Musical Pitch Perception and Categorization in Listeners with No Musical Training Experience: Insights from Mandarin-Speaking Non-Musicians
Pitch is a fundamental element in music. While most previous studies on musical pitch have focused on musicians, our understanding of musical pitch perception in non-musicians is still limited. This study aimed to explore how Mandarin-speaking listeners who did not receive musical training perceive...
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2024-12-01
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| Series: | Behavioral Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/1/30 |
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| author | Jie Liang Fen Zhang Wenshu Liu Zilong Li Keke Yu Yi Ding Ruiming Wang |
| author_facet | Jie Liang Fen Zhang Wenshu Liu Zilong Li Keke Yu Yi Ding Ruiming Wang |
| author_sort | Jie Liang |
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| description | Pitch is a fundamental element in music. While most previous studies on musical pitch have focused on musicians, our understanding of musical pitch perception in non-musicians is still limited. This study aimed to explore how Mandarin-speaking listeners who did not receive musical training perceive and categorize musical pitch. Two experiments were conducted in the study. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to discriminate musical tone pairs with different intervals. The results showed that the nearer apart the tones were, the more difficult it was to distinguish. Among adjacent note pairs at major 2nd pitch distance, the A4–B4 pair was perceived as the easiest to differentiate, while the C4–D4 pair was found to be the most difficult. In Experiment 2, participants completed a tone discrimination and identification task with the C4–D4 and A4–B4 musical tone continua as stimuli. The results revealed that the C4–D4 tone continuum elicited stronger categorical perception than the A4–B4 continuum, although the C4–D4 pair was previously found to be more difficult to distinguish in Experiment 1, suggesting a complex interaction between pitch perception and categorization processing. Together, these two experiments revealed the cognitive mechanism underlying musical pitch perception in ordinary populations and provided insights into future musical pitch training strategies. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-cd256455077e445e8e385200220604ba |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-328X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Behavioral Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-cd256455077e445e8e385200220604ba2025-01-24T13:22:40ZengMDPI AGBehavioral Sciences2076-328X2024-12-011513010.3390/bs15010030Musical Pitch Perception and Categorization in Listeners with No Musical Training Experience: Insights from Mandarin-Speaking Non-MusiciansJie Liang0Fen Zhang1Wenshu Liu2Zilong Li3Keke Yu4Yi Ding5Ruiming Wang6School of Music, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, ChinaLIBIS, KU Leuven, 3001 Heverlee, BelgiumPhilosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, Ministry of Education, & Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, ChinaPhilosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, Ministry of Education, & Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, ChinaPhilosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, Ministry of Education, & Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, ChinaSchool of Music, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, ChinaPhilosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, Ministry of Education, & Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, ChinaPitch is a fundamental element in music. While most previous studies on musical pitch have focused on musicians, our understanding of musical pitch perception in non-musicians is still limited. This study aimed to explore how Mandarin-speaking listeners who did not receive musical training perceive and categorize musical pitch. Two experiments were conducted in the study. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to discriminate musical tone pairs with different intervals. The results showed that the nearer apart the tones were, the more difficult it was to distinguish. Among adjacent note pairs at major 2nd pitch distance, the A4–B4 pair was perceived as the easiest to differentiate, while the C4–D4 pair was found to be the most difficult. In Experiment 2, participants completed a tone discrimination and identification task with the C4–D4 and A4–B4 musical tone continua as stimuli. The results revealed that the C4–D4 tone continuum elicited stronger categorical perception than the A4–B4 continuum, although the C4–D4 pair was previously found to be more difficult to distinguish in Experiment 1, suggesting a complex interaction between pitch perception and categorization processing. Together, these two experiments revealed the cognitive mechanism underlying musical pitch perception in ordinary populations and provided insights into future musical pitch training strategies.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/1/30musical pitchpitch perceptionpitch discriminationcategorical perception |
| spellingShingle | Jie Liang Fen Zhang Wenshu Liu Zilong Li Keke Yu Yi Ding Ruiming Wang Musical Pitch Perception and Categorization in Listeners with No Musical Training Experience: Insights from Mandarin-Speaking Non-Musicians Behavioral Sciences musical pitch pitch perception pitch discrimination categorical perception |
| title | Musical Pitch Perception and Categorization in Listeners with No Musical Training Experience: Insights from Mandarin-Speaking Non-Musicians |
| title_full | Musical Pitch Perception and Categorization in Listeners with No Musical Training Experience: Insights from Mandarin-Speaking Non-Musicians |
| title_fullStr | Musical Pitch Perception and Categorization in Listeners with No Musical Training Experience: Insights from Mandarin-Speaking Non-Musicians |
| title_full_unstemmed | Musical Pitch Perception and Categorization in Listeners with No Musical Training Experience: Insights from Mandarin-Speaking Non-Musicians |
| title_short | Musical Pitch Perception and Categorization in Listeners with No Musical Training Experience: Insights from Mandarin-Speaking Non-Musicians |
| title_sort | musical pitch perception and categorization in listeners with no musical training experience insights from mandarin speaking non musicians |
| topic | musical pitch pitch perception pitch discrimination categorical perception |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/1/30 |
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