Musical Expertise Research Articles

Neural encoding of melodic expectations in music across EEG frequency bands.

The human brain tracks regularities in the environment and extrapolates these to predict future events. Prior work on music cognition suggests that low-frequency (1-8Hz) brain activity encodes melodic predictions beyond the stimulus acoustics. Building on this work, we aimed to disentangle the frequency-specific neural dynamics linked to melodic prediction uncertainty (modelled as entropy) and prediction error (modelled as surprisal) for temporal (note onset) and content (note pitch) information. By using multivariate temporal response function (TRF) models, we re-analysed the electroencephalogram (EEG) from 20 subjects (10 musicians) who listened to Western tonal music. Our results show that melodic expectation metrics improve the EEG reconstruction accuracy in all frequency bands below the gamma range (< 30 Hz). Crucially, we found that entropy contributed more strongly to the reconstruction accuracy enhancement compared to surprisal in all frequency bands. Additionally, we found that the encoding of temporal, but not content, information metrics was not limited to low frequencies, rather it extended to higher frequencies (> 8Hz). An analysis of the TRF weights revealed that the temporal predictability of a note (entropy of note onset) may be encoded in the delta- (1-4Hz) and beta-band (12-30 Hz) brain activity prior to the stimulus, suggesting that these frequency bands associate with temporal predictions. Strikingly, we also revealed that melodic expectations selectively enhanced EEG reconstruction accuracy in the beta band for musicians, and in the alpha band (8-12 Hz) for non-musicians, suggesting that musical expertise influences the neural dynamics underlying predictive processing in music cognition.

Piano performance evaluation dataset with multilevel perceptual features

This study aims to build a comprehensive dataset that enables the automatic evaluation of piano performances. In real-world piano performance, especially within the realm of classical piano music, we encounter a vast spectrum of performance variations. The challenge lies in how to effectively evaluate these performances. We must consider three critical aspects: (1) It is essential to gauge how performers express the music and how listeners perceive the performance, rather than focusing on the compositional characteristics of the musical piece. (2) Beyond fundamental elements like pitch and duration, we must also embrace higher-level features such as interpretation. (3) Such evaluation should be done by experts to discern the nuanced performances. Regrettably, there exists no dataset that addresses these challenging evaluation tasks. Therefore, we introduce a pioneering dataset PercePiano, annotated by music experts, with more extensive features capable of representing these nuanced aspects effectively. It encapsulates piano performance with a wide range of perceptual features that are recognized by musicians. Our evaluation benchmark includes a novel metric designed to accommodate the inherent subjectivity of perception. Furthermore, we propose an enhanced baseline framework that grounds performance on score data, aligning model predictions with human perception. Harnessing the aligned features enhances the baseline performance and proves to be adaptable to various model structures. In conclusion, our research opens new possibilities for comprehensive piano performance evaluation.

Musical Expertise Influences the Processing of Short and Long Auditory Time Intervals: An Electroencephalography Study.

Musical expertise has been proven to be beneficial for time perception abilities, with musicians outperforming nonmusicians in several explicit timing tasks. However, it is unclear how musical expertise impacts implicit time perception. Twenty nonmusicians and 15 expert musicians participated in an EEG recording during a passive auditory oddball paradigm with 0.8- and 1.6-sec standard time intervals and deviant intervals that were either played earlier or delayed relative to the standard interval. We first confirmed that, as was the case for nonmusicians, musicians use different neurofunctional processes to support the perception of short (below 1.2 sec) and long (above 1.2 sec) time intervals: Whereas deviance detection for long intervals elicited a N1 component, P2 was associated with deviance detection for short time intervals. Interestingly, musicians did not elicit a contingent negative variation (CNV) for longer intervals but show additional components of deviance detection such as (i) an attention-related N1 component, even for deviants occurring during short intervals; (ii) a N2 component for above and below 1.2-sec deviance detection, and (iii) a P2 component for above 1.2-sec deviance detection. We propose that the N2 component is a marker of explicit deviance detection and acts as an inhibitory/conflict monitoring of the deviance. This hypothesis was supported by a positive correlation between CNV and N2 amplitudes: The CNV reflects the temporal accumulator and can predict explicit detection of the deviance. In expert musicians, a N2 component is observable without CNV, suggesting that deviance detection is optimized and does not require the temporal accumulator. Overall, this study suggests that musical expertise is associated with optimized implicit time perception.

