Motor learning, meter, and rhythm in music performance

Abstract

What do musicians learn when they perform music: motor-independent knowledge specifying abstract concepts or motor-specific knowledge designating motor movements? Whereas some theories of se- quence production suggest that timing is motor independent, others have suggested a closer relationship between timing and motor movements. Previous research suggests that skilled pianists’ knowledge of how to perform simple melodies is motor independent [C. Palmer and R. K. Meyer, Psychol. Sci. (in press)]. However, the relationship of motor movements to temporal structures such as meter (periodic accent structure) and rhythm (duration pattern) were not addressed in this study. Two experiments reported here investigate whether skilled pianists’ knowledge of meter and rhythm is motor independent or motor specific. In a transfer of learning paradigm, pianists performed a short musical piece under speeded conditions and then transferred to another musical piece with identical pitches but the same or different motor movements. In experiment 1, the transfer melody contained the same or different meter, and in experiment 2, the transfer melody contained the same or different rhythm. Changes in total sequence duration indicate the importance of motor-specific knowledge in the context of music that differs in temporal dimensions such as meter and rhythm. [Work supported by NIMH.]