Effects of musical training and absolute pitch ability on event‐related activity in response to sine tones

1992 ◽  
Vol 91 (6) ◽  
pp. 3527-3531 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Wayman ◽  
Robert D. Frisina ◽  
Joseph P. Walton ◽  
Edwin C. Hantz ◽  
Garry C. Crummer
Keyword(s):  
Musical Training ◽  
Absolute Pitch ◽  
Related Activity

scholarly journals PITCH MEMORY AND EXPOSURE EFFECTS: Statistical learning and the effects of implicit "absolute pitch" on the perception and evaluation of music

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moshe Shay Ben-Haim ◽  
Zohar Eitan ◽  
Eran Chajut
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Absolute Pitch ◽  
Considerable Proportion ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Frequency Of Occurrence ◽  
Auditory Cognition ◽  
Musical Cognition ◽  
Pitch Frequency

Recent studies indicate that the ability to represent absolute pitch values in long-term memory (LTM), long believed to be the possession of a small minority of trained musicians endowed with "absolute pitch" (AP), is in fact shared to some extent by a considerable proportion of the population. The current study examined whether this newly discovered ability affects aspects of music and auditory cognition, particularly pitch learning and evaluation. Our starting points are two well established premises: (1) frequency of occurrence has an influence on the way we process stimuli; (2) in Western music, some pitches and musical keys are much more frequent than others. Based on these premises, we hypothesize that if absolute pitch values are indeed represented in LTM, pitch frequency of occurrence in music would significantly affect cognitive processes, in particular pitch learning and evaluation. Two experiments were designed to test this hypothesis in participants with no AP, most with little or no musical training. Experiment 1 demonstrated a faster response and a learning advantage for frequent pitches over infrequent pitches in an identification task. In Experiment 2 participants evaluated infrequent pitches as more pleasing than frequent pitches when presented in isolation. These results suggest that absolute pitch representation in memory may play a substantial, hitherto unacknowledged role in auditory (and specifically musical) cognition.

The effects of timbre on absolute pitch judgment

2020 ◽  
pp. 030573561989343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaonuo Li
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Absolute Pitch ◽  
Tonal Music ◽  
Test Study ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Overall Performance ◽  
Very High

This article reports the high prevalence of Absolute Pitch (AP) among students at Shanghai Conservatory of Music and explores the effects of timbre on AP judgment through a large-scale direct-test study. This study used two types of timbres (piano timbre and string timbre) to explore the correlation between the different types of timbre and note-naming accuracy. The participants included 71 undergraduate students majoring in piano and string at Shanghai Conservatory of Music, who had begun musical training at an age ⩽ 9 and focused on Western tonal music. The main results showed that the overall performance levels were very high and that the students scored 73% correct without semitone errors and 80% with semitone errors. All groups exhibited higher performance in judging pitches in piano timbre than string timbre. In addition, after listening to piano timbre, the accuracy in judging pitches in string timbre was significantly increased, and after listening to string timbre, the accuracy in judging pitches in piano timbre decreased but not significantly.

Absolute pitch learning in adults speaking non-tonal languages

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (11) ◽  
pp. 1908-1920
Author(s):  
Yetta Kwailing Wong ◽  
Vince SH Ngan ◽  
Leo YT Cheung ◽  
Alan C-N Wong
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Absolute Pitch ◽  
Tonal Language ◽  
Relative Pitch ◽  
External Reference ◽  
Small Pitch ◽  
Early Childhood Experience ◽  
Language Exposure

Absolute pitch (AP) refers to labelling individual pitches in the absence of external reference. A widely endorsed theory regards AP as a privileged ability enjoyed by selected few with rare genetic makeup and musical training starting in early childhood. However, recent evidence showed that even adults can learn AP, and some can attain a performance level comparable to natural AP possessors. These training studies involved native tonal language speakers, whose acquisition of AP might be facilitated by tonal language exposure during early childhood. In this study, adults speaking non-tonal languages went through AP training that was 20-hr long, computerised and personalised. Performance on average improved, which was accompanied by enhanced working memory for tones, whereas relative pitch judgement and sensitivity to small pitch differences remained unchanged. Notably, two out of 13 learned to label all 12 pitches within an octave, with accuracy and response time comparable to natural AP possessors. Overall, the findings suggest that tonal language exposure is not a prerequisite for AP learning in adulthood. The understanding of the origin of AP would benefit from considering the role of lifelong learning instead of focusing only on early childhood experience.

