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- Title
Interaction of Relative Pitch Memory and Latent Absolute Pitch for Songs in an Ordered List.
- Authors
Bartlette, Christopher; Henry, Michele L.; Moore, Jordan
- Abstract
Persons who do not possess absolute pitch (AP) often display latent AP--the ability to produce or recognize the pitch level of familiar songs without reference to specific labels--and also use relative pitch (RP) memory to encode and identify familiar melodies. Three experiments investigated the interaction of latent AP and RP memory in listening and production tasks, using ordered lists of songs. In Experiment 1, participants listened to excerpts from pairs of songs in the list, which were either at their original pitch or transposed 1 semitone, and identified whether the second song in the pair was at its original pitch level. Experiment 2, a follow-up study, used a refined methodology and transposition levels up to 3 semitones. In Experiment 3, after hearing the end of one song--either at its original pitch level or transposed 1 semitone--participants were asked to sing the next song in the list. The results showed that participants used both latent AP and RP cues in listening and production tasks: RP memory reinforced latent AP when songs were played at their original pitch level, leading to higher levels of accuracy. When songs were transposed, with RP cues maintained, accuracy decreased in pitch-level identification and singing at the original pitch level. Also, in Experiment 2, the identification of pitch levels was more accurate for consecutive songs on the list--which retained RP cues--instead of nonconsecutive songs, and with a transposition of 3 semitones instead of 1 semitone.
- Subjects
MEMORY loss; SONGS; RELATIVE pitch; MUSICAL perception; MUSICAL pitch
- Publication
Psychomusicology: Music, Mind & Brain, 2014, Vol 24, Issue 4, p279
- ISSN
0275-3987
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1037/pmu0000064