How musical are music video game players?

Abstract

Numerous studies have shown that formal musical training is associated with sensory, motor, and cognitive advantages in individuals of various ages. However, the nature of the observed differences between musicians and nonmusicians is poorly understood, and little is known about the listening skills of individuals who engage in alternative types of everyday musical activities. Here, we show that people who have frequently played music video games outperform nonmusicians controls on a battery of music perception tests. These findings reveal that enhanced musical aptitude can be found among individuals who play music video games, raising the possibility that music video games could potentially enhance music perception skills in individuals across a broad spectrum of society who are otherwise unable to invest the time and/or money required to learn a musical instrument.

Elements of Musical and Dance Sophistication Predict Musical Groove Perception

“…In some instances, musicality may be cultivated due to an availability of resources (Corrigall et al, 2013). In other instances, one's musicality may be a predisposed trait (Peretz et al, 2007;Tan et al, 2014;Mankel and Bidelman, 2018) that remains somewhat hidden due to a lack of financial or familial support (Schellenberg, 2015) or lack of interest in learning to play music; however, some of these untrained individuals may become avid music appreciators and develop similar skills to musicians through hours of listening or other activities such as playing music video games (Pasinski et al, 2016). Furthermore, in both musicians and non-musicians, musical ability (Swaminathan and Schellenberg, 2018)and appreciation for certain types of music may be dictated by one's personality (McCrae, 2007;Luck et al, 2010;Nusbaum et al, 2014;Colver and El-Alayli, 2015;Swaminathan and Schellenberg, 2018;Kuckelkorn et al, 2021) and music preferences (Madison, 2006;Salimpoor et al, 2013;Wesolowski and Hofmann, 2016;Madison and Schiölde, 2017;Senn et al, 2019bSenn et al, , 2019aKowalewski et al, 2020).…”

“…However, dance training did not have a direct effect on musical groove sensitivity score. This suggests that non-dancers who have experience doing tasks that require body coordination (e.g., athletes, video game players; Pasinski et al, 2016) or individuals who innately have good body coordination may perceive greater differences between high-and low-groove music compared to those who have less experience with body coordination. On the other hand, higher scores on body awareness may not be related to body coordination ability, but instead to body confidence.…”

Elements of musical and dance sophistication predict musical groove perception

“…In some instances, musicality may be cultivated due to an availability of resources ( Corrigall et al, 2013 ). In other instances, one’s musicality may be a predisposed trait ( Peretz et al, 2007 ; Tan et al, 2014 ; Mankel and Bidelman, 2018 ) that remains somewhat hidden due to a lack of financial or familial support ( Schellenberg, 2015 ) or a lack of interest in learning to play music; however, some of these untrained individuals may become avid music appreciators and develop similar skills to musicians through hours of listening or other activities such as playing music video games ( Pasinski et al, 2016 ). Furthermore, in both musicians and non-musicians, musical ability ( Swaminathan and Schellenberg, 2018 ) and appreciation for certain types of music may be dictated by one’s personality ( McCrae, 2007 ; Luck et al, 2010 ; Nusbaum et al, 2014 ; Colver and El-Alayli, 2015 ; Swaminathan and Schellenberg, 2018 ; Kuckelkorn et al, 2021 ) and music preferences ( Madison, 2006 ; Salimpoor et al, 2013 ; Wesolowski and Hofmann, 2016 ; Madison and Schiölde, 2017 ; Senn et al, 2019b , 2021a ; Kowalewski et al, 2020 ).…”

The Socio-Cultural Context of Akan Ethno-Musical Games and Their Relevance to the Lives of Children in Ashanti Region

“…The Mozart Effect focuses on the effects of children listening to music while learning or practicing a skill [10,[13][14] . This effect discussed how preschoolers' spatial-temporal reasoning can be enhanced simply by just listening to music that was composed by Mozart [15][16] .…”