Effect of Blended Music on Social Behaviours of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The study aimed to investigate the effects of blended music on social behaviours of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The study was quantitative with a single group pretest- posttest research design. Children with ASD studying in special education institutes of Rawalpindi and Islamabad were the population of the study. After screening children for High Functioning Autism through the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), twelve children were selected conveniently for the intervention. The Urdu version of the Social Responsiveness Scale (USRS-2) was used to measure the social behaviours of children with ASD. Blended music based on Raga Bilawal and Taal Keharwa was validated by the music experts for use during eight weeks of intervention. The data was collected before and after exposure to blended music. Mean scores for each positive and problematic social behaviour were calculated to decide upon the improvement in behaviour. The number of items showing improvement was calculated to decide upon the effect of blended music. 26% of positive behaviours were improved and 74% of problematic social behaviours were reduced. It was concluded that blended music was found effective in developing positive social behaviours and reducing the problematic social behaviours of children with ASD.

Coupling of anticipation and breathing in expert flute performance: the influence of musical structure and practice

IntroductionIn this study, we examined the cognitive processes and physiological responses involved in learning a flute piece by the composer Charles Koechlin among musicians of different expertise levels. Participants performed the piece four times consecutively, with a 2-min practice interval between the first and the second trial.MethodsUsing data obtained from an eye tracker, respiratory sensors, and an audio recorder we assessed short-term improvement and the effect of musical structure and practice on key variables identified through a multivariate approach: eye-hand span (EHS), time index of EHS, thoracic and abdominal amplitude (breathing patterns) and pupil dilation.ResultsThe analysis revealed two main dimensions: one associated with EHS; and the other with embodied responses to music, closely linked to breathing patterns and pupil dilation. We found an effect of musical structure on all the variables studied, while the EHS improved with practice. Expert musicians demonstrated enhanced EHS and adapted their breathing patterns more effectively to the music's structure.DiscussionThese insights support the hypothesis of a coupling between anticipation and breathing, emphasizing the role of perceptual and embodied components in music reading and learning.

Testing the Deliberate Practice Theory: Does Practice Reduce the Heritability of Musical Expertise?

The deliberate practice (DP) theory claims that expertise essentially reflects the accumulated amount of deliberate practice, and that with sufficient practice, genetic influences on expertise will be bypassed. Thus, a core prediction of the DP theory is that genetic effects on performance decrease as a function of practice. Here, we test this prediction using music as a model domain. Musical expertise (measured with a musical auditory discrimination test) and lifetime practice hours were determined in 6471 twins including 1302 complete twin pairs. We fitted a bivariate Cholesky decomposition with practice hours as a moderator to determine to what extent genetic and environmental influences on musical expertise are influenced by practice hours. On average, 50% of individual differences in musical expertise were due to genetic influences, whereas shared environmental and residual influences each explained about 25%. Importantly, music practice significantly moderated these estimates. Variation in musical expertise decreased with more practice hours due to decreased shared environmental and residual variance. In contrast, the overall genetic component was unaffected by the number of practice hours. Consequently, the relative genetic contribution (heritability) increased with more practice hours. These findings are in contrast with predictions from the DP theory and suggest that genetic predisposition remains important for musical expertise even after prolonged practice.

The Mediating Effect of Artificial Intelligence on the Relationship Between Cultural Heritage Preservation and Opera Music: A Case Study of Shanxi Opera

