Testing Convergence between Singing and Music Perception Accuracy Using Two Standardized Measures

Abstract

ABSTRACTResearch on individual differences in musical abilities, and music-related deficits, has increased dramatically in the past 20 years. Although most studies to date concern music perception, in particular the deficit referred to as congenital amusia, a growing area of research has addressed individual differences in singing accuracy and poor-pitch singing. How closely associated are music perception and singing abilities? Several studies to date have reported dissociations between these abilities. However, these studies have tended to use small samples and have not compared leading standardized measures to each other. In the present study, we measured perception and singing abilities in a larger sample (N = 86) on standardized measures of singing accuracy (the Seattle Singing Accuracy Protocol) and music perception (the Online Test of Amuisa). Results revealed stronger associations between these higher-level musical abilities than either measure had with simple pitch discrimination. Analyses in which participants were classified as typical or deficient based on existing norms further suggested that deficits in music perception predict poor-pitch singing deficits more so than the reverse. Taken together, these results suggest that music perception and production may rely on shared higher-order representations of music that play a more important role than basic perception or motor control.