Effects of timbre and tempo change on memory for music

We investigated the effects of different encoding tasks and of manipulations of two supposedly surface parameters of music on implicit and explicit memory for tunes. In two experiments, participants were first asked to either categorize instrument or judge familiarity of 40 unfamiliar short tunes. Subsequently, participants were asked to give explicit and implicit memory ratings for a list of 80 tunes, which included 40 previously heard. Half of the 40 previously heard tunes differed in timbre (Experiment 1) or tempo (Experiment 2) in comparison with the first exposure. A third experiment compared similarity ratings of the tunes that varied in timbre or tempo. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) results suggest first that the encoding task made no difference for either memory mode. Secondly, timbre and tempo change both impaired explicit memory, whereas tempo change additionally made implicit tune recognition worse. Results are discussed in the context of implicit memory for nonsemantic materials and the possible differences in timbre and tempo in musical representations.

Recognition of familiar and unfamiliar music in normal aging and Alzheimer's disease

We tested normal young and elderly adults and elderly Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients on recognition memory for tunes. In Experiment 1, AD patients and age-matched controls received a study list and an old/new recognition test of highly familiar, traditional tunes, followed by a study list and test of novel tunes. The controls performed better than did the AD patients. The controls showed the “mirror effect” of increased hits and reduced false alarms for traditional versus novel tunes, whereas the patients false-alarmed as often to traditional tunes as to novel tunes. Experiment 2 compared young adults and healthy elderly persons using a similar design. Performance was lower in the elderly group, but both younger and older subjects showed the mirror effect. Experiment 3 produced confusion between preexperimental familiarity and intraexperimental familiarity by mixing traditional and novel tunes in the study lists and tests. Here, the subjects in both age groups resembled the patients of Experiment 1 in failing to show the mirror effect. Older subjects again performed more poorly, and they differed qualitatively from younger subjects in setting stricter criteria for more nameable tunes. Distinguishing different sources of global familiarity is a factor in tune recognition, and the data suggest that this type of source monitoring is impaired in AD and involves different strategies in younger and older adults.

Comparison of music perception in bilateral and unilateral cochlear implant users and normal-hearing subjects

Music plays an important role in the daily life of cochlear implant (CI) users, but electrical hearing and speech processing pose challenges for enjoying music. Studies of unilateral CI (UCI) users' music perception have found that these subjects have little difficulty recognizing tempo and rhythm but great difficulty with pitch, interval and melody. The present study is an initial step towards understanding music perception in bilateral CI (BCI) users. The Munich Music Questionnaire was used to investigate music listening habits and enjoyment in 23 BCI users compared to 2 control groups: 23 UCI users and 23 normal-hearing (NH) listeners. Bilateral users appeared to have a number of advantages over unilateral users, though their enjoyment of music did not reach the level of NH listeners.

On the use of textural features for writer identification in old handwritten music scores

Writer identification consists in determining the writer of a piece of handwriting from a set of writers. In this paper we present a system for writer identification in old handwritten music scores which uses only music notation to determine the author. The steps of the proposed system are the following. First of all, the music sheet is preprocessed for obtaining a music score without the staff lines. Afterwards, four different methods for generating texture images from music symbols are applied. Every approach uses a different spatial variation when combining the music symbols to generate the textures. Finally, Gabor filters and Grey-scale Co-ocurrence matrices are used to obtain the features. The classification is performed using a k-NN classifier based on Euclidean distance. The proposed method has been tested on a database of old music scores from the 17th to 19th centuries, achieving encouraging identification rates.

The effectiveness of Alexander Technique on music performance and musicians’ health and well-being – a systematic review

