1,384 research outputs found
The Japanese translation of the Gold-MSI: Adaptation and validation of the self-report questionnaire of musical sophistication
This study presents a Japanese translation of the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI). The index consists of 38 self-report questions and provides a general sophistication score as well as subscale scores for Active Engagement, Perceptual Abilities, Musical Training, Singing Abilities, and Emotions. The validation of the translation with 689 native Japanese speakers indicated excellent internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the bifactor model structure formulated by the original study of Gold-MSI is maintained reasonably in our data. The strengths of the Gold-MSI self-report inventory are (1) it offers a multifaceted view of musical sophistication, (2) a subset of five subscales can be used to measure different aspects of musical sophistication independently, and (3) the ease of administration as it is a self-report questionnaire. In view of the fact that this inventory and its translations increasingly contribute to research on musical expertise, skills, and abilities, having a Japanese translation may enhance future research in these areas even further
The Timbre Perception Test (TPT): A new interactive musical assessment tool to measure timbre perception ability
To date, tests that measure individual differences in the ability to perceive musical timbre are scarce in the published literature.The lack of such tool limits research on how timbre, a primary attribute of sound, is perceived and processed among individuals.The current paper describes the development of the Timbre Perception Test (TPT), in which participants use a slider to reproduce heard auditory stimuli that vary along three important dimensions of timbre: envelope, spectral flux, and spectral centroid. With a sample of 95 participants, the TPT was calibrated and validated against measures of related abilities and examined for its reliability. The results indicate that a short-version (8 minutes) of the TPT has good explanatory support from a factor analysis model, acceptable internal reliability (α=.69,ωt = .70), good test–retest reliability (r= .79) and substantial correlations with self-reported general musical sophistication (ρ= .63) and pitch discrimination (ρ= .56), as well as somewhat lower correlations with duration discrimination (ρ= .27), and musical instrument discrimination abilities (ρ= .33). Overall, the TPT represents a robust tool to measure an individual’s timbre perception ability. Furthermore, the use of sliders to perform a reproductive task has shown to be an effective approach in threshold testing. The current version of the TPT is openly available for research purposes
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The Effect of Three Different Levels of Skill Training in Musical Timbre Discrimination on Alphabet Sound Discrimination in Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Children
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of three different levels of skill training in musical timbre discrimination on alphabet sound discrimination in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children.
The findings of prior investigations indicated similarities between aural music and language perception. Psychoacoustic and neurological findings have reported the discrimination of alphabet quality and musical timbre to be similar perceptual functions and have provided, through imaging technology, physical evidence of music learning simultaneously stimulating non-musical areas of the brain.
This investigator hypothesized that timbre discrimination, the process of differentiating the characteristic quality of one complex sound from another of identical pitch and loudness, may have been a common factor between music and alphabet sound discrimination. Existing studies had not explored this relationship or the effects of directly teaching for transfer on learning generalization between skills used for the discrimination of musical timbre and alphabet sounds.
Variables identified as similar from the literature were the discrimination of same- different musical and alphabet sounds, visual recognition of musical and alphabet pictures as sound sources, and association of alphabet and musical sounds with matching symbols.
A randomized pre-post test design with intermittent measures was used to implement the study. There were 5 instructional groups. Groups 1, 2,and 3 received one, two and three levels of skill instruction respectively. Groups 4 received three levels of skill training with instruction for transfer; Group 5 traditional timbre instruction. Students were measured at the 5th (Level 1), 10th (Level 2), 14th (Level 3), and 18th (delayed re-test), weeks of instruction.