On the Nature of Early Music Training and Absolute Pitch: A Reply to Brown, Sachs, Cammuso, and Folstein

2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
DANIEL J. LEVITIN ◽  
ROBERT J. ZATORRE
Keyword(s):  
Music Perception ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Absolute Pitch ◽  
Alternative View ◽  
Critical Periods ◽  
Statistical Nature ◽  
Early Music ◽  
Music Training

We discuss two issues raised in the article about the acquisition of absolute pitch published in Music Perception by W. A. Brown, H. Sachs, K. Cammuso, and S. E. Folstein (2002) with which we disagree. First, we describe that aspect of musical training we feel is relevant for the acquisition of absolute pitch. Second, we point out a disagreement about the statistical nature of developmental stages and critical periods. We describe an alternative view of absolute pitch acquisition.

scholarly journals IS ABSOLUTE PITCH A SPECIAL ABILITY OR SOMETHING WE ALL HAVE? A REVIEW BASED ON GENETIC, NEUROSCIENTIFIC AND EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGICAL FINDINGS

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-75
Author(s):  
Luca Kiss
Keyword(s):  
General Population ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Reference Point ◽  
Genetic Factors ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Absolute Pitch ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Brain Areas

Absolute pitch (AP), the ability to identify and produce musical pitches without a reference point, is extremely rare and is considered to be a special ability.  Although research has focused on this topic for decades, there is no consensus about why AP only occurs in 1 out of 10.000 individuals and how it is acquired.  Therefore, the present article aims to review and reconcile the previous findings in order to understand the potential contribution of training and genetics in AP acquisition.  Based on experimental psychological and genetic findings, it is concluded that although some components of AP are implicit and exist in the general population, both early musical training and genetic factors are crucial for AP development.  This conclusion is supported by neuroscientific findings that provide evidence for differences in activations in specific brain areas between AP possessors and non-possessors.

scholarly journals Musical expertise shapes functional and structural brain networks independent of absolute pitch ability

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Leipold ◽  
Carina Klein ◽  
Lutz Jäncke
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
Structural Connectivity ◽  
Absolute Pitch ◽  
Small Samples ◽  
Professional Musicians ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Large Scale Networks ◽  
Structural Networks

AbstractProfessional musicians are a popular model for investigating experience-dependent plasticity in human large-scale brain networks. A minority of musicians possess absolute pitch, the ability to name a tone without reference. The study of absolute pitch musicians provides insights into how a very specific talent is reflected in brain networks. Previous studies of the effects of musicianship and absolute pitch on large-scale brain networks have yielded highly heterogeneous findings regarding the localization and direction of the effects. This heterogeneity was likely influenced by small samples and vastly different methodological approaches. Here, we conducted a comprehensive multimodal assessment of effects of musicianship and absolute pitch on intrinsic functional and structural connectivity using a variety of commonly employed and state-of-the-art multivariate methods in the largest sample to date (n = 153 female and male human participants; 52 absolute pitch musicians, 51 non-absolute pitch musicians, and 50 non-musicians). Our results show robust effects of musicianship in inter- and intrahemispheric connectivity in both structural and functional networks. Crucially, most of the effects were replicable in both musicians with and without absolute pitch when compared to non-musicians. However, we did not find evidence for an effect of absolute pitch on intrinsic functional or structural connectivity in our data: The two musician groups showed strikingly similar networks across all analyses. Our results suggest that long-term musical training is associated with robust changes in large-scale brain networks. The effects of absolute pitch on neural networks might be subtle, requiring very large samples or task-based experiments to be detected.Significance StatementA question that has fascinated neuroscientists, psychologists, and musicologists for a long time is how musicianship and absolute pitch, the rare talent to name a tone without reference, are reflected in large-scale networks of the human brain. Much is still unknown as previous studies have reported widely inconsistent results based on small samples. Here, we investigate the largest sample of musicians and non-musicians to date (n = 153) using a multitude of established and novel analysis methods. Results provide evidence for robust effects of musicianship on functional and structural networks that were replicable in two separate groups of musicians and independent of absolute pitch ability.

