RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SELF-RATED MUSICAL COMPETENCE AND AUDITORY PROCESSING IN INSTRUMENTALISTS

Abstract

IntroductionAlthough the benefits of musical training have been shown to affect a number of auditory processes, the question of how self-rated musical competence correlates with auditory perception remains largely unexplored. The present study aimed to investigate how self-perceived musical competence correlates with musicians’ ratings of their own abilities in speech perception, spatial hearing, and <i></i>sound qualities.Material and methodsThe <i>Edinburgh Lifetime Musical Experience Questionnaire</i> (ELMEQ) was administered on 57 instrumentalists aged 19 to 53 years (mean = 25.1 ± 4.9 years, 34 males and 23 females). All had normal hearing and had undergone formal training on musical instruments for 1–2 years. All of them also regularly practised music for at least 1–2 h/week. Based on their ELMEQ scores, they were divided into two groups: low (ELMEQ score ≤ 7; <i>n</i> = 12) and high (ELMEQ score ≥ 11; <i>n</i> = 16; self-perceived musical competence. Participants were sent a modified questionnaire from the <i>Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale</i> (SSQ) using Google forms, and the data statistically analysed.ResultsA Mann–Whitney <i>U</i>-test showed that participants with high self-rated musical competence had significantly higher ratings on the spatial hearing and sound qualities sub-domains of SSQ compared to their counterparts who had lower ELMEQ scores. However, both groups scored about the same on the speech perception domain of SSQ. A Spearman test revealed a moderate to strong positive correlation between self-rated musical competence and SSQ ratings in each domain.ConclusionsThe findings show that instrumentalists with high self-rated musical competence exhibited high proficiency in the spatial hearing and sound quality domains of auditory processing.