Results revealed timbre discrimination instruction had a significant impact on alphabet sound-symbol discrimination achievement in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children. Different levels of timbre instruction had different degrees of effectiveness on alphabet sound discrimination. Students who received three levels of timbre discrimination instruction and were taught to transfer skill similarities from music timbre discrimination to alphabet sound discrimination, were significantly more proficient in alphabet sound symbol discrimination than those who had not received instruction Posttest comparisons indicated skill relationships were strengthened by instruction for transfer. Transfer strategies had a significant impact on the retention of newly learned skills over time
Behavioral and subcortical signatures of musical expertise in Mandarin Chinese speakers
Both musical training and native language have been shown to have experience-based plastic effects on auditory processing. However, the combined effects within individuals are unclear. Recent research suggests that musical training and tone language speaking are not clearly additive in their effects on processing of auditory features and that there may be a disconnect between perceptual and neural signatures of auditory feature processing. The literature has only recently begun to investigate the effects of musical expertise on basic auditory processing for different linguistic groups. This work provides a profile of primary auditory feature discrimination for Mandarin speaking musicians and nonmusicians. The musicians showed enhanced perceptual discrimination for both frequency and duration as well as enhanced duration discrimination in a multifeature discrimination task, compared to nonmusicians. However, there were no differences between the groups in duration processing of nonspeech sounds at a subcortical level or in subcortical frequency representation of a nonnative tone contour, for f(o) or for the first or second formant region. The results indicate that musical expertise provides a cognitive, but not subcortical, advantage in a population of Mandarin speakers.Peer reviewe
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The interaction of musical sound waves and meridian energy : a pilot study in the development of an integrated systems model for the treatment of psychogenic stress disorders.
The treatment effects of musical pitch and key are noticeably absent in music therapy research. The nature and patterns of the interaction between meridian energy and musical sound waves has received little or no attention in the music therapy literature and contemporary acupuncture literature. Forty-three acupuncture patients were treated with musical sound waves (329.6 Hz) on Earth points of major yin meridians when those points were clinically indicated as determined by Worsley-trained acupuncture practitioners. The musical sound wave was generated with a tuning fork, and each patient was tested and re-tested for matched-pair analysis of data. Three response categories--better, no change and worse--were compared with attention given to quantitative and qualitative differences as a function of age, CF, point, point function, meridian and the season in which treatments were received. Significant (p =.05) results indicate that treatment responses to the sound waves were not individually-specific. Significant results also indicated that therapeutic responses were more reliably accomplished on tonification points (IV\sb3, IX\sb9) and on XII\sb3 than they were on those points that are sedation points (\rm I\sb7,\ V\sb7,\ VIII\sb3). Trends in the results suggest that effectiveness of this pitch may be meridian-specific and point-specific. Trends in the data suggest that therapeutic responsivity was CF-specific with people having Water CFs showing more therapeutic response to treatment than people with other CFs. Trends suggest therapeutic response was possibly seasonally-specific with Late Summer therapeutic responses somewhat greater than those from treatments received in other seasons. Trends in the data also suggest that instrumental preferences may be used to diagnose principal energetic imbalance. Conclusions from the data are generalizable to include music of E major and E minor, but restricted to meridian energy interactions with 329.6 Hz. Findings relative to the musical sound equivalents of the Five Functional Voices in the Systems of Correspondence, the theoretical foundations of ancient Taoist medical theory, are promising. Trends in the data support the hypothesis that overtone frequency (E) 329.6 Hz is the contemporary equivalent to Kong if the fundamental is C\sb2
Timbre's function in the perception of affective intentions: Contextual information and effects of learning
Timbre has been identified by music perception scholars as a component in the communication of affect in music. While its function as a carrier of perceptually useful information about sound source mechanics has been established, less is understood about whether and how it functions as a carrier of information for communicating affect in music. To investigate these issues, listeners trained in Chinese and Western musical traditions were presented with phrases, measures, and individual notes of recorded excerpts interpreted with a variety of affective intentions by performers on instruments from the two cultures. These excerpts were analyzed to determine acoustic features that are correlated with timbre characteristics. Analysis revealed consistent use of temporal, spectral, and spectrotemporal attributes in judging affective intent in music, suggesting purposeful use of these properties within the sounds by listeners. Comparison between listeners' perceptions across notes and longer segments also revealed greater accuracy in perception with increased musical context. How timbre is used for musical communication appears to be implicated differently across musical traditions. The important role timbre plays also appears to vary for different positions within a musical phrase, suggesting that patterns of change over time are crucial in emotional communication
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