The effects of absolute pitch ability and musical training on lexical tone perception

2014 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 881-897 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Burnham ◽  
Ron Brooker ◽  
Amanda Reid
Keyword(s):  
Musical Training ◽  
Absolute Pitch ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Tone Perception

Absolute Pitch Does Not Depend on Early Musical Training

2003 ◽  
Vol 999 (1) ◽  
pp. 522-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID A. ROSS ◽  
INGRID R. OLSON ◽  
JOHN C. GORE
Keyword(s):  
Musical Training ◽  
Absolute Pitch

scholarly journals Autistic traits, resting-state connectivity and absolute pitch in professional musicians: shared and distinct neural features

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Wenhart ◽  
R.A.I. Bethlehem ◽  
S. Baron-Cohen ◽  
E. Altenmüller
Keyword(s):  
Resting State ◽  
Path Length ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Functional Integration ◽  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Absolute Pitch ◽  
Clustering Coefficient ◽  
Phase Lag ◽  
Professional Musicians ◽  
Pitch Adjustment

AbstractBackgroundRecent studies indicate increased autistic traits in musicians with absolute pitch and a higher incidence of absolute pitch in people with autism. Theoretical accounts connect both of these with shared neural principles of local hyper- and global hypoconnectivity, enhanced perceptual functioning and a detail-focused cognitive style. This is the first study to investigate absolute pitch proficiency, autistic traits and brain correlates in the same study.Sample and MethodsGraph theoretical analysis was conducted on resting state (eyes closed and eyes open) EEG connectivity (wPLI, weighted Phase Lag Index) matrices obtained from 31 absolute pitch (AP) and 33 relative pitch (RP) professional musicians. Small Worldness, Global Clustering Coefficient and Average Path length were related to autistic traits, passive (tone identification) and active (pitch adjustment) absolute pitch proficiency and onset of musical training using Welch-two-sample-tests, correlations and general linear models.ResultsAnalyses revealed increased Path length (delta 2-4 Hz), reduced Clustering (beta 13-18 Hz), reduced Small-Worldness (gamma 30-60 Hz) and increased autistic traits for AP compared to RP. Only Clustering values (beta 13-18 Hz) were predicted by both AP proficiency and autistic traits. Post-hoc single connection permutation tests among raw wPLI matrices in the beta band (13-18 Hz) revealed widely reduced interhemispheric connectivity between bilateral auditory related electrode positions along with higher connectivity between F7-F8 and F8-P9 for AP. Pitch naming ability and Pitch adjustment ability were predicted by Path length, Clustering, autistic traits and onset of musical training (for pitch adjustment) explaining 44% respectively 38% of variance.ConclusionsResults show both shared and distinct neural features between AP and autistic traits. Differences in the beta range were associated with higher autistic traits in the same population. In general, AP musicians exhibit a widely underconnected brain with reduced functional integration and reduced small-world-property during resting state. This might be partly related to autism-specific brain connectivity, while differences in Path length and Small-Worldness reflect other ability-specific influences. This is further evidence for different pathways in the acquisition and development of absolute pitch, likely influenced by both genetic and environmental factors and their interaction.

Effects of musical training and absolute pitch on a pitch memory task: An event-related potential study.

1995 ◽  
Vol 14 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 53-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edwin C. Hantz ◽  
Kelley G. Kreilick ◽  
Amy L. Braveman ◽  
Kenneth P. Swartz
Keyword(s):  
Musical Training ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Absolute Pitch ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Potential Study
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