Some structural determinants of melody recall

Abstract

Sophisticated musicians were asked to recall, using musical notation, a set of unfamiliar folk tunes that varied in rhythmic structure and referents of tonality. The results showed that memory was facilitated by tonic triad members marking phrase endings, but only when their presence was highlighted by a corresponding pattern of temporal accents. Conversely, recall significantly declined when tonal information was either absent or obscured by rhythmic structure. Error analyses further revealed that the retention of overall pitch contour and information at phrase ending points varied as a function of these manipulations. The results are discussed in terms of a framework that links the acts of perceiving and remembering to a common attentional scheme.