student, and one by a world-renowned professional. After each pair, they selected the one they thought had been performed by the professional. Their responses seem to have been driven by a combination of a preference for the performance actually played by the professional and a preference for the second performance in the pair. In Experiment 2, they heard the same performance pairs, but this time were informed, correctly or incorrectly, before each performance whether it was played by a student or by a professional. After each pair, they selected the performance they preferred. This time, their responses were influenced not just by the actual performer identity and the order of presentation, but also by the priming condition. Listener preferences seem to be driven by a combination of factors intrinsic and extrinsic to the performance itself.
While a small body of research has implicated rap music as a disseminator of colorist messages, more systematic explorations in this area are needed, particularly among youth. Employing an objectivist grounded theory approach, this study explored contemporary rap music as a medium through which skin color related messages are covertly or overtly transmitted to African American female adolescents. In addition, this study investigated the degree to which such lyrical and visual messages are understood and evaluated by this group. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with African American female adolescents (N = 30). Iterative coding and thematic analysis revealed rap music to be an influential purveyor of skin color messages, especially with regard to skin tone preferences. Three primary themes emerged: 1) Preferences for light-skinned females, 2) Unfavorable messages about or exclusion of dark-skinned females, and 3) Use of skin color nicknames. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.
Ethnic groups use music to promote in-group favoritism and values, but also to enhance intergroup closeness and understanding. The current study examined whether national music, often used for emphasizing intergroup separateness, can also reduce prejudice and promote theory of mind among two groups in conflict, Jews and Arabs in Israel. More specifically, the study examined whether removing a national song from its conflictual context, and introducing it in a manner which emphasizes out-group familiarity, enhances mentalization and positive attitudes between groups. Arab/Jewish women (N = 254) were randomly divided into four groups and exposed to one of two types of national Israeli songs, a Holocaust Day song (HDS), which is not associated with the Israeli-Arab conflict, or a Memorial Day song (MDS), which is aired only on days of remembrance for Israel’s fallen soldiers, sung by either a Jewish or an Arab singer. The results demonstrated that exposure to a HDS enhanced theory of mind when it is sung by an Arab singer. Moreover, Arabs who heard the HDS demonstrated reduced prejudice against Jews, when compared with the MDS. The results demonstrate that national songs, which may be the epitome of in-group favoritism, can be used for promoting theory of mind even among adversarial groups.
Previous research has shown that musicians have enhanced visual-spatial abilities and sensory-motor skills. As a result of their long-term musical training and their experience-dependent activities, musicians may learn to associate sensory information with fine motor movements. Playing a musical instrument requires musicians to rapidly translate musical symbols into specific sensory-motor actions while also simultaneously monitoring the auditory signals produced by their instrument. In this study, we assessed the visual-spatial sequence learning and memory abilities of long-term musicians. We recruited 24 highly trained musicians and 24 nonmusicians, individuals with little or no musical training experience. Participants completed a visual-spatial sequence learning task as well as receptive vocabulary, nonverbal reasoning, and short-term memory tasks. Results revealed that musicians have enhanced visual-spatial sequence learning abilities relative to nonmusicians. Musicians also performed better than nonmusicians on the vocabulary and nonverbal reasoning measures. Additional analyses revealed that the large group difference observed on the visual-spatial sequencing task between musicians and nonmusicians remained even after controlling for vocabulary, nonverbal reasoning, and short-term memory abilities. Musicians’ improved visual-spatial sequence learning may stem from basic underlying differences in visual-spatial and sensory-motor skills resulting from long-term experience and activities associated with playing a musical instrument.
This study examined the speed of initial research impact and dissemination for 619 articles published in Psychology of Music (POM) from 1973 to 2012. A computer script calculated the time elapsed from publication to receiving a first-citation from a referencing journal and discipline. Journal references (n = 7,969) to POM were extracted from Google Scholar and divided into business, education, medical, music, music education, natural science, psychology, social science, and technology collections. Stratified plots revealed that journals in the disciplines of music education and psychology cited POM articles more quickly than other fields; music psychology journals cited POM more quickly than music education journals from US and worldwide sources, and POM articles published from 1973–1992 were more quickly cited by journals in music education, while articles from 1993–2012 by those in music psychology. Cox regression indicated research-uptake accelerated with later decades, publishers, editor eras, and increased article impact. Results confirm the importance of recent POM articles to journals in the discipline of music psychology and earlier articles to journals in the field of music education. POM was cited broadly, though adoption speeds were slower for journals in fields beyond music education and psychology.
The act of shifting from one key to another is termed tonal modulation, which has been used to articulate emotion expressions and formal structures in Western music. The present study recorded cortical activity to examine how the auditory-evoked magnetic fields are affected by harmonizing music of rapidly changing tonalities. Participants were asked to covertly sing the pitch names of well-learned modulating melodies along with the harmonized or unharmonized melodies. In our musical stimuli, three flats were added to the key signature for every four beats. Such a rapid modulation is achieved by a chromatic inflection of the submediant tone between the third and fourth beats. Tonal modulations with such chromatic progressions are termed chromatic modulations. A major finding was that the amplitude of N1m (neuromagnetic response at approximately 110 ms after the onset of a stimulus) was significantly reduced by harmonization only when a modulation occurred. We also observed that harmonization enhanced the P2m (neuromagnetic response at approximately 200 ms after the onset of a stimulus) amplitude. The results provide evidence of the impacts of harmonization on attention efforts and pitch categorization.
Singing together seems to facilitate social bonding, but it is unclear whether this is true in all contexts. Here we examine the social bonding outcomes of naturalistic singing behaviour in a European university Fraternity composed of exclusive "Cliques": recognised sub-groups of 5–20 friends who adopt a special name and identity. Singing occurs frequently in this Fraternity, both "competitively" (contests between Cliques) and "cooperatively" (multiple Cliques singing together). Both situations were recreated experimentally in order to explore how competitive and cooperative singing affects feelings of closeness towards others. Participants were assigned to teams of four and were asked to sing together with another team either from the same Clique or from a different Clique. Participants (N = 88) felt significantly closer to teams from different Cliques after singing with them compared to before, regardless of whether they cooperated with (singing loudly together) or competed against (trying to singing louder than) the other team. In contrast, participants reported reduced closeness with other teams from their own Clique after competing with them. These results indicate that group singing can increase closeness to less familiar individuals regardless of whether they share a common motivation, but that singing competitively may reduce closeness within a very tight-knit group.
The objective of the present study was to examine the effects of music and music-video on core affect during and immediately after stationary cycling at the lactate threshold. A randomized, fully counterbalanced, crossover design with three conditions (music, music-video, and a no-music-video control) was adopted. Twenty-four participants exercised at lactate threshold while exposed to music, music-video, and control conditions. Affective valence and perceived activation were assessed every 2 min during a 20-min exercise bout and every 5 min post exercise over a 20-min period. Results indicated that there was a significant condition x time interaction for affective valence. The music-video condition elicited the highest levels of affective valence followed by the music condition and control. There was a main effect of condition for affective valence, wherein the experimental conditions facilitated significantly higher affective valence than control. Significant main effects of time emerged for both affective valence and perceived activation. Regardless of condition, affective valence decreased during the exercise bout and increased immediately post exercise. Conversely, perceived activation increased during exercise and decreased immediately post exercise. The present findings indicate that music and music-video can enhance core affect during exercise at the lactate threshold and the implications for exercise adherence are expounded.
The effect of background music on learning and academic performance is highly relevant to the everyday lives of millions of students worldwide. To investigate this, we recruited 165 undergraduate students (71 males and 94 females, mean age of 21.87 years) to complete arithmetic, reading comprehension, and word memory tasks while exposed to familiar or unfamiliar, foreign or first language music, and no music. With the task scores as dependent variables, a significant main effect was observed for music familiarity but not for language. Further analysis showed that only the word memory task was affected by music with significantly higher scores in the familiar than unfamiliar music conditions. Despite a slight negative trend, no significant effect was found in the interaction between music and language conditions. Depending on the task, familiarity but not language of music affected learning and task performance when compared to the no music condition.
Research on playlists has focused on how usage is related to technological and music industry variables, and the demographic characteristics of users. However, it also seems reasonable to suspect a psychological component to playlist usage. The present research considered an individual’s propensity to devise and make use of playlists in terms of time perspective. Significant results indicate an emphasis on the time at hand while listening, so that playlist use has a present-orientated time perspective, rather than a future-oriented time perspective. The findings support other recent research illustrating that exercising control over everyday listening is an important aspect of musical behavior in present-day music listening.
Previous research has reported higher prevalence rates of anxiety and depression among musicians, compared to the general workforce. We compared the use of psychotherapy and psychotropic medication with other major occupational groups, and expected to find higher use among musicians. Musicians from the Norwegian Musicians’ Union (n = 1,607) answered an online questionnaire about demographic characteristics, mental health, use of healthcare services and use of psychotropic medication. They were compared to a sample of the Norwegian workforce (n = 2,550) from the Norwegian survey of level of living. Based on chi-square and logistic regression analysis, adjusted for age, sex, education, and cohabitation status, we found that musicians reported higher use of psychotherapy and psychotropic medication. Use of psychotherapy was reported most frequently among vocalists, while rock musicians reported the most widespread use of psychotropic medication. Overall, musicians had three-fold higher odds of use of psychotherapy and 50% higher odds of use of psychotropic medication compared to the general workforce. This is consistent with previous findings indicating high rates of sleep-difficulties and psychological distress among musicians. The results underline the importance of investigating both the content and quality of services provided.
Drawing on the notion of musical intervals, recent studies have demonstrated the use of precise frequency ratios within human vocalisation. Methodologically, these studies have addressed human vocalisation at an individual level. In the present study, we asked whether patterns such as musical intervals can also be found among the voices of people engaging in a conversation as an emerging interpersonal phenomenon. Fifty-six participants were randomly paired and assigned to either a control or a low-trust condition. Frequency ratios were generated by juxtaposing nonlocal fundamental frequency (f0) productions from two people engaged in each given dyadic conversation. Differences were found among conditions, both in terms of interval distribution and precision. These results support the idea that psychological dispositions modulate the musical intervals generated between participants through mutual real-time vocal accommodation. They also underscore the inter-domain use of musical intervals.
The influence of auditory stimuli and their transmission mode on food intake and meal duration was assessed in healthy adults (73 male, 74 female) under laboratory conditions. The participants (18–30 years old) were randomized to one of five lunch groups. Five conditions were compared: eating in silence (control condition), eating while listening to background music via loudspeakers, eating while listening to background music via headphones, eating while listening to pop songs with English vocals and eating while listening to pop songs with German vocals. Results showed no association between listening to songs with different emotion-arousing potential and the amount of food consumed. Within-group comparisons revealed longer meal durations while listening to English music and unfamiliar background music via headphones than while listening to familiar German pop songs. The difference with the control condition just failed to reach significance. No differences were found for transmission mode. Further studies to examine the influence of music on food intake and eating behaviour, especially under controlled conditions, are needed.
Previous research has suggested that singing in a choir might be beneficial for an individual’s psychological well-being. However, it is unclear whether this effect is unique to choral singing, and little is known about the factors that could be responsible for it. To address this, the present study compared choral singing to two other relevant leisure activities, solo singing and playing a team sport, using measures of self-reported well-being, entitativity, need fulfilment and motivation. Questionnaire data from 375 participants indicated that choral singers and team sport players reported significantly higher psychological well-being than solo singers. Choral singers also reported that they considered their choirs to be a more coherent or ‘meaningful’ social group than team sport players considered their teams. Together these findings might be interpreted to suggest that membership of a group may be a more important influence on the psychological well-being experienced by choral singers than singing. These findings may have practical implications for the use of choral singing as an intervention for improving psychological well-being.
A number of studies indicate that fast music influences performance in everyday activities including shopping and gambling, but the mechanisms through which this effect is realised are not well understood. This study investigates whether fast tempo music influences gambling via an effect on arousal using a laboratory virtual roulette task. One hundred and forty-four participants played virtual roulette whilst listening to fast tempo, slow tempo or no music. Music tempo alone did not influence betting speed, expenditure or risk-taking. Furthermore tempo did not influence participants’ physiological or subjective arousal levels, nor participants’ opinions of the musical stimuli in terms of liking, familiarity, fit or its ability to aid concentration. Our findings suggest that there are some circumstances under which the effect of music tempo does not operate and therefore provides an insight into the limits of music tempo as an explanation for music effects on behaviour. This study has implications for the way that musical characteristics are operationalised in future research into music’s effects on behaviour.
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of two levels of extrinsic cognitive load when three levels of adult woodwind musicians practiced. Extrinsic load was manipulated through repetitive and random practice orders. Participants (N = 43) were novice, intermediate, and advanced university woodwind players who completed a three-day, repeated measures design. At the end of two days of practice, novices who had practiced in a blocked (repetitive) practice order played significantly faster than those who had practiced in a random order. However, this difference was eliminated at 24-hour retention testing. Intermediate players experienced no differential effects of extrinsic cognitive load at the end of practice or at retention. For the advanced players, a trend was found for speed increasing from the end of practice to 24-hour retention (p = .06). While the constructs of cognitive load theory are relevant to woodwind learning, further research is needed to determine effective paradigms for their implementation.
Visual information plays a critical role in the assessment of music performance. Audiovisual integration is well recognised in person perception, and people readily match talking faces to speaking voices. This effect exists in identifying music performers, but its strength is untested. This study investigated the importance of visual or audio priming in identifying a music performer from a line-up. Half the participants saw a target saxophonist (no sound) and then heard a line-up (no visuals) of saxophonists playing (2 to 5 saxophonists). In contrast, half the participants heard a target saxophonist (no visuals) and then saw the line-up (no sound). Participants identified the target saxophonist in visual and audio line-ups at a rate above chance, although identification accuracy decreased as the line-up number increased. Those who saw the targets identified a significantly greater number of performers from the audio line-up than those who heard the targets and identified them from a visual line-up. As the task complexity and number of distractors increased, responses remained consistent and visual priming was robust and reliable in performer identification.
The aim of this study is to qualitatively examine the roles of music for musician Holocaust survivors during the Holocaust and whether and how it helped them cope with its effects. Seven musician Holocaust survivors aged 73–95 were interviewed. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the transcribed interviews indicated five chronological periods where music had different roles: (1) prior to the Holocaust (e.g., as a means to create identity), (2) the outset of the Holocaust (e.g., as a means to maintain normalcy), (3) during the Holocaust (e.g., as a means of escape), (4) the aftermath of the Holocaust (e.g., as a means to promote rehabilitation) and, (5) present day (e.g., as a means to commemorate the past). A sixth category that had a cross-temporal nature was termed "transitional objects," defined as musical objects that survivors clung to during and after the Holocaust for consolation. The roles of music in coping with the survivors’ trauma are compared to studies that found similar as well as contrasting results and are discussed in light of the literature regarding uses of music for coping with trauma and in light of the growing knowledge about "health musicking."
The purpose of this study was to explore the achievement goal motivation orientations of instrumental music students in the US and Singapore. Participants in this study were volunteer band students (N = 359) from eight American public high schools (n = 217) and five polytechnics in Singapore (n = 142). Data were collected via a questionnaire that included measures of (a) the 2 x 2 achievement goal orientation constructs (mastery approach, mastery avoid, performance approach, and performance avoid), (b) flow in band rehearsal, (c) grit in practicing, and (d) commitment to band. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the 2 x 2 achievement goal framework specifying four latent variables (mastery approach, mastery avoid, performance approach, performance avoid) was the best relative fit to the data when compared with competing dichotomous and trichotomous models. In contrast to previous research comparing achievement goals of learners from collectivistic and individualistic cultures, no significant differences in achievement goal sub-scale means were found as a function of culture. However, some differentiated patterns of relationship were found between the achievement goal sub-scales and flow, grit, and commitment to band as a function of culture.
Both musically trained and untrained adults can reproduce the tempo of familiar music with high precision. However, conflicting evidence exists as to how well representations of tempo are preserved within musical imagery. The present study investigated whether previous conflicting evidence might result from the use of different tasks to measure imagined tempo. Tempo judgments for familiar music were collected in a repeated-measures design using two imagined music tasks and one perceived music task. In one imagined music task participants tapped in time to the beat of the imagined music (Imagery (motor) task), while in the other they did not move in time with the music and instead adjusted a click track to the beat (Imagery (non-motor) task). Overall, performance was most accurate on the perceived music task, in which all musical cues were present. Performance on the Imagery (motor) task was also significantly more accurate than performance on the Imagery (non-motor) task. Training and active engagement with music positively predicted imagery task performance, whereas perceived music task performance was influenced by properties related to the song stimuli, such as familiarity and the original, recorded tempo. Results are discussed in relation to previous literature on auditory–motor interactions and musical expertise.
The current study examined valence transfer in the crossmodal paradigm in order to test the generalizability of the phenomenon and to contribute to a better understanding of the underlying processes. Western European participants evaluated Asian ideographs to be more visually pleasant when in the presence of pleasant sounds than when in the presence of neutral or unpleasant sounds (Experiment 1). Experiment 2 was conducted to reduce the demand characteristics, and to investigate the involvement of affective responses. We measured facial electromyography (EMG) and skin conductance responses (SCR) from participants evaluating ideographs while a piece of music was playing in the background. Evaluative judgments of the ideographs reflected subtle variance of valence within the piece of music. The extent of this valence transfer depended on the extent of SCRs within the respective trial. In addition, ideograph judgments were accompanied by concordant affective responses within facial EMG. The findings suggest that valence transfer from brief stimuli can be generalized to the crossmodal paradigm, occurs even if the experimental procedure obscures the purpose of investigation (i.e., automatically), and that affective responses are involved.
There has been inadequate consideration of how flow and meaning impact health within music therapy interventions. The purpose of these analyses was to determine if flow and meaningfulness of songwriting were related to and functioned as predictors of therapeutic outcome within songwriting interventions for adult inpatients on an acute care psychiatric unit (Study 1) and a detoxification unit (Study 2). Correlational and multiple regression analyses were conducted on data with inpatients who had participated in a single-session highly structured blues songwriting intervention with a music therapist. Therapeutic outcomes were state indices of hope (Study 1; N = 54 adults on an acute care psychiatric unit) and readiness to change (Study 2; N = 170 adults on a detoxification unit). In both studies, there tended to be positive and significant correlations between flow and meaningfulness of songwriting and therapeutic outcomes. Multiple regression analyses indicated that flow was a significant predictor of therapeutic outcome but that meaningfulness of songwriting was not a significant predictor of therapeutic outcome during both studies. Flow may represent a positively framed and less invasive method for measuring patients’ perceptions of the therapeutic outcomes. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are included.
The effects of music on the brain have been extensively researched, and numerous connections have been found between music and language, music and emotion, and music and cognitive processing. Despite this work, these three research areas have never before been drawn together into a single research paradigm. This is significant as their combination could lead to valuable insights into the effects of musical valence on the cognitive processing of lyrics. This research draws on theories of cognitive processing suggesting that negative moods facilitate systematic and detail-oriented processing, while positive moods facilitate heuristic-based processing. The current study (n = 56) used an error detection paradigm and found that significantly more error words were detected when paired with negatively valenced sad music compared to positively valenced happy music. Such a result explains previous findings that sad and happy lyrics have differential effects on emotion induction, and suggests this is due to sad lyrics being processed at deeper semantic levels. This study provides a framework in which to understand the interaction of lyrics and music with emotion induction – a primary reason for listening to music.
Recent years have witnessed an upsurge of research interest in motor imagery (MI; sometimes known as mental practice) or the mental simulation of actions without any concomitant bodily movement. While numerous experimental studies have demonstrated the efficacy of MI in improving skilled performance in fields such as music, sport and medical surgery, few to date have investigated the extent to which MI and motor execution share similar cognitive mechanisms. Therefore, to address this gap, the present studies explored the relationship between the executed and imagined movements of expert pianists. Study 1 explored the effects of movement complexity and force on the time required for nine pianists to actually perform and imagine performing a musical composition. Results revealed that although the durations of participants’ imagined performances were longer than those of executed ones, stage-duration variations during execution were mirrored in the stage-duration variations during MI. In Study 2, seven pianists’ pupil-size measurements (obtained using Tobii eye-tracking glasses) were used to explore changes in cognitive effort between executed and imagined piano performance. Results showed that pupil-size measurements during executed and imagined piano playing were similar. The significance of the findings is discussed and some potential new directions for research are identified.
This article reports the findings of a questionnaire and interview study with arts audiences in a UK city, and compares the experiences of arts attenders with those of an "audience exchange" group, in which participants were taken to unfamiliar arts events and then discussed their expectations, first impressions, and intentions for future arts engagement. The study considers how the established values and behaviours of regular audience members might be inhibiting or alienating to first-time listeners, and identifies continuums of engagement that draw on psychological frameworks of identity and belonging. Differences between the factors in audience satisfaction in cinema, theatre, and music are explored, and the effects of familiarity with one art form on understanding a first encounter with a new one highlight the range of perspectives that audience members bring to any given event. The implications of these findings for audience development strategies are considered, showing how research with audiences can be a developmental tool in itself, by encouraging reflective discussion of arts experiences amongst new attenders.
