Sounds familiar(?): Expertise with specific musical genres modulates timing perception and micro-level synchronization to auditory stimuli

Anne Danielsen,Kristian Nymoen,Eirik Jacobsen,Mats Johansson,Justin London,Martin Torvik Langerød

doi:10.3758/s13414-021-02393-z

Anne Danielsen, Kristian Nymoen + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-021-02393-z

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Abstract

Musical expertise improves the precision of timing perception and performance – but is this expertise generic, or is it tied to the specific style(s) and genre(s) of one’s musical training? We asked expert musicians from three musical genres (folk, jazz, and EDM/hip-hop) to align click tracks and tap in synchrony with genre-specific and genre-neutral sound stimuli to determine the perceptual center (“P-center”) and variability (“beat bin”) for each group of experts. We had three stimulus categories – Organic, Electronic, and Neutral sounds – each of which had a 2 × 2 design of the acoustic factors Attack (fast/slow) and Duration (short/long). We found significant effects of Genre expertise, and a significant interaction for both P-center and P-center variability: folk and jazz musicians synchronize to sounds typical of folk and jazz in a different manner than the EDM/hip-hop producers. The results show that expertise in a specific musical genre affects our low-level perceptions of sounds as well as their affordance(s) for joint action/synchronization. The study provides new insights into the effects of active long-term musical enculturation and skill acquisition on basic sensorimotor synchronization and timing perception, shedding light on the important question of how nature and nurture intersect in the development of our perceptual systems.

Highlights

When musicians synchronize the sounds they make with those of another musician, that synchrony may be achieved with greater or lesser precision
The aim of the experiment reported in the present paper was to investigate the latter, that is, effects of genre-specific musical expertise on micro-level timing and synchronization
As Musical Expertise is related to musical genre, and to one’s particular musical instrument, we explored the effect of participants’ particular musical instruments via an ANCOVA analysis, which included participants’ primary instrument as a co-variate

Summary

Introduction

When musicians synchronize the sounds they make with those of another musician, that synchrony may be achieved with greater or lesser precision. Increased musical expertise is generally regarded as improving the precision of both timing perception and performance. The aim of the experiment reported in the present paper was to investigate the latter, that is, effects of genre-specific musical expertise on micro-level timing and synchronization. To this end, we asked: Do expert musicians from different musical genres perceive musical sounds differently? Previous research has focused on general musical expertise or on possible effects of instrument training (e.g., percussionists vs other musicians). This study aimed at providing new insights into possible effects of active long-term musical enculturation and skill acquisition on basic perceptual auditory skills. At a more general level, it sheds light on the important question of how nature and nurture intersect in the development of our perceptual systems

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