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We illustrate a technique for eliciting and exploring the constructs involved in the adjudication of music performance. Five trained musicians with extensive experience in performance adjudication evaluated six expert performances of Chopin's Etude, Opus 25, No. 6. First, we elicited from each adjudicator the personal constructs that they used to evaluate performance expression. Next, adjudicators rated each performance on each of their constructs. Adjudicators also rated each performance for overall preference. Constructs most strongly associated with overall preference related to right-hand expression and phrasing. Other constructs, such as tempo, were important for distinguishing performances, but were not strongly associated with overall preference. We discuss benefits of the technique for researchers, adjudicators and performers.

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In four experiments, we examined the effects of exposure to unfamiliar tone sequences on melodic expectancy and memory. In Experiment 1, 30 unfamiliar tone sequences (target sequences) were presented to listeners three times each in random order (exposure phase), and listeners recorded the number of notes in each sequence. Listeners were then presented target and novel sequences and rated how well the final note continued the pattern of notes that preceded it. Novel sequences were identical to target sequences, except for the final note. Ratings were significantly higher for target sequences than for novel sequences, illustrating the influence of exposure on melodic expectancy. Experiment 2 confirmed that without exposure to target sequences, ratings were equivalent for target and novel sequences. In Experiment 3, new listeners were assessed for explicit memory for target sequences following the exposure phase. Recognition of target sequences was above chance, but unrelated to expectancy judgments in Experiment 1. Experiment 4 replicated the exposure effect, using a modified experiment design, and confirmed that the effect is not dependent on explicit memory for sequences. We discuss the idea that melodic expectancies are influenced by implicit memory for recently heard melodic patterns.