This study investigates music-related argumentation in different music genres (rock/pop versus classical music) applying a mixed-methods design with three groups (referred to as novices, semi-experts and experts). Participants were asked to compare two versions of a musical piece and justify their preference in individually written argumentation. Arguments were coded by applying a category system with four main categories, namely, attributes of the musical piece, subjective dimensions, context-specific background knowledge and media-related dimensions. Results of quantitative analyses showed that experts formulated longer arguments, referring to more different categories and mentioning more aspects within these categories. Further, a larger proportion of the experts’ arguments referred to context-specific background knowledge and attributes of the musical piece, whereas semi-experts’ and novices’ argumentation consisted to a larger extent of subjective dimensions. For all analyses, there were no differences concerning the two different music genres. A discriminant analysis showed that the participants’ ascribed level of expertise was correctly predicted on the basis of their argumentation in 97.3% of the cases. Therefore, the category system provides an effective instrument for representing and evaluating music-related argumentation. Our findings illustrate quantitative and qualitative differences between arguments and build a starting point for developing innovative intervention approaches for fostering music-related argumentation.
This study investigated whether samples of pleasant, neutral and unpleasant music can impact food perception. To this end, the pleasantness of three different types of chocolate gelati (milk chocolate, dark chocolate and bittersweet chocolate) was determined using 50 participants exposed to silence (the reference condition) and three music samples differing in self-rated preference. To measure hedonic responses to the gelati samples, the Time Intensity method was utilized to derive the maximum intensity of pleasantness and the area under the Time Intensity pleasantness curve. The presence of non-preferred music significantly decreased the pleasantness ratings of all three types of chocolate gelati tested, while preferred music increased perceived pleasantness ratings of dark and bittersweet chocolate gelati, but not milk chocolate gelato. Time Intensity parameters for pleasantness ratings did not differ significantly across the three different types of chocolate gelati in the silent condition, suggesting that listening to the music influenced gelati pleasantness ratings. This study demonstrated that the pleasantness of gelati changed with music valence. The findings echo previous studies emphasizing the importance of crossmodal effects between music and food perception.
It is unclear how music training leads to superior memory of language. In the present study, we investigated whether musically trained adults (musicians) have superior segmental and tonal loops using non-musical Mandarin stimuli. Forty-three musicians and thirty-nine demographically matched non-musically trained adults (non-musicians) participated in this study, all native Chinese. Memory spans, typical indicators of capacity of the phonological loop, were measured in both visual and auditory modalities in the following three conditions: (1) a segmental condition, defined as different syllables with the same high level tone; (2) a tonal condition (suprasegmental condition), defined as the same syllable with different tones; and (3) a mixed condition, defined as different syllables with different tones. The results revealed a main effect of condition. Memory spans of the tonal conditions were significantly smaller than those of segmental and mixed conditions, regardless of group and modality. Moreover, a significant condition by group interaction was found. Musicians outperformed non-musicians in the tonal conditions, but not in the segmental or mixed conditions in both modalities. These findings suggest that there are tonal and segmental loops for Mandarin, and musicians, compared to controls, have larger memory spans for Mandarin tones but not segments.
The growing risk of the development of problem behaviors in adolescents (ages 10–15) requires effective methods for prevention, supporting self-regulative capacities. Music listening as an effective self-regulative tool for emotions and behavioral adaptation for adolescents and youth is widely studied. However, music therapy enhancing the development of emotion regulation skills in schools is rare. The application of rap in clinical cases of music therapy appears to have a beneficial regulative effect on this population. The aim of this study is to investigate the performance of RapMusicTherapy (RMT) in a non-clinical, school-based program to support self-regulative abilities for well-being and to reduce the risk of low grades attributable to troubled mental health at an early stage.
All adolescents in Grade 8 of a public school will be invited to participate, and randomly assigned, either to RMT or to regular classes. RMT will be applied once a week during 4 months. After obtaining written informed consent by parents, measurements will take place at baseline (start of study), after 4 months (end of RMT) and again after 4 months without RMT (follow-up). Primary outcome data include measures of psychological well-being, emotion regulation, self-esteem, self-description, language development, executive functioning and the rest–activity rhythm. Secondary outcome data consist of subjective experiences of participants, collected in follow-up interviews with experimental group respondents.
RMT is developed for application in school-based settings. This is the first study to focus on RMT as an intervention for emotion regulation in order to evaluate the effects of rap on the self-regulative capacities of adolescents, in support of their well-being. This study protocol aims to outline the method and procedures involved, and to increase attention and awareness of the potential for collaborations involving music, therapy and education for future investigations.
How we adapt our behavior for others’ preferences in interpersonal interactions—particularly when those preferences differ from our own—can be a means to nonverbally communicate our attention, interest, and concern for them. Invoking communication accommodation theory (CAT), this vignette study examined how relational closeness and attraction influenced accommodation to others’ musical tastes. One hundred and fifty-nine individuals completed questionnaires assessing their imagined musical accommodation in response to the scenarios detailed in the vignettes. As hypothesized, we found that accommodation of musical preferences was generally predicted by how relationally close or attractive these others were considered to be. However, how important individuals self-reported music to be did not moderate these results. These findings suggest that accommodating to another person’s musical tastes may be a nonverbal way of showing concern for another’s preferences and may communicate closeness and attraction. In this way, musical accommodation may help build, sustain, and manage social relationships. These results extend CAT into a new applied domain and the implications of the findings are discussed.
The purpose of these meta-analyses was twofold: 1) to determine whether experimentally - tested sight reading interventions positively influenced rhythmic or melodic sight reading performance and if so; 2) to explore whether the interventions differentially affected rhythmic and melodic sight reading. Two meta-analyses were conducted; one comprised experimental research measuring rhythmic sight reading (46 studies; 68 individual analyses) and another comprised research measuring melodic sight reading (21 studies; 35 individual analyses). Analyses revealed small overall effect sizes (Rhythmic: d = –0.34, 95% CI [–0.50, –0.19]; Melodic: d = –0.35, 95% CI [–0.59, –0.12]). Moderator variables were used to examine how effect size was influenced by treatment type and other study-level design elements. Treatment type significantly influenced both rhythmic and melodic sight reading. For rhythm, treatments that focused on counting systems and included movement or rhythmic drill positively affected sight reading. Melodic results are preliminary due to the limited number of studies, but based on the information available, treatments using collaboration activities or instrumental training positively affected sight reading. Varying notation did not improve sight reading. The type of sight reading (rhythmic, melodic) significantly affected the effectiveness of some treatments.
This study adopted self-determination theory as means to understanding the motivation of university music students. The self-determination theory framework contends that three psychological needs of competence, relatedness, and autonomy must be fulfilled in order to maintain psychological wellbeing. In turn, needs fulfilment results in autonomous motivation, in which activities are perceived to be aligned with the self and are consequently experienced as personally important, interesting, and enjoyable. We surveyed students (N = 392) from schools of music in nine universities in Australia and New Zealand to examine whether needs fulfilment and autonomous motivation within the university music learning context would explain context-specific affect and behaviour. Hypothesised relationships were tested using structural equation modelling. Psychological needs fulfilment and autonomous motivation explained more frequent practice, more frequent quality practice, and a higher preference for challenging tasks. This study is among the first self-determination theory studies in the domain of music learning at the university level, and thus the results are described in terms of the potential of this theory to more fully explain interesting and under-researched aspects of this environment, including student wellbeing, anxiety, preparations for a long-term career in music, and pedagogical implications.
Previous research has shown that literacy influences some dimensions of the visual (or graphic) representation of temporal events, and that concepts of time vary across cultures. The present exploratory study extends the scope of this research by examining representations of brief rhythmic sequences by individuals living in literate and nonliterate societies. A total of 122 participants were recruited at five sites: British musicians in the UK; Japanese musicians familiar and unfamiliar with English and Western Standard Notation (WSN) in Tokyo and Kyoto in Japan; language/WSN literate Papua New Guinean highlanders in Port Moresby; and nonliterate BenaBena tribe members in Papua New Guinea. In the first study, participants listened to brief rhythmic sequences and were asked to represent these graphically on paper in any manner of their choosing. In the second study, participants matched the auditory stimuli with pre-constructed sets of marks varying in directionality (i.e. the direction in which they should be read to correspond with the auditory events). The responses of literate participants generally reflected the directionality of their acquired writing systems, while responses of nonliterate participants conveyed no clear preference for directionality. In both studies, responses of literate and nonliterate groups in Papua New Guinea were distinct from each other.
Emotion-enhanced memory occurs when an arousal response to an emotion stimulus strengthens memory consolidation. We tested whether listening to emotionally arousing music enhanced memory in this way. In a within-subjects design, 37 participants (18 to 50 years, 22 female) listened to two of their own highly enjoyed music tracks, two self-rated neutral tracks from other participants’ selections, and a five-minute radio interview. After each listening episode, participants memorised a unique array of 24 images. Subjective and physiological emotional arousal was monitored throughout the experiment and free recall of all images within the five image arrays was tested at the end. As predicted, compared to the music and non-music controls, self-selected enjoyed music elicited greater subjective and physiological changes consistent with emotion, and more details from images presented after enjoyed music were recalled than after listening to the radio interview. A multiple regression analysis revealed that physiological changes consistent with an emotional arousal response to enjoyed music reliably predicted memory. Further research with larger samples is needed to replicate these exploratory findings.
The effect of self-regulation instruction on the performance achievement, musical self-efficacy, and practicing of advanced wind players by Peter Miksza. Psychology of Music March 2015 43: 219–243, doi:
Music is a strong emotional stimulus; however, it is difficult to differentiate the effects of arousal and valence. While emotional stimuli sets have been created from words and pictures, a normed set of musical stimuli is unavailable. The goal of this project was to identify a set of ecologically valid musical stimuli for use in research studies of emotion and mood that differ on valence but are matched for arousal, and are also matched with emotionally evocative non-musical stimuli. Three rating experiments were conducted. In the first Stimulus Selection experiment, participants rated short music clips for valence and arousal, and the most evocative clips were selected. In two follow-up Stimulus Validation experiments, two additional groups of participants rated the selected musical and non-musical stimuli, with Experiment 3 confirming that these stimuli work effectively in a noisy environment (within an MRI scanner). The result of these three studies is a set of emotionally evocative, positive and negative musical stimuli, matched for valence and arousal with a subset of previously validated non-musical stimuli.
The idea that words used by people are indicative of their personality has been established in several studies. In this study, we ask whether song lyrics of different music genres (e.g., punk) are associated with different personalities. We tested the hypotheses that (1) personalities are associated with lyrics of various music genres and that (2) personality, as expressed in song lyrics, may be used for the classification of songs into genres. We used a database of 17,495 songs categorized into music genres and 2468 essays written by students whose personalities have been assessed through the five factor model of personality. The method uses sophisticated tools of Natural Language Processing. The research hypotheses were confirmed and it was found that it is possible to predict participants’ personality based on the similarity of their writing style to the style of various music genres, and that songs can be automatically classified into music genres based on the similarity of those songs to personality factors. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that the lyrics of music genres can be used to predict personalities, and conversely, personalities can be used for genre identification and classification.
Given that physical performance is enhanced by listening to music, what information in the music is the active ingredient? Here, we varied the amount of music information in an otherwise identical piece of music, from only the rhythm, through a synthesized and scaled down version, to the full original version. Twenty-two university students (11 males and 11 females) ran for 10 minutes to each of eight conditions, two with white noise, three with music that facilitated synchronization with the running pace, and three with tempi where synchronization was impossible. Dependent variables were distance run and the number of steps, from which stride length was computed. Heart rate and mood (PANAS) were also measured for control purposes. Participants tended to run a greater distance when there was more music information, which was mainly an effect of longer strides rather than a faster stride rate. This effect was stronger in the synchronous conditions. The results suggest that the motivational effects of music information during running is mostly related to richer temporal information conveyed by faster metrical levels, when attempting to synchronize with the beat in the music
Group musical improvisation is a unique psychological phenomenon. Cognitive literature on jazz musicians argues that creativity in improvisation is constrained by stylistic conventions and facility with existing musical elements. However the expanding field of free improvisation is predicated on avoiding idiomatic expectations and familiar material. To model musical improvisation in its widest sense, 15 diverse free improvisers were video recorded performing in trios, and interviewed in-depth while reviewing the recording. Improvisers chose on an iterative basis whether to maintain what they were doing or change, either to initiate a new direction or to respond to another improviser. Responses were subjectively understood to adopt, augment or contrast the contributions of others. These choices were based on evaluative dimensions of texture, rate of initiatives, and degrees of novelty and diversity, as well as structural and practical concerns and experience of enjoyment. Improvisers did not perceive consistent agency for themselves while improvising, and their evaluations were influenced by constructions of the social context. Results highlight that new material is generated at a variable rate by any one individual during this collaborative creativity, and indicate that constraints on choices to cope with high cognitive demands are subjective and situation-specific rather than objective.
To examine the influence on performance of sound presentation considered more or less disturbing, distracting, and intrusive, an antisaccade task was used to assess executive control over reflexive eye movements. By examining the latency and proportion of correct eye movements in eight sound presentations for 32 participants (15 female), the effect of disturbance from sound was measured. The only effect found for latency was a significant increase during the Mozart violin concerto, suggesting an unconscious speed–accuracy tradeoff. Participants inhibited reflexive eye movements in favour of correct responses, which were marginally better than the silent control condition. The mean number of correctly launched saccades was significantly lower during three sound presentations which were all social in nature, namely playing children, crying baby, and babble noise. These were also classified as highly disturbing by participants. This suggests that certain sounds can have a large effect on executive control. Finally, the sound presentation with children playing affected females significantly more negatively than males, as seen in lower mean numbers of correctly launched saccades.
The attenuation of perceived pain through exposure to music is known as music analgesia. The present study used a mixed-methods design, investigating whether self-chosen music moderated participants’ psychological and physiological responses to pain during cold pressor (CP) tasks. Thirty participants took part (14 males, 16 females; Mage = 27.77 years). Three levels of musical stimulation were employed—relaxing music, motivating music and a silent control condition. Dependent variables included: CP tolerance time, Profile of Mood score, visual analogue pain rating—intensity and unpleasantness (VAS-I & VAS-U), blood pressure and pulse rate. Qualitative semi-structured interviews further investigated perceived differences between musical stimulation types. Results demonstrated a significant effect of musical exposure on VAS-U scores [F (2, 56) = 3.60, p = .034]. Pairwise comparisons revealed that VAS-U scores were significantly lower after exposure to relaxing music than after silence. Qualitative analyses of interview transcripts revealed dominant themes of distraction, absorption and context-dependent memory induction, with the most-preferred condition being motivational music. Results of the current study suggest that active listening to music reduces pain unpleasantness ratings, and that individual preference is an important determinant of the overall emotional and distraction properties of musical stimuli.
The issue of structural nonadjacency in music and language was explored from a musical perspective in an experiment employing a stimulus-matching paradigm. The experiment measured the perceptual effect of a temporally nonadjacent key on the closure of a musical phrase; participants rated a stimulus-ending two-chord probe cadence for its closural properties. The temporal rate of decay of the nonadjacent key in memory was observed by varying the length of the intervening key area; that is, the key temporally adjacent to the probe cadence. Evidence emerged that listeners were able to hold the nonadjacent key in memory for over 10 seconds, indicating "global" nonadjacent harmonic perceptions. The study provides qualified evidence to support the notion that there are syntactic parallelisms between language and music, particularly in respect of nonadjacent key relationships.
Music is commonly used in various contexts as a means to manipulate people. Two studies examined the effect of positive background music on compliance with a request to harm a third person. In Study 1 participants were asked by a male researcher, in the context of obligatory experiment participation, to call another participant and tell her she could not take part in the study. In Study 2, participants on a voluntary basis were asked by a female researcher to call another student and tell her she would not receive promised course material. In both cases, no justifiable reason for the request was given, other than the researcher "didn’t feel like it." Compliance rates were higher in both studies when pleasant, familiar music was played than with no music. No effects of mood were found. Results and implications are discussed in terms of the power of music to influence behavior.
Music performance anxiety (MPA) occurs regularly before and during a musical stage performance. Coping with MPA optimizes the performance outcome and plays an important role for musicians, especially when auditioning for work in an orchestra. In this study the effectiveness of a seminar to train students to cope with MPA was evaluated. Thirteen music students participated in the intervention program of 14 weekly sessions. Eight students were in the control group. The intervention contained video feedback, exercises in methods of body awareness, and insights into cognitive strategies. All students were required to perform two simulated auditions, at the beginning and at the end of the semester. They filled in self-assessment questionnaires related to MPA at both auditions. Additionally, two judges rated the performances in both auditions. Audio recordings of the performances were also sent to 12 orchestral musicians for appraisal as well. The results revealed significant improvements in coping with MPA, shown in the participants’ self-assessment ratings as well as in the ratings of the judges during the auditions in the trained group compared with the control group. Additionally, the orchestral musicians rated the audio presentations of the intervention group in the second audition significantly better than the control group.
Over recent decades music composition has occupied an increasingly prominent place in international school music curricula with a consequent expansion of opportunities for students and of research into classroom-based composition learning and teaching. Concurrently, creativity researchers have investigated the lives and work of past and living eminent composers. This study of an orchestral composers’ school sits in the gap between research into school-age students’ composition and studies of eminent composers. For non-neophyte, but not yet expert, students, the professional workshop offers a prime space for learning. Drawing on expertise theory, this case study examines practices of expert composers working with advanced composer-students in an orchestral workshop environment. Observation and interview methods were used during and after the workshop to gain insight into outward manifestations of teaching and learning and into longer-term perceptions and reflections. This article focuses on one setting: a masterclass in which expert composers and students discussed issues emerging from the first rehearsal of students’ works. Findings suggest that, in this setting, teaching and learning strategies are characterized by modeling expert thinking, problem-finding, and sharing possibilities deemed promising based on experts’ accumulated experience. By sharing from their more extensive experience, expert composers led students to consider additional dimensions in compositional decision-making, extending students’ understandings of composing for orchestra to include not only nuanced technique, but also more insightful perceptions of professional orchestral culture.
This study marks the first application of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to the treatment of a university student with music performance anxiety (MPA). ACT is a newer, "third-wave" therapy that differs from previous MPA treatments, because its goal is not to reduce symptoms of MPA. Rather, ACT aims to enhance psychological flexibility in the presence of unwanted symptoms through the promotion of six core processes collectively known as the ACT "hexaflex." For this study, an undergraduate violinist with debilitating MPA received a 10-session ACT treatment using a single-subject design. Treatment consisted of an orientation to ACT, identification of experientially avoidant behaviors, facilitation of hexaflex processes, in-session performances in which valued behaviors were practiced, meditations, homework, and regular completion of ACT-based and symptom-based measures. Clinically significant improvements were observed in her ability to accept and defuse from her anxious thoughts and feelings at post-treatment and at a 1-month follow-up. Her performance quality also improved at post-treatment. Although symptom reduction was not a goal, her MPA and overall distress were significantly reduced, and her perceived control over MPA significantly improved at post-treatment and follow-up. These results suggest ACT may be an effective treatment option for MPA and should be studied further.
We investigated the influence of melodic emphasis, musical texture, musical salience, and performer individuality on the distribution and frequency of errors in keyboard performance. Eight performers recorded different interpretations of two short Baroque organ pieces of contrasting texture (homophonic versus polyphonic style). Melodic emphasis affected the distribution of performance errors according to the location of the part intended as melody, whereas musical texture influenced the type of errors. The effect of musical salience was examined by inviting 16 performers to record a Bach organ fugue. Error rates were lower for notes belonging to recurring musical motives than for non-motivic passages, and for outer voices compared to inner voices. These results are consistent with error detection studies showing that errors in inner voices or unfamiliar melodies are less perceptually salient, suggesting that the error likelihood is inversely related to a note’s degree of perceptual and musical salience. Across all three pieces, error patterns were more consistent in within-performer comparisons than between-performer comparisons of recordings of the same piece, implying that error patterns are indicative of individual differences in the interpretation of musical structures.
This study examined the effect of audio recording and playback on middle school instrumentalists’ self-assessment. Middle school student musicians (N = 112) completed a self-assessment immediately following their individual performance of an etude. The student musicians then listened to a recording of their individual performance and completed another identical self-assessment. A third identical self-assessment occurred 2 days later, again utilizing the recorded performance as subject material. The self-assessment tool asked students to rate individual aspects of their performances on a 7-point Likert-type scale. The elements of tone, pitch, and rhythm all evidenced significant differences in self-assessment ratings from the live performance to the recorded performance 2 days later. There were also significant differences in self-assessment ratings between the live performance and recorded performance conditions for the elements of pitch and rhythm. Only tone evidenced a significant difference in self-assessment ratings from the first recorded condition to the second recorded condition. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.
The notion that a positive and negative affect can co-exist is described as affect complexity. According to the Dynamic Model of Affect, stressful events decrease affect complexity. This study examined whether disliked music acts on its listeners in a similar manner to stressful events. Young adults (N = 397), 191 non-fans of the heavy metal genre and 206 fans of this genre, were exposed to a popular heavy metal song. Positive and negative emotions were measured before and after the exposure. While the affect complexity of non-fans decreased after listening to the heavy metal song, it remained stable among the fans of this genre (β = –.42). Moreover, the level of negative emotions increased and the level of positive emotions decreased among non-fans, whereas among the fans the level of positive emotions increased. Furthermore, the increase in negative emotions occurred in high arousal emotions among the non-fans. The findings of this study provide evidence of the differential impact of music on the listeners’ affect complexity, and on how this impact is associated with music preference. Since affect complexity is an important asset strongly and positively associated with people’s well-being, these findings justify further exploration of the impact of music on the affect complexity of its consumers.
