Perceiving Rhythmic Repetition and Change Across Development: Effects of Concurrent Pitch

Abstract

The ability to perceive repetition and change in rhythm is fundamental to music understanding. How is this ability affected by other musical dimensions, such as pitch? We compared the perception of rhythmic repetition and change in rhythm-only stimuli versus rhythm-and-pitch stimuli. A sample of 357 participants, aged from 6 to 22 years, performed Same (repetition) versus Different (change) judgments on rhythmic stimuli with and without concurrent pitch variation. Rhythm-and-pitch stimuli impaired the perception of rhythmic repetition but not the perception of change, and this was independent from participants’ age. Our findings are consistent with two concurrent effects of pitch on rhythmic perception: a change-highlighting effect, acting only in rhythmic change, and a working-memory-overload effect that acts in both repetition and change. We discuss the implications regarding composer–listener communication across development.