Cultural heritage preservation, as the approach is known, and the enduring role it plays in safeguarding the culture and cultural values of Shanxi Opera is becoming even more important these days. Despite uncertainty and apprehension about utilising artificial intelligence, this matter is worth scrutiny in relation to the field of opera music. This may be so, as apart from these two occurrences, this field does not receive mention. This research aims to explore the effect of AI as a conduit for message emulation between the Shanxi Opera tradition and the preservation of heritage and the opera music genre. The study employed a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods, which used the survey data and cultural heritage preservation and opera music experts' perception data. I then employed partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to interpret existing AI utilisation and to understand the role of AI as a mediator in this scenario. The outcome of the study implies that the existence of AI will not only boost the contribution of cultural heritage conservation but also positively impact the early stages of the contemporary revival of Shanxi Opera music. AI not only helps in heritage preservation but also makes it easier to include modern audiences. It introduces new musical trends and styles that are more engaging with the current audience. This paper lays out certain practical applications of artificial intelligence AI as a key to appreciating the human cultural heritage. It is the AI-driven contribution to opera music superiority that stands as the hallmark of technology. The outcomes showcase a one-of-a-kind perspective that indicates the ability of policymakers, cultural heritage preservers, and opera commuters to bridge the gap between traditional and modern technologies through AI. Research has stressed the essence of enlisting AI as a typical tool today to preserve cultural heritage. This, in turn, largely contributes to the development of dramatic genres such as opera. It serves as a rather remarkable point of interface between the cutting-edge realms of technology and cultural legacy, illustrating how AI can virtually reshape the artistic world.

Musicians' pursuit of expertise-related goals is characterised by strategic regulation of functional and counterproductive affect.

Emotion regulation is an important part of effective goal pursuit. Functional accounts of emotion regulation suggest that the attainment of challenging goals may be supported by regulating emotions which promote utilitarian over hedonic outcomes. When pursuing the challenging, long-term goal of acquiring expert musical skills and knowledge, musicians may wish to prioritise whichever emotions are most conducive to attaining this goal, even if those emotions are not necessarily positive. Via an online questionnaire, musicians (N = 421) answered questions concerning their musical experience and their expertise-related practice goals. They also reported how strongly they experienced different emotions during practice, and how strongly they desired to either increase or decrease the intensity of those same emotions. Data were analysed using inferential frequentist statistics and Bayesian mixed effects models. Evidence ratios (ER) > 19 were considered strong evidence in favour of an effect. Our analysis showed that musicians experienced and desired strong levels of positive emotions in their practice. In addition, they reported greater desire to intensify positive compared to negative emotions [paired t (420) = 58.13, p < 0.001]. Our Bayesian mixed effects model provided strong evidence that greater desire to intensify anger increased the probability that an observation derived from a musician with stronger expertise-related goals [Est = 0.70; Odds (Est > 0) > 9,999]. In addition to anger, higher levels of expertise-related goals were increasingly predicted by less strong desire to intensify guilt and gloom and greater desire to reduce downheartedness (all ER > 19). Overall, musicians had a strong, general desire to intensify positive emotions during their musical practice. However, musicians with higher levels of expertise-related goals increasingly indicated a nuanced approach regarding how they desired to regulate certain negative emotions. Findings suggest that musicians engage in selective and sophisticated emotion regulation behaviour that aligns with their long-term commitment to develop musical expertise. They may prioritise emotions which may be functionally beneficial, whilst avoiding emotions which may be counterproductive or undermine efforts. Findings from this study contribute to our understanding of expertise-related, domain-specific emotion regulation behaviour and may inform the design of prioritised musical practice strategies.

Reduced Cerebellar White Matter Volume in Musicians: A Marker of Musical Expertise.

Reduced Cerebellar White Matter Volume in Musicians: A Marker of Musical Expertise.

Markers of musical expertise in a sight-reading task: An eye-tracking study.

Classical music pianists of five different conservatory levels, from undergraduate to professional, were tested on a sight-reading task with eye-movement recording. They had to sight read both tonal classical scores that followed the rules specific to Western tonal music, and atonal contemporary scores, which do not follow these rules. This study aimed at determining the extent to which eye movements and musical performance metrics can account for the level of sight-reading expertise. First, the results indicated that with the acquisition of expertise, musicians process visual information more rapidly (increasing their played tempo while decreasing average fixation duration and their number of fixations), more structurally (tending to increase their eye-hand span), and more accurately (increasing their sight-reading accuracy). Second, when they sight read contemporary scores compared to classical scores, musicians decreased their played tempo, tended to be less accurate, increased their number of fixations, and tended to decrease their eye-hand span. Finally, expertise effects were moderated by the type of score. These results suggest (a) that visual perception is progressively shaped through music reading expertise and through domain-specific knowledge acquisition, (b) that tonal-specific cues play a significant role to use an efficient eye-movement behavior and (c) that the benefit conferred by expert prior music-specific knowledge seems to be even greater for sight-reading tonal rather than atonal scores. Our findings are discussed in the light of expert memory theories (long-term working memory theory; Ericsson & Kintsch, 1995; template theory, Gobet & Simon, 1996). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Prosodic discrimination skills mediate the association between musical aptitude and vocal emotion recognition ability