Huron (2011) theorized that listening to music that induces sadness could lead to higher levels of prolactin, which would lead to increased liking of music that induces sadness, but this relationship would depend on individual factors of age, gender, depression, and personality. This study explored the link between these individual factors on liking music that induces sadness and music that induces happiness to determine if further testing would be viable. This study surveyed 488 college students (338 women, 146 men) and included measures of age, depression, absorption in music, and gender as predictors of liking music that induces sadness and music that induces happiness. Gender and depression predicted liking music that induces sadness, where both men’s and women’s liking increased as depression increased but did so much more for men than it did for women. Gender and absorption in music interacted to predict liking music that induces happiness. For women, there was no relation between absorption in music and liking. For men, there was a positive relation between absorption in music and liking. Age did not affect liking either types of music. These results imply that Huron’s (2011) model could depend on gender, general depression, and absorption in music.
Music self-concept integrates perceptions, beliefs, and self-schemas about a person’s musical abilities and potential. Like other self-concept dimensions, it is multifaceted, hierarchically organized and has implications for motivation toward musical practice. The Music Self-Perception Inventory (MUSPI) is a theoretically based instrument assessing six specific music self-concept dimensions, as well as global music self-concept. Nonetheless, its applicability is limited by its length (84 items). In this study, we developed and validated a 28-item short form of the MUSPI, and showed that the short form yielded equivalent psychometric properties as the original. We validated the original MUSPI on a first sample and used these results to develop a shorter version (MUSPI-S), which we then cross-validated using a new independent sample. We also tested whether the MUSPI-S psychometric properties generalized (were invariant) across gender and grade-differentiated subgroups. Finally, we examined the convergent validity of the MUSPI and MUSPI-S. Results highlighted the psychometric soundness of the MUSPI-S on all criteria, and showed that it presented patterns of associations with other constructs equivalent to those observed with the original MUSPI.
Affect regulation is generally considered the most important function of music listening (FML). Yet, models of wellbeing also highlight engagement, relationships, meaning, achievement, and other adaptive functions that music may facilitate. However, there is currently no consensus as to how these adaptive FML co-function within an enhancement system that supports wellbeing. The current study used the collective intelligence methodology, Interactive Management (IM) to address this gap in the literature. Four IM sessions were conducted, two with younger adults (N = 24) and two with older adults (N = 19). Participants responded to the stimulus question "why do you listen to music?" Each participant then voted for five FML they believed were most significant for enhancing wellbeing. The eight highest ranked functions were entered into Interpretive Structural Modelling software, and relations between pairs of FML were discussed. Four structural models were generated demonstrating potential interdependencies in FML in the context of wellbeing enhancement. Age differences emerged in the FML considered adaptive: younger adults emphasized affect regulation and social connection, whereas older adults emphasized more eudaimonic functions of music (e.g., Transcendence and personal growth). The influence of FML are discussed in reference to key wellbeing and developmental theories.
This study explores complexity, musical dimensions, and the use of music for cognitive, emotional, or background purposes. In the pilot study, participants rated the complexity of 70 song excerpts representing the Reflective and Complex, Upbeat and Conventional, Intense and Rebellious, and Energetic and Rhythmic dimensions. In the main study, participants listened to 30 songs that were rated as high, moderate, or low complexity in the pilot study. They rated their use of each song on a modified version of the Uses of Music Inventory. The results indicated that highly complex music is used more for cognitive purposes and low complexity music is used more for emotional purposes. Ultimately, these findings confirmed that use of music is influenced by complexity.
This study aimed to investigate how background music with different instruments affects trained musicians’ performance on cognitive tasks. Participants completed three sets of cognitively demanding intelligence tasks in a Latin Square design where each group listened to a different piece of music, involving their own and other musical instruments. The results showed that musicians’ performance on cognitive tasks is more impaired when listening to music featuring their own respective instruments than when not. These results are congruent with previous research and the central experimental hypothesis. Implications and limitations are noted.
Prior research indicates that listeners’ perceptions of music are influenced by the expressed approval of others. The focus of this investigation was the extent to which applause, an overt expression of approval from an audience of other listeners, influenced musicians’ perceptions of ensemble performances, specifically the effects of applause magnitude (high magnitude applause, low magnitude applause, or no applause) and musical style (ballad or march). Undergraduate instrumentalists (N = 98) from five institutions listened to recorded excerpts of wind band music—three identical recordings of a ballad and three identical recordings of a march. A distinct applause magnitude condition was electronically attached to each recording, resulting in six unique stimuli. For each excerpt, participants rated eight performance dimensions, which were summed to create a composite rating. Results indicated that listeners’ composite ratings were influenced by an interaction between applause magnitude and musical style. Furthermore, a significant three-way interaction among applause, style, and performance dimension was observed, but the effect size was small. Another significant main effect was found, which could be evidence of an order effect. Results of this study suggest that listeners perceive different audience responses to be approving of musical performances, based on the musical style of works being performed.
Why do people vary in how well they discriminate musical sounds? The present research explored personality traits as predictors of auditory discrimination ability, a cornerstone of many popular musical aptitude tests. According to investment-theory approaches, personality traits can shape the growth of cognitive abilities by affecting the kinds of activities and experiences people select. It thus seems likely that Openness to Experience – a broad trait associated with aesthetic and creative interests – would predict variation in auditory abilities because it is associated with greater engagement with music. A sample of 183 young adults completed an auditory discrimination task (the Musical Ear Test), the HEXACO personality inventory, and items measuring past music training. As expected, Openness to Experience significantly predicted auditory ability (β = .28 [.14, .42]). Mediation models indicated that this effect was fully mediated by music training: people high in Openness had significantly more formal training in music, and music training in turn significantly predicted auditory ability. The findings thus strongly support an investment-theory approach to understanding the role of personality in musical auditory abilities.
This article presents a heuristic inquiry into ego boundary development and functioning in aspiring musicians. In their role as communicators in society, challenging and stretching existing boundaries form an integral aspect of the work of artists. This has an impact on ego boundary functioning. The relevance of both aspiring musicians and their mentors understanding psychodynamic processes at work in musical relations is explained, and implications of technological advancements briefly highlighted. The article shows how Alice Miller’s definition of self-esteem – as being based on the authenticity of one’s own feelings and not on the possession of certain qualities – is narrowly related to ego boundary functioning. The processes involved in ego boundary formation, the development of self and the development of musical identity are shown to be closely related, also neurologically, and a mutual interrelationship between self-esteem, identity and the effectiveness of musical communication was discovered. Writers who portray ego boundary thickness as existing along a continuum are referred to, and possible implications for pathology in musicians are briefly highlighted. The article illustrates that great pedagogues have an intuitive grasp of the importance of these concepts; it makes suggestions for future research and highlights the need for developing a measuring instrument.
Previous research on music and mathematics anxiety has relied primarily on self-reports without biological measurements. To address whether these parameters were correlated, we included blood pressure physiological measures, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (MARS) in our study. One hundred and five psychology undergraduates were assigned to sedative, stimulative and "no music" conditions while completing Cambridge GCE O Level mathematical questions. Anxiety was measured pre-, during and posttest. Results showed that MARS was positively correlated with STAI, but not with the physiological measures. A 3 x 3 mixed ANOVA showed differences between the sedative and no music condition for the measures of STAI and MARS, but not for the physiological measures. Further analyses using t-tests found sedative music to elicit a pronounced decrease in systolic blood pressure and the stimulative music to have minimal effect. To explain these findings and the discrepancy with previous studies, we propose a Perception-to-Physiology model for the effect of music in anxiety.
The current study examined the relationship between fame and melodic originality among the refrains of over 500 early American popular songs. The main goals were to attempt to replicate results detailed by Simonton (1994), to compare different measures of melodic originality in the context of information theory, and to utilize hierarchical linear modeling in the analyses. The following hypotheses were tested: (1) melodic originality varies across historical time; (2) melodic originality is a positive function of composer age; and (3) fame is a curvilinear function of melodic originality. Results showed that melodic originality increased from 1916 to 1960—the period covered by the current corpus—which is consistent with hypothesis 1. Hypothesis 2 was not confirmed, as results showed a negative relationship between originality and age. The test of hypothesis 3 showed that a significant amount of the variation in fame could be attributed to a non-linear relationship with originality, but that the fame–originality relationship is moderated by genre (instrumental v. vocal). Implications for further studies of the psychomusical contributions to fame are discussed.
The perception of basic emotions such as happy/sad seems to be a human invariant and as such detached from musical experience. On the other hand, there is evidence for cultural specificity: recognition of emotional cues is enhanced if the stimuli and the participants stem from the same culture. A cross-cultural study investigated the following research questions: (1) How are six basic universal emotions (happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger, surprise) perceivable in music unknown to listeners with different cultural backgrounds?; and (2) Which particular aspects of musical emotions show similarities and differences across cultural boundaries? In a cross-cultural study, 18 musical segments, representing six basic emotions (happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger, surprise) were presented to subjects from Western Europe (Germany and Norway) and Asia (South Korea and Indonesia). Results give evidence for a pan-cultural emotional sentience in music. However, there were distinct cultural, emotion and item-specific differences in emotion recognition. The results are qualified by the outcome measurement procedure since emotional category labels are language-based and reinforce cultural diversity.
Music research focusing on infants shows that there are functional specializations for music processing in the human brain, and that, for infants and toddlers, music education starting at an early stage is important in their development. However, research has not yet provided solid evidence on what developmental (biopsychological) potential the educational ‘tools’ used in these kind of settings may carry, considering that these settings or educational practices constantly vary. This study focuses on the musical elements of tempo (rhythmical pace) and beat (sound impulse), and investigates the way these are handled by an educator in a formally structured early years (0–2) music education course of seven episodes. The study also examines how two different age groups of participants biologically perceive the specific aforementioned rhythmical elements. In contradiction to relevant communication theories and the hypothesis followed in this study, results show no significant differences in the way the specific educator handles rhythm for the two groups, following a similarly increasing trajectory of rhythmical development for each session per group. Additionally, there were no significant differences in the way the infants physiologically reacted to the above rhythmical handling, presenting an overall increasing heart rate trajectory.
Sight-reading is a skill required by musicians when they perform sheet music unknown to them. It demands sequential anticipatory eye fixation of notes immediately followed by motor execution. The distance between eye (fixation of a note) and hand position (tapping the corresponding key) is called eye-hand span (EHS). The aim of our study was to investigate the influence of practice, playing tempo and complexity of the music on the size of the EHS, as well as its relation to performance and cognitive skills (shape recognition, working memory, and mental speed). We used a sight-reading paradigm where nine pianists accompanied a pre-recorded flute voice, which also served as a time-keeper. After a practice phase, a second measurement of the EHS with same tempo and a third and fourth measurement with a different playing tempo followed. We found that the practice phase only slightly affected the EHS but that the EHS significantly changed according to playing tempo and complexity of the music. Furthermore the EHS correlated with quality of performance after practice and mental speed skills. Hence we conclude that the EHS seems to be characteristic for each musician, is developed over years of practice and is relatively independent of a short practice phase.
This article discusses some general issues arising from the study of similarity in music, both human-conducted and computer-aided, and then progresses to a consideration of similarity relationships between patterns in a phrase by Beethoven, from the first movement of the Piano Sonata in A flat major op. 110 (1821), and various potential memetic precursors. This analysis is followed by a consideration of how the kinds of similarity identified in the Beethoven phrase might be understood in psychological/conceptual and then neurobiological terms, the latter by means of William Calvin’s Hexagonal Cloning Theory. This theory offers a mechanism for the operation of David Cope’s concept of the lexicon, conceived here as a museme allele-class. I conclude by attempting to correlate and map the various spaces within which memetic replication occurs.
When musicians improvise together, they tend to agree beforehand on a common structure (e.g. a jazz standard) which helps them coordinate. However, in the particular case of collective free improvisation (CFI), musicians deliberately avoid having such a referent. How, then, can they coordinate? We propose that CFI musicians who have experience playing together come to share higher-level knowledge, which is not piece-specific but rather task-specific: an implicit mental model of what it is to improvise freely. We tested this hypothesis on a group of 19 expert improvisers from the Parisian CFI community, who had various degrees of experience playing with one another. Drawing from the methodology of team cognition, we used a card-sorting procedure on a set of 25 short improvised sound sequences to elicit and represent each participant’s mental model of the CFI task. We then evaluated the similarity between the participants’ models, and used the measure in a nearest neighbour classification algorithm to retrieve clusters of participants who were known to play together. As hypothesized, we found that the degree of similarity in participants’ mental models predicted their degree of musical familiarity with better-than-random accuracy: musicians who played together tended to ‘think’ about improvised music in the same way.
Although previous studies have reported that positive affect is associated with enhanced creativity, there are no studies examining the influences of music and cognitive stimulation on brainstorming performance. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of music and cognitive stimulation on creativity. Participants in the positive affect condition listened to Vivaldi’s Spring, whereas those in the negative affect condition listened to Gyorgy Ligeti’s Lux Aeterna. Additionally, individuals in the neutral affect condition listened to Chopin’s Waltzes (MacDonald & Davey, 2005; Startup & Davey, 2001). Subsequently, the participants brainstormed the advantages and/or disadvantages of having an extra thumb on each hand. During the brainstorming session, participants were exposed to eight words, including both high-stimulating (e.g., scissors, gloves, etc.) and non-stimulating (e.g., giraffe, lion, etc.) words. There was also a mixed or low stimulation condition comprising four stimulating and four non-stimulating words. The results showed that positive and negative affect enhanced idea generation in the low stimulation condition, whereas neutral affect increased the number of ideas in the high stimulation condition.
The purpose of this study was to examine whether certain nonverbal conductor gestures might trigger varied motor behaviors in choristers as indicated by acoustical data and measurement of extrinsic laryngeal muscle activity. Participants (N = 23) performed a melody while following a prerecorded conductor who displayed the following fully-crossed preparatory gesture conditions: (a) initial upward or downward moving arm, (b) upward moving or neutral head positioning, and (c) fisted hand or open palm. Surface electrodes measured singer posterior neck, upper trapezius, suprahyoid, and sternocleidomastoid muscle region activity during inhalation. Audio recordings provided data for acoustic and perceptual comparisons. Among primary results: (a) suprahyoid mean muscle region activity was significantly greater during upward compared to downward moving gestures; (b) sternocleidomastoid mean muscle region activity was significantly higher during fisted compared to palm open gestures; (c) posterior neck and upper trapezius mean muscle region activity displayed no significant differences during the varied conditions; (d) fisted conditions corresponded to higher mean sung amplitudes than palm open conditions; and (e) expert listeners perceived that singer inhalation was less efficient during upward compared to downward moving gestures. Results were discussed in terms of chorister responses to conductor behaviors, implications for teacher-conductor preparation, and limitations of the study.
The ability to recognize a pitch centre in sound sequences belongs to the basic mental tools which are intuitively used by humans when they listen to music. It is also one of the abilities used by listeners in order to establish a tonal hierarchy. The organization of pitches around a pitch centre is one of the most ubiquitous syntactic rules observed in music of all cultures. As far as we know, there is nothing similar to this rule in other human sound expressions nor in animals’ vocal communication. Thus, the recognition of pitch centricity seems to be the unique and species-specific ability of Homo sapiens, which suggests its evolutionary origin. It is proposed in the article that in the course of hominine evolution, the ability of pitch centre recognition became an adaptive innovation which enabled a more effective social consolidation. It is also suggested that the origin of this ability has its roots in the ‘Baldwin effect’ which led to the emergence of a predisposition to join three originally separate abilities – the implicit recognition of the frequency of pitch occurrence, working memory and the emotional assessment of predicted stimuli – into a new mental tool.
Music is commonly found in substance using contexts yet little is known about whether music acts as an auditory cue for emotions and cravings that might lead to substance use. The current study addressed two questions: first, whether individuals in treatment for substance use disorders (SUD) show different emotional responses to music compared to matched controls, and second, whether music listening can increase and reduce cravings to use substances in individuals with SUD. Participants were 19 adults in residential treatment for SUD and 19 healthy adults matched for age and gender (both samples had a mean age of 31 years and 53% males). There were significant between-group differences in emotional response to relaxing, happy, and sad music – in particular, participants with SUD showed a dampened response to happy music. Furthermore, after listening to a participant-selected song related to their substance use, individuals with SUD experienced an increase in cravings, while after listening to a nominated abstinent song, there was a decrease in cravings. These results show that music may act as a mild auditory cue for emotions and cravings in adults with SUD. Potential uses of music in SUD treatment are discussed, such as musical stimuli for cue exposure.
We examined perception of artificial timbre blending using recordings of two actual instruments. In Experiment 1, participants heard stimuli comprising different proportions of sounds from an oboe and a trumpet, constructed using both a linear and a logarithmic algorithm, and judged the degree of blending. In Experiment 2, participants chose between an oboe and a trumpet in each blend condition. In both experiments, participants were able to track the degrees of blending between the two anchor points quite accurately. In Experiment 3, participants matched test blends to two target blends in an ABX design and showed no evidence for categorical perception of oboe and trumpet timbres in their judgments. Further, participants with and without musical training showed similar patterns of responding. The findings suggest a high level of sensitivity for timbre coding in auditory perception and also have implications for timbre manipulation as a compositional device and sound morphing techniques.
Distraction and attention-diversion approaches are widely integrated into pain management. Music-induced analgesia, the ability of music to reduce pain perception, is a clinically-relevant approach for managing pain, anxiety and psychological well-being. Research categorizes audio-analgesic interventions as homogenous, however enquiry is required to identify which musical constructs may be therapeutically effective. This study investigated the impact of harmony and rhythm on acute, post-operative pain in a sample of 98 patients scheduled for knee surgery. Four music-listening groups were compared against controls using silent relaxation. After surgery using standardized anaesthesia, participants undertook a 15-minute intervention per day of in-patient stay. Measures of pain intensity, pain interference, salivary cortisol concentration and mood were obtained. All participants showed reductions in pain from pre- to post-test, indicating silent relaxation was as effective as music-listening. Salivary cortisol concentrations showed that music with high harmonicity/rhythmicity reduced cortisol concentration to a greater extent on Day 1 than music with low harmonicity/rhythmicity. These findings validate the homogenous use of auditory distraction for audio-analgesia, and importantly emphasize the core role of compositional musical constructs in maximizing early postoperative recovery. Results support the need for additional psychobiological research examining the efficacy of audio-analgesic attention-diversion interventions used in pain management.
The purpose of the present study was threefold: We first aimed to replicate the finding that songs that were popular during people’s adolescence are remembered best. Secondly, we extended prior research by modelling individual differences in the location and the variance of individual distributions of memories for popular songs. The third aim was to introduce explanatory variables that may account for these differences. The sample for the present study comprised 90 participants aged between 58 and 86 years. Participants listened to excerpts of 31 songs that ranked in the top three of the German charts between 1954 and 1997. If participants recognized a song, they rated their preference for and the frequency of listening to the song. Participants recognized a greater amount of songs that had been popular when they were between 10 and 30 years old. Musical preferences during participants’ youth and today as well as the preferences for and the frequency of listening to the songs used in the present study accounted for individual differences in the distribution of memory for popular songs. An individual differences approach is a useful way to understand why popular songs (and probably other memories) from one’s youth are remembered better.
Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience high levels of anxiety and difficulty with emotion regulation and self-control. Music has been shown to modulate moods and emotions and may be useful in mediating individuals’ physiological state. This study investigated whether listening to preferred self-selected music would have a significant physiological effect with regard to skin conductance responses, and also psychologically as measured by a self-report anxiety tool, among persons with ASD as compared to a matched control group. Results showed that participants with ASD were more responsive physiologically to their preferred music than those in the comparison group. They did not differ from controls in their responses to a piece of music previously demonstrated to induce feelings of relaxation among typical populations. Our findings indicate that persons with ASD are particularly responsive to the influence of music with regard to modulating their physiological state and this could potentially be a useful non-pharmacological tool for self-regulating emotional responses to stressors in their environment.
