nsion. Participants were asked to evaluate the tension created by a chord X in sequences of three chords [C major-->X-->C major] in a C major context key. The X chords could be major or minor triads major-minor seventh, or minor seventh chords built on the 12 notes of the chromatic scale. The data were compared with Krumhansl's (1990) harmonic hierarchy and with predictions of Lerdahl's (1988) cognitive theory, Hutchinson and Knopoff's (1978) and Parncutt's (1989) sensory-psychoacoustical theories, and the model of horizontal motion defined in the paper. As a main outcome, it appears that judgments of tension arose from a convergence of several cognitive and psychoacoustics influences, whose relative importance varies, depending on musical training.
Repp, B. H. (1996). The dynamics of expressive piano performance:
Schumann's "Traumerei" revisited. Journal of the
Acoustical Society of America, 100:641-50.
Abstract: Ten graduate student pianists were recorded playing
Robert Schumann's "Traumerei" three times on a Yamaha
Disclavier. Their expressive dynamics were analyzed at the level
of hammer (MIDI) velocities. Individual dynamic profiles were
similar across repeated performances, more so for the right hand
(soprano and alto voices) than for the left hand (tenor and bass
voices). As expected, the soprano voice, which usually had the
principal melody, was played with greater force than the other
voices, which gained prominence only when they carried temporarily
important melodic fragments. Independent of this voice differentiation,
there was a tendency for velocity to increase with pitch, at least
in the soprano and alto voices. While there was an overall tendency
for velocities to increase with local tempo, there were salient
local departures from this coupling. Individual differences in
expressive dynamics were not striking and were only weakly related
to individual differences in expressive timing.
Schlaug, G., Jancke, L., Huang, Y., Staiger, J.F. and Steinmetz, H. (1995). Increased corpus callosum size in musicians. Neuropsychologia ,33:1047-55.
Abstract: Using in-vivo magnetic resonance morphometry it was
investigated whether the midsagittal area of the corpus callosum
(CC) would differ between 30 professional musicians and 30 age-,
sex- and handedness-matched controls. Our analyses revealed that
the anterior half of the CC was significantly larger in musicians.
This difference was due to the larger anterior CC in the subgroup
of musicians who had begun musical training before the age
of 7. Since anatomic studies have provided evidence for a positive
correlation between midsagittal callosal size and the number of
fibers crossing through the CC, these data indicate a difference
in interhemispheric communication and possibly in hemispheric
(a) symmetry of sensorimotor areas. Our results are also compatible
with plastic changes of components of the CC during a maturation
period within the first decade of human life, similar to those
observed in animal studies.
Thaut, M.H., McIntosh, G.C., Rice, R.R., Miller, R.A., Rathbun, J. and Brault, J.M. (1996). Rhythmic auditory stimulation in gait training for Parkinson's disease patients. Movement Disorders,, 11:193-200.
Abstract: Rhythmic auditory stimulation (RAS) was used as a pacemaker
during a 3-week home-based gait-training program for Parkinson's
disease (PD) patients (n = 15). Electromyogram (EMG) patterns
and stride parameters were assessed before and after the test
without RAS to evaluate changes in gait patterns. Data were compared
with those of two control groups (n = 11), who either did not
participate in any gait training or who participated in an internally
self-paced training program. RAS consisted of audiotapes with
metronome-pulse patterns embedded into the on/off beat structure
of rhythmically accentuated instrumental music. Patients who trained
with RAS significantly (p < 0.05) improved their gait velocity
by 25%, stride length by 12%, and step cadence by 10% more than
self-paced subjects who improved their velocity by 7% and no-training
subjects whose velocit