Introduction Musicians often suffer injuries related to their music playing. Therefore, some use Alexander Technique (AT), a mental-physical method that facilitates to release unnecessary muscle tension and to re-educate non-beneficial movement patterns through enhanced kinaesthetic awareness. According to a recent review AT may be effective for chronic back pain [1]. This review aimed to evaluate the evidence for the effectiveness of AT lessons on music performance and musicians’ health and well-being. Methods The following electronic databases were searched up to July 2012 for relevant literature: PUBMED, Google Scholar, CINAHL and EMBASE. The search criteria were "Alexander technique" AND "music*" [all fields]. References were searched, and experts and societies of AT or musicians' medicine contacted for further publications. Results 100 studies were identified. 24 studies were included for further analysis, 5 of which were randomised controlled trials (RCTs), 5 controlled but not randomised (CTs), 5 without control group, 2 mixed methods (RCT and case studies), and 7 surveys. 13 to 72 musicians participated per RCT. In 5 RCTs AT groups received between 12 and 20 one-to-one lessons. In 4 RCTs control groups received no interventions. Primary outcomes were performance anxiety, music performance, "use" as well as respiratory function and pain. Performance anxiety decreased by AT in 3 of 4 RCTs and in 3 of 3 CTs. Music performance was improved by AT in 1 RCT, yet in 2 RCTs comparing neurofeedback (NF) to AT, only NF showed improvements. Discussion and Conclusion To investigate the effectiveness of AT in musicians a variety of study designs and outcome measures have been used. Evidence from RCTs suggests that AT may improve performance anxiety in musicians. Effects on music performance, body use and respiratory function yet remain inconsistent. Future trials with scientifically sound study designs are warranted to further and more reliably explore the potential of AT as a relatively low cost and low risk method in the interest of musicians. References [1] Woodman JP, Moore NR. Evidence for the effectiveness of Alexander Technique lessons in medical and health-related conditions: a systematic review. Int J Clin Pract 2012;66(1):98-112.

The Effectiveness of Alexander Technique on Music Performance and Musicians' Health and Well-being – a Systematic Review

Purpose Musicians often suffer injuries related to their music playing. Therefore, some use the Alexander Technique (AT), a psycho-physical method that helps to release unnecessary muscle tension and re-educates non-beneficial movement patterns through enhanced kinaesthetic awareness. According to a recent review AT may be effective for chronic back pain. This review aimed to evaluate the evidence for the effectiveness of AT lessons on music performance and musicians’ health and well-being. Methods The following electronic databases were searched up to July 2012 for relevant literature: PUBMED, Google Scholar, CINAHL and EMBASE. The search criteria were "Alexander technique" AND "music*" [all fields]. References were searched, and experts and societies of AT or musicians' medicine contacted for further publications. Results 100 studies were identified. 35 studies were included for further analysis, 5 of which were randomised controlled trials (RCTs), 5 controlled but not randomised, 5 not controlled, 5 qualitative case studies, 2 mixed-models (RCT and case studies), 7 surveys, 4 qualitative case reports and 2 unpublished pilot studies. 13 to 72 musicians participated per RCT. In 5 RCTs AT groups received between 12 and 20 one-to-one lessons. In 4 RCTs control groups received no interventions. Primary outcomes were performance anxiety, performance, "use" as well as respiratory function and pain. Performance anxiety decreased by AT in 3 of 4 RCTs. Music performance was improved by AT in 1 RCT, yet in 2 RCTs comparing neurofeedback (NF) to AT, only NF showed improvements. Conclusions To investigate the effectiveness of AT in musicians a variety of study designs and outcome measures have been used. Evidence from RCTs suggests that AT may improve performance anxiety in musicians. Effects on music performance, body use and respiratory function yet remain inconsistent. Future trials with well-established study designs are warranted to further and more reliably explore the potential of AT as a relatively low cost and low risk method in the interest of musicians.

The Olive Tree, Vol. 11 Number 2, 2003

The Winter 2003 issue of The Olive Tree features articles about library projects, collections, technological innovations, and events at Fogler Library, University of Maine.

Professional musicians listen differently to music

INTRODUCTION: Experience-based adaptation of emotional responses is an important faculty for cognitive and emotional functioning. Professional musicians represent an ideal model in which to elicit experience-driven changes in the emotional processing domain. The changes of the central representation of emotional arousal due to musical expertise are still largely unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the electroencephalogram (EEG) correlates of experience-driven changes in the domain of emotional arousal. Therefore, the differences in perceived (subjective arousal via ratings) and physiologically measured (EEG) arousal between amateur and professional musicians were examined. PROCEDURE: A total of 15 professional and 19 amateur musicians listened to the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's 5th symphony (duration=∼7.4min), during which a continuous 76-channel EEG was recorded. In a second session, the participants evaluated their emotional arousal during listening. In a tonic analysis, we examined the average EEG data over the time course of the music piece. For a phasic analysis, a fast Fourier transform was performed and covariance maps of spectral power were computed in association with the subjective arousal ratings. RESULTS: The subjective arousal ratings of the professional musicians were more consistent than those of the amateur musicians. In the tonic EEG analysis, a mid-frontal theta activity was observed in the professionals. In the phasic EEG, the professionals exhibited an increase of posterior alpha, central delta, and beta rhythm during high arousal. DISCUSSION: Professionals exhibited different and/or more intense patterns of emotional activation when they listened to the music. The results of the present study underscore the impact of music experience on emotional reactions.