The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of repeated exposure to select musical examples on participants’ preference ratings, and to investigate the potential transfer of preference to similar, but unfamiliar musical examples. A pre-test–post-test nonequivalent control group design was used to assess preference ratings before and after a program of repeated exposure. A second post-test was included to assess preference ratings for similar, but unfamiliar examples, in order to examine the possibility of generalized preference transfer. Participants included undergraduate students enrolled in three sections of a music appreciation course at a large university (n = 174). Data were collected using research designed survey instruments administered during test measures. The treatment group (n = 96) was exposed to the first set of examples across a 5-week period within which there were 8 test measures. Pre-test to post-test measures resulted in a general positive trend. Post-test ratings were significantly higher than pre-test, and no point of diminishing return was noted. Ratings on the second post-test were significantly higher than pre-test, suggesting a possible transfer of preference within stylistic genre.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of an intense piano training program on general self-efficacy, musical self-efficacy, and physiological stress in older adults. Self-efficacy refers to perceived beliefs regarding the performance of domain-specific tasks or activities, which contribute to psychological and physical health. A key challenge is to identify activities that promote self-efficacy in the aging population. Seventeen healthy community-dwelling older adults (60–85 years) with little to no previous musical training participated in a within subjects experimental design. Measures of self-efficacy and cortisol levels were administered over three time points: an initial pre-testing session, a second pre-testing following a two-week no treatment control period, and a post-testing session upon the completion of piano training. Intense piano training consisted of 30 hours of training (3 hours per day) in which high levels of achievement were required. Results of a three-way Repeated Measures ANOVA over all time points with pairwise comparisons revealed significantly (p < .05) enhanced musical self-efficacy post-training, F (2, 32) = 11.5, p < .001, d = .79. No significant changes in general self-efficacy or cortisol levels were found. These results suggest that domain-specific self-efficacy may increase as a result of short-term intense music training; however, short-term music training may not be sufficient to transfer to general self-efficacy.
In the research focused on studio-based instrumental and vocal learning there is a good deal of evidence indicating that the interpersonal relationship between teacher and student can have an important effect on the success of their work together. There are occasional references in the research literature to studio apprenticeships that have proved ineffective, but the evidence for this tends to remain indirect or anecdotal in nature. This article takes advantage of an opportunity presented within a broader project to explore the nested case study of a student who, exceptionally, reports that her teacher’s approach is not appropriate for her at her current stage of development. The implied dissonance within the studio is explored through the "rich transcription" of interview and video evidence, highlighting issues of authority, trust and communication.
While a substantial body of research has explored purchasing and consumption behaviors of music consumers, relatively less attention has been devoted toward understanding these behaviors among specific populations of music enthusiasts and sound recording collectors. Using a researcher-designed survey, this exploratory study examined film music enthusiasts’ purchasing and consumption behaviors regarding soundtrack albums. This research indicated no significant differences on whether soundtrack albums were purchased before or after viewing the film of the soundtrack (p > .05). Specifically, some of the most frequent factors reported for purchasing soundtrack albums among film music enthusiasts were based on the composer, watching the film, desire of owning the newly expanded/extended/remastered/reissued edition, and limited pressings/low quantities available for purchase. Findings suggest that film music enthusiasts seem to base soundtrack purchasing decisions on a variety of factors. These purchasing attributes, unique to film music enthusiasts and album collectors, will be discussed in relation to film music record producers’, critics’, and collectors’ assumptive theories and perspectives.
Earlier research has emphasized the emotional nature of frisson (pleasurable aesthetic chills) and has suggested that the personality trait Openness to Experience may predict more frisson episodes. The present study tested these notions by administering a measure of Openness and inducing actual instances of frisson using musical stimuli. One hundred college students completed the NEO-PI-R, which assesses the five factors of personality (Openness, Extraversion, Neuroticism, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness), and then listened to five musical selections that were likely to elicit frisson. Frisson was assessed via a combined self-report and physiological (galvanic skin response) measure. As predicted, frequency of frisson was positively correlated with overall Openness to Experience, as well as five of its six subfacets: Fantasy, Aesthetics, Feelings, Ideas, and Values. Examination of the more specific relationships suggests the possibility that cognitive attentiveness to music may be more closely related to frisson than had been emphasized in past research.
Studies of working memory for musical tone are seldom reported, and verbal working memory experiments have not focused on the tonal aspects of a language such as Mandarin Chinese. We examined the relationships among musical experience, tonal language processing, and working memory in adult reading of musical notation and Mandarin Chinese. We hypothesized that 30 adults with formal musical training trained in translating print to sound in sight-reading would have an advantage over 30 adults without formal musical training in converting print to lexical tone in reading a tonal language. Using n-back reading tasks, we found that the adults with formal musical training were better able to extract lexical tone information from print than the adults without formal musical training, or to maintain it in working memory. Even in a Mandarin homophone task, requiring phonological judgments of print, adults with formal musical training demonstrated superior performance. We discuss possible reasons why musical experience facilitates processing of phonology and lexical tone in reading tasks.
The purpose of the research reported in this article was to test two hypotheses about how musicians evaluate their musical performances. The first hypothesis was that musicians’ self-evaluations would be more influenced by their expectations and their past performances than by comparisons to the performances of other musicians. The second hypothesis was that musicians would exhibit an ‘adaptive evaluational style’ by showing more sensitivity to positive feedback than to negative feedback. We used the Experimental Evaluational Styles Questionnaire (Goolsby & Chaplin, 1988) in a sample of 78 music performance students (43 men and 35 women) to test these hypotheses, and both were supported. These results represent one of the first examples where the dominant theory of evaluation in psychology, Festinger’s (1954) social comparison theory, did not have the greatest influence on people’s performance evaluations. However, we did find individual differences in the influence of the different evaluative standards. Understanding the causes and consequences of these individual differences should be a fruitful target for future research.
The present study aimed to investigate the associations between music performers’ personality and ensemble performance aptitude, and between music performers’ empathy and ensemble performance aptitude. We employed three types of questionnaires: the short form of the Japanese Big Five Scale, the Japanese multidimensional scale of empathy, and 15 items on the duration of daily music activities and the frequency of solo and ensemble performance in public. A total of 68 music majors participated in the study. The main findings are as follows: (1) positive correlations existed between ensemble aptitude and Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Openness, and between ensemble preference and Conscientiousness; (2) Extraversion was linked with daily musical activity with other performers; and (3) empathy was not associated with performers’ ensemble aptitude, whereas it was associated with solitary music activities.
The study examined the impact of a cross-cultural musical programme on young Portuguese adolescents’ anti-dark-skin prejudice. A sample of 229 sixth-grade pupils who attended public schools in the area of Lisbon, Portugal, were presented with the Implicit Association Test (IAT) – an instrument that measures the strength with which dark-skinned faces or light-skinned faces are associated with attributes that can be considered as negative or positive, and with a test measuring explicit anti-dark-skin prejudice. Half of the pupils were subsequently exposed, at school, to a 6-month musical programme that included Cape Verdean songs and Portuguese songs. The other half was exposed to the usual programme. Measures taken at the end of the programmes showed a reduction in anti-dark-skin prejudice, either implicit or explicit, among pupils in the experimental group and no reduction among pupils in the control group. Measures taken 3 months later and 2 years later showed that the impact of the experimental programme was enduring.
This article presents the process of adjusting into Spanish Kenny’s Music Performance Anxiety Inventory (Kenny, Davis, & Oates, 2004). This questionnaire is based on Barlow’s theory of performance anxiety and evaluates levels of anxiety whilst on stage. After doing two translations into Spanish, a peer review, and pilot study, the questionnaire was answered by 490 musicians training in six Spanish music conservatories. Results showed that the adapted version of the instrument, with some minor modifications, has good psychometric properties, also validated through a confirmatory factor analysis procedure. Thereof, and in accordance with to Barlow’s theoretical framework, we saw emerge three related factors that made reference to specific cognitions of performance anxiety, such as helplessness as a factor of psychological vulnerability and early family influences. Performance anxiety is related to a psychological vulnerability profile and early relationship context. Finally, it is important to count with reliable instruments that allow contrasting theories in different cultural background, comparing the effects of problems or treatment outcomes.
Perceptual learning style theory argues that humans have differing perceptual strengths and that instruction and learning materials should be adapted to fit their visual, auditory and/or kinesthetic preferences. The claims of various theorists that perceptual learning style theory also applies to the learning of musical material when practicing were tested using a questionnaire that draws on the formulations of these theorists. In total, 131 Western Classical instrument students in higher music education were surveyed using a paper-based questionnaire regarding the frequency with which they engaged in particular learning strategies and behaviors while practicing a large scale composition from the Classical or Romantic era. No response patterns comparable to those suggested by perceptual learning style theory could be identified through either principal components or cluster analyses. The applicability of the theory to describe individual differences in learning is questioned.
The aim of this study was to explore self-regulated practice behaviours in advanced musicians. An online questionnaire was designed to assess self-regulated practice based on behaviours identified in the literature regarding expert music performance. The questionnaire was completed by 212 musicians. Factor analysis was applied in order to explore the underlying structure of the scale, and reliability and correlation tests showed that the scale was reliable. Descriptive and inferential analyses were used to describe the sample in relationship to self-regulated practice behaviours. Results obtained through factor analysis suggested three self-regulated behaviours in the advanced musicians, namely Practice Organization, Personal Resources and External Resources. In the advanced musicians, Self-Regulation through Personal Resources was most predominant in practice approaches, and Self-Regulation through External Resources decreased with experience. Additionally, Practice Time was negatively related to age and positively related to Practice Organization and Self-Regulation through External Resources, suggesting that the younger the musician, the more reliance is placed on time, organization and external resources. Implications regarding the use of the scale for formal assessment of self-regulated practice behaviours in musicians are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable rating scale to assess jazz big band performance and to evaluate the psychometric properties of jazz big bands at three performance achievement levels (e.g., low, moderate, high). The pool of initial scale items (N = 22) was gleaned from jazz big band research and instructional literature. Using a four-point Likert scale, rating responses (N = 102) were gathered for jazz ensemble performances (N = 102) from volunteer raters (N = 102). A factor analysis produced a reduced 18-item scale with a four-factor structure: blend/balance, time-feel, idiomatic nuance, and expression. The four factors accounted for 63.32% of the variance and had a total alpha reliability of .84. Discriminant function analyses revealed that four specific items contributed most to identifying ensembles with low and moderate performance ratings. The factor structure was able to predict group membership with 88.5% accuracy.
Veterans commonly report listening to music as a means of self-managing their mental health, yet no research has systematically explored how veterans use music for the purpose of regulating their emotions. In the current study, surveys were completed by 205 Australian veterans (mean age 59.57, SD 0.83), assessing their affective mental health (depression and stress) and related physical and behavioral problems (self-reported general health, alcohol abuse and negative social interactions). Veterans listened to music more in their everyday life than any other leisure activity reported. Music-listening for emotion-regulation purposes significantly contributed to the prediction of depression, perceived stress and negative social interactions, when gender and positive social interactions were controlled. Veterans with mental health problems listened to music for both emotional and cognitive reasons, and the most predictive emotion-regulation strategies used with music were diversion, discharge, and mental work. Music-listening did not however assist prediction of self-reported general health or alcohol abuse. The current findings demonstrate that veterans with higher levels of affective dysfunction listened to music to manage emotional and cognitive problems. Personal music-listening therefore offers substantial promise as a self-management tool to complement professional treatment of affective disorders in this vulnerable population.
In order to investigate mental health problems among professional musicians, we estimate the prevalence of symptoms of anxiety and depression (psychological distress) among musicians compared to the general workforce. A total sample of 1,607 musicians from the Norwegian Musicians Union answered an online questionnaire about demographic characteristics, lifestyle and symptoms of anxiety and depression. They were compared to a sample of the Norwegian workforce (n = 2,550) drawn from the Norwegian survey of level of living 2012. Based on logistic regression analysis adjusting for age, sex, education level, smoking status, alcohol usage, use of drugs, physical exercise and financial status, we compared anxiety and depression symptom levels in musicians to a variety of professions. Psychological distress was more prevalent among musicians than in the total workforce sample. Solo/lead performers, vocalists, keyboard instrument players and musicians playing within the traditional music genre reported the highest prevalence. Further research needs to map the psychosocial and personal factors contributing to the higher degree of depression and anxiety symptoms among musicians, as well as establishing evidence-based preventative measures.
National anthems are salient representations of nation states, used to define social and personal boundaries (Folkestad, 2002). Whilst children develop knowledge of national symbols such as national anthems by the age of 5 (Jahoda, 1963), little is known about how a national anthem contributes to a sense of national identity, or the affective reactions elicited by hearing it. Two exploratory studies investigated 8–10-year-old children’s (N = 92) thoughts, feelings and associations when listening to the British National Anthem, in comparison to pieces of music varying in their degree of national salience. The 10-year-old children generated more national associations to the National Anthem than younger children. More national associations were generated to the National Anthem by children with high, as opposed to low, national identity, but only for the 9- and 10-year-old children. It is argued that the National Anthem might play a role in the maintenance and validation of national identity, but that there are developmental effects operating within this relationship.
Music with motivating qualities might support exercise adherence in older adults with cardiac disease. The Brunel Music Rating Inventory-2 (BMRI-2), a 6-item scale with motivational quotients ranging from 6 to 42 developed to facilitate music selection for exercise, has been validated with young adults. However, the suitability of the BMRI-2 for older adults is unknown. We tested reliability (internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and measurement error) and validity (content and construct) of the BMRI-2 with older adults in cardiac rehabilitation. Eleven men and 9 women (M age = 71.6 years, SD = 8.9) selected two pieces of music and used the BMRI-2 to rate the motivational quality of these for a walking task. BMRI-2 ratings demonstrated high internal consistency. Test-retest reliability and levels of measurement error were acceptable. Content was evaluated as relevant and comprehensive. There was convergence with flow scales, and discrimination between music selections with differing motivational quotients (p < .01). The BMRI-2 demonstrates acceptable psychometric properties for older adult cardiac rehabilitation patients.
In order to develop the Motives for Listening to Music Questionnaire (MLMQ) and to confirm its construct and concurrent validity, data from a nationally representative sample of 4,524 adolescents in Switzerland were used. The results confirmed the MLMQ’s four-dimensional factor structure (i.e., social, enhancement, coping and conformity motives) in general and across gender, age and linguistic region. Girls listened to music more frequently for coping, enhancement and social motives than boys. Structural equation modelling confirmed the hypothesized associations between coping motives and health-related outcomes (somatic complaints, aggressive and depressed mood, school pressure, low life satisfaction etc.), between social motives and peer-related activities (spending evenings with friends, bullying others etc.), and between conformity motives and being depressed and a victim of bullying. To conclude, confirming its psychometric qualities, the MLMQ is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing music motives in adolescent populations. In health care, the MLMQ could be used to identify individuals and to help applying music therapy in accordance with their motives for listening to music.
Research on interactions between teachers and students in music lessons has documented a complex interplay of talk, vocalizations and visual demonstrations. This study employed conversation analysis to explore these multimodal features in order to identify some of the pedagogical practices evident within lesson interaction. Specifically, the aim was to examine how conservatoire students and teachers orientate to both learning and performing within the lesson. Video recordings of 18 one-to-one lessons lasting between 50 mins and 2 hours were analysed. Findings suggest that students demonstrate when they are doing learning versus doing performing through the use of restarts, pauses and apologies in their talk and playing, thus indicating to the teacher which version they would like the teacher to hear for assessment and feedback, and which to ignore. The study highlights how conversation analysis, firstly, enables educators to understand how music performance itself is played out like conversation, mapping key speech devices found in talk onto the multimodal features that are evident in playing. Secondly, how talk and embodied actions inform the study of pedagogical music interaction, demonstrating that, in order to understand and interpret the instruction meaningfully, each component must be studied in context with each other, rather than in isolation.
What is it like for a professional musician to perform music in front of a live audience? We use Strauss and Corbin’s (1998) Grounded Theory to conduct qualitative research with 10 professional musicians to investigate their experience of music performance. We find performance to extend temporally beyond time spent before an audience and to include performers’ rituals of separation from everyday life. Using the abridged version of the model emerging from this data that we present in this article, we investigate how professional musicians’ experience of music performance centers on forging ‘connection’ with an audience and the ways in which this process is facilitated by the pre- and post-performance routines in which musicians engage. We find musicians’ understandings and experiences of ‘connection’ during performance to differ greatly, being influenced by their positioning on two spectra that emerge in this study and indicate the extent to which, during performance, musicians: a) value attentiveness and/or attunement in an audience and b) are open to variability.
During the 1970s, research on music broadened from a predominantly historical and analytical study to one that explored music and psychology. The last two decades in particular have taken us a step further to explore music, psychology and neuroscience. This article explores how we could extend our research again through the exploration of the immunological impact of music. The influence of music on immune function has been reviewed in a recent article that has brought to light an intriguing body of evidence and highlighted the enormous promise of this field for further study. Such study has the potential to influence research in a number of related areas including music psychology, music and health, evolutionary musicology and music performance. However, there are a number of limitations to the current approach to such research; most significantly that studies are almost exclusively happening outside the field of music psychology. Consequently, drawing on theories of collaboration, a model is put forwards for how future studies should be conducted and a research agenda outlined.
Starting with a brief review of the question, this article examines evidence stemming from classical, popular and ethnic music, as well as from the field of language-based taxonomies and other research areas, that seem to prove a strong correlation between aural environment and musical production. To explain these interesting phenomena, we propose the sonic affinity theory, which holds that the human musical brain is shaped by the action of surrounding sounds, which generate aural profiles and aesthetic patterns in complex reflective processes. The ability to unconsciously internalize auditory signals is the result of an adaptive evolutionary mechanism and develops into a sonic affinity.
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects and relationships of selected musical variables on the horizontal (i.e., successive eighth note timing relationships) and vertical (i.e., the degree of ensemble synchronicity between separate parts) timing properties of jazz rhythm. A total of 949 eighth note samples from five improvised solos by saxophonist Chris Potter were analysed. Musical variables included metrical beat placement, melodic character, intervals, articulation, underlying harmony, and tempo. Results of the simultaneous multiple regression analyses revealed that intervals preceding and intervals succeeding the sample eighth notes had a significant effect on eighth note durations. Articulation had a significant effect on upbeat beat ratio. The relationships between the relative onset timing data of the saxophone, bass, and drums yielded significant results. There was a large, negative correlation between the relative timing onsets of saxophone and bass, a large negative correlation between saxophone and drums, and a moderate, negative correlation between bass and drums. Implications for the fields of music education, pedagogy, and cognitive psychology are discussed.
Music is a promising candidate for the enhancement of cultural integration through increased group cohesion and social support. This study assessed the impact of a music program on elementary school-aged migrants’ cultural orientation, as measured via the Frankfurt Acculturation Scale for Children (
Two studies considered whether psychological variables could predict everyday music listening practices more than those demographic and technology-related variables studied predominantly hitherto. Study 1 focused on music-listening devices, while Study 2 focused on music selection strategies (e.g. playlists). Study 1 indicated the existence of a one-dimensional identity based on music technology. Further, psychological variables (such as innovativeness and self-efficacy) predicted whether individuals possess such an identity. Moreover, while psychological variables predicted whether individuals preferred ‘familiarized’ advantages inherent to listening devices, a preference for ‘progressive’ advantages was predicted by technological behaviors. Study 2 supported the first study in terms of identity, and demonstrated that a different pattern of variables predicted playlist listening from listening to music via shuffle. More generally, the findings suggest the utility of applying constructs from consumer psychology to everyday music-listening behaviors.
Recent research into how individuals achieve their musical goals has been enriched by studies investigating music practice through the lens of self-regulation, or the goal-orientated planning, cyclical adaptation, and reflection of an individual’s thoughts, feelings and actions. The article aims to review the available empirical evidence in order to identify the relationship between processes contained within Zimmerman’s (2000) model of self-regulation and specific music learning variables. It also attempts to discover how self-regulatory behavior relates to both general music instruction and interventions designed to enhance self-regulation. Findings indicate weak, positive relationships with the variables of interest, but suggest self-regulation instruction is the most strongly related variable. The discussion proposes that future research may benefit from investigations of self-regulation within a broader spectrum of musicians and an exploration of participant-driven understandings of self-regulation theory.
Musical training has been found to be associated with increased creativity. However, it is not clear whether increased creativity, particularly divergent thinking, is associated with music expertise due to knowledge and skill, or if increased creativity arises from participation in the creation of music through practices such as improvisation and composition. This study investigated how level of music expertise and engagement in the creation of music relate to divergent thinking in musically trained adults (musicians). Sixty participants of varying music expertise were tested for divergent thinking using a modified version of Guilford’s (1967) alternative uses task, in which participants listed creative uses for two music items and two non-music items. Results indicate that musicians who create music listed more creative uses for music items than non-musicians and musicians who do not create music. For non-music items, participants did not display differences in divergent thinking.
Previous research on music and emotions has been able to pinpoint many structural features conveying emotions. Empirical research on vertical harmony’s emotional qualities, however, has been rare. The main studies in harmony and emotions usually concern the horizontal aspects of harmony, ignoring emotional qualities of chords as such.
An empirical experiment was conducted where participants (N = 269) evaluated pre-chosen chords on a 9-item scale of given emotional dimensions. 14 different chords (major, minor, diminished, augmented triads and dominant, major and minor seventh chords with inversions) were played with two distinct timbres (piano and strings).
The results suggest significant differences in emotion perception across chords. These were consistent with notions about musical conventions, while providing novel data on how seventh chords affect emotion perception. The inversions and timbre also contributed to the evaluations. Moreover, certain chords played on the strings scored moderately high on the dimension of ‘nostalgia/longing,’ which is usually held as a musical emotion rising only from extra-musical connotations and conditioning, not intrinsically from the structural features of the music. The role of background variables to the results was largely negligible, suggesting the capacity of vertical harmony to convey distinct emotional qualities to both naïve and expert listeners.