The current study tested the hypothesis that the association between musical ability and vocal emotion recognition skills is mediated by accuracy in prosody perception. Furthermore, it was investigated whether this association is primarily related to musical expertise, operationalized by long-term engagement in musical activities, or musical aptitude, operationalized by a test of musical perceptual ability. To this end, we conducted three studies: In Study 1 (N = 85) and Study 2 (N = 93), we developed and validated a new instrument for the assessment of prosodic discrimination ability. In Study 3 (N = 136), we examined whether the association between musical ability and vocal emotion recognition was mediated by prosodic discrimination ability. We found evidence for a full mediation, though only in relation to musical aptitude and not in relation to musical expertise. Taken together, these findings suggest that individuals with high musical aptitude have superior prosody perception skills, which in turn contribute to their vocal emotion recognition skills. Importantly, our results suggest that these benefits are not unique to musicians, but extend to non-musicians with high musical aptitude.

Gene-environment interaction in expertise acquisition: Practice effects on musical expertise vary by polygenic scores for cognitive performance

Expert performance is associated with practice, partly because of causal effects of practice on skill (i.e., learning). However, the practice-expertise association is also influenced by a complex interplay between genes and environment including partly overlapping genetic influences. The importance of cognitive ability in the practice-expertise association is less well understood. Therefore, we first examined whether genetic predisposition for cognitive performance, operationalized as a polygenic score, is associated with music practice and expertise. Next, we tested whether there is evidence for gene × environment interaction, i.e., whether effects of practice on expertise differ depending on an individual's genetic predisposition for cognitive performance. Polygenic scores for cognitive performance (PGScp) and multi-trait cognitive performances, including educational attainment and mathematical performances (PGScps) were calculated for approximately 3800 genotyped Swedish individuals with information available on their cumulative amount of music practice, musical achievement, and musical auditory discrimination. We found that higher PGScp and PGScps were associated with higher levels of achievement, musical auditory discrimination, and more practice, although the association with practice weakened when controlling for education. Music practice was linked to both expertise outcomes, and the effect sizes of these associations varied depending on an individual's PGScp and PGScps (with the exception of PGScp for musical auditory discrimination). These results suggest genetic pleiotropy between cognitive performance and musical expertise. Additionally, they reveal the presence of G × E interaction in skill acquisition, as effects of practice on musical expertise are stronger for individuals with a higher genetic predisposition for cognitive performance.

Acoustic cues of keyboard mechanics enable auditory localization of upright piano tones.

Piano tone localization at the performer's listening point is a multisensory process involving audition, vision, and upper limb proprioception. The consequent representation of the auditory scene, especially in experienced pianists, is likely also influenced by their memory about the instrument keyboard. Disambiguating such components is not obvious, and first requires an analysis of the acoustic tone localization process to assess the role of auditory feedback in forming this scene. This analysis is complicated by the acoustic behavior of the piano, which does not guarantee the activation of the auditory precedence effect during a tone attack, nor can it provide robust interaural differences during the subsequent free evolution of the sound. In a tone localization task using a Disklavier upright piano (which can be operated remotely and configured to have its hammers hit a damper instead of producing a tone), twenty-three expert musicians, including pianists, successfully recognized the angular position of seven evenly distributed notes across the keyboard. The experiment involved listening to either full piano tones or just the key mechanical noise, with no additional feedback from other senses. This result suggests that the key mechanical noise alone activated the localization process without support from vision and/or limb proprioception. Since the same noise is present in the onset of the full tones, the key mechanics of our piano created a touch precursor in such tones that may be responsible of their correct angular localization by means of the auditory precedence effect. However, the significance of pitch cues arriving at a listener after the touch precursor was not measured when full tones were presented. As these cues characterize a note and, hence, the corresponding key position comprehensively, an open question remains regarding the contribution of pianists' spatial memory of the instrument keyboard to tone localization.

