We investigated pitch perception of string vibrato tones among string players in two separate studies. In both studies we used tones of acoustic instruments (violin and cello) as stimuli. In the first, we asked 192 high school and university string players to listen to a series of tonal pairs: one tone of each pair was performed with vibrato and the other without. Violin tones with vibrato were judged as lower in pitch than non-vibrato stimuli with the same mean frequency, more so among high school string players than university students. In the second study string players tuned their own instrument to match stimulus tones and we tested whether there are differences when performers match tones using vibrato versus non-vibrato. Participants were 30 high school string players and 30 university string players: 20 cellists, 20 violists, and 20 violinists. Performers tuned slightly but significantly lower (about three cents) when using vibrato. This outcome was consistent for tuning conditions, instruments, and experience levels.
Given the importance of modeling in teaching young students to perform, particularly in the Suzuki approach, as well as the importance of playing in-tune, we studied intonation performances on four recordings of Suzuki Violin School Volume I. These are performances that many string teachers recommend as models for beginning string students. We also asked whether performances conform to a theoretical tuning system such as equal temperament (ET) or Pythagorean tuning. We analyzed the first eight measures and the repeat of Minuet I (Bach) in G-major. Individual note deviations of performers ranged from -17 cents to +26 cents relative to the accompaniment, although most deviations were smaller. Overall, three performers tended to be closer to Pythagorean (which is slightly sharper than ET for most major intervals) while one was closer to ET. However, inspection of individual intervals showed that two of the performers were often sharp relative to both tuning systems, particularly for minor seconds and thirds, and major thirds. No performer consistently conformed to either tuning system across the span of notes in the excerpt.
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