This article evaluates a new curriculum for training of sight-reading skills in advanced pianists that combined three teaching strategies proven effective in an earlier study. The course was developed collaboratively and trialed in two implementations. Twenty-five participants were pre- and post-tested and their playing analysed using custom-made software. Mixed-model ANCOVAs were used to analyse performance data against the results from the individual training programs. The findings show that the students using the hybrid program improved significantly in their sight-reading skills in all four categories measured, surpassing progress made in the individual programs. Implications for future research include application of such a hybrid approach to the training of younger pianists and to sight-reading on other instruments.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of guiding students through remembering and understanding a melody on their melodic dictation scores. Two matched groups of university music students (N = 64) took a dictation, but those in the treatment group received instructions directing their attention for the purpose of aiding their memory and understanding.
In every comparison (rhythm, pitch, and overall score), the control group scored higher than the treatment group. Results suggest that instructions guiding students through the memory and understanding phases may not be helpful to students. Early dictation instruction that focuses attention on important aspects of a melody without requiring a full transcription, however, may help to build students’ melodic memory and understanding.
The study evaluated self-reported health-promoting behaviors and psychosocial well-being of undergraduate music students (n = 144) and was designed as an attempt to replicate and extend previous studies. The goals were (a) to differentiate those behaviors in undergraduate music students, and (b) to examine the influences of gender and instrument played. Participants completed the health-promoting lifestyle inventory (HPLP-II), the self-efficacy (SES) and the self-regulation (SRS), scales, as well as the positive and negative affect (PANAS) scale. Results show overall deficiencies in music students’ healthy habits, which is in line with previous studies. Generally, low values were found for health responsibility, physical activity, stress management and nutrition. Female students, however, achieved significantly better results for nutrition choices. Keyboard players were found to be the weakest group in health-promoting behaviors. Significant correlations were found between the subscales of the HPLP-II, self-efficacy (SES), self-regulation (SRS) and emotional state (PANAS). These results similar to other studies, moreover, support the assumption that music students’ healthy behaviors generalize across different socio-cultural contexts.
Teachers’ communication of musical knowledge through physical gesture represents a valuable pedagogical field in need of investigation. This exploratory case study compares the gestural behaviour of three piano teachers while giving individual lessons to students who differed according to piano proficiency levels. The data was collected by video recordings of one-to-one piano lessons and gestures were categorized using two gesture classifications: the spontaneous co-verbal gesture classification (McNeill, 1992; 2005) and spontaneous co-musical gesture classification (Simones, Schroeder & Rodger, 2013). Poisson regression analysis and qualitative observation suggest a relationship between teachers’ didactic intentions and the types of gesture they produced while teaching, as shown by differences in gestural category frequency between teaching students of higher and lower levels of proficiency. Such reported agreement between teachers’ gestural approach in relation to student proficiency levels indicates a teachers’ gestural scaffolding approach whereby teachers adapted gestural communicative channels to suit students’ specific conceptual skill levels.
Past research has referred to either the concepts of self-regulation or deliberate practice to explain the relationships between learning strategies and musical achievement and performance. In addition, even though most scholars agree that formal practice time plays an important role in musical achievement, empirical investigations have failed to show consistent associations between practice time and achievement. The aim of this article is to suggest an integrative framework in which self-regulation, deliberate practice strategies and practice time are simultaneously taken into account in the prediction of musical achievement. In this framework, we propose that formal practice should be defined as a goal-directed and focused period of practice that includes both self-regulation and deliberate practice strategies. We further posit that practice time will predict musical achievement only if associated with formal practice. This integrative framework was tested in a 4-month prospective study using structural equation modelling. Results revealed that this integrative model was a better predictor of musical achievement than traditional methods of measurement. The suggested integration of self-regulation and deliberate practice within a single framework provides a more complete picture of the associations between learning strategies, practice time and musical achievement.
The current research examined Chinese parents’ motivation regarding music training for their children, and its relationships with their children’s learning outcomes (N = 269). Results of principal component analysis showed that Chinese parents had both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation regarding children’s music training. Parents’ intrinsic motivation was positively related to children’s learning achievement (rated by teachers). Although extrinsic motivation did not predict learning achievement, it served as a significant moderator and strengthened the relationship between intrinsic motivation and children’s achievement. Moreover, the results showed that children’s learning engagement mediated the interaction between intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation regarding children’s learning achievement. The corresponding moderated mediation model was supported. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
We compared perception of mistuned intervals in unaccompanied melodies performed by trumpet, violin, and voice, and examined whether there were differences between the three timbres in performances with and without vibrato. Participants were 144 university music students. Listeners heard the three unaccompanied solo performers in two vibrato conditions (with and without vibrato), and three intonation conditions (selected melodic intervals were in tune, sharp 25 cents, or flat 25 cents relative to equal temperament). All three stimuli were perceived as more out of tune when there was no vibrato compared to vibrato. In performances without vibrato, violin was judged as more out of tune than voice and trumpet across all three tuning conditions. Melodies performed with vibrato were judged differently: Violin was judged as least in tune for intervals mistuned in the flat direction, trumpet was heard as least in tune for intervals mistuned sharp, and voice was judged least in tune when intervals were in tune (relative to equal temperament). Differences in perception between timbres may be influenced by characteristics of the vibrato itself such as modulation width, rate, and type.
During the last two decades, researchers have investigated the association between genres of "problem music" (PM) and conservatism, delinquency and major psychological traits. The current study adds an exploration of PM fans’ attitudes toward the body and tattooing, as well as on mood regulation through PM, two aspects that have not been studied. In addition we examined delinquency and several psychological attributes. In Study 1, 446 undergraduates completed scales for body investment, delinquency, conservatism, and self-esteem. In Study 2, 548 undergraduates completed scales for music in mood regulation and the Big Five personality inventory. Data concerning the presence of tattooing and some socio-demographic details were collected in both studies. In Study 1, in comparison with controls, PM fans reported lower body protection scores, less conservatism, and more delinquent behaviours. In Study 2, they reported more use of music as a way to regulate mood. In both studies, fans reported more tattooing. No significant differences emerged in self-esteem and personality measures. While being in accordance with some of the previous findings, our results show that, in spite of the association between PM and negative attitudes toward one’s body and delinquency, PM may assist fans to regulate their mood and alleviate tension.
This study extends the popular notion that memory for text can be supported by song to foreign-language learning. Singing can be intrinsically motivating, attention focusing, and simply enjoyable for learners of all ages. The melodic and rhythmic context of song enhances recall of native text; however, there is limited evidence that these benefits extend to foreign text. In this study, Spanish-speaking Ecuadorian children learned a novel English passage for 2 weeks. Children in a sung condition learned the passage as a song and children in the spoken condition learned the passage as an oral poem. Children were tested on their ability to recall the passage verbatim, pronounce English vowel sounds, and translate target terms from English to Spanish. As predicted, children in the sung condition outperformed children in the spoken condition in all three domains. The song advantage persevered after a 6-month delay. Findings have important implications for foreign language instruction.
The present research examines adolescents’ appreciation of popular music and musicians against the background of the Optimal Distinctiveness Theory (ODT; Brewer, 1991). Within the framework of ODT, adolescents should favour music which maintains a balance between feelings of inclusion and distinctiveness (Abrams, 2009). Our research contributes to ODT by developing a diagnostic instrument, focusing on both the music and image, in order to measure objectively the degree of typicality. We hypothesized typicality is an essential factor which indicates an optimal level of distinctiveness of musical and personal style and thus predicts music appreciation in terms of a social identity. In the studies, adolescent participants evaluated different songs and images from actual popular music. Based on the methods of Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT), we identified 11 items to determine the typicality of music stimuli and 5 items to determine the typicality of musicians’ images. The results show that typicality is a reliable predictor of optimal distinctiveness and adolescent music appreciation (p < .01). Finally, we discuss additional experimental use of these scales and implications for research in the context of adolescents’ musical identities.
Contemporary music from the Western Classical tradition, a term usually reduced to simply "contemporary music," is widely considered as being quite under-represented on the current musical scene in comparison to the music from any other period. As a perspective from which to explore this aversion beyond the obvious likes and dislikes, our aim was to find non-observable variables or latent dimensions by means of psychological constructs modelling attitudes towards contemporary music in a relevant population, such as music teachers to-be, in order to inform thinking about how to effect a change in this aversion. In doing so, a quantitative psychometric instrument was developed, validated and applied to a sample of this population during their university training period. Retrieved data was analysed by exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, leading to the proposal of a second-order, structural equations model comprising three constructs identified as "Perceived complexity & stridency", "Desire to discover" and "Aesthetic respect". Results could help in a) finding strategies to address aversion, both by the identification of its latent components and their interrelations; and b) proposing a model suitable to be compared to that of other population subgroups and to be connected to other variables for testing the effectiveness of future experimental actions in the teacher training context.
The Takadimi system of rhythm pedagogy codified by Hoffman, Pelto, and White is supposedly an effective means to teach both dictation and reading. This article evaluates the potential of Takadimi as a method for rhythm dictation and rhythm reading, considering its strengths and weaknesses in light of psychology, music theory, and music theory pedagogy. Takadimi’s main forte is that it is based on the psychologically and neurobiologically valid notion of the beat; most of Takadimi’s shortcomings arise from its apathy towards implicit beats. After exploring the psychological reality of the implicit beat, this study considers how an awareness of the implicit beat can make the Takadimi system a more consistent and accurate rhythm solmization method than it currently is.
This study examined differences in music perception between children with executive function deficits (EF deficits) and typically-developing children. The role of executive functions in music perception ability was also examined. Participants included 71 children (40 males), aged 9–11 years. The study utilized a between-subjects control group design in which executive functions were measured by the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), and music perception ability was measured by several music listening tasks of tone and timing discrimination. The children with EF deficits performed significantly poorer than their typically-developing peers when discriminating between duration of tones and when discriminating between rhythm patterns. However, pitch and melodic perception did not show performance decrement. The executive function of working memory was the only independent predictor of duration and rhythm perception ability as shown in multiple regression models. In conclusion, there are significant differences in duration and rhythm perception ability between children with and without executive dysfunction. Moreover, music perception testing may serve as a potential measure of executive functions assessment, and given that improvements in working memory are desirable for children with EF deficits, music-based activities may be a promising medium for working memory intervention.
Distraction and relaxation are regularly recommended as part of a pain management toolkit, with increasing research highlighting the inclusion of music as part of pain management toolkit. However, minimal research has assessed the role of practice effects or familiarity with these techniques when used consistently over time. Passive distraction (participant-selected preferred music) and active distraction (Progressive Muscle Relaxation; PMR) were compared against a no distraction control on the cold-pressor test (CPT). Seventy healthy participants completed the CPT with and without distraction at baseline and 1 week later. Experimental participants practised their distraction strategies daily between trials (7 days), with control participants keeping an activity log. Familiarity with and preference for distractors increased significantly over time, enhancing pain threshold. PMR and music reduced anxiety, enhanced pain tolerance, minimized pain perception and pain ratings. The active distraction of PMR enhanced self-efficacy to a greater extent than music and also regulated heart rate. Repeated exposure to distraction and relaxation approaches enhanced optimal arousal and complexity, maximizing pain management. It is suggested that both PMR, and music, are used together as part of a multidimensional toolkit for pain management.
When musicians play music, they seem to be fully concentrating and occupied with their performance. But what happens when concentration is affected, such as during examinations or concert performances? Our hypothesis was that the expressiveness of the music would be affected due to the fact that an additional cognitive load would occupy the cognitive resources that are needed for the timing and articulation of the musical action. To test this hypothesis, we asked experienced musicians to perform a musical piece with and without a secondary task (dual task condition). Jury judgements revealed that pieces performed under an additional cognitive load suffered a decrease in expressiveness. An analysis of the audio recordings revealed that for almost all performances, the durations of the pauses in between musical phrases during the performance in dual task conditions were significantly shorter than those performed without a secondary task, while the musical phrases themselves were not affected in their duration. We attribute this phenomenon to the fact that musicians can base the timing during playing on a (non-cognitive) corporeal reference, while during the pauses, this reference is lost. Insight into this effect may lead to educational practices that teach how to cope with additional load.
Although musicians often have to perform under high pressure, there is little systematic research into the foci of attention needed to maintain performance in such situations. In the current study, we asked elite musicians to report what they focus on and think about during moments of high pressure, using two retrospective methods (concept mapping and verbal reports). For concept mapping, seven expert teachers from an elite academy of music generated clusters of statements about this issue. In the verbal reports, 44 elite musicians described their thoughts and focus of attention. Concept mapping resulted in six clusters, of which "focus on physical aspects," "thoughts that give confidence," and "music-related focus" were shown to be the main foci of attention, together representing 85.2% of all 190 statements generated in the verbal reports. Statements regarding "music-related focus" represented 49.7% of all statements. In conclusion, to maintain a high level of performance under pressure, experienced musicians frequently focus on music-related information, physical aspects, and thoughts that give confidence. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Adults’ (N = 220) reported motivations for listening to sad music after experiencing adverse negative circumstances were examined by exploring how their music selection strategies related to (a) their self-regulatory goals, and (b) reported effects of listening. The effects of music selection strategies, self-regulatory goals, and reported effects on the achievement of mood enhancement were also explored using a retrospective survey design. The findings indicate that music choice is linked to the individual’s identified self-regulatory goals for music listening and to expected effects. Additionally, the results show that if individuals had intended to achieve mood enhancement through music listening, this was often achieved by first experiencing cognitive reappraisal or distraction. The selection of music with perceived high aesthetic value was the only music selection strategy that directly predicted mood enhancement. Where respondents indicated that they chose music with the intention of triggering memories, this was negatively related to the self-regulatory goal of mood enhancement.
There has been considerable research on the emotional and cognitive impact of music in people’s everyday lives, but limited attention to its role within relationships, particularly inside the family unit. This article explores the emotional experiences of women in midlife when listening to music, with special reference to their interaction with the musical choices of their adolescent offspring and the bearing this has on their relationships. Ten women aged between 40 and 52 years and their teenage children provided qualitative data through semi-structured interviews which focused on their listening behaviours, expressions of self-identity and uses of music whilst considering each other’s musical tastes. This investigation employs a hermeneutic approach and provides new information about the relationship between adolescent musical habits and mother/child dynamics with particular reference to personal and social identity. Mothers were found to enjoy harmonious relationships with daughters through shared musical choices. This was not evident in the information exploring the relationship between mothers and their sons. The article reveals that adolescent musical habits play an important role in influencing the musical listening experiences of mothers.
Previous studies that examined the roles music plays in homosexual life focused on how it was used after "coming out." In the present study, we qualitatively examined whether music played special roles before and during the "coming out" process. Seven gay men of varying ages and cultural backgrounds were interviewed and asked to describe their "coming out" process and to specify whether music was somehow involved in the process. An analysis of the transcribed interviews revealed three main roles: music as a companion (music offered the support that a friend might have provided); music as a means for concealing and exposing (music helped to regulate the extent of exposing homosexuality); and music as means of making change (music served as a catalyst for "coming out"). The results are discussed in light of Cass’s (1979) model of homosexual identity formation and suggestions for further studies are provided.
This phenomenological study investigated the meaning of Dalcroze-inspired activities for first-year Baccalareus Musicae (BMus) students during a music education module and describes the essence of this experience for them. In the first semesters of 2011 and 2013, these movement activities were concurrently facilitated during workshops by a licensed Dalcroze teacher and during the semester by a senior lecturer in music education. In the first semester of 2012, a Dalcroze student in her final year presented workshops and another music education lecturer facilitated the activities. Data were collected by means of in-depth interviews, reflective essays and reflective descriptions until data saturation was reached. Data were organized using Atlas.ti 7 and analysed by means of coding, categorizing, and the identification of themes. The following main themes have been identified: social integration, joyful experience, bodily experience, easier understanding, and musical expression. This article will provide a deeper understanding of what it is like for first-year BMus students in South Africa to experience Dalcroze-inspired activities. Their experiences can inform the use of Dalcroze-inspired activities in music education at tertiary level and support advocacy for the embodied and enactive view of music cognition.
This article reports on a 10-year longitudinal study of children’s musical identity, their instrumental practice, and subsequent achievement and motivation for playing music. Before commencing learning on their instrument, participants (N = 157) responded to questions relating to how long they thought they would continue playing their instrument. Once learning commenced, practice was measured using the parents’ estimates each year for the first 3 years of learning, and performance was measured using a standardized test. Ten years later, the participants were asked how long they had sustained music learning along with other questions related to their musical development. Those who expressed both a personal long-term view of playing an instrument before they began instruction, and who sustained high amounts of practice in the first 3 years, demonstrated higher achievement and a longer length of time spent in music learning compared to those with a short-term view and low levels of practice. Results suggest that while practice and self-regulation strategies are important, learners who possess a sense of where their future learning might take them and whose personal identity includes a long-term perspective of themselves as a musicians are better positioned to succeed and sustain with their instrumental learning.
This exploratory study investigated the effect of different types of song closure in popular music on pulse continuation behaviour. We compared the perceptual effects of the so-called "fade-out" song closure with the so-called "cold end" (arranged end). We assumed that fading could result in the listeners’ imagining that the song continues past the actual ending. Three versions of the same pop song were presented to N = 80 listeners: first, with an arranged end ("cold end"); second, with a gradual decrease in the sound level of the audio signal ("fade-out"); third, with a "cold end" but without a final ritardando (rit.). Participants tapped along to the pulse of the music on the interface sentograph as long as they felt entrained. The tap-along behaviour differed significantly among the three versions: (a) in the fade-out condition the tapping along was continued after the song’s end; (b) in the cold end condition participants stopped tapping along to the pulse before the last beat of the music, (c) in the cold end no ritardando version, tapping was stopped with the last beat onset (range of effect sizes for differences: d = 0.84–1.50). The continuation effect in the fade-out condition is called the Pulse Continuity Phenomenon (PCP).
We investigated the effect of repetition, recency, and levels of processing on the induction of involuntary musical imagery of previously unfamiliar songs. In an experimental session where participants heard an unfamiliar song, we manipulated song familiarity (participants heard the song either two or six times) and levels of processing (participants either had to answer general questions about the song or questions about how the song related to their life), followed by 3 days of probe-caught experience sampling. In a sample of 36 participants, we found that involuntary musical imagery induced by stimulus songs occurred more often when songs were more familiar, and more often during the earlier part of the experience sampling period. However, levels of processing did not affect rates of involuntary musical imagery.
The effects of Western musical training and musical ability on the discrimination of intervallic ordering in both tonal and post-tonal chords were examined using an oddball-paradigm experiment. Participants with different levels of formal musical training (composers and theorists, other professional musicians, and non-professionals) but with high scores from a musical aptitude test (the KMT) were recruited. The results of the study revealed a main effect for the type of musical training: composers’ and theorists’ scores differed markedly from the scores of the other participant groups, whereas professionals and non-professionals had similar response profiles. The discrimination between intervallic orderings of even the most familiar tonal chords seemed to require analysis-oriented training.
Program notes are distributed before performances at arts centers throughout the country, but research on the effects of this kind of explicit information on audience experience has led to contradictory findings. This study experimentally manipulated the kind of information given to 506 schoolchildren attending a music performance at a local arts center, and assessed the effects of this information on their enjoyment of, attention to, and comprehension of the performance. Results suggest that explicit information of the sort found in a program note can elevate the attention children pay to a performance and their comprehension of it. Program notes did not as a rule elevate enjoyment, except in the case of a subgroup of participants for whom the performance was likely a new experience. This difference suggests that listeners’ prior experience may be an important mediating factor in the relationship between program notes and enjoyment.
Despite the paradox inherent in the idea that sad music could make people happier, research indicates that an improved mood is amongst the primary motivations that people give for listening to sad music. However, it is not clear whether listeners are always able to achieve such aims. This article reports a study in which 335 participants listened to a piece of self-selected sad music. Before and after-measures of mood were taken, and participants also completed psychometric scales of rumination, absorption and reflectiveness. It was found that both ruminators and non-ruminators had significant increases in depression after listening to self-selected sad music. Furthermore, ruminators did not systematically report that they expected to benefit from listening to sad music, contrary to the literature. Results support the hypothesis that listening to sad music is related to maladaptive mood regulation strategies in some listeners.
Interactions that occur between teacher and student during instrumental music lessons are complex and multifaceted and embrace a full range of promotive and demotive factors that not only underpin effective learning, but also have an impact on whether children will persist with their learning long-term (McPherson, Davidson, & Faulkner, 2012). Such interactions also provide the context in which students gain a sense of personal control and autonomy over their learning (Evans, McPherson, & Davidson, 2012). In this article, we present new ways of conceptualizing autonomy by taking the teacher–student interaction as a unit of analysis to examine the processes of co-regulation of student autonomy. In Study 1, we performed an in-depth qualitative analysis of four teacher – student dyads in individual string lessons. We found large differences between these dyads in the way autonomy is co-regulated from moment to moment. These differences are theorized to be in part connected to the general need for autonomy of the student. In addition, we found that teachers have different ways of dealing with students’ expressions of autonomy in lessons. In Study 2, we tested whether large moment-to-moment differences between the teacher’s and student’s levels of autonomy (‘out-of-synch’ moments) contributed to macro-level student outcomes. Here, we found a positive relation between the amount of out-of-synch per lesson and, respectively, students’ motivation and progress.