The effect of expertise in music reading: cross-modal competence

We hypothesize that the fundamental difference between expert and learner musicians isthe capacity to efficiently integrate cross-modal information. This capacity might be anindex of an expert memory using both auditory and visual cues built during many years oflearning and extensive practice. Investigating this issue through an eye-tracking experiment, two groups of musicians, experts and non-experts, were required to report whether afragment of classical music, successively displayed both auditorily and visually on a computer screen (cross-modal presentation) was same or different. An accent mark, associated on a particular note, was located in a congruent or incongruent way according to musical harmony rules, during the auditory and reading phases. The cross-modal competence of experts was demonstrated by shorter fixation durations and less errors. Accent mark appeared for non-experts as interferences and lead to incorrect judgments. Results are discussed in terms of amodal memory for expert musicians that can be supported within the theoretical framework of Long-Term Working Memory (Ericsson and Kintsch, 1995).

Music training influences online temporal order processing during reading comprehension

Numerous studies have demonstrated the influence of musical expertise on spoken language processing; however, its effects on reading comprehension remain largely unexplored. This study aims to investigate the role of musical expertise in sentence comprehension, particularly concerning the processing of temporal order. Using two self-paced reading experiments, we examined individuals' responses to two-clause sentences connected by the temporal connectives “before” or “after”. “After” sentences consistently presented events in their actual order of temporal occurrence, while “before” sentences described events in reverse temporal order. In both experiments, our analyses of reading times consistently uncovered a significant temporal order effect, with words immediately following the temporal connectives being processed slower in “before” sentences compared to “after” sentences. This suggests the presence of immediate online processing costs associated with “before” sentences. Notably, these processing costs were found to be attenuated in individuals with musical expertise compared to those without. However, analyses of comprehension accuracy showed no advantage of musicians over non-musicians. Specifically, in Experiment 1, the two groups showed no difference in comprehension accuracy, while in Experiment 2, musicians exhibited lower accuracy rates compared to non-musicians in both “before” and “after” sentences. These results suggest that musical expertise may attenuate online processing costs associated with complex linguistic constructs, but could not promote reading accuracy. We concluded that music training is associated with a restricted effect on written sentence comprehension.

Compensation or Preservation? Different Roles of Functional Lateralization in Speech Perception of Older Non-musicians and Musicians.

Musical training can counteract age-related decline in speech perception in noisy environments. However, it remains unclear whether older non-musicians and musicians rely on functional compensation or functional preservation to counteract the adverse effects of aging. This study utilized resting-state functional connectivity (FC) to investigate functional lateralization, a fundamental organization feature, in older musicians (OM), older non-musicians (ONM), and young non-musicians (YNM). Results showed that OM outperformed ONM and achieved comparable performance to YNM in speech-in-noise and speech-in-speech tasks. ONM exhibited reduced lateralization than YNM in lateralization index (LI) of intrahemispheric FC (LI_intra) in the cingulo-opercular network (CON) and LI of interhemispheric heterotopic FC (LI_he) in the language network (LAN). Conversely, OM showed higher neural alignment to YNM (i.e., a more similar lateralization pattern) compared to ONM in CON, LAN, frontoparietal network (FPN), dorsal attention network (DAN), and default mode network (DMN), indicating preservation of youth-like lateralization patterns due to musical experience. Furthermore, in ONM, stronger left-lateralized and lower alignment-to-young of LI_intra in the somatomotor network (SMN) and DAN and LI_he in DMN correlated with better speech performance, indicating a functional compensation mechanism. In contrast, stronger right-lateralized LI_intra in FPN and DAN and higher alignment-to-young of LI_he in LAN correlated with better performance in OM, suggesting a functional preservation mechanism. These findings highlight the differential roles of functional preservation and compensation of lateralization in speech perception in noise among elderly individuals with and without musical expertise, offering insights into successful aging theories from the lens of functional lateralization and speech perception.

