Articulatory motor planning and timbral idiosyncrasies as underlying mechanisms of instrument-specific absolute pitch in expert musicians

Abstract

The study of musical expertise illustrates how intense training in a specialized domain may instigate development of implicit skills. While absolute pitch, or the ability to identify musical pitches without external reference, is rare even in professional musicians and is understood to have a genetic component, anecdotal evidence and pilot data suggest that some musicians without traditional absolute pitch are nonetheless better able to name notes played on their musical instrument of expertise than notes played on less familiar instruments. We have previously termed this particular gain in absolute pitch identification ability “instrument-specific absolute pitch” (ISAP) and have proposed that this skill is related to learned instrument type-specific timbral and intonational idiosyncrasies and articulatory motor planning activated by the timbre of the instrument. In this Registered Report Protocol, we describe two experiments designed to investigate ISAP in professional oboists. Experiment 1 tests for ISAP ability by comparing oboists’ pitch identification accuracies for notes played on the oboe and on the piano. A subset of the participants from Experiment 1 who demonstrate this ability will be recruited for Experiment 2; the purpose of Experiment 2 is to test hypotheses concerning a mechanistic explanation for ISAP. The outcome of these experiments may provide support for the theory that some individuals have ISAP and that the underlying mechanisms of this ability may rely on the perception of subtle timbral/intonational idiosyncrasies and on articulatory motor planning developed through intensive long-term training. In general, this work will contribute to the understanding of specialized expertise, specifically of implicit abilities and biases that are not addressed directly in training, but that may yet develop through practice of a related skill set.

The Activity of the Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex Promotes the Top–down Regulation of Sensorimotor Synchronization

“…Sensorimotor synchronization is critical to foster such skills [4][5][6][7][8][9]. As demonstrated by numerous previous studies, long-term musical practice shapes the music brain characterized by highly sensitive sound stimuli and stimulus-driven precise motor control ability [10][11][12][13]. Further, it is believed that such musical expertise enhances the cognitive ability of musicians [14][15][16][17].…”

Revisitando las variables que condicionan la neuroplasticidad asociada a la interpretación musical

“…En concordancia con esta última idea, se ha aludido también a respuestas cerebrales específicas, en términos de función, para un timbre concreto -el del instrumento interpretado- (Margulis et al, 2009;Pantev et al, 2001;Shahin et al, 2003;Shahin et al, 2004;Shahin et al, 2008). Incluso algunos estudios han investigado sobre la habilidad de "oído absoluto específico al instrumento", dada la gran pericia que algunos músicos tienen para identificar las alturas de los sonidos cuando el timbre que suena es el de su instrumento (Hansen & Reymore, 2021).…”

Section 7: Timbre Abstracts

“…This theory is situated in neuroscientific research on the multimodal nature of expertise (e.g., Krishnan et al, 2018;Proverbio & Orlandi, 2016). We propose that informative timbral cues arise from performer-or instrument-specific idiosyncrasies or from timbrefacilitated tonotopic representations and that sounds of one's primary instrument may activate kinaesthetic memory and motor imagery, aiding pitch identification (Hansen & Reymore, 2021). Hypotheses derived from this theory are tested in two professional oboists.…”

“…These results suggest that some musicians possess instrument-specific absolute pitch while others do not and that candidate mechanisms behind this ability capitalize on timbral cues and motor imagery. In a Registered Report (Hansen & Reymore, 2021), we plan to extend these findings to a larger population of oboists. A deeper understanding of instrument-specific absolute pitch has theoretical implications for research on musical expertise, absolute pitch, timbre and pitch cognition, and musical embodiment, as well as practical implications for musical practice and pedagogy.…”