This study explored whether visual (body movements) or auditory (musical material) information dominates perceived and felt emotions when observing a music performance. In a musical analogue of the McGurk effect and extending work juxtaposing facial expressions and auditory information for sung intervals to an actual musical performance, participants either watched video clips in which musical material and performer’s body movements were congruent or they saw incongruent clips that combined musical material with body movements from another piece that differed in emotional valence. Subsequent ratings of perceived and felt emotions showed a significant interaction between music and body movements, indicating that both auditory and visual channels determine the emotional content of the performance for listeners.
The significance of the "physicality" involved in learning to play a musical instrument and the essential role of teachers are areas in need of research. This article explores the role of gesture within teacher–student communicative interaction in one-to-one piano lessons. Three teachers were required to teach a pre-selected repertoire of two contrasting pieces to three students studying piano grade 1. The data was collected by video recordings of piano lessons and analysis based on the type and frequency of gestures employed by teachers in association to teaching behaviours specifying where gestures fit under (or evade) predefined classifications. Spontaneous co-musical gestures were observed in the process of piano tuition emerging with similar general communicative purposes as spontaneous co-verbal gestures and were essential for the process of musical communication between teachers and students. Observed frequencies of categorized gestures varied significantly between different teaching behaviours and between the three teachers. Parallels established between co-verbal and co-musical spontaneous gestures lead to an argument for extension of McNeill’s (2005) ideas of imagery–language–dialectic to imagery–music–dialectic with relevant implications for piano pedagogy and fields of study invested in musical communication.
Music is a fundamental cultural product with which adolescents are finely attuned within and across sociocultural contexts. However, very little is known about the intricate interplay among music, psychology, and culture in adolescence. The purpose of this literature review is twofold: (1) to define, ground, and situate a new perspective towards a cultural developmental psychology of music in adolescence; and (2) to find and organize the extant literature pertaining to the cultural and developmental roles of music in adolescence. The rationale is organized in two sections. The first section defines the meaning of a cultural-developmental psychology of music in adolescence. It also explains how this perspective can be grounded in principles of cultural psychology, notably the mutual constitution between culture and the person. It then situates this perspective within established cultural research on music (evolutionary psychology, music perception, and ethnomusicology). The second section presents a critical outlook on the slowly growing but fragmented literature pertaining to culture, psychology, and music in adolescence (music preferences; music motivation and functions; dance; language; social network and multitasking; ethnicity and cultural diversity; and cultural competence in music-based interventions). In conclusion, theoretical and methodological directions are suggested for future cultural research on music in adolescence.
This study is an investigation of the effect of self-regulation instruction on collegiate wind players’ performance achievement, practice behavior, and self-efficacy. Volunteers (N = 28) were randomly assigned to an experimental condition that included either (a) instruction in the application of practice strategies (slowing, repetition, whole-part-whole, chaining) or (b) instruction in self-regulation principles (concentration, goal-selection, planning, self-evaluation, rest/reflective activity) in addition to the aforementioned strategies. The instruction was delivered via videos across 5 days and consisted of narrative descriptions and aural/visual models of each approach. Recordings of pre-test performances, 20 minutes of practice, and post-test performances were collected at days 1 and 5. Participants provided ratings of self-efficacy beliefs at days 1 and 5. Both groups made significant gains in performance achievement at each day. Those who received the self-regulation instruction made significantly greater gains in performance achievement on day 5 than those in the other group when controlling for gains made on day 1, and chose nuanced (dynamics, articulation, interpretation, etc.) as opposed to basic (e.g. notes, rhythms) musical objectives in their practice sessions with significantly greater frequency.
Despite extensive research into the phenomenon of flow, there has been a comparative deficit in literature relating to the experience of shared or combined flow. This pilot study explored the subjective experience of combined flow in musical jam sessions, with particular emphasis on delineating the characteristics, outcomes, and practical applications unique to combined flow. In-depth semi-structured interviews were held with six musicians who had extensive experience of group jam sessions. Grounded theory analysis of interview data identified two major themes; the experience of combined flow as a sequential progression through a set of stages; and the inter-subjectivity of the experience leading to the development of empathy between group members. A major finding was that the combined flow experience discussed by musicians met many of the criteria for classification as a flow experience, while also having the unique positive outcome of empathy development.
Outcomes-oriented studies and lyric analyses have been extensively used to understand the effects of therapeutic songwriting. There is a notable absence of investigations that focus on the role of the music and the music creation process within the therapeutic songwriting process. This study contributes to this gap by investigating 45 music therapists’ perceptions of the role of music in the therapeutic songwriting process. Modified grounded theory methods led to the construction of three themes with 18 subthemes: 1) music conveys messages and emotions, 2) music has clinical purpose, and 3) music enhances self-expression. A key outcome of the findings is that analysing music alongside the lyrics ensures that the song’s meaning and the inner world of the songwriter are accurately interpreted.
Music communications and interactions are important to child development. Yet modern day technology may have caused social modifications of musical engagement for parents and their children. Today, music-based electronic devices seem too often to be used in place of human musical interactions. The current investigation developed an alternative music based on pre-language sounds (for devices and playthings) that we assume can engage babies, and presented these to parents for their judgment. In Study 1, parents of babies in waiting rooms of child development centers completed a survey after listening to three different music genres (classical music themes, well-known folk tunes, and paralanguage songs). Study 2 replicated Study 1 but within home settings. Study 3 engaged mothers and babies in a music-movement group. The results indicate that not only are parents open to alternatives, but they can envision purchasing devices and playthings which employ new more adaptive music genres that might be more age appropriate and developmentally sound.
Research on orchestral musicians has predominantly used survey methods to measure stress and/or work satisfaction; studies have seldom used in-depth interviews to ask orchestral musicians to reflect on their own practice and have neglected to elicit musicians’ perceptions of the processes involved in expert orchestral performance. Using semi-structured interviews, this research aimed to investigate 20 musicians’ experiences of working in a major London orchestra, focusing in particular on the skills and qualities they feel are required, and on how they negotiate challenges and sustain their careers. The interviews were analysed thematically using a grounded theory approach. The sample emphasized a set of skills which they considered vital for achieving excellence in the orchestral context, encompassing listening to, communicating with, and adapting to those around them at all times during rehearsal and performance. Strong social and interpersonal skills were also cited as important for orchestral work, with participants stressing the significance of maintaining good social relationships with colleagues in order to foster a conducive environment to achieving excellence on stage. These findings are considered in light of their potential implications for conservatoire training and their contribution to research on co-performer communication and collaboration.
Music performance anxiety (MPA) is considered non-beneficial but its debilitating aspects are not directly addressed in current questionnaires ("general MPA"). Together with general MPA, we assessed "debilitating MPA" with questions about aspects that debilitate musical performance. In addition, since musicians often experience a beneficial aspect of MPA in the form of a performance boost, we assessed this boost with additional questionnaire items. The first goal of our questionnaire survey was to investigate whether general MPA is perceived as part of the same continuum as performance boost. Our second goal was to determine which aspects of MPA may lead to a downward spiral of a musical career. The results of our questionnaire survey of 320 professional and student musicians show that general MPA does not lie at the other end of the spectrum of boost. Instead, debilitating MPA with a weak career impact was influenced by boost and performance confidence. Debilitating MPA with a strong career impact was influenced by health and mental distress. Debilitating and general MPA were related to perceived pressure, whereas boost was related to perceived support. Perceived pressure and support might be more accessible anchor points in the treatment of MPA, and in the maintenance of a stimulating level of boost.
The exposure of young people to alcohol in the media is a major concern given its potential impact on drinking behaviours. Young people spend increasing amounts of time listening to popular music, within which US studies have found a growth in alcohol references and brand promotion. Little information exists on alcohol-related content in UK popular music despite its international influence. We examined the lyrics of Top 10 UK singles in 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011 for references to alcohol. Prevalence of alcohol references increased sharply between 2001 and 2011, when almost one in five (18.5%) songs referred to alcohol and one in eight (12.6%) to heavy drinking. In multivariate analyses, alcohol-related lyrical content was associated with the year 2011, Urban music genres (R&B/Rap/Hip-Hop) and artists from the USA. Alcohol-related references were often positively framed, linking alcohol use to valued attributes and favourable outcomes. Up to 3.0% of songs contained branded alcohol references. Further research should identify the impacts of alcohol references in lyrics on drinking attitudes and behaviours. Health and other professionals should recognize increased alcohol promotion in popular music and ensure this does not reinforce binge drinking culture or contribute to already high burdens of alcohol on young people.
Little is known about how extramusical, contextual information about a piece of music influences the emotions induced by that piece. The present study aimed to investigate this question by providing two groups of participants (both n = 30) with two different descriptions regarding the original context of a sad-sounding piece of film music; a description of a concentration camp scene or a description of a nature documentary. The results of these two groups were compared to previously collected data (N = 60), where participants listened to either the same, sad-sounding piece of music without a description, or to neutral-sounding music. The induced emotions were measured as objectively as possible using indirect memory and judgment tasks. The results suggest that contextual information about a musical piece may indeed influence the emotional effects of that piece, as the sad narrative description appeared to intensify the sadness induced by the sad-sounding piece. The narrative descriptions may have enhanced emotion induction via the visual imagery mechanism (suggested by Juslin & Västfjäll, 2008), as 80% of participants in both groups reported thinking about imagery related to the narrative descriptions provided.
During musical improvisation, performers’ skin conductance (SC, a measure of psychological arousal) may respond to movement and to events whose timing is beyond control. SC has not been studied in these difficult conditions. Our purpose was to establish a procedure and analysis that would permit the meaningful use of continuous SC measures while pianists play. Consequently, two case studies of SC during piano performances develop an effective method. SC was measured at the left ankle and movement was monitored nearby. Two musicians performed manipulations of movement (flexing legs, hand motion), and performance content (playing scales versus improvisation) and type (actual, silent and imagined). Time series analysis modeled SC in relation to supplied improvisational referents. We could interpret SC during performance, provided that we accounted for the impact of movement. We detected genuine SC changes around moments of transition between musical segments; these could reflect the mental effort of planning and generating music. In a subsequent validation study, we demonstrated the applicability of our method for SC analysis to performances by nine professional piano improvisers.
We examined self-reported frequency and severity of performance-related musculoskeletal pain disorder (PRMD), trigger point pain (TPP) and depression, social phobia (SPIN) and music performance anxiety (MPA) using the Kenny Music Performance Anxiety Inventory (K-MPAI) in a cross-sectional survey of 377 professional orchestral musicians. Most (84%) musicians had experienced performance-impairing pain; 50% reported current pain. Females reported more performance-impairing pain and more current pain than males. Cluster analysis indicated a complex relationship between depression and PRMD severity. Three clusters showed the hypothesized relationship (i.e., more depression, more pain). Musicians in the fourth cluster denied depression but reported the most severe pain, suggesting a group who somatize their psychological distress. Cluster analysis also revealed a strong relationship between PRMD severity and MPA. Clusters with higher scores on K-MPAI reported higher scores on PRMD severity. TPP was not associated with self-reported PRMD frequency or severity. There was a significant linear relationship between TPP and MPA for females, but males scoring the highest MPA reported lower TPP than those with milder MPA. Neither SPIN nor beta blocker use was associated with PRMD frequency or severity. The complex relationships identified between PRMD, TPP, depression and MPA may have important implications for PRMD management in professional musicians.
Questionnaire and interview studies suggest that music is valued for its role in managing the listener’s impression of the environment, but systematic investigations on the topic are scarce. We present a field experiment wherein participants were asked to rate their impression of four different environments (a quiet residential area, traveling by train in the suburbs, at a busy crossroads, and in a tranquil park area) on bipolar adjective scales, while listening to music (which varied regarding level of perceived activation and valence) or in silence. Results showed that the evaluation of the environment was in general affected in the direction of the characteristics of the music, especially in conditions where the perceived characteristics of the music and environment were incongruent. For example, highly active music increased the activation ratings of environments which were perceived as inactive without music, whereas inactive music decreased the activation ratings of environments which were perceived as highly active without music. Also, highly positive music increased the positivity ratings of the environments. In sum, the findings suggest that music may function as a prism that modifies the impression of one’s surroundings. Different theoretical explanations of the results are discussed.
The presence of music can both help and hinder performance on a concurrent cognitive task. Music that is low in complexity has been associated with improved performance on language learning tasks, although previous studies have typically used artificial stimuli or tested only short-term recognition. The present study examined the effect of background music as part of an ecologically valid two-week second language learning trial. Participants took a beginners’ CD-based course in either Mandarin Chinese or Arabic, and matched groups (age, gender, verbal intelligence, musical training and working memory ability) were randomly assigned to a CD that contained accompanying music or not. Individuals who chose to learn Chinese performed better on all outcome tests compared to those who learned Arabic. Within the Chinese learners, those who received music CDs performed significantly better on tests of recall and translation compared to those who received no music CDs. No music effects were observed in the Arabic learners or on pronunciation ability in Chinese. This study demonstrates that the presence of certain music can facilitate the first stages of language learning in the real world.
This exploratory study was designed to determine the effects of background music of different valence on the perception of tearful faces and other emotional expressions. Participants (154 men, age range 9–64 years, and 208 women, age range 9–77 years) rated photographs of crying, smiling, anger expressing and yawning unique men and women (N = 12 each) on the following three dimensions: kindness, attractiveness and pleasantness, while concurrently being exposed to happy, angry, sad and calm music, or a no-music condition. Mixed models analysis revealed that observers made more favourable judgments about a crier when listening to sad and calm background music. This particularly concerned the ratings on the dimensions kindness and pleasantness, while calm music additionally increased ratings of attractiveness. Opposite effects were found for angry faces, for which lower ratings were obtained on all three dimensions with calm music. We speculate that calm background music may be helpful to boost social bonding and empathy, when people are in tears.
A common approach to study emotional reactions to music is to attempt to obtain direct links between musical surface features such as tempo and a listener’s response. However, such an analysis ultimately fails to explain why emotions are aroused in the listener. In this article, we propose an alternative approach, which seeks to explain musical emotions in terms of a set of underlying mechanisms that are activated by different types of information in musical events. We illustrate this approach by reporting a listening experiment, which manipulated a piece of music to activate four mechanisms: brain stem reflex; emotional contagion; episodic memory; and musical expectancy. The musical excerpts were played to 20 listeners, who were asked to rate their felt emotions on 12 scales. Pulse rate, skin conductance, and facial expressions were also measured. Results indicated that target mechanisms were activated and aroused emotions largely as predicted by a multi-mechanism framework.
Performing music in front of others can be stressful, even for experienced performers. The physiological effects of stress, namely, increases in cortisol and sympathetic nervous system activity, have been shown to have detrimental effects on cognition, particularly working memory. This study used an audition-like performance scenario to elicit a stress response in performers who differed in their degree of musical experience. We expected that participants with more musical experience would be better able to regulate their stress response, would report lower levels of anxiety, insecurity, and nervousness, and would show better working memory following the stressor, compared to participants with less musical experience. Although we did not find differences between more and less experienced performers in their sympathetic nervous system activity or their self-reported feelings of anxiety and nervousness, we did find some important differences: following the stressor, more experienced performers were less insecure, they showed better regulation of their cortisol response, and they demonstrated better working memory.
Live music in hospital has been suggested to be effective in helping paediatric patients to relax, and reduce their pain and anxiety. In this study we explored whether it is music per se or the adult attention linked to it that might be beneficial to the children. Thirty-seven paediatric patients with cardiac and/or respiratory problems between the ages of 7 days and 4 years were recruited at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London. Each child participated in three 10-minute sessions: 1) Music; 2) Reading; 3) No interaction. Their physiological responses, i.e., oxygen saturation level and heart rate, and pain assessment were taken before and after each session. A significant decrease in heart rate and pain level were found at the end of the music session. Oxygen saturation level increased significantly only in the younger paediatric patients group, mostly at the end of the no interaction session, and less so at the end of the music session. The music survey showed that parents and hospital staff rated the use of music in hospital positively. We conclude that it is music per se, and not the social component associated with it, that helps to improve paediatric patients’ wellbeing.
The mutual relationship between German psychology and music theory in the late 19th century has been generally understood within the context of the positivist movement of this same time period. Studies of both the mind and music had been recently institutionalized as independent academic disciplines, both aspiring to be scientific. What might be more significant, however, than this shared aspiration is the change in the conception of the human mind itself: The question to be addressed is how the human psyche, the agency of musical listening, was conceptualized with the advent of new perspectives in mind science. Focusing on the conceptual rather than methodological dimension of interdisciplinarity, the present article looks into the selected writings of pioneers in the psychology of music including Hugo Riemann, Johann Friedrich Herbart, Wilhelm Wundt, and Gustav Fechner. A closer inspection of the use of technical terms such as Vorstellungen and Tonvorstellungen reveals a flux between different psychological conceptualizations that can be characterized by ideas such as "boundary" and "threshold." The notions of the human psyche fluctuated between mind (Geist) and soul (Seele) – to borrow Edward Reed’s expression – and this conceptual change possibly points to an important paradigmatic shift in early music psychology.
In this investigation, eight highly-trained musicians communicated emotions through composition, performance expression, or the combination of the two. In the performance condition, they performed melodies with the intention of expressing six target emotions: anger, fear, happiness, neutral, sadness, and tenderness. In the composition condition, they composed melodies to express the same six emotions. The notated compositions were then played digitally without performance expression. In the combined condition, musicians performed the melodies they composed to convey the target emotions. Forty-two listeners heard the stimuli and attempted to decode the emotions in a forced-choice paradigm. Decoding accuracy varied significantly as a function of the channel of communication. Fear was comparatively well-decoded in the composition condition whereas anger was comparatively well decoded in the performance condition. Happiness and sadness were comparatively well-decoded in all three channels of communication. A principal component analysis of cues used by musicians clarified the distinct approaches adopted in composition and performance to differentiate emotional intentions. The results confirm that composition and performance involve the manipulation of distinct cues and have different emotional capabilities.
We examined two metacognitive judgments, ease of learning (EOL) and judgments of learning (JOL), in music performance. Specifically, we tested whether the extrinsic cue of modality (auditory versus visual presentation), as well as the intrinsic cue of syntax (providing more or less cohesion), would influence such judgments. The participants were piano players in Experiment 1 and other instrumentalists in Experiments 2 and 3. Results showed that modality of the to-be-learned pieces did indeed influence both EOL (all experiments) and JOL (Experiments 2 and 3) ratings. Both ratings were also influenced by syntax (Experiment 3). Thus, successful EOL and JOL were extended to music performance itself. Moreover, unlike in the verbal domain where individuals can often use intrinsic cues but ignore extrinsic cues, both types of cues were used effectively. The findings are interpreted within the framework of cue-utilization theory and salience of cues.
The mediating effects of emotion regulation (reappraisal and suppression) were examined in the relationship between music engagement and well-being. Emotion regulation strategies (Emotion Regulation Questionnaire; Gross & John, 2003) and styles of music engagement (Music Use questionnaire; Chin & Rickard, 2012) were assessed in a large diverse sample of 637 participants. A battery of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being measures (International Positive and Negative Affect Schedule Short Form; Thompson, 2007; Satisfaction With Life Scale; Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985; Mental Health Continuum-Short Form; Keyes et al., 2008) was also administered. Results demonstrated that the path of mediation was dependent on the type of emotion regulation strategy utilized, as well as the way in which one engages with music. Findings provide initial evidence that engaging with music for the purposes of cognitive and emotion regulation may enhance well-being primarily through the habitual use of cognitive reappraisal. In contrast, various other aspects of music engagement (music listening, engaged production, and social connection) if coupled with a tendency to regulate emotions and thoughts by expressive suppression may yield undesirable well-being outcomes. This study highlights the important role emotion regulation plays in the complex relationship between music engagement and well-being.
Utilizing the Experience Sampling Method, this research investigated how individuals encounter music in everyday life. Responding to two text messages sent at random times between 8:00 and 23:00 daily for one week, 177 participants completed self-reports online regarding their experience with any music heard within a two-hour period prior to receipt of the message. Overall, the radio, mobile MP3 players, and computers featured prominently. Detailed analyses revealed significant patterns in device usage based on time of day; ratings of the music in terms of choice, liking, arousal, and attention; mood; and the perceived consequences of the music. While feeling lethargic associated with recorded music broadcasted in public, in contrast personal music collections promoted contentment. Similarly, devices allowing for personal input were met with positive consequences, like motivation. The current findings imply that the greater control that technology affords leads to complex patterns of everyday music usage, and that listeners are active consumers rather than passive listeners.
The multidimensionality of Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) was examined in this study. Three related dimensions were identified: Somatic and Cognitive Features, Performance Context and Performance Evaluation. Although MPA has been widely studied in the last 20 years, it has been regarded mainly as unidimensional. A sample of 134 high school music students was tested using the Music Performance Anxiety Inventory for Adolescents (Osborne & Kenny, 2005), and The International Personality Item Pool (Goldberg, 1992). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the existence of three correlated MPA factors. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that both the pattern of predictors and the variance explained was different in the three MPA dimensions. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) revealed that girls scored higher only on Somatic and Cognitive Features. Overall, our results support the multidimensionality of MPA, pointing out that our understanding of this disorder could be enhanced by treating it as multi-, rather than unidimensional.