Design and Development Of Musical Instruments from Recycled Materials for the Elderly in Phitsanulok Province In the Northern Part Of Thailand

This research project explores the creative potential and sustainable innovation of designing and developing musical instruments using recycled materials, specifically focusing on involving the elderly community. In an era where environmental sustainability is paramount, and the elderly population is often overlooked in creative endeavors, this study aims to bridge these two aspects, offering a unique and inclusive approach to music and recycling. The primary objective of this research is to investigate the feasibility of using recycled materials to construct functional and aesthetically pleasing musical instruments while actively engaging the elderly, music experts, geriatric specialists, product design experts, and technicians in the design and development process. By leveraging their accumulated knowledge, wisdom, and artistic sensibilities, this project seeks to empower and enrich the lives of the elderly while contributing to reducing waste and environmental conservation. Results indicate that the elderly participants derive numerous physical, cognitive, and emotional benefits from their involvement in the project, including enhanced motor skills, cognitive stimulation, and a sense of accomplishment. Additionally, the musical instruments produced demonstrate impressive innovation, sound quality, and aesthetics, underlining the viability of using recycled materials in the design of musical instruments.

Sound Against Music

The Judson generation of artists (Rainer, Forti, Childs, Paxton, and others) introduced a conceptual distinction between music and sound that amounted to a soft critique of the institution of music. Dance in the 1960s was a fitting site for this critique due to the generative work of John Cage and the increasingly widespread availability of the technological means for working with sound. These two conditions undermined the institutionalization of musical expertise and opened up the field to amateurs from other disciplines.

Genre and species characteristics of musical and performing interpretation

The relevance of the publication lies in the importance and necessity of determining the influence of genre and species characteristics on musical and performance interpretation. So, the main purposes of this article are to identify the main factors that influence the development of interpreting skills, analyse how students of higher music institutions have evaluated their own musical interpretation skills, provide an assessment analysis of how independent music experts have evaluated students' musical interpretation skills, provide a comparative analysis of these assessments, provide rationale for the importance of musical and performing interpretation skills regardless of the music genre, and provide recommendations for the development of musical performance interpretation skills for teachers of higher music institutions. While considering the issue of genre and species characteristics of musical and performing interpretation, the methods of this scientific work were applied: the deductive method, method of argumentation, method of matching, methods of combination and differentiation, method of categorisation, method of questionnaire survey, and systematic analysis, which provided an opportunity to link all the research results together. The study suggests the outcome of the research conducted, discovers the key peculiarities of the art process that influence the development of interpretation skills, analyses the results of self-assessment by students of higher music institutions, provides a comparative analysis with the assessments of independent experts, substantiates the need for closer attention to the development of musical and performing interpretation skills for musicians of all genres, both instrumentalists and vocalists, and provides recommendations for developing the musical and performing interpretation skills of future musicians. The practical value of the study lies in the fact that its results can be used both in the concert activity of musicians and in the process of mastering the performing disciplines by students of colleges and higher educational institutions related to the art of music.

Hierarchical syntax model of music predicts theta power during music listening

Linguistic research showed that the depth of syntactic embedding is reflected in brain theta power. Here, we test whether this also extends to non-linguistic stimuli, specifically music. We used a hierarchical model of musical syntax to continuously quantify two types of expert-annotated harmonic dependencies throughout a piece of Western classical music: prolongation and preparation. Prolongations can roughly be understood as a musical analogue to linguistic coordination between constituents that share the same function (e.g., ‘pizza’ and ‘pasta’ in ‘I ate pizza and pasta’). Preparation refers to the dependency between two harmonies whereby the first implies a resolution towards the second (e.g., dominant towards tonic; similar to how the adjective implies the presence of a noun in ‘I like spicy … ’). Source reconstructed MEG data of sixty-five participants listening to the musical piece was then analysed. We used Bayesian Mixed Effects models to predict theta envelope in the brain, using the number of open prolongation and preparation dependencies as predictors whilst controlling for audio envelope. We observed that prolongation and preparation both carry independent and distinguishable predictive value for theta band fluctuation in key linguistic areas such as the Angular, Superior Temporal, and Heschl's Gyri, or their right-lateralised homologues, with preparation showing additional predictive value for areas associated with the reward system and prediction. Musical expertise further mediated these effects in language-related brain areas. Results show that predictions of precisely formalised music-theoretical models are reflected in the brain activity of listeners which furthers our understanding of the perception and cognition of musical structure.