In two experiments, we assessed recovery of a tonal hierarchy in tone sequences. In Experiment 1, sequence tones were five tones of a Korean pentatonic scale plus seven nonscale tones located between scale tones. Sequences included all 12 tones, randomly ordered. Duration of scale tones in each sequence corresponded to the total duration of each tone in a piece of Korean music, as quantified by U. Nam (1998). Nonscale tones were shorter than scale tones. Listeners were either familiar or unfamiliar with the style of Korean music. Sequences were played 12 times, each time followed by 1 of 12 probe tones that had occurred in the sequence. Participants rated goodness-of-fit of the probe tone to the sequence. Ratings by both groups reflected the Korean tonal hierarchy including the relative salience of scale tones. Experiment 2 followed the same method and tones, but duration was assigned to tones quasi-randomly so that duration did not emphasize intervallic relationships in the Korean scale. Ratings differentiated long and short tones, but showed no other clear organization among long tones. Differences in results between experiments suggest that duration helps listeners organize pitch structure only when duration emphasizes intervallic relationships such as the near-perfect fifth.
Ninety secondary school music students (49 females, 41 males aged 12–18 years) from four Adelaide metropolitan schools with selective music programmes completed the Music Performance Anxiety Inventory for Adolescents (MPAI-A), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised Short Form, and Adolescent Coping Scale Short Form. Females reported significantly more music performance anxiety (MPA) than males. Trait anxiety and neuroticism were significantly positively correlated with MPA and extraversion was significantly negatively correlated with MPA. Unproductive coping strategies were significantly positively correlated with MPA, but no significant association was found between MPA and productive coping strategies. Hierarchical regression analysis found that, after controlling for intercorrelations among variables, trait anxiety was the strongest significant predictor of MPA. Correlations between MPA with neuroticism and with extraversion were significantly accounted for by trait anxiety. The MPAI-A may hold promise as a screening tool for the early identification of potential MPA.
Previous research comparing musically trained and untrained individuals has yielded valuable insights into music cognition and behaviour. Here, we explore two aspects of musical engagement previously studied separately, auditory-visual correspondences and sensorimotor skills, in a novel real-time drawing paradigm. To that end, musically trained and untrained participants were presented with 18 short sequences of pure tones varying in pitch, loudness and tempo, as well as two short musical excerpts. Using an electronic graphics tablet, participants were asked to represent the sound stimuli visually by drawing along with them while they were played. Results revealed that the majority of participants represented pitch with height (higher on the tablet referring to higher pitches), and loudness with the thickness of the line (thicker line for louder sounds). However, musically untrained participants showed a greater diversity of representation strategies and tended to neglect pitch information if unchanged over time. Investigating the performance accuracy in a subgroup of participants revealed that, while pitch-height correspondences were generally represented more accurately than loudness–thickness correspondences, musically trained participants’ representations of pitch and loudness were more accurate. Results are discussed in terms of cross-modal correspondences, the perception of time, and sensorimotor skills.
Research has shown that not only do young athletes purposively use music to manage their emotional state (Bishop, Karageorghis, & Loizou, 2007), but also that brief periods of music listening may facilitate their subsequent reactive performance (Bishop, Karageorghis, & Kinrade, 2009). We report an fMRI study in which young athletes lay in an MRI scanner and listened to a popular music track immediately prior to performance of a three-choice reaction time task; intensity and tempo were modified such that six excerpts (2 intensities x 3 tempi) were created. Neural activity was measured throughout. Faster tempi and higher intensity collectively yielded activation in structures integral to visual perception (inferior temporal gyrus), allocation of attention (cuneus, inferior parietal lobule, supramarginal gyrus), and motor control (putamen), during reactive performance. The implications for music listening as a pre-competition strategy in sport are discussed.
Intense musical experiences (IMEs) have proven to be of high significance for the people who have them. We investigated the long-term effects of such experiences on people’s way of life and developed a process model: (1) IMEs are characterized by altered states of consciousness, which leads to the experience of harmony and self-realization; (2) IMEs leave people with a strong motivation to attain the same harmony in their daily lives; (3) people develop manifold resources during an IME; (4) IMEs cause long-term changes to occur in people’s personal values, their perception of the meaning of life, social relationships, engagement, activities, and personal development. Results are discussed as they relate to spirituality and altered states of consciousness and conclusions are drawn from the process model that form a starting point for quantitative research. Results suggest that music can indeed change our lives – by making it more fulfilling, spiritual, and harmonious.
We examined whether sad lyrics influenced the emotions induced by happy-sounding music. The listening experiment consisted of three conditions: happy-sounding music with sad lyrics sung in a foreign language; the translation of the sad lyrics; and the happy music with the translation of the sad lyrics. Participants rated their emotional perception of the material and their feelings in each condition. The results showed that pleasant feelings of the same intensity were induced when happy-sounding music (with foreign language sad lyrics) and happy music (with translated sad lyrics) were played, but not when sad lyrics were presented alone. Moreover, although the perception of happiness predicted the degree of pleasant feelings when only happy music or only sad lyrics were presented, the perception of sadness predicted pleasant feelings when happy music with sad lyrics was presented. This study suggests that when happy-sounding music with sad lyrics is presented, the listener has pleasant feelings generated by the perception of sadness.
Building on burgeoning research in the field of arts and health, this article explores the role that learning musical instruments can play in enhancing wellbeing in older adulthood. Despite an increasing focus on the role of learning in supporting mental wellbeing, there is strikingly little research that examines this in relation to music, or that explores wellbeing as a subjective phenomenon captured through mixed-methods enquiry. This research addresses this gap through two inter-related studies. Study 1 adopts questionnaire measures of wellbeing with 98 music-learning and comparison participants, concluding that learning in older adulthood offers significant wellbeing benefits, with music particularly enhancing some health-promoting behaviours. To explore in more detail what learning music means to older adults, Study 2 adopts qualitative methods with a sub-group of 21 music-learning participants, concluding that learning music can enhance subjective wellbeing through six mechanisms: (1) subjective experiences of pleasure; (2) enhanced social interactions; (3) musically-nuanced engagement in day-to-day life; (4) fulfilment of musical ambition; (5) ability to make music; and (6) self-satisfaction through musical progress. Drawing the two studies together, the article concludes by arguing for further research to contribute to the growing body of evidence placing music learning at the centre of healthy ageing agendas.
Involuntary musical imagery (INMI) is a ubiquitous cognitive phenomenon. The present study comprises six intensive interviews that examine the subjective phenomenology of INMI for individuals of varying musical experience. Grounded theory analysis was used to establish themes regarding both the form and feelings ascribed to INMI episodes. All the respondents felt that their INMI experiences had high fidelity including some complex musical arrangements. INMI form could be unstable over time according to cognitive demands. Individuals with musical experience reported concurrent sensations of visual and motor imagery as well as involuntary extemporizations of their INMI. Motivators for positive and negative appraisals of INMI were identified such as nostalgia and entertainment, and repetitive cycling with loss of control, respectively. We discuss interpretations from auditory memory theory and develop hypotheses for future INMI empirical investigation.
The purpose of this study is to examine a set of motivation variables within guitar and piano players. We also tested for motivational differences among three groups: those who write music, those who plan to write music in the future, and those who do not write nor intend to write. An international sample of 599 musicians was obtained (guitar: N = 292, piano: N = 307) through the use of an online survey. Self-Determination Theory, a prominent perspective in the motivation literature, was utilized along with other motivational constructs, including perceived competence, musical self-esteem, effort, desire to learn, willingness to play, and possible musical selves. Findings revealed differences between pianists’ and guitarists’ levels of motivational intensity, desire to learn, introjected regulation, perceived competence and willingness to play. Results also indicated that the group who write music had significantly higher levels of musical self-esteem, willingness to play, motivational intensity, desire to learn, and perceived competence. Findings from this study suggest that pianists and guitarists both are intrinsically motivated, but for different reasons. The underlying motivational needs that are met by the instrument’s "culture" appear to focus on competence for pianists and on autonomy and relatedness for guitarists.
The purpose of this study is to investigate how children (aged 6 to 8 years) appropriate concepts relevant to making distinctions about music. In particular, the focus is on how they perceive and describe differences in time in pieces of music. The data were generated through interviews with children. The results show that there seems to be a developmental trajectory from a point where children are unable to discern differences in time in music, via a situation where they perceive such differences but account for them in an ad hoc manner, to a stage where they are able to discern and explain such differences in institutionally relevant concepts. In addition, the study documents how children – operating in the zone of proximal development – may be scaffolded in interaction with a more competent person to appropriate such institutionally relevant distinctions. It is argued that this developmental trajectory describes the development of a cultural skill where children increase their ability to structure music through bodily performance and in linguistic terms. Through this development they also become more skilled at communicating about significant features of music. Generally, in research analysing learning these processes of appropriation and scaffolding are presumed rather than made explicit.
This article proposes the use of recorded music chosen by researchers to elicit participant accounts of life experiences, a technique we name ‘da capo recall.’ Fifteen mainland Chinese students who had studied in the UK were played seven contrasting extracts of classical music. They were asked how each extract reminded them of anything salient on their undergraduate degrees. We relate major points of narrative research to music and discuss: the method and procedure, the participants’ responses and how the technique can be used. In this education context, participants gave rich accounts about studying, exams, graduating and other life experiences with affective dimensions. For many, the music returned them to ‘the experienced present’ of their studies, analogous to a da capo replaying of a section in music. Musical key and tempo influenced the nature of the memories evoked. We envisage the da capo technique’s use within interviews to explore memories, experiences and emotions amongst learners, professionals and in other fields. We show the potential of the da capo technique to evoke a range of narratives that have added value given to them specifically through the use of music.
This research adds to the growing body of music self-efficacy literature by profiling changes in instrumental performance self-efficacy perceptions of 157 high school student musicians over the course of a 3-day competitive honor orchestra festival in order to clarify contextual influences upon self-efficacy perceptions within a high-stakes music performance environment. Student participants completed surveys, participated in interviews, and were observed by a team of researchers over the course of the festival. Reported instrumental performance self-efficacy beliefs were profiled over time by characteristics of gender, orchestra placement, and influence of competitive environment versus social support. Repeated measures analysis revealed a significant general increase in students’ instrumental performance self-efficacy beliefs over time, with a delayed increase in self-efficacy beliefs of females placed in the top orchestra. Qualitative data from interviews, observations, and open-ended survey responses were analyzed according to the sources of self-efficacy and in relation to statistical results. Findings suggest a strong influence of enactive mastery experience for all students, and a negative influence of competitive environment upon female self-beliefs. Recommendations include providing positive enactive mastery experiences for all students, and teacher awareness of student differences by gender, competitive placement, and influence of social support.
Research into music-induced analgesia, the ability of music to affect the perception of pain, has under-represented the non-acute, chronic pain population. This longitudinal study aimed to investigate the impact of music listening on chronic pain. In order to extend questionnaire-based approaches of pain assessment, a computerized visual search task was used before and after music listening as an objective measure of pain-related cognitive processing difficulties. Twenty-three participants (chronic pain sufferers or age/gender matched controls) listened to music for 28 days. Questionnaire-based results indicated that music listening consistently reduced pain intensity, unpleasantness and anxiety levels in the short term. However, there were no long-term or cumulative changes in pain relief or anxiety, with participant ratings at baseline comparable to those at 28 days. Visual search task performance demonstrated that chronic pain sufferers showed pain-related cognitive processing inhibitions on the target deviations demanding the greatest processing capacity. This suggests that, though music-induced analgesia was demonstrated through reduced pain ratings, chronic pain continued to interfere with cognitive processing. Durability of music-induced analgesia is therefore likely to be time-limited and hindered by pain-related attentional disruption, reduced engagement and low absorption levels. Explanations of results and suggestions for alternative objective measures of music listening interventions are offered.
This experiment tested the assumption that music plays a role in sexual selection. Three hundred young women were solicited in the street for their phone number by a young male confederate who held either a guitar case or a sports bag in his hands or had no bag at all. Results showed that holding a guitar case was associated with greater compliance to the request, thus suggesting that musical practice is associated with sexual selection.
Music therapy literature describes how music is used in the facilitation of healing from psychological trauma. This theoretical article addresses the converse, namely how trauma can impact on music creation, interpretation and performance. Psychological effects of trauma include Acute Stress Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. When composers and performers suffer from these disorders, the effects may become audible in the musical result. Obstacles encountered during the translation of emotion into physical motions can be linked to the adverse influence of tension, involving overlap between the physiological similarities of the state in which trauma is encoded and the experience of Music Performance Anxiety.
Examples from the lives of great musicians illustrate ways in which trauma impacts on creative expression. Interference and anxiety influence the resulting level of performance. Strategies to overcome consequences of unresolved trauma include therapeutic intervention, learning to trust the arousal cycle again, the release of frozen energy, and the creation of adequate dress rehearsal opportunities, enabling individuals to again enter the state of "flow." It is emphasized how adverse experience can catalyze Post-Traumatic Growth and how integration can facilitate healing and optimal performance.
This randomized controlled trial aimed to quantify the effects of choir singing on emotional state and anxiety levels of singers. Salivary amylase, PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule) and STAI-s/-t(State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) were applied before and after a 1-hour single choir session for an experimental group (n = 35) and unstructured time for control group (n = 35). Amylase decreased in the experimental group but increased in the control group (p > 0.05 for Fgroup; p = 0.014 for Ftestbygroup). Follow-up analysis showed this interaction to be due to baseline differences between the two groups. Negative affect decreased in the experimental group and increased in the control group (p > 0.05 for Ftest and Fgroup; p = 0.006 for Ftest by group). A decrease in positive affect was found between the pre- and post-test for the control group (p = 0.023 for Ftest; p = 0.004 for Ftest by group). State anxiety decreased in the experimental group and increased in the control group (p > 0.05 for Ftest and Fgroup; p = 0.001 for Ftest by group). Singing in a choir was found to have a positive impact on psychological indicators of affect and anxiety, however, its physiological effect could not be shown using salivary amylase in this study.
The last decade has produced a growing number of studies examining the potential psychological benefits of singing in a choir. Studies have tended to focus on the benefits for groups that might be described as marginalized or criminal. In contrast, the current study focused on members of the general public who regularly participate in choral singing. An in-depth qualitative design was utilized to explore the meaning and importance of group singing for 10 participants. Thematic analysis based on an interpretive approach was utilized to analyse the data. Psychological benefits emerged as two themes: individual and group. A third theme, mediating factors, impacted upon both individual and group outcomes. Eight sub-themes were identified and labelled: psychological, musical, physical, ethos, group dynamic, past experiences, type of choir and musical director. Results illustrate that group singing is a joyful activity that promotes wellbeing and is life enhancing for those involved. Future research directions are briefly discussed.
Instrumental music training has been shown to enhance cognitive processing beyond general intelligence. We examined this assumption with regard to working memory performance in primary school-aged children (N = 50; 7–8 years of age) within a longitudinal study design. Half of the children participated in an extended music education program with 45 minutes of weekly instrumental music training, while the other half received extended natural science training. Each child completed a computerized test battery three times over a period of 18 months. The battery included seven subtests, which address the central executive, the phonological loop and the visuospatial sketchpad components of Baddeley’s working memory model. Socio-economic background and basic cognitive functions were assessed for each participant and used as covariates in subsequent analyses of variance (ANOVAs). Significant group by time interactions were found for phonological loop and central executive subtests, indicating a superior developmental course in children with music training compared to the control group. These results confirm previous findings concerning music training and cognitive performance. It is suggested that children receiving music training benefit specifically in those aspects of cognitive functioning that are strongly related to auditory information processing.
The research reported here focuses on the organizational structure and facilitator strategies observed in musical activities with older people. The observations formed one part of the Music for Life Project, funded by the ESRC New Dynamics of Ageing Programme (http://www.newdynamics.group.shef.ac.uk/), which investigated the social, emotional and cognitive benefits of participation in community music making, amongst older people. Three hundred and ninety eight people aged 50+ were recruited from three case study sites offering diverse musical activities. Observations of 33 groups were analysed. Approximately half of the observed time was spent with participants engaged in practical music-making, supported by facilitators who sang or played along, conducted or accompanied. Facilitators spent a relatively small amount of time providing non-verbal modelling and very little participant discussion or facilitator attributional feedback was observed. The findings suggested that facilitators could develop their practice by a) making more extensive use of non-verbal modelling; b) creating space for open questioning and discussion, where participants are encouraged to contribute to setting goals; c) making more extensive use of attributional feedback that empowers learners to control their own learning; and d) vary the organizational structure and style in order to meet a range of diverse needs within groups of older learners.
How do chamber music ensembles consistently succeed in achieving a level of harmony that many other work groups can only dream of? Through an in-depth case study of a professional vocal ensemble, this study explores some of the factors that underlie the excellence of chamber music ensembles as work groups. Qualitative interview data revealed information about member characteristics, leadership models, task distribution, decision making, relationships, conflicts, the artistic production process, characteristics of good ensemble singing, group aspirations, issues of identity, and challenges as musicians. In particular, the ensemble members’ collective commitment to excellence was striking. Results further revealed that members possess a set of highly relevant personal and interpersonal skills that are manifested both on and off stage: self awareness, restraint, interpersonal awareness, and mutual sensitivity. It is suggested that this set of skills is crucial in enabling musicians to collaborate in pursuit of their collective artistic endeavours.
The purpose of this meta-analysis was to determine whether experimentally tested sightreading interventions positively influenced sightreading ability. A meta-analysis was conducted with 92 quasi-experimental research studies on sightreading (124 individual analyses) to determine the overall effect size of treatment and to examine how the effect size was influenced by treatment type, sightreading mode (sightreading/sightsinging), age and experience of sight reader, type of sightreading test, and other study design elements. The analysis revealed a small overall effect size for treatment (d = –0.18, 95% CI [–0.24, –0.11]). Of the moderator variables, only treatment-type was significant, with treatments categorized as "Aural Training," "Controlled Reading," "Creative Activities," and "Singing/Solfege" significantly and positively affecting sightreading. There was a moderately strong within-group effect size (d = –0.48, 95% CI [–0.56, –0.40]), indicating that sightreading generally improved pre- to posttest for both control and treatment groups.
Recent research on music teaching and the curricula proposed in different countries increasingly insists on moving towards teaching centered on managing students’ mental processes according to the constructivist approach. However, studies on conceptions and practices of teaching–learning show that these still largely focus on transmitting the musical and technical knowledge needed to produce the correct sound. Our main aim was to study the conceptions of teaching–learning held by 53 string teachers at elementary levels, and to test how they are affected by the variable teaching experience (in three groups: [a] less than 7 years; [b] 7–14 years; and [c] more than 14 years). We also wanted to determine whether these conceptions give rise to consistent profiles in three pedagogical dimensions: teaching, learning, and evaluation. We collected data by means of a multiple-choice questionnaire, and applied cluster analysis, correlations, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and post hoc tests. Agreeing with prior research, we found three distinct profiles in the answers to the questionnaire: direct, interpretative, and constructive. Teachers’ beliefs were more constructive regarding teaching and evaluation than regarding learning, although younger teachers held more complex positions regarding teaching and learning music, in contrast to much research on teaching-expertise.
We report the major findings from the psychosocial questionnaire component of a cross-sectional population survey of the musicians in Australia’s eight full-time professional symphonic and pit orchestras. The response rate was 70% (n = 377). Female musicians reported significantly more trait anxiety, music performance anxiety, social anxiety, and other forms of anxiety and depression than male musicians. The youngest musicians (<30 years) were significantly more anxious compared with the oldest musicians (51+). The youngest female musicians were most affected by music performance anxiety. Music performance anxiety was lowest for the older musicians (51+ years). Thirty-three per cent of musicians may meet criteria for a diagnosis of social phobia. Twenty-two per cent answered in the affirmative to a question screening for post-traumatic stress disorder. Thirty-two per cent returned a positive depression screen; this subgroup had higher scores on the anxiety measures. Linear regression analysis identified the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-T), the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN), the Anxiety and Depression Detector (ADD) and age as independent predictors of music performance anxiety severity. Significant numbers of musicians drank alcohol in a manner outside the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) alcohol guidelines (2009); only 6% were current smokers. This study has identified a significant pattern of anxiety, depression and health behaviours that require attention in occupational health and safety policies and programmes for this workforce.
This paper considers the ways in which the use of music technology in therapeutic settings helps people with a range of differing abilities to establish a sense of identity as they adjust to changing physical abilities. A total of 12 interviews with six music therapists, each experienced users of electronic equipment using musical instrument digital interface (MIDI)-generated sounds triggered by specialist input devices, and working within a variety of therapeutic settings, considered the various applications, benefits, and risks of using technology in such contexts. Examination of case study video footage provided by each therapist was incorporated within the interviews in order to facilitate a detailed and focused discussion (cf. Davidson & Good, 2002). Data were analyzed independently by two multidisciplinary investigators using open coding procedures from grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). The findings suggest that music technology provides a means to assist people with complex needs to form alternative identities by: (1) offering a sense of empowerment, independence and achievement; and (2) allowing access to alternative identities through associations with wider cultural contexts. The implications are far-reaching and suggest that music technology has a valuable role to play within therapeutic contexts which has not previously been identified.
Listeners take for granted their capacity to distinguish between musical instruments, and their ability to discriminate between performers playing the same instrument by their sound alone. Sound perception is usually considered a purely auditory process, but there is significant debate on how auditory and visual information are integrated during listening. Two experiments examined how listeners perceive individual performers. Saxophonists (n = 5) performed three jazz standards for an audio and video recording. Experiment 1 investigated listeners’ ability to identify individual saxophonists by ear. Listeners heard one saxophonist, and were later asked to identify him from a line-up of saxophonists. Only 52% of listeners could correctly identify their target. Experiment 2 explored the integration of cross-modal sensory experiences (audio and visual) in saxophonist identification. Participants either watched a silent video clip of a saxophonist playing and matched it to an audio clip of the same performer, or heard an audio clip of a saxophonist and matched it to a silent video clip. Listener/viewers reliably identified their target saxophonists, and results suggest that listeners combine cross-modal perceptions to identify individual performers, and can use the information about a performer in one modality and match it to the same performer in another modality.
The present study examined whether eye movements when regarding pictures of other people in fortunate (positive) and unfortunate (negative) circumstances are influenced by background music. Sixty-three participants were randomly assigned to three background music conditions (happy music, sad music, or no music) where pairs of negative–positive pictures were shown. Participants’ eye movements were recorded throughout the experiment to assess distinct phases of attentional processes, i.e., initial orienting to, and subsequent engagement with, visual scenes. We found that these attentional processes were not uniformly influenced by the music. The type of background music had no effect on initial visual attention but played a relevant role in guiding subsequent gaze behaviour by maintaining attention in a mood-congruent fashion: sad music enhanced attentional bias to visual images of others in unfortunate circumstances, whereas happy music contributed to longer gazes at images of others in fortunate circumstances. These results support the notion that attention is affected by background music and reflected by gaze behaviour.
The cognitive processing similarities between music and language is an emerging field of study, with research finding evidence for shared processing pathways in the brain, especially in relation to syntax. This research combines theory from the shared syntactic integration resource hypothesis (SSIRH; Patel, 2008) and syntactic working memory (SWM) theory (Kljajevic, 2010), and suggests there will be shared processing costs when music and language concurrently access SWM. To examine this, word lists and complex sentences were paired with three music conditions: normal; syntactic manipulation (out-of-key chord); and a control condition with an instrument manipulation. As predicted, memory for sentences declined when paired with the syntactic manipulation compared to the other two music manipulations, but the same pattern did not occur in word lists. This suggests that both sentences and music with a syntactic irregularity are accessing SWM. Word lists, however, are thought to be primarily accessing the phonological loop, and therefore did not show effects of shared processing. Musicians performed differently from non-musicians, suggesting that the processing of musical and linguistic syntax differs with musical ability. Such results suggest a separation in processing between the phonological loop and SWM, and give evidence for shared processing mechanisms between music and language syntax.
The purpose of this study was to determine what effect, if any, subtitles would have on listeners’ perceptions of expressivity in an operatic performance. Specifically, this study addressed the following research questions: (1) will there be differences in perceived expressivity among three listening conditions (audio only, audio + video, audio + video with subtitles)? (2) Will the listening condition have an effect on listeners’ magnitude of response? (3) Will listening condition have an effect on listeners’ stated focus of attention during the listening task? (4) Where during the stimulus will listeners perceive moments of expressivity? A 13-minute excerpt from a live production of Puccini’s La Bohème was used as the music stimulus. Participants (N = 103) were randomly assigned to the experimental (audio + video, audio + video with subtitles) and control (audio only) groups. Continuous data were collected via the Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI), and summative data were collected via a post hoc questionnaire. Results revealed significant differences in listeners’ continuous data among all three groups, with the audio condition evidencing the highest response magnitude, and the subtitles group receiving the lowest response magnitude. No significant differences were found among the groups with respect to summative perceptions of expressivity or focus of attention. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Procedural memory consolidation has been shown to enhance a variety of perceptual and motor skills during sleep, but only recently has this effect been investigated in trained musicians performing music. I tested the extent to which expected music performance skill improves over a night of sleep and to what extent the new skill memory may be fragile following initial learning. Musicians (N = 60) learned a 13-note piano melody in individual evening training sessions under one of four practice conditions. Performance of the target melody was tested the next morning following a night of sleep. In line with previous research findings, subjects showed evidence of overnight gains in performance speed and accuracy. However, these results reveal, for the first time with musicians, that additional practice on a second, similar melody seems to inhibit these overnight gains, perhaps indicating that the overnight consolidation of new skill memories is susceptible to interference from similar tasks.
The purpose of this study was to investigate longitudinally the process of acquiring absolute pitch (AP). Twenty-four young children (aged 2 to 6 years) without AP were trained to acquire AP using Eguchi’s (1991) Chord Identification Method (CIM). All children were able to acquire AP (except two who ceased training). Results suggest that, at a minimum, children younger than 6 years old are capable of acquiring AP through intentional training. Furthermore, children’s errors observed during training suggested the transition of different strategies relying respectively on tone height and tone chroma. Initially, children identified chords using a strategy depending primarily on tone height, then gradually they began to attend to tone chroma to identify chords and this process ultimately led to acquisition of AP.
In the present study we examined how different aspects of a person’s life, such as the amount of stress experienced, levels of optimism, and the amount of musical training received, were related to their motives for listening to music (for emotional regulation and/or for cognitive stimulation) and their preferences for what types of music to listen to. Participants (N = 154) completed surveys measuring stress, optimism, music uses, and music preferences. Results indicate that high stress ratings predicted the use of music for emotional regulation. Additionally, optimistic individuals also tended to use music emotionally, meaning that stress and optimism, though highly negatively correlated, appear to influence uses of music independently. People with more music training followed a different pattern; even though they had higher stress ratings and lower optimism ratings overall, individuals with music training tended to listen to music for cognitive reasons more than for emotional regulation. These findings help us further understand the variables that lead to individual differences in music uses and preferences.
Pitch is a fundamental musical factor; however, findings about its contribution to the elicitation of emotions are contradictory. The purpose of this work was to assess the effect of systematic pitch variations on self-reports of felt valence and arousal. In a within-subject design, 49 subjects listened to four 1-minute classical piano excerpts, each presented at three different pitch levels (one octave lower than the original version, the original version and one octave higher than the original version). Compared to excerpts both without octave modification and in the +1 octave variant, pleasantness of excerpts in the -1 octave variant was significantly lower. This main effect was stronger for women than men and, importantly, was modulated by the specific characteristics of the stimuli. There was also a significant, yet smaller, negative relationship between pitch level and arousal, moderated by gender: Compared to higher pitch, lower pitch was associated with higher arousal in men only. Regarding the complex outcomes of this study, future studies should investigate to which extent our findings can be generalized to other musical works. The ultimate goal might be to demonstrate how pitch level interacts with other musical features and listeners’ characteristics in eliciting diverse affective experiences.
Symphony orchestra musicians have characterized their careers as stressful, boring, and lacking in artistic integrity. In addition, they typically do not score high on job satisfaction inventories. This study describes how symphony orchestra members seek professional fulfillment through participating in school-based programs. Forty-seven musicians from two US orchestras who were participating in their orchestra’s education program were interviewed and observed in schools working with children. The interview transcriptions and classroom observation field notes and summaries were analyzed and coded for emergent themes. The results indicated that the musicians valued four major outcomes of their work in classrooms: the opportunity to express their creativity that the development of their presentations provided, the relationships forged with schools and children, the impact they could have on individual students’ lives, and the opportunity to serve the community. Orchestra musicians’ perspectives of their career paths appear to be enhanced by providing opportunities for them to work closely with students, particularly in under-resourced schools in their communities.
Musical ability has been found to be associated with an enhancement of verbal working memory. In this study, we investigated whether this effect would generalize to visual-spatial working memory as would be expected if the effect were driven by general intelligence. We administered the WAIS-III Digit Span; the WMS-III Spatial Span; and the Musical Ear Test (MET), a forced-choice same/different listening task measuring musical ability, to non-musicians, amateur musicians, and expert musicians. Expert musicians significantly outperformed non-musicians on the Digit Span. Additionally, Digit Span Forward scores were found to be correlated with MET total scores and with scores on the rhythm subtest of the MET. No between-group differences were found on the Spatial Span.
Across cultures and age groups music has a powerful impact on human affective states. We examined the effect of these affective responses on children’s and adults’ ability to label musical excerpts as major or minor. Adults, 10-year-olds, and 5-year-olds rated affective quality of excerpts that differed by mode, tempo, pitch, and excerpt type and then categorized the excerpts by mode. Trial-by-trial assessment of category judgments indicated performance was accurately predicted by subjects’ association of affective valence with musical properties. Specifically, strength of this association prior to training predicted greater category knowledge, types of errors, and age differences in learning.
Previous research studying the effect of background music on consumer behavior has used music associated with lyrics and failed to use a no music control condition. Instrumental music (jazz and djembe) was played or not while participants browsed the website of a well-known seaside resort and participants were instructed to select a type of accommodation. It was found that djembe music was associated more with a choice of outdoor accommodation while jazz music was associated with greater interest for hotel accommodation. Both music conditions showed a significant difference from the no music control condition. The ability of instrumental music to prime different memories and feelings is used to explain these results.
This causal comparative study examined the consistency with which listeners from two cultures (Germany and the USA) associate extra musical concepts with four popular music genres (German folksy, country, punk, and hip-hop). The results showed that for internationally recognized genres (country, punk and hip-hop), the two countries made similar association patterns for all eight concepts measured (ethnicity, rural vs. urban culture, age, trustworthiness, expertise, attractiveness, friendliness, and political ideology). The study also revealed instances where the countries differed, such as hip-hop’s association with ethnicity and most of the German folksy associations. The results are discussed in light of models of musical meaning. Furthermore, an integration of societal-level and individual-level theories predicts these similarities and differences. The theories include massification, glocalization, and cognitive schemas.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of cognitive load during practice on university wind students’ learning. Cognitive load was manipulated through instrument family (woodwind or brass) and the amount of repetition used in practice (highly repetitive or random). University woodwind and valved-brass students (N = 46) completed two practice sessions and two retention testing sessions. Participants practiced three seven-pitch tasks in either a blocked, repetitive order or in a random order. Performance trials were scored for accuracy, speed and evenness. At 24-hour retention, woodwind players who had practiced in a random order were able to play significantly faster, F(4,80) = 4.448, p = .003, 2 = .15, and more evenly, F(4,80) = 4.464, p = .003, 2 = .16, than woodwind players who had practiced in a blocked order. However, for brass players, blocked practice supported better accuracy, F(4,64) = 3.508, p = .012, 2 = .15, and speed, F(4,64) = 4.489, p = .003, 2 = .18, than random practice. A secondary research question examined participants’ judgment of learning. At the end of the second practice session, participants predicted the tempo they expected to be able to play the tasks at during the 24-hour retention session. A significant correlation between predicted and performed tempo was found for brass players using blocked practice (r = .360, p = .04).
An affective cross-modal priming paradigm was used in three experiments to test the effects of mode, consonance, and register in picture-evaluation and word-evaluation tasks. In experiment 1, participants heard major mode/minor mode, high-register/low-register chords (three tones) as primes and then they had to categorize a ‘happy’ or ‘sad’ word as a target. Participants evaluated target words faster if the words were preceded by a similarly valenced chord as opposed to affectively incongruent chord-word pairs. In experiments 2 and 3, target words were replaced by target affective pictures. In experiment 2, the primes were consonant/dissonant, high register/low-register chords. Register influenced picture evaluation whereas consonance was not effective for the affective priming. In experiment 3, the primes were major mode/minor mode, high-register/low-register chords. Register induced a faster recognition of targets while mode was not effective. Register is suggested to be a more powerful structural aspect of music than mode or consonance in influencing ongoing cognitive activities.
This research examined individuals’ preference for happy music when dealing with resolved versus unresolved sad events. In experiment 1 (N = 49), participants dealing with unresolved sad events were more likely to select music that was happy, exciting, upbeat, and active than those dealing with resolved sad events. Unresolved sadness participants also wanted to listen to music that was significantly happier, more exciting, more upbeat, and more active than the music selected by the resolved sadness participants. In experiment 2 (N = 79), we employed a ‘mood-freeze’ procedure to investigate whether participants in the unresolved sadness condition were motivated to select happy music in order to cope with their unresolved sad events. Specifically, we tested whether these individuals would still be motivated to select happy music if they were led to believe they could not regulate their feelings of sadness. As predicted, participants whose sadness was ostensibly frozen (unresolved/mood-freeze condition) and participants in resolved sadness condition were significantly less likely to select happy music, and wanted to listen to music that was less happy compared to those in the unresolved/control condition. These findings suggest that choice of happy music by the individuals dealing with unresolved sad events is motivated.
The paper investigates the challenges that musicians face when playing in a paediatric hospital, drawing on case study evidence from a long-standing programme in Italy. The research focussed on identifying: (i) the inherent challenges of being a performer in a hospital; and (ii) the professional characteristics of the musicians who perform in hospitals. As part of a wider, cross-cultural study, musicians (N = 8) were asked to report their (i) physical and (ii) psychological perceptions, before and after their musical performance in the hospital across four weeks. Interview data were analyzed according to content analysis and were informed by grounded theory. Results suggest that performing in a hospital setting is particularly demanding psychologically and emotionally where the nature of the musicians’ role requires them to improvise (i) as part of their normal performance practice, seeking active collaboration by the patient, and (ii) environmentally, in relation to changes in the medical condition of their client/patient/audience. The results are also explained in terms of inherent tensions in a professional musical identity that requires expert performance in a clinical setting.
This study investigates children’s metarepresentational competence (MRC) with regard to listening to and making sense of simple sonic stimuli. Using diSessa’s (2002) seminal work on MRC in mathematics and sciences as background, it aims to assess the relative importance children attribute to several criteria for representational adequacy of graphical representations of sonic stimuli, as well as to investigate the impact of children’s age and music background on their valuations of the relative importance of these criteria. Four groups of children (8–9- and 11–12-year-olds with and without extra music education) were exposed to short and simple sonic fragments. For each fragment they received a set of pairs of representations from which they had to choose one from each pair. The representations were organized in pairs of opposites for two of the four representational criteria involved in the study (correctness, formality, transparency, and neatness). The findings revealed a development in children’s personal hierarchies of representational criteria with growing age and musical education towards the following ranking: (1) correctness; (2) neatness; (3) formality; and (4) transparency. Theoretical, methodological, and educational implications are discussed.
This study examined the effects of the conductor’s goal orientation (mastery vs. performance) and use of shared performance cues (basic vs. interpretive vs. expressive) on instrumentalists’ self-efficacy, collective efficacy, attributions, and performance. Eighty-one college instrumentalists from two musical ensembles participated in the study. It was hypothesized that instrumentalists who undergo a mastery goal-oriented rehearsal and experience a conductor’s use of expressive shared performance cues would report higher levels in all measures than those who undergo a performance goal-oriented rehearsal and are exposed to interpretive performance cues, which in turn surpass those who experience basic performance cues. Results indicated that participants in the mastery goal orientation condition reported higher levels of collective and self-efficacy beliefs and attributed the success or failure of the ensemble most frequently to the conductor’s use of rehearsal strategies (i.e., baton technique, verbal directions regarding the music). In addition, the conductor’s use of expressive shared performance cues had a significant impact on instrumentalists’ collective efficacy, self-efficacy, performance, and attributions. Findings of this study may provide some guidance on how conductors can create effective rehearsal environments.
Contextual and relational models of music therapy suggest the relevance of music-related outcomes in clients’ everyday life, but no standardized instruments exist for that purpose. We aimed to develop and test the reliability and validity of a self-report questionnaire to measure interest in music (IiM). Twelve Likert-scaled items reflecting pro-social and socially avoidant aspects of interest in music were developed and translated into three languages (English, Norwegian, German). A total of 144 adults with a mental disorder and low therapy motivation completed the IiM questionnaire and adjacent self-report measures (self-esteem, social relationships). Interest in music was also rated by a mental health professional. Completion of the IiM was repeated after one and three months. Dimensionality, internal consistency, test–retest reliability and concurrent validity were examined. Analyses indicated two dimensions, Musical Activity and Emotional Engagement with Music (10 items) and Social Avoidance through Music (2 items). Internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha 0.89 and 0.77), test–retest reliability (1- and 3-month intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) ranging from 0.61 to 0.85), and concurrent validity were demonstrated. The IiM scale fills an important gap in the tools available for music therapy assessment and outcome research in mental health.
This article addresses individuals’ decisions to continue or cease playing a musical instrument from a basic psychological needs perspective. Participants began learning music 10 years prior to the study and were the subject of previous longitudinal research. They completed a survey investigating the three psychological needs of competence, relatedness, and autonomy in the contexts of when they were most engaged in playing their instrument during high school, and in the time leading up to when they ceased playing. Decisions to cease music instruction or playing an instrument were associated with diminished feelings of competence, relatedness, and autonomy, compared to when they were most engaged. Open-ended responses to a question about why they ceased playing supported this finding and showed that participants refer to reasons directly related to feelings of psychological needs being thwarted. This article therefore proposes that motivations to cease or continue playing a musical instrument demonstrate a natural propensity to more vital, healthy forms of behaviour. The study offers preliminary evidence for a framework that may help to unify previous research in music and supports motivational research in other areas.
Music may arouse intense emotions in listeners, but little is known about the circumstances that contribute to such reactions. Here we report a listening experiment that investigated the roles of selected musical, situational, and individual factors in emotional reactions to music. In a 2 x 2 factorial design, we manipulated music choice (self-chosen vs. randomly sampled) and social context (alone vs. with a close friend or partner). Fifty university students (20–43 years old) rated their emotional responses to the music in terms of overall emotion intensity and 15 emotions. We also measured personality traits (NEO-PI-R) and psychophysiological responses (skin conductance, heart rate). Consistent with predictions based on previous field studies, listeners reported more intense emotions (1) to self-chosen music than to randomly selected music and (2) when listening with a close friend or partner than when listening alone. Moreover, listeners scoring high on the trait Openness to experience experienced more intense emotions than listeners scoring low. All three factors correlated positively with the experience of positive emotions such as happiness and pleasure.
In this study we investigated the effect of musical training and emotional content of stimuli on time estimation. Eighty students aged 12 to 15 years were equally divided into two main groups (musicians, non-musicians) based on whether they had formal music education or not. The participants took part in a music listening task and were asked to estimate the duration of a happy or a sad song. The results showed that: musical training affects temporal perception by allowing individuals to make more accurate estimations of time durations; the emotional content of the song affects time estimation, especially in the case of non-musicians; non-musicians overestimate the duration of sad songs while they underestimate the duration in the case of happy songs. These results emphasize the close relationship between time estimation, musical training, and emotion.
Chronic pain is a major health problem and, as direct treatments often fail to offer lasting pain relief, more effective self-management strategies are needed. There is evidence that music listening can provide relief of pain and accompanying emotional distress in acute settings, primarily through distraction. Less is known about the functions of music listening in chronic pain although survey research has suggested that it could aid distraction, relaxation and sense of control. Building on these findings, this qualitative study explored the narratives of 11 people living with chronic pain about the perceived impact of music listening on pain experience. The results indicated frequent loss of involvement with and enjoyment of music following chronic pain. Despite this, music could improve emotional state and uplift, console, energize and relax the listener and offer a sense of companionship. Conversely, at times it could upset or irritate. Music could act as a distraction from pain, as a cue to movement and as a motivator to exercise. Finally, music could provide a link to memories of a self before pain and escape from a painful body. All these functions have potential for development as effective self-management strategies for chronic pain.
This investigation explored the relationships between individuals’ self-images and their interactions with their digital music collections via the commercially predominant program iTunes. Sixty-nine university students completed an internet-based Musical Self-Images Questionnaire (MSIQ) along with a series of questions concerning their iTunes collections. The majority of participants were highly engaged with music, regardless of their varied musical backgrounds. Factor analysis of the MSIQ data revealed two distinct self-image groups, which we label as ‘musical practitioner’ (linking ‘overall musician’, ‘performer’, ‘composer’, ‘teacher’, and ‘listener’) and ‘music consumer’ (linking ‘listener’, ‘fan’, and ‘technology user’). Participants used an average of seven attributes to categorize their music, and most consistently used one in particular to sort their collections. Those who rated themselves as higher level performers and fans used the playlist function (which involves compiling sequences of selected tracks) more often than those with lower self-ratings on those scales.
We investigated the association of music preferences with depressive symptoms among high school students in Istanbul; 10th-, 11th- and 12th-grade students (N = 1226) were chosen for the study. The Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) and a detailed, semi-structured, self-report inquiry assessing music preferences and various psychosocial variables were administered to the students. Adolescents reporting heavy metal music and arabesque music in their playlists had significantly higher CDI total scores compared to adolescents who did not report these genres in their playlists. The percentage of students with problematic parent relations was highest for those with preferences for heavy metal music. Alcohol use was highest among students with preferences for dance/hip-hop music, followed by those with preferences for heavy metal. Negative thoughts and feelings when listening to music were related to higher CDI scores regardless of the favourite music genre. Future studies are needed to clarify the relationship between music preferences and specific psychopathologies in adolescents.